Wagons West

Wagons West Series #

An acclaimed historian’s “compellingly told” year-by-year account of the pioneering efforts to conquer the American West in the mid-nineteenth century (The Guardian). In all the sagas of human migration, few can top the drama of the journey by Midwestern farmers to Oregon and California from 1840 to 1849—between the era of the fur trappers and the beginning of the gold rush. Even with mountain men as guides, these pioneers literally plunged into the unknown, braving all manner of danger, including hunger, thirst, disease, and drowning. Employing numerous illustrations and extensive primary sources, including original diaries and memoirs, McLynn underscores the incredible heroism and dangerous folly on the overland trails. His authoritative narrative investigates the events leading up to the opening of the trails, the wagons and animals used, the roles of women, relations with Native Americans, and much else. The climax arrives in McLynn’s expertly re-created tale of the dreadful Donner party, and he closes with Brigham Young and the Mormons beginning communities of their own. Full of high drama, tragedy, and triumph, “rarely has a book so wonderfully brought to life the riveting tales of Americans’ trek to the Pacific” (Publishers Weekly).

Two families break up their homes and travel from the east by wagon train across the open prairie to build a ranch in the wild open undeveloped range land not far from the mountains in western Montana. The long trip is tiresome uneventful travel at times with unexpected dangers along the way. When tragedy strikes, they trust God to give them strength and guidance to continue. There is a stallion who is tamed by the young women and is a help in many ways. The horses become vital in use and survival in the new life in the far land out west. The young women, wanting to learn to be ranchers are challenged by many tasks on the trip and in the new country. Things they have to learn and develop skills in order to survive. Will they survive and become the ranchers that they want to be? Bold men come to their assistance and love comes in the new life.

This is a story about how it might have been in 1877 when Charles Maybee moved his family from Kansas to Oregon. It is based a note passed down through the family from his oldest son. Supporting characters, events and personal interactions are fictional. But tracing the route that Charles took, and knowing the hazards he faced in those days before automobiles existed, is like being there with him. Charles is tired of scraping out a living in Kansas and believes a homestead in Oregon's fertile Willamette Valley is the way to a better life. But his wife, Mary Jane, refuses to go. It would mean traveling by covered wagon for six months. They have four small children and a fifth is on the way. The rift between her and Charles takes months to mend, but she finally relents and in the spring of 1877, when their new baby is just six months old, they begin the 2,000-mile journey in the company of two neighboring families. Life on the trail is demanding and painfully difficult, but Charles leads their party with unwavering resolve. In northeast Kansas, near the Big Blue River, they join a party from Missouri led by Jack Jarrett. Continuing as a seven-wagon caravan, they cross the harsh plains of Nebraska. After surviving a fierce storm that threatens their lives and scatters their livestock, they travel through the towering bluffs of western Nebraska into Wyoming Territory, and over the Rocky Mountains. Continuing through rugged Idaho Territory, they enter the promised land of Oregon. Still, they face a daunting passage through the Blue Mountains and around Mt. Hood before reaching Oregon City, the end of the Oregon Trail. Charles then faces the final challenge finding a place to settle and begin a new life.

Wagon train going to Coulter city battling the Sioux and, of course, outlaws. This is a dandy of a western.

The 13th book in Ross' "New York Times"-bestselling Wagons West series takes readers to the wild lawless region beyond the River of No Return. Reissue.

Major General Lee Blake must outsmart Confederate saboteurs and British agents in order to guarantee that a Nevada silver shipment safely reaches Union troops in Missouri.