Paper Trails: The US Post and the Making of the American West
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- Create Date：2021-06-12 06:51:43
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Cameron Blevins
- ISBN：0190053674
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Summary
A groundbreaking history of how the US Post made the nineteenth-century American West。
There were five times as many post offices in the United States in 1899 than there are McDonald's restaurants today。 During an era of supposedly limited federal government， the United States operated the most expansive national postal system in the world。
In this cutting-edge interpretation of the late nineteenth-century United States， Cameron Blevins argues that the US Post wove together two of the era's defining projects: western expansion and the growth of state power。 Between the 1860s and the early 1900s， the western United States underwent a
truly dramatic reorganization of people， land， capital， and resources。 It had taken Anglo-Americans the better part of two hundred years to occupy the eastern half of the continent， yet they occupied the West within a single generation。 As millions of settlers moved into the region， they relied on
letters and newspapers， magazines and pamphlets， petitions and money orders to stay connected to the wider world。
Paper Trails maps the spread of the US Post using a dataset of more than 100，000 post offices， revealing a new picture of the federal government in the West。 The western postal network bore little resemblance to the civil service bureaucracies typically associated with government institutions。
Instead， the US Post grafted public mail service onto private businesses， contracting with stagecoach companies to carry the mail and paying local merchants to distribute letters from their stores。 These arrangements allowed the US Post to rapidly spin out a vast and ephemeral web of postal
infrastructure to thousands of distant places。
The postal network's sprawling geography and localized operations forces a reconsideration of the American state， its history， and the ways in which it exercised power。
There were five times as many post offices in the United States in 1899 than there are McDonald's restaurants today。 During an era of supposedly limited federal government， the United States operated the most expansive national postal system in the world。
In this cutting-edge interpretation of the late nineteenth-century United States， Cameron Blevins argues that the US Post wove together two of the era's defining projects: western expansion and the growth of state power。 Between the 1860s and the early 1900s， the western United States underwent a
truly dramatic reorganization of people， land， capital， and resources。 It had taken Anglo-Americans the better part of two hundred years to occupy the eastern half of the continent， yet they occupied the West within a single generation。 As millions of settlers moved into the region， they relied on
letters and newspapers， magazines and pamphlets， petitions and money orders to stay connected to the wider world。
Paper Trails maps the spread of the US Post using a dataset of more than 100，000 post offices， revealing a new picture of the federal government in the West。 The western postal network bore little resemblance to the civil service bureaucracies typically associated with government institutions。
Instead， the US Post grafted public mail service onto private businesses， contracting with stagecoach companies to carry the mail and paying local merchants to distribute letters from their stores。 These arrangements allowed the US Post to rapidly spin out a vast and ephemeral web of postal
infrastructure to thousands of distant places。
The postal network's sprawling geography and localized operations forces a reconsideration of the American state， its history， and the ways in which it exercised power。
Reviews
Gaucho36
，
Very tough one to rate。 As an in depth assessment of the role the postal system played in the expansion of development in The Western US from 1850-1900 it is quite good。 As a compellingly written， fast moving narrative that could sell a lot of books - not really。 But it is clear the author is more academic than spinster and he stays true to his domain。Isn’t a book about the US Postal system guaranteed to be boring and largely irrelevant？ Quite the contrary - this book will have you well prepped Very tough one to rate。 As an in depth assessment of the role the postal system played in the expansion of development in The Western US from 1850-1900 it is quite good。 As a compellingly written， fast moving narrative that could sell a lot of books - not really。 But it is clear the author is more academic than spinster and he stays true to his domain。Isn’t a book about the US Postal system guaranteed to be boring and largely irrelevant？ Quite the contrary - this book will have you well prepped for your next cocktail party。 I found it interesting that the entire business model of the USPS initially was basically what we know today as Uber - let private citizens provide the assets， capital and the time to deliver the service。The development of the postal money order product was essentially Venmo for the 1870s。 Rather than mail actual currency around， these postal money orders were merely scraps of paper until they were “unlocked” by e recipient on the other end。 And lastly， the money order system promoted the growth of “e-commerce”。。。。。 basically Sears and Montgomery Ward were the Amazons of their era。 Pretty interesting stuff indeed。 。。。more
