Seven Trails West [Hardcover]

Arthur King Peters (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1558597824 | ISBN-13: 978-1558597822 | Publication Date: June 1, 1996 | Edition: 1st

This volume tells many stories in one: the epic tale of men and women (some of them famous trailbreakers, some little known); the lures that attracted these pragmatic dreamers to the West; and the ordeals and disappointments they overcame along the way. Illustrated with archival photographs, paintings, maps and documents, the book offers the general reader an overview of the western trail network that bound an immature nation together and provided an armature for later development.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers 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.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From 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
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 252 pages
• Publisher: Abbeville Press; 1st edition (June 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1558597824
• ISBN-13: 978-1558597822
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 7.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,393,086 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An attractively illustrated and quite readable overview of the nation's westward expansion, March 25, 2011

By 

R. M. Peterson (Santa Fe, NM) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Seven Trails West (Paperback)

This is an attractive, eminently readable overview of seven major trails "by which the West was won". The seven are the route of the Lewis and Clark Expedition; the Santa Fe Trail; the Oregon-California Trail; the Mormon Trail; and the routes of the Pony Express, the First Transcontinental Telegraph, and the First Transcontinental Railroad. An eighth chapter is devoted to the mountain men and the fur trade.

The title might suggest that the book is structured around the geographical details of each of those seven "trails". (In point of fact, five of them follow much the same route for substantial portions of their course.) In actuality, however, each of the chapters, while nominally devoted to a particular "trail", deals with a different major subject or episode relating to this country's westward expansion. With each, there is some discussion of the route and of "life on the trail", but there is as much discussion placing that episode in the context of the overall straddling of the continent and some of the political and economic forces particular to that episode.

Of course, none of the 20-30 page chapters is comprehensive. But they are well-done as summaries, and they all are sprinkled with well-chosen anecdotes. I have read more about the West than the average Joe, but still some of the material was new to me. For example: the Whitman Massacre near Walla Walla, Washington along the Oregon Trail; the "handcart companies", in which about 3,000 Mormons walked from the Mississippi River to Salt Lake City with some of the adults pulling behind them carts on two wheels loaded with possessions and children; and the "hell-on-wheels" towns that sprung up as construction of the Union Pacific Railroad progressed westward towards Promontory Summit, Utah. There also are engaging and informative discussions about such better-known matters as the annual Rendezvous of Rocky Mountain trappers and traders, the Donner party, and the Sand Creek Massacre.

What elevates the book above similar overviews are the many illustrations, which include historical photographs, paintings, and drawings, as well as striking modern photographs of noted geographical features. They serve to make SEVEN TRAILS WEST a handsome addition to virtually any library. But I should reiterate that the book is quite readable. While it might be most appreciated by someone new to the subject of "westward expansion", especially an intelligent and inquisitive teenager, it probably would be enjoyed by anyone, no matter how steeped he/she already is in the subject.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good primer for **some aspects of** Western travel/discovery history, September 21, 2008

By 

S. J. Snyder "De gustibus non disputandum" (Various, United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Seven Trails West (Paperback)

There's a couple of related I don't rank this as five stars, or quite at four stars. That's because it doesn't cover enough trails, which would of course change the title, and some of the coverage doesn't warrant separate

Above all, there's nothing in here on the Old Spanish Trail, which in turn leaves the book open to charges of Anglo-centrism. (Coverage of Indian relations on all trails that are in the book is light.)

Very little is said about the Santa Fe Trail's extension to Chihuahua City -- in essence, of the Anglos beginning to use the Camino Real. In fact, nothing is said about the Camino Real. (Of course, you would then have to retitle the book "Seven Western Trails," since that's a north-south trail.)

And, does the first transcontinental telegraph deserve a whole chapter in and unto itself, either apart from the Pony Express or apart from further Western telegraphy?

This book is a good to very good introduction for the areas of Western pioneer travel history, but Mr. Peters could have done more to expand Anglo America's viewpoint on the development of the west.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A fantastic book for writing reports, October 20, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Seven Trails West (Hardcover)

This book really helped me when I was doing a report in 5th grde on the pioneer trails. It can help you too. It was extrodinary