American Western History

With the return of Louis and Clark’s Corps of Discovery, news of the vast Rocky Mountains and their abundant wildlife enticed American traders and trappers. Their goal, to obtain the riches offered there in beaver fur. These men, seasoned by years of hunting in the eastern forests of the young United States, ventured out braving not only the hazards of nature, but the enmity of the Blackfeet Nation and the hostility of competitors such as Canada’s North West Company. Men like Obadiah Cash went west to trap and harvest the “Furry Bank Notes”, as beaver hides were called. Within a few...

Now everyone will know the truth. Without the Irish, the American frontier may never have been tamed.Here is the full story of the Irish immigrants and their decedents, whose hard work helped make the West what it is today. A fascinating and entertaining look at the history of the American West, this book will surprise many and make every Irish American proud.

"I was present at the Frog Lake Massacre and escaped by the slim margin of one hundred paces the fate that overtook my hapless fellows. For months afterward the unexpected report of a gun put my heart in my mouth, painted savages plunged in my dreams at early dawn through belts of dark firs upon my flying footsteps, bullets sang in my ears or found their mark in my flesh, and I awoke gasping and unable in the first few seconds of consciousness to convince myself that it was not all a horrible reality. Looking back on that now distant date and thinking over the flow of perilous turns in ...

By the acclaimed author of the classic Patriots and Union 1812, this major work of narrative history portrays four of the most turbulent decades in the growth of the American nation. After the War of 1812, Presidents Monroe, Jackson, Van Buren, and Polk led the country to its Manifest Destiny across the continent, but the forces and hostility unleashed by that expansion led inexorably to Civil War.

Only once in the last 250,000 years have humans stumbled upon a way to lift ourselves out of the endless cycle of poverty, hunger, and war that defines most of history. If democracy, individualism, and the free market were humankind’s destiny, they should have appeared and taken hold a bit earlier in the evolutionary record. The emergence of freedom and prosperity was nothing short of a miracle.

The story of the American West is the story of a relentless quest for a precious resource: water. It is a tale of rivers diverted and dammed, of political corruptions and intrigue, of billion-dollar battles over water rights, of ecologic and economic disaster. In Cadillac Desert, Marc Reisner writes of the earliest settlers, lured by the promise of paradise, and of the ruthless tactics employed by Los Angeles politicians and business interests to ensure the city's growth. He documents the bitter rivalry between two government giants to transform the West.

Abraham Whitechild had no knowledge of his start in life. He never knew his parents and he had a slight rememberance of living with the Blackfoot. One man did make an impression on his future, although he was not to fully understand that until it was too late. He chose his own direction in life. He was all alone but never lonely. His solitary life, however, came to an abrupt end. He was charged with a crime he did not commit. Now he was a wanted man - wanted, dead or alive for murdering an innocent woman. The wanted poster had his picture on it and his name. Suddenly, his simple life became...

Set in 1879, SIX-GUN RETRIBUTION follows the cowboy adventures of Gunfighter Edward Landon as he sets off across the wild west searching for six outlaws he holds responsible for his mother's death. This contemporary action novel features a wide range of western characters, including lawmen, gunslingers, outlaws, Mexican bandits, Indian rebels, and bounty hunters. Andy Munro’s SIX-GUN RETRIBUTION includes realistic characters, historic wild west locations, fast-paced cowboy dialogue, action, mystery and suspense mixed with humour and romance. Synopsis The journey begins as Landon rides his...

American Civil Wars takes listeners beyond the battlefields and sectional divides of the US Civil War to view the conflict from outside the national arena of the United States. Contributors position the American conflict squarely in the context of a wider transnational crisis across the Atlantic world, marked by a multitude of civil wars, European invasions and occupations, revolutionary independence movements, and slave uprisings - all taking place in the tumultuous decade of the 1860s.

