| The Perilous West: Seven Amazing Explorers and the Founding of the Oregon Trail Contributor(s): Morris, Larry E. (Author) |
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ISBN: 144221113X ISBN-13: 9781442211131 Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers OUR PRICE: $18.95 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: August 2014 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - History | United States - 19th Century - History | United States - State & Local - Pacific Northwest (or, Wa) - History | United States - State & Local - West (ak, Ca, Co, Hi, Id, Mt, Nv, Ut, Wy) |
| Dewey: 978.01 |
| Physical Information: 0.84" H x 6.02" W x 8.95" (0.90 lbs) 270 pages |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - 19th Century - Cultural Region - Western U.S. - Cultural Region - Pacific Northwest |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Although a host of adventurers stormed west in 1806 after Lewis and Clark's safe return, seven of them left unique legacies because of their monumental journeys, their lionhearted spirit in the face of hardship, and the way their paths intertwined time and again. The Perilous West tells this riveting story in depth for the first time, focusing on each of the seven explorers in turn - Ramsay Crooks, Robert McClellan, John Hoback, Jacob Reznor, Edward Robinson, Pierre Dorion, and Marie Dorion. These seven counted the Tetons, Hells Canyon, and South Pass among their discoveries. More importantly, they forged the Oregon Trail-a path destined to link the Atlantic coast with the Pacific, spurring national expansion as it carried trappers, soldiers, pioneers, missionaries, and gold-seekers westward. The Perilous West begins in 1806, when Crooks and McClellan meet Lewis and Clark, and the vast expanse from the Dakotas to the Pacific coast appears a commercial paradise. The story ends in 1814, when a band of French Canadian trappers rescue Marie Dorion, and even John Jacob Astor's well-financed enterprise has ended in violence and chaos, placing the protagonists squarely in the context of Thomas Jefferson's monumental opening of the West, which stalled with the War of 1812. |
Contributor Bio(s): Morris, Larry E.: - Larry E. Morris is the author of The Fate of the Corps: What Became of the Lewis and Clark Explorers after the Expedition, a History Book Club selection favorably reviewed by such publications as The Wall Street Journal, New Scientist, and The Missouri Historical Review. Morris is one of six authors whose work on Lewis and Clark is recommended by Encyclopedia Britannica. Choice named Fate an Outstanding Academic Title and said it "ranks among the best books in the crowded world of Lewis and Clark hagiography." In 2005, the Washington State Library selected thirty-three "essential core books about the expedition." That list included Fate, which, according to the WorldCat database, has been placed in more libraries than any of the other books except those by Ambrose, Bernard DeVoto, and Ken Burns. Morris is also the author of The Perilous West: Seven Amazing Explorers and the Founding of the Oregon Trail (given a Starred Review by Library Journal) and co-author of Gloomy Terrors and Hidden Fires: John Colter and the Mystery of Yellowstone (called a "definitive biography" by Booklist), both published by Rowman & Littlefield. |