| Hoboes: Bindlestiffs, Fruit Tramps, and the Harvesting of the West Contributor(s): Wyman, Mark (Author) |
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ISBN: 0809054914 ISBN-13: 9780809054916 Publisher: Hill & Wang OUR PRICE: $22.50 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: April 2011 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - History | United States - State & Local - West (ak, Ca, Co, Hi, Id, Mt, Nv, Ut, Wy) - Social Science | Agriculture & Food - History | Social History |
| Dewey: 305.568 |
| LCCN: 2009020834 |
| Physical Information: 1" H x 8.7" W x 5.7" (0.90 lbs) 368 pages |
| Themes: - Cultural Region - Western U.S. - Chronological Period - 1851-1899 - Chronological Period - 1900-1949 |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: When the railroad stretched its steel rails across the American West in the 1870s, it opened up a vast expanse of territory. Agriculture quickly followed the railroads, making way for Kansas wheat and Colorado sugar beets and Washington apples. With this new agriculture came an unavoidable need for harvest workers. These were not the year-round hired hands but transients who would show up to harvest the crop and then leave when the work was finished. Variously called bindlestiffs, fruit tramps, hoboes, and bums, these men--and women and children--were vital to the creation of the West and its economy. Amazingly, it is an aspect of Western history that has never been told. In Hoboes: Bindlestiffs, Fruit Tramps, and the Harvesting of the West, the award-winning historian Mark Wyman offers a detailed, deeply sympathetic portrait of the lives of these hoboes, as well as a fresh look at the settling and development of the American West. |
Contributor Bio(s): Wyman, Mark: - A distinguished professor of history, emeritus, at Illinois State University, Mark Wyman has written several books on immigration and the American West. He lives in Normal, Illinois, with his wife Eva. |