Lost Worlds of 1863: Relocation and Removal of American Indians in the Central Rockies and the Greater Southwest Paperback - 2022

From the rear cover

An in-depth examination of the mid-nineteenth century devastation of American Indian communities including the Yavapai, Apache, O'odham, and Navajo

In Lost Worlds of 1863, historian W. Dirk Raat examines the relocation and removal of indigenous societies in the Greater American Southwest. Presenting a unique comparative narrative approach, the author addresses the diaspora experiences of a variety of indigenous communities, including the Shoshone of Utah, the Utes of Colorado, the Northern Paiutes of Nevada and California, and the Apache, Yaqui and Navajo in Arizona and Sonora.

Focusing on the events of 1863, a pivotal year in Native American history that exemplifies the turbulent history of Indian-White relations, the author compares various kinds of relocation between different indigenous groups ranging from the removal and assimilation policies of the United States government regarding the Navajo and Paiute people, to the wholesale extermination of the Shoshone in the Bear River Massacre. In-depth case studies explore Indian ceremonial rites and belief systems to illustrate the relationship between the sacred landscapes and personal identity of native peoples, and provide extensive histories of the pre-contact, Spanish, and Mexican worlds that created the context for the events before, during, and after 1863.

Lost Worlds of 1863: Relocation and Removal of American Indians in the Central Rockies and the Greater Southwest is a must-have book for all readers with interest in Western and Native American history.