Book Review: 1491 by Charles C. Mann

1491
New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus
Second Edition
by Charles C. Mann


Recently I posted an image of a new book on Facebook and a friend asked that I post back after I'd read it in order to inform others what it was like.  That got me thinking about reviewing books, something I haphazardly did on Amazon over a decade ago for a short time, but haven't touched since.  (Sidenote: while just investigating those old Amazon reviews I discovered a snippet from my review of The Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams posted on the author's website, which was cool to see)  I figured that rather than posting my thoughts on Facebook it would be better to enter them here on my blog.  So here goes.

Earlier this year a colleague recommended 1491 and I spent some time talking about the book with him.  I then added it to my list of books that I want to buy.  This extensive electronic list both helps me to come up with ideas of what to buy if I come into possession of a gift card, but also serves as a starting point for my wife when she is looking for gift ideas.

Unbeknownst to me my wife purchased this book as a Christmas present for me even before it was recommended several months ago.  We opened gifts a day early this year on Christmas Eve since we were spending the week with my in-laws and some of them had to leave where we were staying on Christmas Day.  I spent the next couple days reading and by the end of Boxing Day I'd completed my reading of this engaging volume.

The premise of 1491 is that the traditional view of the Americas before Columbus landed are quite far from the mark and most likely portray a very different picture of what was actually present on the continents of North America and South America.  The argument presented is that Indian* civilizations were must larger than previously thought, had been on the continents longer than assumed, and had had a much bigger impact on the land.  The three sections of the book cover these topics with titles Numbers from Nowhere?, Very Old Bones, and Landscape with Figures.

*Mann acknowledges that there is no single good-term to describe the pre-1492 inhabitants of North and South America (for example technically anyone born on either continent is a "Native American") and has settled on Indian since he says that most people he has interviewed and talked to used the word to describe themselves.

Mann explained that the more he learned the more he was fascinated to discover that the truth might be different than what he was taught.  He figured that this undoubtedly fascinating story would make a wonderful book.

I kept waiting for that book to appear.  The wait grew more frustrating when my son entered school and was taught the same things I had been taught, beliefs I knew had been sharply questioned.  Since nobody else appeared to be writing the book, I finally decided to try it myself.  Besides, I was curious to learn more.  The book you are holding is the result.  ~1491, preface, x

I found the ideas most interesting and the arguments presented persuasive.  For example I've been working on researching the Viking arrivals in the New World circa 1000 AD and remember that one of the reasons the saga give for them leaving was the hostility of the natives.  While later European settlements in North America didn't always get along with the local inhabitants there were not many times when they were powerful enough to force the colonizers to give up and go home.  It would definitely make sense that the Indian population loss after waves of smallpox and other pandemics had swept across both continents several times would preclude them from being able to easily defend themselves and their homelands against invasion.

The most fascinating section to me was the third one that talked about the extensive Indian impact upon the land.  For example the often quoted numbers of tens of millions of bison and billions of passenger pigeons throughout North America are quite likely to be population explosions that occurred after the mass die off caused by European diseases.  It reminds me of the stories of deer or reindeer on isolated islands where the populations boom, then crash, and then repeat the cycle due to the lack of predators.  I can understand the argument that if numerous groups of people had been managing the landscape but were suddenly removed that animals would expand into the habitat.  Also that habitat encountered by Europeans that suddenly wasn't densely populated by Indian tribes could seem like natural wilderness when it was instead managed land.  "Native Americans ran the continent as they saw fit.  Modern nations must do the same.  If they want to return as much of the landscape as possible to its state in 1491, they will have to create the world's largest gardens. (p 375)"

The book also includes a number of maps and pictures that illustrate the text.  I found the maps quite useful as they list the various locations directly described in the text.  I did find some of the map printing a bit hard to decipher against the background, but I was able to make out everything with some work, so it isn't anything big to complain about.

I know I'm not doing an excellent job portraying Mann's arguments, but that truly isn't the point of the review.  Rather I'd encourage you to check out his book directly if you're interested in this portrayal of the Americas on the eve of the Colombian Exchange.  Speaking of that, I've already placed an order for his sequel/companion book 1493 that covers the aftermath of the European-American interaction.  I can't wait for it to arrive next month (sadly free shipping is slow) so that I can read it.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Summary: If you enjoy history and want to discover a different perspective on early American history definitely check out this well-written, reasoned, and compelling volume.

