Rocky Mountain West: Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana, 1859-1915

This is a good history that draws the genesis of Montana, Colorado and Wyoming together. Often many texts take the West as a whole, or take the individual states and recount their history. Here is a book that takes the region, examines the three different parts (Montana, Colorado, and Wyoming) and then puts them into context with what was happening in America. This is good contextualization and very solid research.Really, the underlying theme of this book tends to be the push and pull between the states and the federal government. It tackles the states' push to become states instead of territories and it also deals with the Eastern-dominated federal government trying to apply its sensibilities to the very different West. For example, the push against silver and the national labor movements. Smith does a good job of blending all three states' histories together to make a larger history with some interesting themes. He also traces the states from their very painful beginnings to the awkward-teenager growing stages of the early 20th century.The book is geared more towards the students of Western U.S. history. This isn't necessarily a primer or survey course on the history of these intermountain states. Smith assumes you already know something about these states. That having been said, it is still a wonderful read that weaves together many issues and sources.