June 12, 2026: For America's 250th, a truer story of the frontier

In its hiring and promotional imagery, the Department of Homeland Security has leaned on a familiar trope: White westerners dominating the frontier. Historian Megan Kate Nelson calls it the frontier myth... that westward expansion was limited to white nuclear families in covered wagons. In her new book "The Westerners," Nelson introduces us to extraordinary historical characters who demonstrate otherwise. We spoke at this year's Mountain Words Festival at Center for the Arts Crested Butte.