The Undiscovered Country: Triumph, Tragedy, and the Shaping of the American West

From the author of The Apache Wars, the true story of the American West, revealing how American ambition clashed with the realities of violence and exploitation.

The story of the American West as we know it is a national myth of progress, redemption, and glorious conquest that became part of a new American identity.

In The Undiscovered Country, Paul Andrew Hutton shares the true story of Westward expansion. Told through seven gripping points of view—four famed American frontiersmen and three important Native Americans—Hutton tells the tale of the triumphs and tragedies that marked the westward movement, from Braddock’s Defeat in 1755 during the final French and Indian War to the murder of Sitting Bull and the resultant Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890. From Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett, Buffalo Bill Cody and Kit Carson to Red Eagle, Mangas Coloradas, and Sitting Bull, Hutton reveals the truth behind these historic figures.

It is a story of both heroic conquest and ghastly violence, of sacrifice and greed, and of man-made wonders and environmental spoliation. Westward expansion came at a terrible price that quickly morphed into a story that was wildly romantic and oddly tragic. Yet the American frontier movement has proven eternally fascinating to both American and world audiences, the subject of countless books, films, poems, and paintings. The Undiscovered Country, at last, sets the record straight.

About the Author

Paul Andrew Hutton is the author of The Apache Wars. He is an American cultural historian, author, documentary writer, and television personality. He is also a professor of history at the University of New Mexico, a former executive director of the Western History Association and former president of the Western Writers of America.

Author Residence: Albuquerque, NM

Author Hometown: Indianapolis, IN