Kevin Postlewaite
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Covers the topic nicely。 I would have preferred more detail and fewer anecdotes。
Rebecca Brenner Graham
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I can’t say enough good things about this book。 PAPER TRAILS might be my new favorite academic monograph。 this books makes me proud to be a historian & especially to be a postal historian。 PAPER TRAILS is really a must-read for any scholar of the American state， westward expansion， American imperialism， postal history， and/or digital history。 highly recommended for all nonfiction readers， too。 my favorite chapter is likely the one about postal windows because it’ll help me contextualize archival I can’t say enough good things about this book。 PAPER TRAILS might be my new favorite academic monograph。 this books makes me proud to be a historian & especially to be a postal historian。 PAPER TRAILS is really a must-read for any scholar of the American state， westward expansion， American imperialism， postal history， and/or digital history。 highly recommended for all nonfiction readers， too。 my favorite chapter is likely the one about postal windows because it’ll help me contextualize archival source work in my final dissertation chapter。 his conclusion historicizes more contemporary postal policy。 my more formal review is forthcoming in print for Annals of Iowa， but first I wanted to congratulate Cameron Blevins on invaluable scholarship。 。。。more
Lisa-Michele
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A surprisingly compelling history of the postal service， because Blevins is a genius with digital mapping techniques and weaves “a gossamer web” of post office stories across America。 In every chapter， he illustrates his archival research results with engrossing maps， charts， and graphics。 What a refreshing way to use a dense data set！ There were 59，000 post offices and 400，000 miles of mail routes in 19th century America and there are records of all of it。 “Large scale networks， organizations， A surprisingly compelling history of the postal service， because Blevins is a genius with digital mapping techniques and weaves “a gossamer web” of post office stories across America。 In every chapter， he illustrates his archival research results with engrossing maps， charts， and graphics。 What a refreshing way to use a dense data set！ There were 59，000 post offices and 400，000 miles of mail routes in 19th century America and there are records of all of it。 “Large scale networks， organizations， and institutions have a tendency to hide in plain sight， camouflaged by their own routine， ubiquitous presence。 This book is an attempt to bring one of those networks into view。” Brilliant！Blevins sometimes tells the individual story of a letter traveling from a Hamilton， Nevada mining camp to New York City and other times he tells the story of the Postal Service as an arm of the modern American state。 It is my style of history。 He made me think about so many more questions – how did Rural Free Delivery change the fabric of small towns？ How is ordering from an 1889 Sears Roebuck on the Montana prairie similar to ordering from Amazon today？ What does it do to democracy when you charge only one flat rate to send a letter， no matter how far it travels？ How in the world was the delivery time across the west shorter in the 1800s than it is today？ People wrote each other daily letters （I have my grandparents love letters from 1910 to prove it） and they received them within a couple of days。 What did they know then about “the last mile” problem？ I could go on and on。 It turns out that the American mail system influenced all the other elements of the American west in which I am interested。I thought about my great-grandpa， John Day， the local postmaster of Enterprise， Utah in the year 1900， fifty miles from nowhere， and my great-great grandma， Lorine Higbee， the local postmistress of Toquerville， Utah in the year 1903， population 130。 I have a great postal heritage。 Small rural post offices were the center of the world in one sense， sending missiles to all parts of the country and delivering some of the world’s greatest newspapers to the tiniest towns。 ”The clattering arrival of the mail stagecoach drew neighbors together at regular intervals to a central location in order to pick up their mail， read newspapers， trade gossip， buy stamps， and send letters。 Arguably no other institution was so embedded in the everyday lives of so many different people。” 。。。more
Kim
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