The Ray Allen Billington Prize is given biennially by the Organization of American Historians

Organization of American Historians

The Organization of American Historians , formerly known as the Mississippi Valley Historical Association, is the largest professional society dedicated to the teaching and study of American history. OAH's members in the U.S...

 (OAH) for the best book about American frontier history. The "American frontier" includes all of North America, all post-1492 pioneer experiences, and comparisons between these frontier experiences and others outside North America. First given in 1981, this prize honors Ray Allen Billington

Ray Allen Billington

Ray Allen Billington was an American historian. He was born in Bay City, Michigan and died in San Marino, California.-Life:...

, OAH President (1962–1963) and prolific writer about American frontiers. A three-member committee, chosen by the OAH President for a two-year term, selects the winner who receives $1000. The first award was made posthumously to John D. Unruh who died in 1976. No award was made in 1997, and two awards were made in 1999.

The following table lists past recipients.

Year	Winner	Affiliation	Title
1981	John D. Unruh	Bluffton University Bluffton University Bluffton University, located in Bluffton, Ohio, United States, is a Christian liberal arts college affiliated with Mennonite Church USA.It was founded in 1899 as Central Mennonite College and became Bluffton College in 1913...	The Plains Across: The Overland Emigrants and the Trans-Mississippi West, 1840-60
1983	David Weber	Southern Methodist University Southern Methodist University Southern Methodist University is a private university in Dallas, Texas, United States. Founded in 1911 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, SMU operates campuses in Dallas, Plano, and Taos, New Mexico. SMU is owned by the South Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church...	The Mexican Frontier, 1821-1846: The American Southwest Under Mexico
1985	Francis Paul Prucha, S.J.	Marquette University Marquette University Marquette University is a private, coeducational, Jesuit, Roman Catholic university located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1881, the school is one of 28 member institutions of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities...	The Great Father: The United States Government and the American Indians
1987	Paul Andrew Hutton	University of New Mexico University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico at Albuquerque is a public research university located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the United States. It is the state's flagship research institution...	Phil Sheridan and His Army
1989	Albert L. Hurtado	Arizona State University Arizona State University Arizona State University is a public research university located in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area of the State of Arizona...	Indian Survival on the California Frontier
1991	James N. Gregory	University of Washington University of Washington University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...	American Exodus: The Dust Bowl Migration and Okie Culture in California
1993	Daniel K. Richter Daniel K. Richter -Life:He graduated from Columbia University with a Ph.D. He taught at Dickinson College and the University of East Anglia. He teaches at University of Pennsylvania.-Awards:...	University of Pennsylvania University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...	The Ordeal of the Longhouse: The Peoples of the Iroquois League in the Era of European Colonization
1995	John Putnam Demos John Putnam Demos John Putnam Demos is an American author and historian. He has written two books which discuss witch-hunts and has discovered that one of his own ancestors was John Putnam Senior, ancestor of the Putnam family which was prominent in the Salem witch trials....	Yale University Yale University Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...	The Unredeemed Captive: A Family Story from Early America
1997	No award given.
1999co	Malcolm J. Rohrbough	University of Iowa University of Iowa The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...	Days of Gold: The California Gold Rush and the American Nation
1999co	Elliott West	University of Arkansas University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas is a public, co-educational, land-grant, space-grant, research university. It is classified by the Carnegie Foundation as a research university with very high research activity. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and is located in...	The Contested Plains: Indians, Goldseekers, and the Rush to Colorado
2001	Gunther Peck	Duke University Duke University Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...	Reinventing Free Labor: Padrones and Immigrant Workers in The North American West, 1880-1930
2003	Martha A. Sandweiss	Amherst College Amherst College Amherst College is a private liberal arts college located in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Amherst is an exclusively undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 1,744 students in the fall of 2009...	Print the Legend: Photography and the American West
2005	Colin G. Calloway	Dartmouth College Dartmouth College Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...	One Vast Winter Count: The Native American West before Lewis and Clark
2007	Pablo R. Mitchell	Oberlin College Oberlin College Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, noteworthy for having been the first American institution of higher learning to regularly admit female and black students. Connected to the college is the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the oldest continuously operating...	Coyote Nation: Sexuality, Race, and Conquest in Modernizing New Mexico, 1880-1920
2009	Matthew Klingle	Bowdoin College Bowdoin College Bowdoin College , founded in 1794, is an elite private liberal arts college located in the coastal Maine town of Brunswick, Maine. As of 2011, U.S. News and World Report ranks Bowdoin 6th among liberal arts colleges in the United States. At times, it was ranked as high as 4th in the country. It is...	Emerald City: An Environmental History of Seattle