If You Go
Date: November 2, 2006
Time: 7:00 PM
Where: Glenn Miller Ballroom, UMC

2006 Wallace Stegner Award Recipients

Native American activists John Echohawk and Billy Frank, Jr., were honored by the University of Colorado at Boulder’s Center of the American West on Nov. 2 at 7:00 p.m. at the Glenn Miller Ballroom.

The Center presents the Wallace Stegner Award, its highest recognition, to individuals who have made a sustained contribution to the cultural identity of the West through literature, art, history, lore, or understanding of the West. Terry Tempest Williams, author of Refuge, received the award last year. Past recipients include John Nichols, N. Scott Momaday, Rudolfo Anaya, Vine Deloria, Jr., and Alvin Josephy. This year the Center presented the Wallace Stegner Award to John Echohawk and Billy Frank, Jr.

Billy Frank, Jr., has spent much of his life advocating for human rights for all, particularly the Indian people of western Washington. A Nisqually tribal member, Frank grew up fishing for salmon and steelhead on the Nisqually River, and he was on the front line when the battle over treaty-guaranteed Indian fishing rights erupted in the 1960s and 1970s. His perseverance landed him in jail more than 40 times, but this also helped guarantee Indian fishing rights when the “Boldt Decision” was made in the late 1970s. Cooperation, not confrontation, is what Frank advocates now. As chairman of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission (NWIFC), Frank has worked to achieve a number of key agreements between the tribes and various local, state, and federal officials that further strengthen treaty-guaranteed fishing rights and environmental protection laws. His involvement in arenas like the unique Timber-Fish-Wildlife Agreement, the Chelan Agreement (a water resources planning document), and the Centennial Accord have placed Frank in a powerful leadership role for Indian and non-Indian alike. It is a leadership role that has been recognized from Olympia to Washington, D.C.

John Echohawk, a Pawnee, is the Executive Director of the Native American Rights Fund. He was the first graduate of the University of New Mexico’s special program to train Indian lawyers, and was a founding member of the American Indian Law Students Association while in law school. Echohawk has been with NARF since its inception, having served continuously as Executive Director since 1977. He has been recognized as one of the 100 most influential lawyers in America by the National Law Journal since 1988 and has received numerous service awards and other recognition for his leadership in the Indian law field. He serves on the Boards of the American Indian 91��ý Institute, the Association on American Indian Affairs, the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, Natural 91��ý Defense Council, and the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development. B.A., University of New Mexico (1967); J.D., University of New Mexico (1970); Reginald Heber Smith Fellow (1970-72); Native American Rights Fund (August 1970 to present); admitted to practice law in Colorado.

The handmade Stegner Award certificate featured a personalized inscription that reflected the recipients’ distinguished accomplishments and included a $1,500 cash award. The Stegner Award presentation featured an interview and discussion of these men’s careers conducted by Patty Limerick, Professor of History and Environmental Studies and Chair of the CU-Boulder Center of the American West, and Charles Wilkinson, Distinguished Professor of Law at CU-Boulder. This award was made possible by the generosity of the Olson Family.

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  If You Go
Date: April 27, 2007
Time: 7:00 PM

2007 Wallace Stegner Award Recipient

The Center was proud to present internationally-acclaimed author Ivan Doig with the 2007 Wallace Stegner Award. Mr. Doig spent the evening in conversation with Center of the American West founders Patty Limerick and Charles Wilkinson. Doig grounds his poetic prose in the landscape of the American West, mining it for universal truths in such books as National Book Award-nominated This House of Sky; Ride with Me, Mariah Montana; and, most recently, The Whistling Season. This event is made possible through the generosity of the Olson Family.

