| Book Review | The Western Historical Quarterly, 32.4

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| Book Review | The Western Historical Quarterly, 32.4 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

Land in the American West: Private Claims and the Common Good. Edited by William G. Robbins and James C. Foster. (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2000. xi + 222 pp. Maps, tables, notes, index. $20.00, paper.)

Twenty-five years ago, studying land policy in the American West meant late night sessions with the magisterial works of Roy Robbins, Marion Clawson, and particularly Paul Gates. Acquisitions of land, its disposal, and its use and abuse was at the core of western history. More recently, preoccupation with social history meant interest in land policy evaporated. The publication of Land in the American West suggests the time has come to revisit the topic. Editors William G. Robbins and James C. Foster offer eight essays that explore the past, but focus primarily on land issues of the past two decades. 1

The subtitle, Private Claims and the Common Good, signals a major theme. Although close to fifty percent of western land belongs to the federal government, conflicts over private property rights continually divide the region. Does any other region fight so vigorously over land rights? In recent decades conflicts play out in the political arena, the local assessor's office, and the courts. As these essays suggest, property is often at the root of federal, state, and local animosity, class differences, and racial and ethnic disputes. . . .

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