March 29, 2010
BOOK REVIEW: 'Lost States' Chronicles States That Might Have Been as the Nation Expanded Across the Continent
Reviewed By David M. Kinchen
Huntingtonnews.net Book Critic
West Virginians who are history buffs are familiar with the proposed colony of Vandalia, which predated the state's creation in 1863 by about a hundred years.
Vandalia, as Michael J. Trinklein points out in his "Lost States: True Stories of Texlahoma, Transylvania, and Other States That Never Made It" (Quirk Books, Philadelphia, distributed by Chronicle Books, San Francisco, 160 pages, $24.95, maps, illustrations, bibliography) encompassed most of present-day West Virginia, plus the greater Pittsburgh area and a large chunk of eastern Kentucky.
Vandalia failed to materialize because of opposition from Pennsylvania, which didn't want to give up strategic Fort Pitt, and from Virginia, which at the time included present-day Kentucky. The name now denotes a cultural festival held every year in the Mountain State.
"Lost States" appealed to the history and geography buff in me and I reveled in the beautifully designed maps, by Trinklein, of what might have been.
Take the case of my native state of Michigan, an ungainly disunion of two peninsulas -- the familiar Lower Peninsula where most of the people live and where I was born (in South Haven) and the "U.P." or Upper Peninsula, which has more in common with Wisconsin than Michigan. The U.P. was awarded to Michigan as consolation for the loss of the greater Toledo area. Advocates for a West Virginia style split from the Lower Peninsula have proposed the state of Superior for the U.P., including in it several counties of northern Wisconsin.
"Lost States" is a tribute to such great might-have-been states as West Florida, which would have included New Orleans and Baton Rouge and would have landlocked Mississippi and Alabama; South California; Jefferson (including much of southern Oregon and northern California); South Jersey, and Long Island. New York, Chicago and Boston all were proposed as separate states at various times, too. And, of course, there is a strong statehood movement in Washington, DC, which includes the slogan "Taxation Without Representation" on its license plates.
Adjacent to the might-have-been state of Vandalia would have been the proposed state of Transylvania, Trinklein writes. It was advocated by Daniel Boone and in a form that eliminated parts of Tennessee that were originally included became the great state of Kentucky. Yes, there is a reference to Transylvania in the university by the same name in Lexington, Ky. It was the alma mater of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, who transferred to West Point where he graduated. Other notable Transy alumni include actor Ned Beatty, famous for his "squeal like a pig" role in the film "Deliverance" and Texas legend Stephen F. Austin.
Speaking of Texas, there have been many proposals for carving up the Lone Star state like a gigantic barbecued brisket of beef. One, the state of Jacinto, would have encompassed eastern Texas, including the Houston area and the San Jacinto battlefield site where the forces of the Lone Star Republic under Sam Houston defeated the army of Mexico's Gen. Santa Anna in 18 minutes. Texlahoma would have have included the panhandles of both Texas and Oklahoma. True fact: When Texas decided to join the U.S. in 1845, it was given the option of splitting up into the state of Texas, plus four other states.
Trinklein includes such unlikely statehood candidates as Mexico's Yucatan peninsula, which would have destroyed its appeal to young college students because Mexico's legal drinking age is 18, not the U.S.'s 21. Also, how about the state of Albania (they love us!); the state of Sicily; the state of Saipan, the sweatshop capital of the Pacific; the state of Newfoundland (it wasn't a part of Canada until 1949 and many residents would have preferred to become part of the U.S.); the state of Cuba, and great chunks of Mexico, including the Baja peninsula?
Trinklein also deals with the division of the Dakotas and alternatives to the present day states of North Dakota and South Dakota, as well as what some would consider a makes-more-sense redrawing of Minnesota.
Accompanying the brief stories are beautiful full-color original maps detailing how these states' boundaries might have looked, along with images of real-life artifacts and ephemera. "Lost States" is a quirky reference book for history buffs, geography geeks, and anyone who enjoys lush, fascinating cartography.
I bought my copy of "Lost States" in one of the nation's greatest bookstores, Powell's Burnside in downtown Portland, Ore. Powell's is the world's biggest independent book store and is a must-visit place for book lovers. I saw the book on display in another great Pacific Northwest bookstore, Seattle's Elliott Bay Book Company in that city's historic Pioneer Square district, but since I was Amtraking it down to Portland, I decided to buy it at Powell's.
"Lost States" is a coffee table book that will actually be read and would make a great gift for any history or geography buff. It's beautifully printed, in China, as are many books these days. And yes, there have been proposals for a U.S. state of Taiwan!
* * *
About the Author
Trinklein wrote and produced the Emmy-nominated PBS documentary Pioneers of Television (2008), as well as The Gold Rush (1998), and The Oregon Trail (1993). Forbes magazine ranked his Oregon Trail Web site among the top 10 of all history-related sites. He lives in Cedarburg, Wis., a northern suburb of Milwaukee. (There's a Milwaukie in Oregon, too, a suburb of Portland. Milwaukee Wis. was originally spelled the way the Oregon city is).