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  If You Go
Date: April 17, 2008
Time: 7:00 PM
Where: Macky Auditorium

2008 Wallace Stegner Award Recipient

The Center of the American West, in conjunction with the University of Colorado Law School, was proud to present one of the most influential, and interesting, Westerners of our time, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, with the 2008 Wallace Stegner Award. Justice O’Connor was the first female Supreme Court Justice and her time on the bench is marked by a brand of independent thought often associated with Western character. She is also the coauthor of the memoir Lazy B, a collaboration between Justice O’Connor and her brother Alan. This memoir recounts their experience growing up on a ranch along the Arizona-New Mexico border. Justice O’Connor spoke at Macky Auditorium at 7:00 on April 17th. This very special Center of the American West Wallace Stegner Award ceremony was not one to be missed.

The Wallace Stegner Award is made possible through the generosity of Alan and Carol Ann Olson.

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  If You Go
Date: February 26, 2009

2009 Wallace Stegner Award Recipient

The Center of the American West presented Western author Tom McGuane with the prestigious 2009 Wallace Stegner Award in an engaging evening. Each year, the Center celebrates the life and achievements of an individual that has made a sustained contribution to the cultural identity of the West through literature, art, history, lore, or an understanding of the West. Tom McGuane, long considered one of the West’s most important literary figures, exemplifies the spirit of this award through his many works, including the books Panama, The Cadence of Grass, Gallatin Canyon, and the National Book Award nominee Ninety-two in the Shade.

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  If You Go
Date: September 28, 2010
Time: 9:00 AM
Where: Wittemyer Courtoom, Wolf Law School

2010 Wallace Stegner Award Recipient

Patty Limerick interviewed the 2010 Stegner Award recipient, Ted Turner, for a morning of engaging discussion. Each year, the Center celebrates the life and achievements of an individual who has made a sustained contribution to the cultural identity of the West through literature, art, history, lore, or an understanding of the West. Throughout his career, Ted Turner has used his entrepreneurial acumen, his unprecedented philanthropy, and his dedication to build unique alliances focused on land conservation and preservation. His influence on the Western landscape, both cultural and physical, has been profound, and the Center of the American West was honored to recognize him.

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  If You Go
Date: October 27, 2011
Time: 7:00 PM
Where: Old Main

2011 Wallace Stegner Award Recipient

The Center of the American West is proud to award John McPhee its highest honor, the Stegner Award, on October 27th at 7:00 in the evening in Old Main Chapel on the CU campus. 2011 marks the fortieth anniversary of the publication of John McPhee’s extraordinary work, Encounters with the Archdruid. Patty Limerick has long heralded this book as the Center of the American West’s “founding text” because of its inspiring demonstration of civil dialogue on contentious issues. In addition, McPhee’s excellence in journalism, as marked by both his Pulitzer Prize and his frequent contributions to The New Yorker, also reflects the Center’s commitment to lively and personable communication that clarifies, educates, and entertains. Don’t miss this meeting of like minds, as Patty Limerick interviews John McPhee.

Each year, the Center of the American West presents the Wallace Stegner Award to an individual who has made a sustained contribution to the cultural identity of the West through literature, art, history, or lore of the West. In the spirit of Wallace Stegner, the recipients have demonstrated singular achievement, creativity, and dedication to the understanding of the West and Western issues, and have communicated to others the importance and uniqueness of the West as a distinct region. The award is presented to those who have faithfully and evocatively depicted the spirit and force of the American West.

“Angry as one may be at what careless people have done and still do to a noble habitat, it is hard to be pessimistic about the West. This is the native home of hope. When it finally learns that cooperation, not rugged individualism, is the pattern that most characterizes and preserves it, then it will have achieved itself and outlived its origins. Then it has a chance to create a society to match the scenery.”

-Wallace Stegner

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  If You Go
Date: April 25, 2012
Time: 7:00 PM
Where: Wittemyer Courtoom, Wolf Law School

2012 Wallace Stegner Award Recipient

The Center of the American West is proud to present Kent Haruf with its highest honor, the Stegner Award, on April 25 at 7:00 p.m. in the Wittemyer Courtroom of the Wolf Law Building on the University of Colorado Boulder campus.