Twelfth in the Tales of the Old Wild West series by prolific western author Doyle Trent. In the tradition of the John Wayne classic western films and legendary television series of Gunsmoke and Bonanza. The Wild West. If the elements, rattlers, coyotes, and Indian’s didn’t kill you...the person sitting next to you in the saloon just might...just for the hell of it. This series is presented as self-contained standalone story novels that do not have to be read in any particular order. It gives readers an entertaining glimpse into what individuals from all walks of life encountered as they...

An expansive and revelatory historical exploration of the multicultural, water-seeking, land-destroying settlers of the most arid corner of North America, arguing that in order to know where the United States is going in the era of mass migration and climate crisis we must understand where the Southwest has already been.

Calling all busy parents! Discover the perfect book for your adventurous young readers aged 9-12! "I Escaped The Donner Party" offers a captivating blend of educational entertainment and thrilling survival that will have your kids turning pages with excitement. In this heart-pounding tale, Zeke, a 15-year-old horseback enthusiast from Illinois, battles hunger, bears, and blizzards when his pioneer-wagon-train takes a treacherous wrong turn on the iconic Oregon Trail. Based on true events, this kid-powered survival adventure, authored by the multi-award-winning Ellie Crowe and Scott Peters, ...

From her widow's walk, Bessie King watches and waits for her husband, Adam. For many months, day after day, she climbs that ladder and looks out over the Texas plains. Her sons watch and see her pain and heartache. Andrew, thirteen, slips away early one morning to search for his stepfather. After a year of waiting, Bessie is certain she has lost them both. She is now left to survive on the Texas panhandle with her son, Matthew, and an orphan Kiowa baby, she has named Ki. Mathew's anger grows as he sees his mother climbing to the widow's walk day after day, and coming down with tears in her ...

Before men ruled the earth, there were wolves. Once abundant in North America, these majestic creatures were hunted to near extinction in the lower 48 states by the 1920s. But in recent decades, conservationists have brought wolves back to the Rockies, igniting a battle over the very soul of the West. With novelistic detail, Nate Blakeslee tells the gripping story of one of these wolves, O-Six, a charismatic alpha female named for the year of her birth.

Dee Brown's eloquent, meticulously documented account of the systematic destruction of the American Indian during the second half of the 19th century uses council records, autobiographies, and firsthand descriptions. Brown allows great chiefs and warriors of the Dakota, Ute, Sioux, Cheyenne, and other tribes to tell us in their own words of the battles, massacres, and broken treaties that finally left them demoralized and defeated.

A classic of its kind, The Long Gray Line is the 25-year saga of the West Point class of 1966. With a novelist's eye for detail, Rick Atkinson illuminates this powerful story through the lives of three classmates and the women they loved - from the boisterous cadet years, to the fires of Vietnam, to the hard peace and internal struggles that followed the war.

If you were black in America at the start of the Revolutionary War, whom would you want to win? In response to a declaration by the last governor of Virginia that any rebel-owned slave who escaped and served the King would be emancpated, tens of thousands of blacks voted with feet, escaping to fight beside the British. Originally designed to break the plantations of the American South, this military strategy instead unleashed one of the great exoduses in American history.

Love Blooms on the Frontier When Elizabeth Carter steps off the stagecoach in Hope's Landing, Wyoming, she's looking for a fresh start. What she finds is Jeb - a rugged rancher with a heart of gold and a spirit as wild as the land he tends. As Elizabeth and Jeb build a life together, they face the challenges of frontier living with courage and determination. But when sinister forces threaten their home and community, they must stand united to protect all they hold dear. From drought to danger, tender moments to triumph, follow Elizabeth and Jeb's journey as their love deepens and their ...

In the spirit of The Boys in the Boat comes the captivating true story of the Hawaiian cowboys who changed rodeo and the West forever.

A historical fiction book set in Virginia and the early United States during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Journey into the heart of America's untamed wilderness with "A Son of the West," where the spirit of exploration collides with the intimate complexities of love and familial bonds. Experience the life of Meriwether Lewis—not just as a celebrated explorer, but as a son shaped by his mother's enduring influence and a man grappling with his myriad passions and ambitions against the backdrop of a young nation. As the narrative unfolds, we meet Widow Lewis, a figure steeped in ...