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 The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the Wes ...

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 political divisions of Mexico, federal entities of Mexico. I ...

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, Ker ...

. He held a brief job in a

steel mill A steel mill or steelworks is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel. It may be an integrated steel works carrying out all steps of steelmaking from smelting iron ore to rolled product, but may also be a plant where steel semi-finish ...

, before he began working as a professional writer in 1938, although this was interrupted by his service as a photographer for the

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in the

Pacific Theater The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

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 opposin ...

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 t ...

, essays, and poetry, which appeared initially in pulp magazines such as '' Black Mask'', and ''

Detective Fiction Weekly A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads the ...

'', but subsequently in prominent publications such as ''

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'', ''

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, Philip ...

'', ''

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'', 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 wi ...

.'' By the 1950s, he began pursuing his interest in non-fiction writing and in 1955 produced an account of

John Charles Frémont John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

'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 ...

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, it ...

, 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 o ...

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, 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 Dodd, Mead and Company was one of the pioneer publishing houses of the United States, based in New York City. Under several names, the firm operated from 1839 until 1990. History Origins In 1839, Moses Woodruff Dodd (1813–1899) and John S. Ta ...

* ''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 i ...

) * ''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