Publisher's web site: www.quirkbooks.com
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BOOK REVIEW: 'Lost States' Chronicles States That Might Have Been as the Nation Expanded Across the Continent
Reviewed By David M. Kinchen
Huntingtonnews.net Book Critic
West Virginians who are history buffs are familiar with the proposed colony of Vandalia, which predated the state's creation in 1863 by about a hundred years.
Vandalia, as Michael J. Trinklein points out in his "Lost States: True Stories of Texlahoma, Transylvania, and Other States That Never Made It" (Quirk Books, Philadelphia, distributed by Chronicle Books, San Francisco, 160 pages, $24.95, maps, illustrations, bibliography) encompassed most of present-day West Virginia, plus the greater Pittsburgh area and a large chunk of eastern Kentucky.
Vandalia failed to materialize because of opposition from Pennsylvania, which didn't want to give up strategic Fort Pitt, and from Virginia, which at the time included present-day Kentucky. The name now denotes a cultural festival held every year in the Mountain State.
"Lost States" appealed to the history and geography buff in me and I reveled in the beautifully designed maps, by Trinklein, of what might have been.
Take the case of my native state of Michigan, an ungainly disunion of two peninsulas -- the familiar Lower Peninsula where most of the people live and where I was born (in South Haven) and the "U.P." or Upper Peninsula, which has more in common with Wisconsin than Michigan. The U.P. was awarded to Michigan as consolation for the loss of the greater Toledo area. Advocates for a West Virginia style split from the Lower Peninsula have proposed the state of Superior for the U.P., including in it several counties of northern Wisconsin.
"Lost States" is a tribute to such great might-have-been states as West Florida, which would have included New Orleans and Baton Rouge and would have landlocked Mississippi and Alabama; South California; Jefferson (including much of southern Oregon and northern California); South Jersey, and Long Island. New York, Chicago and Boston all were proposed as separate states at various times, too. And, of course, there is a strong statehood movement in Washington, DC, which includes the slogan "Taxation Without Representation" on its license plates.
Adjacent to the might-have-been state of Vandalia would have been the proposed state of Transylvania, Trinklein writes. It was advocated by Daniel Boone and in a form that eliminated parts of Tennessee that were originally included became the great state of Kentucky. Yes, there is a reference to Transylvania in the university by the same name in Lexington, Ky. It was the alma mater of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, who transferred to West Point where he graduated. Other notable Transy alumni include actor Ned Beatty, famous for his "squeal like a pig" role in the film "Deliverance" and Texas legend Stephen F. Austin.
Speaking of Texas, there have been many proposals for carving up the Lone Star state like a gigantic barbecued brisket of beef. One, the state of Jacinto, would have encompassed eastern Texas, including the Houston area and the San Jacinto battlefield site where the forces of the Lone Star Republic under Sam Houston defeated the army of Mexico's Gen. Santa Anna in 18 minutes. Texlahoma would have have included the panhandles of both Texas and Oklahoma. True fact: When Texas decided to join the U.S. in 1845, it was given the option of splitting up into the state of Texas, plus four other states.
Trinklein includes such unlikely statehood candidates as Mexico's Yucatan peninsula, which would have destroyed its appeal to young college students because Mexico's legal drinking age is 18, not the U.S.'s 21. Also, how about the state of Albania (they love us!); the state of Sicily; the state of Saipan, the sweatshop capital of the Pacific; the state of Newfoundland (it wasn't a part of Canada until 1949 and many residents would have preferred to become part of the U.S.); the state of Cuba, and great chunks of Mexico, including the Baja peninsula?
Trinklein also deals with the division of the Dakotas and alternatives to the present day states of North Dakota and South Dakota, as well as what some would consider a makes-more-sense redrawing of Minnesota.
Accompanying the brief stories are beautiful full-color original maps detailing how these states' boundaries might have looked, along with images of real-life artifacts and ephemera. "Lost States" is a quirky reference book for history buffs, geography geeks, and anyone who enjoys lush, fascinating cartography.
I bought my copy of "Lost States" in one of the nation's greatest bookstores, Powell's Burnside in downtown Portland, Ore. Powell's is the world's biggest independent book store and is a must-visit place for book lovers. I saw the book on display in another great Pacific Northwest bookstore, Seattle's Elliott Bay Book Company in that city's historic Pioneer Square district, but since I was Amtraking it down to Portland, I decided to buy it at Powell's.
"Lost States" is a coffee table book that will actually be read and would make a great gift for any history or geography buff. It's beautifully printed, in China, as are many books these days. And yes, there have been proposals for a U.S. state of Taiwan!
* * *
About the Author
Trinklein wrote and produced the Emmy-nominated PBS documentary Pioneers of Television (2008), as well as The Gold Rush (1998), and The Oregon Trail (1993). Forbes magazine ranked his Oregon Trail Web site among the top 10 of all history-related sites. He lives in Cedarburg, Wis., a northern suburb of Milwaukee. (There's a Milwaukie in Oregon, too, a suburb of Portland. Milwaukee Wis. was originally spelled the way the Oregon city is).
Publisher's web site: www.quirkbooks.com
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