Mountains and rivers without end: Teaching field courses in western history

Field-based undergraduate courses have long been the domain of the natural sciences, and for good reason. Subjects such as geology, botany, ornithology, and forestry readily lend themselves to field study as students can apply concepts and theories learned in the classroom to an empirical setting. In the humanities, however, field courses are a rarity. In the following essay, we assess the challenges and benefits of teaching a wilderness-based field course in western history, drawing on our experience teaching Montana environmental history while canoeing and camping along the 149-mile Wild and Scenic stretch of the upper Missouri River in Montana.