This was a fun little volume. Each 2-page spread contained a map on one side of the territory in question and a textual history on the other. The histories are light and light-hearted, more of a cocktail-party discussion than historical dissertation.The list of proposals and oddities included are really widely spread, from failed colonial ventures through 1800's colonial adventurism to more modern protest publicity stunts. Added to that are various foreign territories and countries that someone though ripe for annexation. That said, some trends do start to appear. There seems to be a long-running desire for a common state for much of the territory in the Appalachian Mountains independent from bordering lowlands - West Virginia seems to be the only successful plan of many for this region. Northern and Southern California really don't seem to like each other. And nobody seems to know how to handle the Dakotas or the American Southwest.The biggest take-away is that the borders of US states were not inevitable and more often than not seem to be based on little to no particular facts. We all know the fifty states as they are today. And for those of us who have grown up since Alaska and Hawaii were admitted fifty years ago, it seems like there have always been fifty, and will always be fifty. But the real history of the United States has been much more fluid than that. Over the course of the last few centuries, there have been hundreds of proposals for states, and only fifty of them made the cut. Author Michael J. Trinklein has sorted through the others—the ones that didn't make it—and written a new hardcover book about some of those “Lost States.” The 2010 book is Lost States: True Stories of Texlahoma, Transylvania, and Other States that Didn't Make It, and it's a fascinating read. I heard about it about six months before it was published, and eagerly anticipated its arrival. What I found was more entertaining and interesting than I expected. Trinklein has taken around 75 of the more interesting Lost States and told their stories in a single page format. Every two page spread has a full-page map that shows where the state would have been in relation to current state boundaries, and often a photograph or painting of significant pieces of landscape, legislation, or people who figure in the story. It's hardly a full historical treatment—it's just enough information to tell you about the frequently odd history, and a hook into what could have been—if only history had played out differently. Some of the more interesting “Lost States:” Alberta and British Columbia: This is one I would go for—adding their “American” sensibilities and resources to our own Pacific Northwest would just make the United States more beautiful. And no one ever died ticking off Canadians. Deseret: As a Utahn and a Mormon, Brigham Young's planned state intrigues me. Deseret would have taken in most of Nevada, Arizona, and a huge swath of Southern California (we'd have beachfront property!)...it was too much for the exiled Mormons to ask from the Federal Government, who didn't want a bunch of zealots to have that much land, even in the desert Southwest. Greenland: Around the same time Secretary of State William Seward was buying Alaska, he also tried to get Greenland from Denmark—but it wasn't for sale. This idea was revived during President George W. Bush's presidency as a nice place for military bases...I'm sure military personnel would beg to differ. Montezuma: this is one that came closest to actually happening: it would have included most of modern Arizona and New Mexico. Neither of the territories had the population to become a state, and several times a two-for-one deal was pitched to Congress. Politics kept preventing the superstate from happening until the 20th Century, when Arizona and New Mexico could finally make it on their own. Transylvania: I like the name of this state more than the actual proposal, was was a proto-Kentucky proposed by Daniel Boone. This is another one that almost made it, but their delegate was late (and uninvited) to the Continental Congress. There are several trends that each come up at least five times in the book: splitting California, splitting Texas, creating a “homeland” state for various tribes of Native Americans, creating city-states, and acquiring far away countries as states. Bizarre as it sounds, proposals for the statehood of Taiwan, Guyana, and Iceland have all been pitched. The biggest surprise in the book is how many of the proposed states were from recent years. I had assumed these were all dating back to the 19th Century, but there were many Lost States that were from my lifetime, and even in the last decade. Some of these were tongue-in-cheek proposals, some were to send a political message, but many were as serious as any of the others in the book. And who hasn't thought, “Southern California is so very different from Northern California—why aren't they a separate state?” Trinklein gets into the reasons that the proposed states didn't make it, and into what makes a “good state.” By the end of Lost States, you'll look at your own part of the country a bit differently, and the states surrounding you, too.
What do You think about Lost States (2010)?
What a fun read. Enjoyed the reading about history that you don't learn in school!
—missy
A fun look at proposed states that didn't make it for one reason or another.
—Sonnet
Fun read! This book has given me cocktail knowledge for months now!
—felix
