El Dorado: A Kansas Recessional
Encyclopedia
El Dorado: A Kansas Recessional is a short story by Willa Cather
. It was first published in New England Magazine in June 1901.
town by the Solomon River. He keeps a store there, and likes to dress up and go fishing on Sundays.
four years back, Major Penelton introduced Apollo Gump to Josiah. Although at first he didn't want to invest in Western land, he ended up relenting and moving to El Dorado, a town owned by the Gump family. He invested all his savings there. In Apollo's house he was impressed a picture of Therese Barittini, although Apollo was curt about it. Later the Gumps had to leave because their father had just died. As it was, they took the savings of all the town's inhabitants away in a major swindle. Inhabitants from neighbouring towns learn about it from a columns in a New York City
newspaper and come and take back whatever they can for the money they'd been lending them. Consequently, El Dorado inhabitants turn on Josiah, until they leave and he is all alone.
stops at El Dorado with her children for water. Upon her departure, he ponders on his life back in Winchester.
Willa Cather
Willa Seibert Cather was an American author who achieved recognition for her novels of frontier life on the Great Plains, in works such as O Pioneers!, My Ántonia, and The Song of the Lark. In 1923 she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for One of Ours , a novel set during World War I...
. It was first published in New England Magazine in June 1901.
I
Colonel Josiah Bywaters is the sole remaining inhabitant of El Dorado, a KansasKansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
town by the Solomon River. He keeps a store there, and likes to dress up and go fishing on Sundays.
II
In Winchester, VirginiaWinchester, Virginia
Winchester is an independent city located in the northwestern portion of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the USA. The city's population was 26,203 according to the 2010 Census...
four years back, Major Penelton introduced Apollo Gump to Josiah. Although at first he didn't want to invest in Western land, he ended up relenting and moving to El Dorado, a town owned by the Gump family. He invested all his savings there. In Apollo's house he was impressed a picture of Therese Barittini, although Apollo was curt about it. Later the Gumps had to leave because their father had just died. As it was, they took the savings of all the town's inhabitants away in a major swindle. Inhabitants from neighbouring towns learn about it from a columns in a New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
newspaper and come and take back whatever they can for the money they'd been lending them. Consequently, El Dorado inhabitants turn on Josiah, until they leave and he is all alone.
III
A woman from MissouriMissouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
stops at El Dorado with her children for water. Upon her departure, he ponders on his life back in Winchester.
V
The next day Josiah finds the man's horse and then the dead body; it is Apollo. He ends the digging and finds a box which contains the picture of Therese Barittini. Because Apollo was in love, Josiah decides that he will takes his horse and the $10,000 he finds in his pockets, and give him a proper funeral. He forgives him for his deeds. He sets fire to his store and moves out of El Dorado.Characters
- Colonel Josiah Bywaters. He is from Winchester, VirginiaWinchester, VirginiaWinchester is an independent city located in the northwestern portion of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the USA. The city's population was 26,203 according to the 2010 Census...
. - Major Penelton
- Mr Apollo Gump of Kansas. He worked as an usherer in theatres in Kansas CityKansas City, MissouriKansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
as a youth. - Aristotle Gump, an 'architect and builder, and professor of mathematics in the Gump Academy'
- Ezekiel Gump, a 'real estate agent, superintendent of waterworks, professor of natural sciences'.
- Isaiah Gump, a church minister.
- De Witt Gump, the 'physician and druggist'
- Chesterfield Gump
- Hezekiah Gump, 'the hardware merchant and president of the El Dorado Board of Trade'.
- Almira Gump, professor of history and Italian in the Gump Academy
- Venus Gump, director of a dressmaking and millinery establishment.
- El Dorado inhabitants
- Inhabitants from neighbouring towns, who come to take back their money after the Gumps have left.
- a woman from MissouriMissouriMissouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
, with her children.
Allusions to other works
- Inhabitants from El Dorado are compared to HesperidesHesperidesIn Greek mythology, the Hesperides are nymphs who tend a blissful garden in a far western corner of the world, located near the Atlas mountains in North Africa at the edge of the encircling Oceanus, the world-ocean....
and HerculesHerculesHercules is the Roman name for Greek demigod Heracles, son of Zeus , and the mortal Alcmene...
. - In Winchester, Apollo took Josiah to see Adelina PattiAdelina PattiAdelina Patti was a highly acclaimed 19th-century opera singer, earning huge fees at the height of her career in the music capitals of Europe and America. She first sang in public as a child in 1851 and gave her last performance before an audience in 1914...
. - The Bible is mentioned, with direct references to Nimrod and MammonMammonMammon is a term, derived from the Christian Bible, used to describe material wealth or greed, most often personified as a deity, and sometimes included in the seven princes of Hell.-Etymology:...
. - The Gumps have a painting which looks like something by Edgar DegasEdgar DegasEdgar Degas[p] , born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, was a French artist famous for his work in painting, sculpture, printmaking and drawing. He is regarded as one of the founders of Impressionism although he rejected the term, and preferred to be called a realist...
. - DanteDANTEDelivery of Advanced Network Technology to Europe is a not-for-profit organisation that plans, builds and operates the international networks that interconnect the various national research and education networks in Europe and surrounding regions...
is also mentioned.
Literary significance and criticism
- In a 1938 letter to Edward Wagenknetch, Willa Cather admitted that El Dorado: A Kansas Recessional was retouched by one of her professors and submitted for publication without her consent.
External links
- Full Text at the Willa Cather Archive