071 - John Nelson - Muddy Ground: Native Peoples, Chicago's Portage, and the Transformation of a Continent

A conversation with historian John William Nelson about their book, Muddy Ground: Native Peoples, Chicago's Portage, and the Transformation of a Continent (University of North Carolina Press, 2023) John William Nelson is assistant professor of history at Texas Tech University, where he teaches courses on Colonial America, the American West, the Atlantic World, and Native American history. He holds a PhD in history from the University of Notre Dame. In addition to a couple book chapters in Routeledge anthologies, Nelson published award-winning articles in the Michigan Historical Review in 2019 and William and Mary Quarterly in 2021. His 2023 book that we discuss today, Muddy Ground: Native Peoples, Chicago's Portage, and the Transformation of a Continent (University of North Carolina Press, David J. Weber Series in the New Borderlands History Series, 2023). It won the 2024 W. Turrentine-Jackson Prize (Western History Association), 2024 Superior Achievement Award (Illinois State Historical Society), an Honorable Mention for the 2024 Jon Gjerde Book Award (Midwestern History Association), and was a Shortlist Award Recipient for the 2024 Pattis Family Foundation Chicago Book Award (The Newberry Library).     The Writing Westward Podcast is produced and hosted by Prof. Brenden W. Rensink for the Charles Redd Center for Western Studies at Brigham Young University. Subscribe to the Writing Westward Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Play, and other podcast distribution apps and platforms.   Follow the BYU Redd Center and the Writing Westward Podcast on Facebook, Bluesky, or Twitter/X, or get more information @ https://reddcenter.byu.edu and https://www.writingwestward.org.   Theme music by Micah Dahl Anderson @ www.micahdahlanderson.com