Seven Trails West

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

The Lewis and Clark expedition blazed the way; nearly 65 years later, the first transcontinental railroad joined the "old" United States with the West. The intervening years had seen a half-million people heading west. Peters surveys the major migration routes: the Santa Fe Trail (commercial), the Oregon-California Trail (probably the best known), the Mormon Trail and the communication trails (Pony Express, Telegraph, Railroad). Peters (Cocteau and His Circle) draws on personal experiences of the emigrants, newspaper articles of the period and local history for a colorful account of the westward movement. His stories of the Mormon Trail and Pony Express are especially notable. This handsome book is illustrated with photographs, paintings, maps and documents-a treat for history and Western buffs. (May)

Library Journal

In their day, the trails west were similar to the interstate highway system. Though each trail was shaped by different factors, they shared the common purpose of providing paths to people who wanted new ways of life for themselves. Beginning with the Lewis and Clark expedition and appropriately concluding with the completion of the continental railroad, Peters, a scholar, critic, and, most important here, mountaineer (he literally knows this turf) conveys the excitement, peril, and triumph experienced by these trailblazers. Most of what Peters covers is fairly well known to historians, but the beautiful prose, cogent detail, incredible photographs, and appealing book design make this a necessary addition to all libraries interested in American history.-David S. Azzolina, Univ. of Pennsylvania Libs., Philadelphia

School Library Journal

YA-A superbly researched, written, and organized account of the seven major trails that opened up the American continent between 1804 and 1869. Peters spent over eight years conceptualizing, researching, and finalizing this excellent account of Lewis and Clark's expedition, the Santa Fe Trail, the Oregon-California Trail, the Mormon Trail, the Pony Express, the Transcontinental Telegraph, and, finally, the Transcontinental Railroad. Numerous maps and abundant engravings and reproductions supplement the vast amount of information presented in a very readable format. These illustrations are strategically placed throughout the book, creating a visually delightful volume. The trails come alive with short descriptive biographies of the people involved in their origin and development as well as incidents that occurred along the way. Many tragic stories are included such as the Donner Party, the Taos Uprising, the Massacre at Mountain Meadows, and the Handcart Companies' ordeal. Primary sources are used throughout the text. A chronology, bibliography, list of notes, and detailed index add extensively to this valuable resource. Indispensable for a reference collection, and a model of what an excellent nonfiction book can be.-Dottie Kraft, formerly at Fairfax County Public Schools, VA

Kirkus Reviews

A fine narrative history of the various pathways that allowed Manifest Destiny (in all its dubious incarnations) to become a reality.

From 1805 to 1869, from the Lewis and Clark expedition to the driving of the golden spike at Promontory Summit, a half-million people went west, and the country expanded by some 2,000 miles from the Mississippi to the Pacific. The Lewis and Clark expedition might not have found the Northwest Passage, but it did reinforce American geopolitical claims to the continental landmass, and it gave a hint of the commercial possibilities ripe for exploitation, first among them the fur trade. Explorers, fortune-seekers, but mostly just plain folk seeking a better life followed the trappers, beating their way along such routes as the Santa Fe Trail, 1,000 hot, dry miles through hostile territory (the Pawnee, Kiowa, and Comanche were none too thrilled by the pilgrims' progress); the often brutal Oregon-California Trail; and the Mormon Trail blazed by the Latter-day Saints. Then there were what Peters describes as "trails of a new order that enabled speed of communication and transport": first the Pony Express, then the transcontinental telegraph, a thin thread of wire stretching from New York City to San Francisco. The apex (or nadir, depending on your point of view) was reached with the transcontinental railroad irrevocably linking the country: "From sea to sea, America was now one nation." The railroad was forced down the throats of Native Americans with Sherman's ugly Indian policy: "The more we can kill this year, the less will have to be killed in the next war." Peters's vivid, anecdotal narrative of these routes illustrates how the frontier was shaped by contingency working within the context of explosive cultural processes.

To this already admirable drama add superb graphic work—archival photos, maps, contemporary photography, period paintings—and you have an elegant, captivating package.