David Lavender

David Lavender

David Sievert Lavender (February 4, 1910 – April 26, 2003) was an American historian and writer of the Western United States. He published more than 40 books, including two novels, several children's books, and a memoir. Unlike his two prominent contemporaries, Bernard DeVoto and Wallace Stegner, Lavender was not an academic. He based much of his writing on first-hand practical knowledge of the American west, traveling to the sites of his historical accounts and experiencing the historical realities directly—in the mines, on the trails, in the mountains, or on the rivers. David Lavender was a two-time nominee for the Pulitzer Prize, and was widely admired by scholars for his accuracy and objectivity.