¶ … Ohio Frontier

The book "The Ohio Frontier: Crucible of the Old Northwest, 1720-1830" by R. Douglas Hurt is a book about early frontier history in Ohio, but it is more than that. The American West has always received much attention from history writers and experts, but the gradual westward movement of the frontier has not received as much. This book clearly shows how important the Ohio frontier was to the eventual settlement of the entire west, and that is the author's main thesis. He wants to show how Ohio served as a border, and how the people of Ohio were always "becoming" something else as the frontier continued to shift further west (Hurt xiv). The reader will have a better understanding of Ohio history after they finish this book, but they will also understand how important Ohio was to American history and the eventual settling of the entire American west.

The book follows the history of Ohio for little over 100 years. It shows it turning from a wild frontier into a settled and prosperous community. It shows the kind of people that settled the area, from merchants, trappers, and farmers to frontiersmen who could never settle too long in one place. The author shows how American history affected Ohio from the Revolutionary War to the beginnings of the Confederacy, and shows how Ohio tried to keep apart from much of the politics going on back east. Hurt also shows how Ohio differed from many other frontier settlements because of trade along the canals and rivers, and how many of the settlers in Ohio preferred a rural community to a "model" city like the ones they had left back East. The book follows white settlement throughout the area, and is a must for anyone who is interested in Ohio or western American history. It is rich in detail and interesting to read, and is a good introduction to further study of what made Americans pick up and move into new and unsettled territories such as Ohio. It is also a good way to understand how a new community matures and changes as it grows.

References

Smith, Martin Cruz. Red Square. New York: Random House, 1992.