A self-proclaimed “ministry brat,” Kent Haruf grew up in eastern Colorado, where his novels are set. He was 41 before his first piece of fiction, in Puerto del Sol, was published. Haruf’s most recent novels are Eventide (Alfred A Knopf, 2004) and Plainsong (Alfred A Knopf, 1999), winner of the Mountains & Plains Booksellers Award and a finalist for the National Book Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and The New Yorker Book Award. Plainsong became a U.S. bestseller and The New York Times called it “a novel so foursquare, so delicate and lovely, that it has the power to exalt the reader.” His novel, The Tie That Binds (Vintage, 2000), received a Whiting Foundation Award and a special citation from the PEN/Hemingway Foundation. He lives with his wife, Cathy, in Colorado.

Each year, the Center of the American West presents the Wallace Stegner Award to an individual who has made a sustained contribution to the cultural identity of the West through literature, art, history, lore, or an understanding of the West.

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  If You Go
Date: April 25, 2013
Time: 6:30 PM
Where: Hale 270

2013 Wallace Stegner Recipient

The Center of the American West is proud to announce the 2013 Wallace Stegner Award Winner: Western American Historian and Author, Elliott West.

“Elliott West is the best historian of the American West writing today.” – Richard White

Each year, the Center of the American West presents the Wallace Stegner Award to an individual who has have faithfully and evocatively depicted the spirit of the American West. Elliott West, who received his doctorate from the University of Colorado, is author of six books, most recently The Essential West:  Collected Essays (2012). His book, The Last Indian War: The Nez Perce Story (2009) is one of three of his books to receive the Western Heritage Award and two to win the Western History Association’s Caughey Prize. His book, The Contested Plains (1998), received six national awards, including the PEN-West Award as the year’s best non-fiction book, and the Francis Parkman Prize as the outstanding book in American history. It is considered a classic in the field.

This event is made possible by the generosity of Al and Carol Ann Olson.

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  If You Go
Date: April 20, 2015
Time: 6:30PM
Where: Wolf Law Wittemyer Courtroom

2015 Wallace Stegner Recipient

Each year, the Center of the American West presents the Wallace Stegner Award to an individual who has made a sustained contribution to the cultural identity of the West through literature, art, history, lore, or an understanding of the West.

For the first time ever, the Center of the American West is presenting the Stegner Award to an organization, Rocky Mountain Rescue. This all volunteer organization embodies the spirit of the American West, serving not only as the primary mountain search and rescue agency for Boulder County but also assisting other mountain rescue teams from across Colorado and throughout the West. In addition, Rocky Mountain Rescue provides disaster response services in situations such as the 2013 Boulder floods, blizzards, and fires; along with outdoor safety education to the community.

A special thanks to Al and Carol Ann Olson for making this event possible.

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  If You Go
Date: October 3, 2019
Time: 6:30PM
Where: Old Main Chapel

Last month, the Center of the American West was proud to present a special Stegner Award & Humor Initiative event honoring Sheriff Dave Ward.

Sheriff Ward did everything imaginable to hold his community together during the 2016 Bundy-led armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Harney County, Oregon. He is also one of the West’s great storytellers (registering, in our opinion, pretty darned close to the achievements of Mark Twain), so this event was also a part of the Center’s Humor Initiative.

The Center of the American West presents the Wallace Stegner Award to an individual who has faithfully and evocatively depicted the spirit of the American West. The Center’s Humor Initiative honors those individuals whose skills and temperaments support the Center’s central conviction: A dose of good humor is essential to constructive public discussion, and not coincidentally, to public health.

“Over the last thirty-five years, living in Boulder and traveling around the West, I have gotten to know hundreds of people who have dazzled me with their strength of character and their unwavering commitment to the well-being of the West and of the nation. I rank Sheriff Ward at the top of that long list of Westerners I admire. His wisdom, integrity, and capacity to bring out the best in his fellow human beings add up to one of this region’s most valuable resources.”

-Patty Limerick, Faculty Director & Chair of the Board, Center of the American West

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