Michael A. Amundson's Books

The Art and Life of Merritt Dana Houghton in the Northern Rockies, 1878-1919

By: Michael A. Amundson

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The Art and Life of Merritt Dana Houghton in the Northern Rockies, 1878-1919

By: Michael A. Amundson

Between 1891 and 1915, pen-and-ink artist Merritt Dana Houghton made over 200 bird’s-eye sketches of towns, ranches, mines, businesses, historic sites, and animals in Wyoming, northern Colorado, Montana, Idaho, and Washington state. Historian Michael A. Amundson brings these many views together for the first time in these pages. This lavishly illustrated biography details Houghton’s life and work from his birth in Michigan in 1846 to his death in 1919 in Spokane through extensive genealogical records, newspaper accounts, and his illustrations—including historic ranches and bird’s-eye views of Fort Collins, Colorado; Dillon, Montana; and Spokane, Washington and the only known illustrations of long-lost places like Pearl, Colorado, and Rambler, Wyoming. Also included is reproduction of a four-foot-by-eight-foot view of Sheridan, Wyoming and a sixty-image sample portfolio of his best-preserved illustrations organized by type. Houghton’s work depicts the infrastructure of the new settler society that was remaking the West in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, and Amundson demonstrates how Houghton’s vision of the American West remains active today.

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Page Count

239

Publisher

University Press of Colorado

Published Date

ISBN 10

1646423666

ISBN 13

9781646423668

Wyoming Revisited

Rephotographing the Scenes of Joseph E. Stimson

By: Michael A. Amundson

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Wyoming Revisited

Rephotographing the Scenes of Joseph E. Stimson

By: Michael A. Amundson

Showcases this little-known creature thriving the rugged mountains of North America.

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Page Count

401

Publisher

University Press of Colorado

Published Date

ISBN 10

1492001805

ISBN 13

9781492001805

Talking Machine West

A History and Catalogue of Tin Pan Alley's Western Recordings, 1902–1918

By: Michael A. Amundson

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Talking Machine West

A History and Catalogue of Tin Pan Alley's Western Recordings, 1902–1918

By: Michael A. Amundson

Many associate early western music with the likes of Roy Rogers and Gene Autry, but America’s first western music craze predates these “singing cowboys” by decades. Written by Tin Pan Alley songsters in the era before radio, the first popular cowboy and Indian songs circulated as piano sheet music and as cylinder and disc recordings played on wind-up talking machines. The colorful fantasies of western life depicted in these songs capitalized on popular fascination with the West stoked by Buffalo Bill’s Wild West shows, Owen Wister’s novel The Virginian, and Edwin S. Porter’s film The Great Train Robbery. The talking machine music industry, centered in New York City, used state-of-the-art recording and printing technology to produce and advertise songs about the American West. Talking Machine West brings together for the first time the variety of cowboy, cowgirl, and Indian music recorded and sold for mass consumption between 1902 and 1918. In the book’s introductory chapters, Michael A. Amundson explains how this music reflected the nostalgic passing of the Indian and the frontier while incorporating modern ragtime music and the racial attitudes of Jim Crow America. Hardly Old West ditties, the songs gave voice to changing ideas about Indians and assimilation, cowboys, the frontier, the rise of the New Woman, and ethnic and racial equality. In the book’s second part, a chronological catalogue of fifty-four western recordings provides the full lyrics and history of each song and reproduces in full color the cover art of extant period sheet music. Each entry also describes the song’s composer(s), lyricist(s), and sheet music illustrator and directs readers to online digitized recordings of each song. Gorgeously illustrated throughout, this book is as entertaining as it is informative, offering the first comprehensive account of popular western recorded music in its earliest form.

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Page Count

209

Publisher

University of Oklahoma Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0806157771

ISBN 13

9780806157771

Passage to Wonderland

Rephotographing Joseph Stimson's Views of the Cody Road to Yellowstone National Park, 1903 and 2008

By: Michael A. Amundson

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Passage to Wonderland

Rephotographing Joseph Stimson's Views of the Cody Road to Yellowstone National Park, 1903 and 2008

By: Michael A. Amundson

In 1903 the Cody Road opened, leading travelers from Cody, Wyoming, to Yellowstone National Park. Cheyenne photographer J. E. Stimson traveled the route during its first week in existence, documenting the road for the state of Wyoming's contribution to the 1904 World's Fair. His images of now-famous landmarks like Cedar Mountain, the Shoshone River, the Holy City, Chimney Rock, Sylvan Pass, and Sylvan Lake are some of the earliest existing photographs of the route. In 2008, 105 years later, Michael Amundson traveled the same road, carefully duplicating Stimson's iconic original photographs. In Passage to Wonderland, these images are paired side by side and accompanied by a detailed explanation of the land and history depicted. Amundson examines the physical changes along "the most scenic fifty miles in America" and explores the cultural and natural history behind them. This careful analysis of the paired images make Passage to Wonderland more than a "then and now" photography book--it is a unique exploration of the interconnectedness between the Old West and the New West. It will be a wonderful companion for those touring the Cody Road as well as those armchair tourists who can follow the road on Google Earth using the provided GPS coordinates. The University Press of Colorado gratefully acknowledges the generous support of the Charles Redd Center for Western Studies at Brigham Young University toward the publication of this book.

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Page Count

538

Publisher

University Press of Colorado

Published Date

ISBN 10

1607322048

ISBN 13

9781607322047

The Art and Life of Merritt Dana Houghton in the Northern Rockies, 1878-1919

By: Michael A. Amundson

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The Art and Life of Merritt Dana Houghton in the Northern Rockies, 1878-1919

By: Michael A. Amundson

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N/A

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Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

239

Publisher

University Press of Colorado

Published Date

ISBN 10

1646423666

ISBN 13

9781646423668

Book's by Michael A. Amundson

The Art and Life of Merritt Dana Houghton in the Northern Rockies, 1878-1919

The Art and Life of Merritt Dana Houghton in the Northern Rockies, 1878-1919

Wyoming Revisited

Wyoming Revisited

Talking Machine West

Talking Machine West

Passage to Wonderland

Passage to Wonderland

The Art and Life of Merritt Dana Houghton in the Northern Rockies, 1878-1919

The Art and Life of Merritt Dana Houghton in the Northern Rockies, 1878-1919

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