Wagons West: The Epic Story of America's Overland Trails

"This is a stirring history of the settling of the American West, from 1840-49, the years between the era of the fur trappers and the beginning of the gold rush." "In all the sagas of human migration, few can top the drama of the journey by midwestern farmers to Oregon and California. Seeking the promised land, these travelers trekked two thousand miles by covered wagon from Missouri to destinations on the Pacific coast. Although they used mountain men as guides, they went almost alone into the unknown, braving dangers from hunger, thirst, disease, drowning, and Native Americans. The early migrants got through only after Herculean efforts, but later in the decade complacency set in, and the result was disastrous, especially in the case of the Donner party, marooned in the snow and reduced to cannibalism." "Using original diaries and memoirs, Frank McLynn underscores the incredible heroism and dangerous folly on the overland trails. His well-informed and authoritative year-by-year narrative tells of the events leading up to the opening of the trails, the wagons and animals used by the pioneers, the role of women and relations with Native Americans. This account of the pioneering years in the overland trails abounds with tragedy and triumph in the face of overwhelming odds. It also brilliantly chronicles one of the principal chapters in the conquest of the North American continent, and the creation of the United States as we know it today."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved