The Wanderer: James Butler Hickok and the American West.

The article reviews three historical works focused on nineteenth-century American expansion and its impacts. Dr. Sarah Keyes challenges traditional heroic narratives of western emigrant trails by highlighting the high mortality rates from disease and hardship, including the forced displacement and suffering of Native American peoples. Craig Crease's biography of James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok critically examines the myths surrounding the frontier figure, providing a detailed, source-based account of his life. Philip Burnham's biography of Clarence Three Stars, a Lakota man educated at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, explores the cultural losses and personal resilience experienced by Native students subjected to assimilation policies, as well as Clarence's later role in reservation leadership. Together, these works offer nuanced perspectives on American westward expansion, indigenous experiences, and frontier mythology.