Dry Farming in the Northern Great Plains: Years of Readjustment, 1920-1990 by Mary W. M.HargreavesReview by: Edward L. SchapsmeierThe American Historical Review, Vol. 99, No. 3 (Jun., 1994), p. 990Published by: Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Historical AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2167944 .

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990 Reviews of Books

son Turner (the most renowned articulator of the "frontier thesis") comes off quite well, at least in comparison with Theodore Roosevelt (the most nota- ble advocate of regenerative violence) and Buffalo Bill (the most significant salesman of the frontier myth). The book begins with coverage of these three figures and ends, a century later, with the collapse of the frontier myth in the wake of the failure in Vietnam and the subsequent failure of Ronald Rea- gan and George Bush to revive the myth in the face of a failing economy and crumbling infrastructure. It is an appropriate ending for Slotkin's trilogy, a two- thousand-page narrative journey that always had Vietnam as its center.

DAVID M. WROBEL Hartwick College

MARY W. M. HARGREAVES. Dry Farming in the Northern Great Plains: Years of Readjustment, 1920-1990. (Devel- opment of Western Resources.) Lawrence: University Press of Kansas. 1993. Pp. xiii, 386. $45.00.

This fact-laden book by Mary W. M. Hargreaves is a comprehensive agricultural history of the northern Great Plains from 1920 to 1990. It is a fitting sequel to her earlier book dealing with the same area from 1900 to 1925 (Dry Farming in the Northern Great Plains, 1900-1925 [1957]). Together, these studies comprise a detailed account of how the interaction of climate, topology, politics, federal policies, economies, tech- nology, and environmental concerns have affected the three-state region of Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota.

This book is divided into three major sections: "The Twenties: Local Initiatives for Revitalized De- velopment," "The Thirties: Introduction of Federal Programs," and "Recovery Years: Realignment of Priorities." It is written from a sympathetic point of view relative to the hard-pressed commercial farmers who tilled the soil in an area where nature has not always smiled with good fortune.

Hargreaves describes the massive federal assistance that first came via the New Deal. All manner of programs brought economic relief to this rural re- gion. Such aid helped alleviate the distress caused by the prolonged drought of the 1930s. Through the mechanism of the Agricultural Adjustment Adminis- tration (AAA), the government sought to manage agriculture so as to reduce overall output (wheat was the primary concern of this region). Price supports were paid to farmers for complying with production control allotments, but this eventually became so politicized that many exemptions were provided by Congress. This factor, plus the inexorable advance of science and technology, did not abate the seemingly perpetual problem of surpluses while costing taxpay- ers huge sums.

When the Supreme Court struck down the AAA, emphasis was shifted to conservation. In time it came

to be part of the federal subsidy to farmers, although some conservation benefits did occur. Because of the confusion of government policy and lack of coordi- nation of many federal agencies dealing with the Great Plains, a land utilization scheme was initiated. Local resistance soon ended its effective implementa- tion, since farmers and townspeople of the northern Great Plains regarded it as a means of depriving them of their farmsteads and livelihood.

Beginning with the Dwight Eisenhower administra- tion, there was a steady but slow shift (often delayed by members of Congress representing rural constitu- encies) toward reliance on free markets and overseas exports. This trend has continued despite the resis- tance of a declining rural population. Both budget and environmental concerns bring up the question of whether family farms in areas of uncertain weather patterns should continue to be subsidized or perma- nently retired as cropland. Those contending that the United States should feed the world's hungry and others who see the commercial benefits of exports regard unrestricted production as good land use policy. Environmentalists, however, view the de- spoiled northern Great Plains as a rightful sanctuary for wildlife.

The author's micro-examination reveals that a sim- ple solution to this complex problem is not possible. Yet her scholarly narrative also reveals a long-stand- ing confusion over what constitutes a truly effective farm policy, endless bureaucratic rivalry, political pressure brought by local interest groups, and the high cost of federal largess that offers only temporary solutions. The author concludes that farmers of this unique area "ought not now be sacrificed to hyper- bole, myth, or politics" (p. 281).

This is a masterfully researched book. It contains helpful maps and tables, and its endnotes are a veritable storehouse of data. A useful bibliographical note is included. Unfortunately, the index is some- what incomplete. This superb book is required read- ing for agricultural historians and those wanting to know how every president from 1920 to 1990 has dealt with farm problems. It contains a cornucopia of information and is truly enlightening.

EDWARD L. SCHAPSMEIER

Illinois State University

C. ELIZABETH RAYMOND. George Wingfield: Owner and Operator of Nevada. (Wilbur S. Shepperson Series in History and Humanities, number 34.) Reno: Univer- sity of Nevada Press. 1993. Pp. x, 350. $31.95.

George Wingfield is one of the amazing characters who built the state of Nevada. An Arkansas-born wandering cowboy, Wingfield made his way into Nevada near the turn of the twentieth century. A man of tremendous tenacity, he made a fortune in the central Nevada goldfields. Choosing to stay in Nevada, Wingfield bought a chain of banks, several

AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW JUNE 1994

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