Review Of The Road On Which We Came By Steven J. Crum

The book “The Road on Which We Came, by Steven J. Crum is a chronological report of the Shoshone peoples, and their history during the times from the Frontier to present-day. The main objective of Crum’s writings is the disposition of the Western Shoshone people. Unlike the majority of other Tribes, forgotten in history books as they assimilated into white society, the Western Shoshone have preserved their existence by cautiously dealing with settlers, defending their territory, and maintaining a large portion of their lands. From the initial mid-nineteenth century white contact, Crum describes the disruption of a way of life for the Newe, to the accepted need to adapt in the large modern society around them. The depiction of the Newe people as resilient and resourceful in the fight to preserve their culture and tradition, all while adapting to the forcefully changing environment around them (Crum, pp. vii-xii). The book is written with a more political and legal standpoint of Shoshone conflict.

from the University of Utah. He is a historian, as well as a member of the Shoshone Tribe of Duck Valley (Crum pg. vii). This gives incredible insight into the historical relevance of the peoples and the qualitative knowledge developed through personal relationships. Crum asserts that the Western Shoshone have actively participated in the making of their own history. A people that are described by Anthropologists and historians alike as a hunter-gatherer society, were highly adaptable to the desert climate, and assimilated into Anglo-American life by the beginning of the twentieth century (Crum, pp. 2-4). Their ability to do such is founded on their adaptable nature. For many generations, the Shoshone, as well as the Indians of the Great Basin were viewed with qualities such as hostile, passive, and unwavering. Crum’s accounts through historical evidence prove the people were more adaptive and resilient in their