The Pathbreakers From River To Ocean

Excerpt from The Pathbreakers From River to Ocean: The Story of the Great West From the Time of Coronado to the Present Multitudes of books have been written for pupils of our schools recording the valiant deeds of the explorers who have made their field of operation east of the Mississippi. De Soto, Smith, Marquette, Clark, Boone and the many adventurous heroes who plied up and down all of the streams between the mighty river and the ocean to the East, have received, each in turn, due attention, and their deeds have not only been recorded upon the pages of books but written in the hearts of the American youths. The West, or that land situated between the Mississippi and the western coast, has not received its due attention in school book form. To enable the future citizens, particularly those who live in the states carved out of this story-making territory, to familiarize themselves with the brave deeds of these earliest inhabitants in an unsettled and unorganized territory is the purpose of this publica tion. No territory or period of history so abounds in heroic deeds, daring adventures, and hazardous enterprises which have directly served to bring about civilization as the region known as the Great West. The tale is not only interesting but fascinating from the earliest beginning to the present day. The turbulent streams, the rugged and forbidding mountains, the limitless plains, the hostile natives, and the extremes of climate made the struggle a hard one, and demanded men of courage who had faith in themselves and the object of their con quests. The wonderful story is too long to appear between the covers of any one book, yet the hope is expressed that the facts assembled may awaken a new interest in the labors of those untiring climbers of streams and mountains who made that undeveloped country a part of our present-day possessions. If this is accomplished the labor of preparing the book will be abundantly rewarded. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

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A Seattle Times selection for one of Best Non-Fiction Books of 2010 Winner of the New England Historial Association's 2010 James P. Hanlan Award Winner of the Outdoor Writers Association of America 2011 Excellence in Craft Award, Book Division, First Place "A compelling and well-annotated tale of greed, slaughter and geopolitics." —Los Angeles Times As Henry Hudson sailed up the broad river that would one day bear his name, he grew concerned that his Dutch patrons would be disappointed in his failure to find the fabled route to the Orient. What became immediately apparent, however, from the Indians clad in deer skins and "good furs" was that Hudson had discovered something just as tantalizing. The news of Hudson's 1609 voyage to America ignited a fierce competition to lay claim to this uncharted continent, teeming with untapped natural resources. The result was the creation of an American fur trade, which fostered economic rivalries and fueled wars among the European powers, and later between the United States and Great Britain, as North America became a battleground for colonization and imperial aspirations. In Fur, Fortune, and Empire, best-selling author Eric Jay Dolin chronicles the rise and fall of the fur trade of old, when the rallying cry was "get the furs while they last." Beavers, sea otters, and buffalos were slaughtered, used for their precious pelts that were tailored into extravagant hats, coats, and sleigh blankets. To read Fur, Fortune, and Empire then is to understand how North America was explored, exploited, and settled, while its native Indians were alternately enriched and exploited by the trade. As Dolin demonstrates, fur, both an economic elixir and an agent of destruction, became inextricably linked to many key events in American history, including the French and Indian War, the American Revolution, and the War of 1812, as well as to the relentless pull of Manifest Destiny and the opening of the West. This work provides an international cast beyond the scope of any Hollywood epic, including Thomas Morton, the rabble-rouser who infuriated the Pilgrims by trading guns with the Indians; British explorer Captain James Cook, whose discovery in the Pacific Northwest helped launch America's China trade; Thomas Jefferson who dreamed of expanding the fur trade beyond the Mississippi; America's first multimillionaire John Jacob Astor, who built a fortune on a foundation of fur; and intrepid mountain men such as Kit Carson and Jedediah Smith, who sliced their way through an awe inspiring and unforgiving landscape, leaving behind a mythic legacy still resonates today. Concluding with the virtual extinction of the buffalo in the late 1800s, Fur, Fortune, and Empire is an epic history that brings to vivid life three hundred years of the American experience, conclusively demonstrating that the fur trade played a seminal role in creating the nation we are today.