William Edward Brandon (September 21, 1914 – April 11, 2002) was an American writer and historian best known for his work about Native Americans and the American West.

Early life

Brandon was born in Kokomo, Indiana, but spent his childhood in various locales, including the

Yucatán Yucatán (, also , , ; yua, Yúukatan ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Yucatán,; yua, link=no, Xóot' Noj Lu'umil Yúukatan. is one of the 31 states which comprise the federal entities of Mexico. It comprises 106 separate mun ...

and

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...

. He held a brief job in a steel mill, before he began working as a professional writer in 1938, although this was interrupted by his service as a photographer for the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

in the Pacific Theater during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Works

Brandon published a variety of

short fiction A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

, essays, and poetry, which appeared initially in pulp magazines such as '' Black Mask'', and '' Detective Fiction Weekly'', but subsequently in prominent publications such as '' Esquire'', ''

The Atlantic Monthly ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'', ''

The Paris Review ''The Paris Review'' is a quarterly English-language literary magazine established in Paris in 1953 by Harold L. Humes, Peter Matthiessen, and George Plimpton. In its first five years, ''The Paris Review'' published works by Jack Kerouac, Phil ...

'', ''

The Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely ...

'', and ''

Reader's Digest ''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wif ...

.'' By the 1950s, he began pursuing his interest in non-fiction writing and in 1955 produced an account of John Charles Frémont's 1848 attempt to cross the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico ...

in his book ''The Men and the Mountain''. Although Brandon's formal education ended after high school, his scholarship was sufficiently respected that he was from 1966–1967 a visiting professor at the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, ...

, and later conducted a seminar series on Native American literature at

California State College Pennsylvania Western University, California (commonly known as PennWest California) is a public university campus in California, Pennsylvania and one of three campuses of Pennsylvania Western University, part of the Pennsylvania State System of ...

Long Beach Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

, California.

Death and legacy

Brandon died in Clearlake, California, on April 11, 2002, of cancer. His last book, ''The Rise and Fall of North American Indians: From Prehistory Through Geronimo,'' was published posthumously the year after his death.

Literary works

* ''The Dangerous Dead'' (1943) Dodd, Mead & Company * ''The Men and the Mountain'' (1955) . An account of Frémont's failed fourth expedition. * ''The American Heritage Book of Indians'' (1961) . (short introduction by

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

) * ''The Magic World: American Indian Songs and Poems'' (1971) * ''The Last Americans: The Indian in American Culture'' (1974) * ''New Worlds for Old: Reports from the New World and Their Effect on the Development of Social Thought in Europe, 1500–1800'' (1986) * ''Quivira: Europeans in the Region of the Santa Fe Trail, 1540–1820'' (1991) * ''The Rise and Fall of North American Indians: From Prehistory Through Geronimo'' (2003)

References

1914 births 2002 deaths 20th-century American historians 20th-century American male writers Writers from Indiana Historians of the United States University of Massachusetts Amherst faculty United States Army Air Forces soldiers United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II 20th-century American short story writers 20th-century American essayists Deaths from cancer in California American male non-fiction writers American expatriates in Mexico {{US-essayist-stub