As European settlers pressed westward across North America, they often described the lands behind them with a single haunting phrase: behind them a desolate wilderness. This phrase echoed through journals, political speeches, and colonial records, not simply as a description of the landscape, but as a reflection of ideology, cultural displacement, and manifest destiny. What they called wilderness was, in truth, the ancestral homelands of Indigenous peoples, filled with vibrant cultures, sustainable systems of agriculture, and spiritual meaning. Understanding the deeper significance of this phrase uncovers the myths of colonization and the complex narratives of history it sought to overwrite.
Origins of the Phrase
Early Colonial Mindset
The phrase ‘behind them a desolate wilderness’ likely emerged from Puritan and colonial literature during the 17th and 18th centuries. Settlers arriving in the New World often wrote of the untamed land as wild, savage, and empty. This language served multiple purposes it framed the colonial project as a civilizing mission and justified the seizure of land. The concept of wilderness was not merely geographical; it was ideological.
Biblical and Cultural Influence
Many colonists, especially Puritans, drew upon biblical imagery to make sense of their journey. The wilderness was seen as a trial, a place where faith was tested, just as it had been for Moses and the Israelites. This framing made conquest feel divine and necessary. Describing the lands left behind as desolate also erased the Indigenous presence, implying the land had no stewards or rightful owners.
The Role of Manifest Destiny
Justifying Expansion
By the 19th century, the United States embraced the ideology of Manifest Destiny the belief that Americans were destined by God to expand from coast to coast. The language of the wilderness was reused to reinforce this ideology. Politicians, writers, and settlers declared that they were taming a wild continent, even as they displaced Native communities and ecosystems.
Creating National Identity
The idea of a desolate land that was transformed by hardworking settlers became central to American national identity. Pioneers, homesteaders, and frontiersmen were praised for bringing order, farming, and industry to previously unused land. This narrative excluded Native histories and reinforced settler colonialism as heroic and inevitable.
Reality of Indigenous Landscapes
Far from Desolate
Contrary to claims of emptiness, the landscapes settlers encountered were actively managed by Native American tribes. Indigenous communities used controlled burns, crop rotations, and migration patterns to maintain balance with the environment. Forests, prairies, and rivers were not untouched they were shaped by centuries of stewardship.
Evidence of Civilization
- The Iroquois Confederacy maintained complex political systems.
- The Mississippian culture built large urban centers like Cahokia.
- The Pueblo peoples developed advanced irrigation and architectural techniques.
- Many tribes had established trade routes, agriculture, and ceremonial sites.
The phrase desolate wilderness became a tool to ignore this evidence and promote the myth of empty lands ripe for the taking.
Impact of the Wilderness Narrative
Dispossession and Removal
By portraying Indigenous lands as uninhabited or underused, colonial governments and settlers could rationalize forced removals. Policies like the Indian Removal Act of 1830 were fueled by the belief that Native peoples were obstacles to progress. The erasure of Indigenous presence from the landscape helped to morally justify violent expansion.
Environmental Consequences
Settler colonialism often disrupted delicate ecosystems that Indigenous peoples had maintained for generations. Forests were cleared for agriculture, bison were hunted nearly to extinction, and rivers were dammed or polluted. The myth of desolation disguised the environmental degradation that followed colonization.
Modern Reinterpretations
Decolonizing the Narrative
Today, historians and Indigenous scholars challenge the wilderness myth. They seek to reframe the story of North America by centering Indigenous experiences and land stewardship. Acknowledging that the land was not desolate but deeply inhabited and cared for is a step toward justice and truth-telling.
Land Acknowledgments and Cultural Revival
Land acknowledgments at public events and educational institutions aim to remind audiences that the places they inhabit are Indigenous homelands. Furthermore, many tribes are reviving traditional practices such as controlled burns, native seed planting, and ancestral ceremonies, demonstrating the continued connection to the land that was never truly lost.
Symbolism in Literature and Memory
Use in Colonial and American Literature
The phrase ‘behind them a desolate wilderness’ also reflects a literary tradition that shaped American cultural imagination. Authors like James Fenimore Cooper romanticized the frontier, depicting Native Americans as noble but doomed figures, and the land as blank canvas awaiting civilization. These portrayals reinforced the idea that history began with colonization.
Contemporary Reflections
Modern authors, filmmakers, and educators now revisit this phrase critically. Works by Indigenous writers like Leslie Marmon Silko and N. Scott Momaday present counter-narratives that reclaim history and land memory. They remind us that what was called wilderness was, in fact, home.
The phrase behind them a desolate wilderness is more than a poetic expression it is a lens into how history has been shaped, distorted, and weaponized. It reveals the ideologies that supported colonization and erased the presence of Indigenous peoples. By uncovering the truth behind such language, we take a step toward honoring the rich histories that existed long before settlers arrived. Far from being desolate, the landscapes of North America were and remain deeply alive with culture, memory, and resilience. Understanding this transforms not just how we view the past, but how we live in the present and imagine the future.