Technical: 553 pages, text: 392 p, appendices: 21 p, notes 53 p (no footnotes in text).  Includes index and bibliography.  Second edition only available as trade paperback (no hardcover)

~Matt

Billings Farm - Part I - Museum

After visiting Saint-Gaudens we drove north-west to Woodstock, Vermont to visit a couple sites in close proximity.  I'd had Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park on our list when I discovered that across the road was the Billings Farm and Museum, a historic property that used to be owned by the family that owned the land that became part of the National Park.  While both sites are literally across the road and share a visitor center I'll be dealing with them in three posts.  First I'll write about the museum exhibits at the Billings Farm and Museum.

The Billings Farm & Museum’s Farm Life Exhibits are housed in four original historic barns. The displays depict the seasonal round of activities on a typical Vermont hill farm of a century ago, and feature historic hand tools, farm equipment, family possessions, and oral histories.

Glimpse inside a country store, traditional farmhouse, and farm workshop, and learn about town meetings, one-room schoolhouses, and the daily chores of a typical Vermont farm family. Discover what it took to prepare the soil, plant and harvest the crops, and feed the livestock.

These engaging exhibits help tell the story of rural life in Vermont at the turn of the century, and the men and women whose lives were rooted in the rocks, forests, and fields of the Green Mountain State.
--from Billings Farm & Museum website

Looking over a model of the farm as it used to look was very useful in understanding the layout.  Essentially the house and woods have been preserved by the National Park Service while the farm side of the property is operated as the Billings Farm & Museum.

A detailed timeline presented the history of the property and its various owners.

The last private owners of the property were Mary French Rockefeller (a descendant of the Billings Family) and Laurance Spelman Rockefeller, the son of John D. Rockefeller, Jr.  When we were out west in 2012 we visited the Laurance S. Rockefeller Preserve, which is a part of Grand Tetons National Park made up of land donated by the Rockefellers.

For a time the farm's dairy was well known and won awards.

The farm was first owned by Charles Marsh, the father of George Perkins Marsh.

They had some books that the kids enjoyed looking through.

After leaving behind the first exhibit area we walked into a much larger area that featured even more and larger artifacts as well as reproductions of earlier buildings and landscapes.

Seeing old agricultural implements reminds me of my Dad since he grew up on a farm many years ago and so is familiar with quite a bit of the machines and tools.

Before I saw this exhibit I had never heard of using a horse treadmill to provide power to equipment.

The kids really liked looking at this lunch-time display.  The sign explained that this meal was often eaten out in the fields so that everyone could keep working and maximize their usage of daylight hours.

The exhibit explained that since most Vermont farms had only a few milking cows they continued milking by hand since it wasn't economical to invest in automatic milking machines.

This exhibit showed how important buttermaking was to Vermont farms.  It was an early cash crop sold to make money for farmers before operations became large enough that it was outsourced to creameries.

Cheesemaking was also something originally done locally by farmers.  Today it is something Vermont is still famous for.

Here you can see ways to supply animals with salt and water, both essential for their nutrition and survival.  The salting log and fee trough were used to supply salt while the water tub and heater could keep water unfrozen in the winter.

Here are a sample of various root and vine foods that might be grown on farms and stored for long periods of time in root cellars.

Stone walls were very popular to separate farms and fields due to the ubiquity of building material in the state's rocky terrain.

I'm sure many farmers had to be jacks-of-all-trades by necessity as they worked to repair their various tools and buildings, so of course they would have had very functional workshops.

The great thing about firewood, a Vermont farmer said, is it warms you twice: once when you cut it and again when you burn it.
--from exhibit signage

After the farm exhibits was an area covering the home on the farm.

Various rooms were visible on different levels to show all aspects of life in the farm house.

Of course schooling was not neglected by the exhibit designers.

Nor was the church left out.

The general store exhibit was chock full of artifacts and signage explained more about this staple of the community.
During the early 20th century, the general store played a vital role in the life of a rural community.  Basic kitchen commodities were sold in bulk and included flour, molasses, cornmeal, sugar, vinegar; plus salt pork, pickles, crackers, and candy.  Here too, harnesses, feed grain, hardware, fabric and shoes, patent medicines, and an array of specialty items could be bought.  The store also served as a showcase for new farm and household inventions.  Townspeople usually bartered farm produce, wood, and other services for their purchases.

