Open Access
Subscription Access
Open Access
Subscription Access
Early National Identity-Building in John Kirk Townsend's "Narrative of a Journey across the Rocky Mountains"
Subscribe/Renew Journal
In early nineteenth century, the American West was still full of unknown and unmapped terrain, teeming with undiscovered forms of life. John Kirk Townsend, a travel writer, naturalist-explorer, and nature writer in early-nineteenth-century America, traveled through the unexplored reaches of the American West. Penetrating into the unknown area of Western American continent, Townsend left a record of his scientific observation: "Narrative of a Journey across the Rocky Mountains, to the Columbia River, and a Visit to the Sandwich Islands, Chili,&c., with a Scientific Appendix" (1839). Written in the form of a travel diary, "Narrative of a Journey" is among the most charming early-nineteenth-century accounts of the landscapes and fauna in America's western territories. This study explores John Kirk Townsend's "Narrative of a Journey" in the context of early national American identity-building. It discusses Townsend's engagement with the culture of American nationalism in early nineteenth century, both in literature and in science. Focusing on Townsend's "Narrative of a Journey," this study examines the following questions: In his travel journal how does Townsend build American national identity by documenting the plants, animals, and landscapes in early-nineteenth-century western territories? How does Townsend narrate his scientific discovery about the utterly unknown prairie, species, and desert wilderness of the American West to shape a uniquely national and cultural identity for early America?
Keywords
John Kirk Townsend, "Narrative of a Journey", Science, Literature, Early National Identity-Building, Natural History.
Subscription
Login to verify subscription
User
Font Size
Information
- Audubon, John James. Ornithological Biography, or an Account of the Habits of the Birds of the United States of America; Accompanied by Descriptions of the Objects Represented in the Work Entitled The Birds of America, and Interspersed with Delineations of American Scenery and Manner. 5 vols. Edinburgh: Adam Black, 1831-1849.
- Bartram, William. Travels through North and South Carolina, Georgia, East and West Florida. Charlottesville: UP of Virginia, 1980. Print.
- Baym, Nina, et al., eds. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 7th ed. 5 vols. New York: Norton, 2007. Print.
- Bergon, Frank, ed. The Wilderness Reader. Reno: U of Nevada P, 1994. Print.
- Branch, Michael P. "Early Romantic Natural History Literature." American Nature Writers. Ed. John Elder. 2 vols. New York: Scribner's, 1996. 1059-77. Print.
- Branch, Michael P. ed. Reading the Roots: American Nature Writing before Walden. Athens: U of Georgia P, 2004. Print.
- Branch, Michael P. "John Kirk Townsend (October 10, 1809-February 6, 1851)." Early American Nature Writers: A Biographical Encyclopedia. Ed. Daniel Patterson, Roger Thompson, and Scott Bryson. Westport: Greenwood, 2008. 373-80. Print.
- Conran, John, ed. The American Landscape: A Critical Anthology of Prose and Poetry. New York: Oxford UP, 1974. Print.
- Cronon, William, ed. Uncommon Ground: Rethinking the Human Place in Nature. New York: Norton, 1996. Print.
- Elder, John, ed. American Nature Writers. 2 vols. New York: Scribner's, 1996.
- Evans, Howard Ensign. Pioneer Naturalists: The Discovery and Naming of North American Plants and Animals. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1993.
- Goetzmann, William. New Lands, New Men: America and the Second Great Age of Discovery. New York: Viking Penguin, 1986.
- Hindle, Brooke. The Pursuit of Science in Revolutionary America. New York: The Norton Library, 2008. Print.
- Jefferson, Thomas. Notes on the State of Virginia. New York: Norton, 1982. Print.
- Jobanek, George A. Introduction. Narrative of a Journey across the Rocky Mountains, to the Columbia River, and a Visit to the Sandwich Islands, Chili, & c., with a Scientific Appendix. By John Kirk Townsend. Corvallis: Oregon State UP, 1999. xiii-xxix. Print.
- Johnson, Rochelle, and Daniel Patterson. "Writing About Nature in Early America: From Discovery to 1850." Literature of Nature: An International Sourcebook. Ed. Patrick D. Murphy. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn, 1998. 3-12. Print.
- Kastner, Joseph. A Species of Eternity. New York: Alfred. A. Knopf, 1977. Print.
- Keegan, Bridget, and James C. Mckusick, eds. Literature and Nature: Four Centuries of Nature Writing. Prentice Hall: Upper Saddle River, 2001. Print.
- Lauter, Paul, et al., eds. The Heath Anthology of American Literature. 5th ed. 5 vols. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2006. Print.
- Lindholdt, Paul. "Early American Natural Histories." Literature of Nature: An International Sourcebook. Ed. Patrick D. Murphy. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn, 1998. 13-25. Print.
- Lyon, Thomas J., ed. This Incomperable Lande: A Book of American Nature Writing. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1989. Print.
- Mazel, David. American Literary Environmentalism. Athens: U of Georgia P, 2000.
- Moring, John. Early American Naturalists: Exploring the American West 1804-1900. New York: Cooper Square, 2002. Print.
- Nuttall, Thomas. A Manual of the Ornithology of the United States and Canada. 2 vols. Boston: Hilliard, Gray, and Company, 1840. (this work can also be found in http://www.archive.org/details/manualofornithol01nutt and http://www.archive.org/details/manualofornithol02nutt)
- Nuttall, Thomas. The North American Sylva. Philadelphia: D. Rice and A. N. Hart, 1857.
- Patterson, Daniel, Roger Thompson, and Scott Bryson, eds. Early American Nature Writers: A Biographical Encyclopedia. Westport: Greenwood, 2008. Print.
- Porter, Charlotte M. The Eagle's Nest: Natural History and American Ideas, 1812-1842. Alabama: U of Alabama P, 1986. Print.
- Regis, Pamela. Bartram, Jefferson, Crevecoeur, and the Influence of Natural History. Philadelphia: U of Pennsylvania P, 1992. Print.
- Smallwood, William Martin, and Mabel Sarah Coon Smallwood. Natural History and the American Mind. New York: Columbia UP, 1941. Print.
- Townsend, John Kirk. Narrative of a Journey across the Rocky Mountains, to the Columbia River, and a Visit to the Sandwich Islands, Chili, & c., with a Scientific Appendix. Corvallis: Oregon State UP, 1999. Print.
- Ziser, Michael. "Thomas Nuttall." Early American Nature Writers: A Biographical Encyclopedia. Ed. Daniel Patterson, Roger Thompson, and Scott Bryson. Westport: Greenwood, 2008. 275-80. Print.
Abstract Views: 145
PDF Views: 0