Author Description

This fascinating book unfolds in words and pictures the story of the opening up of the American West, most especially in the 85 years following the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark expedition's survey of the United States' newly acquired territory. The Wild West traces the epic migrations of the pioneers; the work of the guides, pathfinders, and mountain men; the explorers and surveyors; the homesteaders and cattle barons, the entrepreneurs and the men of the gold rush; and the Indian nations. The story is told, also, in terms of the evolving means of communication of the Oregon and Santa Fe trails; the Chisholm Trail; the Butterfield Overland Mail, the Pony Express; the Telegraph and the transcontinental railroad.