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American Zion : Cliven Bundy, God & public lands in the West / Betsy Gaines Quammen.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: Salt Lake City, UT : Torrey House Press, [2020]Edition: First Torrey House Press editionDescription: 370 pages ; 21 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9781948814140
  • 1948814145
Subject(s): Summary: What happens when members of an American religion-- one built in the nineteenth century on personal prophecy and land proprietorship-- assert possession over western federal lands? Armed with guns and a certainty that God wants them to go to war, Mormon rancher Cliven Bundy, his sons, and their supporters held off government agencies and law enforcement in Bunkerville, Nevada, in 2014, and Bundy's sons led another standoff in Malheur, Oregon, in 2016. But why? American Zion tells the story of the ongoing conflict between the Bundys, the federal government, and the American public and the religious underpinnings of so many land disputes in the West. Historian Betsy Gaines Quammen examines the roots of the Bundys' cowboy confrontations, and how history has shaped an often-dangerous mindset which today feeds the militia movement and threatens public lands, wild species, and American heritage.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 333.1097 Q1 Available 33111009630761
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

"A deep, fascinating dive into a uniquely American brand of religious zealotry that poses a grave threat to our national parks, wilderness areas, wildlife sanctuaries, and other public lands. It also happens to be a delight to read."
--JON KRAKAUER

American Zion is the story of the Bundy family , famous for their armed conflicts in the West. With an antagonism that goes back to the very first Mormons who fled the Midwest for the Great Basin, they hold a sense of entitlement that confronts both law and democracy. Today their cowboy confrontations threaten public lands, wild species, and American heritage.

BETSY GAINES QUAMMEN is a historian and conservationist. She received a doctorate in Environmental History from Montana State University in 2017, her dissertation focusing on Mormon settlement and public land conflicts. After college in Colorado, caretaking for a bed and breakfast in Mosier, Oregon, and serving breakfasts at a cafe in Kanab, Utah, Betsy has settled in Bozeman, Montana, where she now lives with her husband, writer David Quammen, three huge dogs, an overweight cat, and a pretty big python named Boots.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

What happens when members of an American religion-- one built in the nineteenth century on personal prophecy and land proprietorship-- assert possession over western federal lands? Armed with guns and a certainty that God wants them to go to war, Mormon rancher Cliven Bundy, his sons, and their supporters held off government agencies and law enforcement in Bunkerville, Nevada, in 2014, and Bundy's sons led another standoff in Malheur, Oregon, in 2016. But why? American Zion tells the story of the ongoing conflict between the Bundys, the federal government, and the American public and the religious underpinnings of so many land disputes in the West. Historian Betsy Gaines Quammen examines the roots of the Bundys' cowboy confrontations, and how history has shaped an often-dangerous mindset which today feeds the militia movement and threatens public lands, wild species, and American heritage.

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