The Nationalistic Effects of Micro-Myth in the Production of History Illustrated by the Life of Swedish Immigrant John Samuelson

Abstract

In 1928 and 1954, the life of Swedish gold miner John Samuelson (October 7, 1873–unknown) was mythologized by pulp fiction writer Erle Stanley Gardner in a story entitled “Rain Magic” and in the first chapter of his book Neighborhood Frontiers. His work corrupted contemporary historical accounts of Samuelson, Americanized him, and perpetuated quintessential American myths such as rugged individualism, the frontier, the American Dream, the Protestant work ethic, and American heroism and chasteness. It also illustrated that small myths are inherently nationalistic because they reinforce grand national myths which subsequently strengthen cultural norms within the collective memory. This paper recognizes that connection while highlighting how that intersection influenced the production of subsequent histories by investigating the life of John Samuelson through myth to establish a factual history. In a sense, this paper serves as a historical court of last resort for Samuelson who has no descendants to champion his memory or contradict contemporary accounts of his life. This work acquits him from the sentence of historical marginalization and produces a meaningful historical account superseding all previous work and is the most complete history of Samuelson to date. A study of Samuelson illustrates that myth and history will always intertwine, infuse themselves into culture, and effectively act as nationalizing agents.