LibGuides: Prairies Research Guide: Historical Information

Books on Prairie History

These books present a sample of historical writing on Prarie-related subjects, including the history and social ecology of prairie regions. See the "Books" section of this Libguide for more information about finding book sources.

The Big Empty by R. Douglas Hurt
ISBN: 0816529728
Publication Date: 2011-09-01
From the publisher: "The Great Plains, known for grasslands that stretch to the horizon [. . .] In The Big Empty, leading historian R. Douglas Hurt defines this region using the towns and cities that made a difference in the history of the environment, politics, and agriculture of the Great Plains. Using the voices of women homesteaders, agrarian socialists, Jewish farmers, Mexican meatpackers, New Dealers, and Native Americans, this book creates a sweeping survey of contested race relations, radical politics, and agricultural prosperity and decline during the twentieth century."
The Great Plains by Walter Prescott Webb; Walter Webb
ISBN: 0803297025
Publication Date: 1981-08-01
Walter's Webb's classic 1931 study argues that the differences between Eastern "prairie plains" and western "high plains" were of crucial importance in shaping American history and culture. From the publisher: "This classic [. . ] has, since its first publication in 1931, been one of the most influential, widely known, and controversial works in western history. Arguing that "the Great Plains environment. . .constitutes a geographic unity whose influences have been so powerful as to put a characteristic mark upon everything that survives within its borders," Webb singles out the revolver, barbed wire, and the windmill as evidence of the new phase of civilization required for settlement of that arid, treeless region.
Forgotten Fires by Omer C. Stewart; Henry T. Lewis (Editor); M. Kat Anderson (Editor)
Call Number: 577.2 St497f
ISBN: 0806140372
Publication Date: 2009-02-01
Omer Stewart's articles published in the 1950's, argued that intentional burning by Native Americans profoundly shaped prairies and other American landscapes. Not published until after Stewart's death, this book presents Stewart's arguments in full, which are now widely accepted.

Historical Information

The Tallgrass Prairie
This 12 page pdf document by Prairie educator Jill Haukos provides a brief ecological history of the American Prairie, with sources for further study.

Historical Publications: Early Books and Manuscripts

Below are books and other sources that provide a selection of pre-twentieth century descriptions of the prairies.

"Next to Lousiansa and Delaware, Illinois is the most level state in the Union [. . .] by far the greater portion of the state is is ether distributed in vast plains, or in barrens, that are gently rolling like the waves of the sea after a storm. We may travel on the wide praries for days without encountering an elevation worthy to be called a hill." -Agustus Mitchell, Sketches of Illinois (1838)

Galland's Iowa Emigrant, Containing a Map, and General Descriptions of Iowa Territory. by Galland, Issac
Publication Date: 1840
Online resource hosted at Archive.org.
Gazetteer of Illinois :, in Three Parts: Containing a General View of the State, a General View of Each County, and a Particular Description of Each Town, Settlement, Stream, Prairie, Bottom, Bluff, etc by J. M. Peck
Publication Date: 1837
Online resource hosted at Archive.org. Print volume also available at the University of Illinois Library.
History of Kansas and Nebraska [electronic resource] : describing soil, climate, rivers, prairies, mounds, forests, minerals, roads, cities, villages, inhabitants and other subjects relating to that region ; with a correct map by Walter B. Sloan
Publication Date: 1857
Online resource available to UIUC students and faculty.
Illinois as it is: its history, geography, statistics, constitution, laws, government, finances, climate, soil, plants, animals, state of health, prairies, agriculture [. . ], by Fred. Gerhard. With a prairie and wood map, a geological map, a population map, and other illustrations
Publication Date: 1857
Online resource hosted at Archive.org. Also a available in print at the UIUC Library.
Illinois survey field notes, 1849
Call Number: FILM 333.0809773 IL6IS
These are micofilm copies of the fifty-nine volumes of handwritten field notes taken by the Illinois Geographical Survey of 1849, This set of microfilm copies is held at the University of Illinois Map and Geography Library.
Iowa as it is in 1855: a gazetteer for citizens, and a hand-book for immigrants, embracing a full description of the state of Iowa ... Information for the immigrant respecting the selection, entry, and cultivation of prairie soil: a by N. Howe Parker
Publication Date: 1855
Online Resource hosted at Hathitrust.
Journal of voyages and travels in the interiour of North America : between the 47th and 58th degrees of north latitude, extending from Montreal nearly to the Pacific Ocean ... including an account of the principal occurrences, during a residence of nine by Daniel Williams Harmon
Publication Date: 1820
Online resource hosted at Hathitrust. Also available in print at the University of Illinois Library.
Letters from Illinois by Morris Birkbeck
Publication Date: 1818
Notes on a journey in America from the coast of Virginia to the territory of Illinois.

Online resource hosted at Archive.org. Also available in print at the University of Illinois Library.
Prairie Traveler : a hand-book for overland expeditions, with maps, illustrations, and itineraries of the principal routes between the Mississippi and the Pacific by Randolph Barnes Marcy; Randolph Barnes
ISBN: 9780918222893
Publication Date: 1986-10-01
Original published in 1859
Sketches of Illinois [electronic resource] : descriptive of its principal geographical features, prominent districts, prairies, minerals, animals, agricultural productions and public lands : together with an accurate map of the state, exhibiting its inter by Samuel Augustus Mitchell
Publication Date: 1838
Traveler's directory for Illinois : containing accurate sketches of the state, a particular description of each county, and important business towns, a list of the principal roads, stage and steamboat routes, land offices, tracts of land unoccupied, a by J.M. Peck
Publication Date: 1839
Print volume held at the University of Illinois Library.