The store was also a social center and a gathering place for the community.

Another important part of farm life that was unique to the north was sugaring.

Here you can see a gathering tub, which would collect sap from the buckets hung on the trees, and then be hauled off to be processed into sugar.

Kettles would often be hung over open fires to start the sugarmaking process as until 1870 almost all of the boiling of sap was done outside.

Ice cutting was something else quite popular in the north as these blocks of frozen water would provide refrigeration through the hot summers when preserved in ice houses under piles of insulating sawdust.

You can view all of the photos from this post as well as a number more in this album.  I hope you've enjoyed this tour through the museum.  The next post will cover out trip through the National Park site and then we'll visit the farm area.

~Matt

Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site

Our first stop on the day after we visited King Arthur Flour was the National Park Service's sole location in New Hampshire.  You may recall that one of the pieces of art we saw in Boston was the Massachusetts 54th Regiment/Robert Gould Shaw memorial across the street from the statehouse (see post on our Boston Common visit here).  Well our stop in New Hampshire was at the home of the sculptor who created that memorial, Augustus Saint-Gaudens.

Discover the home, studios and gardens of Augustus Saint-Gaudens, one of America’s greatest sculptors. See over 100 of his artworks in the galleries and on the grounds, from heroic public monuments to expressive portrait reliefs, and the gold coins which changed the look of American coinage.
--from Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site webpage

Once you turn off the main road you get to drive up this tree-lined road towards the parking lot.

The parking lot wasn't large, but was mostly empty when we arrived.

We left one end of the parking lot and headed towards the visitor center.  I'm not sure if the booth is actually used--maybe only on busy days?

This map gave us a helpful overview of the property.

The walk along the trail out of the parking lot was beautiful.

I even walked a bit slower than everyone else so that I could grab some pictures of the myriad of plants in the woods.

 We crossed the road and walked up a gravel drive to the visitor center building.

 The first piece of artwork we saw was a sculpture of Abraham Lincoln.

As we started touring the grounds we got a better view of Lincoln.

The figure known as the “Standing Lincoln” was the first of Saint-Gaudens’ statues of Lincoln. He received the commission for this monument in 1884 and began work in earnest the fol lowing year. The 12-foot-tall Lincoln is posed as though having just risen from the chair of state behind him. He is about to give a speech; his head slightly bowed, as though deep in thought, his left hand grasping the lapel of his jacket.

--from National Park Service booklet

The Farragut monument was the artist's first public monument.  The subject is the famed Civil War Admiral.  The base of the monument is the original one moved from New York City after a replacement was commissioned.  The statue is a cast of the original erected in 1881.

The atrium had a nice reflecting pool.

The bust of Lincoln is from the standing statue.

 The Puritan.

This plaster bas relief is of Robert Louis Stevenson.

This decorative panel depicting the Roman goddess Ceres was made for the New York home of Cornelius Vanderbilt II.

 This plaster bust of William Tecumseh Sherman dates from 1888.

Outside we saw the stable which houses several historic vehicles.

 Inside was an exhibit dedicated to the stable hand's room.

Once outside we saw a garden and walked over to look around.

In the garden we spotted a number of beautiful blooms.

We then walked down this tree-lined path.

After turning a corner we came across the Shaw Memorial.  It is a stirring monument to a definitive moment in history.  This memorial "remains one of sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens' most stirring and celebrated masterpieces and is considered by some to be America's greatest public monument. It also took him the longest sculpture to complete; 14 years until the unveiling in Boston in 1897."
--from Saint-Gaudens NHS website

Located in Rock Creek Cemetery, Washington, D.C., the Adams Memorial (1891) was commissioned by the historian, Henry Adams (1838-1918), for the grave of his wife, Marian "Clover" Hooper Adams (1843-1885).
--from NPS signage

We walked by the house before we headed back to our car.

While I don't always enjoy art I did enjoy this visit, partly because of the connection we were able to make to our earlier visit to Boston.  You can view all of the above pictures and a few more in this album.

~Matt