Research Guides: Historical Studies: Home

History Faculty Publications

Wild Place by Kris Runberg Smith; Tom Weitz (Assisted by)
ISBN: 0874223296
Publication Date: 2015-05-15
Beginning in the 1890s, adventurous souls, a wide cast of homesteaders, prospectors, speculators, and loggers dazzled by its natural resources, tried their best to tame Idaho's Priest Lake. Yet grand turn-of-the-century Western expansion bypassed the area, sparing its idyllic beauty.

In 1897 President Cleveland expanded federal influence over the region and introduced an enduring tension between public and private lands. Still, over the ensuing decades industrial and recreational use increased. Timber and summer cottages were in high demand. Devastating wildfires also initiated profound change. Population growth accelerated after World War II, and electricity became commonplace. In 1947 a local newspaper crowed, Priest Lake has become a cult with many vacationists.

Today, every privately-owned acre and lot represents past optimism, opportunity, hard work, greed, or politics. Wild Place traces those remnants, focusing on little-known yet captivating stories of the colorful characters who navigated Priest Lake's demanding physical, political, and economic challenges.

Historical Studies

Historical Studies Department

209 S. Kingshighway
St. Charles, MO 63301

Dr. Kris Smith, Department Chair
636-949-4775
ksmith@lindenwood.edu

About the History and Geography Department

Lindenwood's history and geography curriculum focuses on the United States, Latin America, and Europe while also emphasizing an understanding of world history as a whole.

Nearly everyone finds something intriguing about the past, and Lindenwood University is located in a place of great historic importance. When Mary and George Sibley founded the school in 1827, the St. Charles region was part of the early American frontier, a place settled by migrants from the eastern United States searching for new lands and new opportunities.

The History and Geography Department invites students with a similar spirit of adventure to consider our course of study as a major.

Courses

We offer a range of classes in American, European, and world history with such titles as "The Civil War and Reconstruction," "Church and State in Early Modern Europe," and "Revolution in the Modern World."

Outside the Classroom

History majors can participate in special projects like museum exhibits, walking tours, and television programs on LUTV. The History and Geography Club engages in a variety of activities, including touring local museums and historic sites.

From the Students

Quotes from former students:

"The discussions in class really forced us to use critical thinking and form our own opinions about history, not just get our opinions from some outdated textbook."

"I really like the somewhat relaxed and involving discussion style that the class took on for the majority of the semester."

"I really enjoyed the primary documents. They taught me how things and issues were perceived and understood at the time."

"I valued a class filled with people who are there not because they have to be but because they want to be."