Customer Reviews

Wagons Westward: The Old Trail to Santa Fe

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A classic American frontier story, set in the 1840's by the author of "Call it Courage" (Newberry Award) , and "All Sails Set". A young man named Johnathan Starbuck and his father live in Missouri. His father was a frontiersman, always pushing to new lands until an accident cost him the movement of his legs. When his father passes on, Jonathan joins a commercial venture wagon train heading to Santa Fe as a scout. The boss is a dark-hearted scoundrel that cannot be trusted. But Jonathan has a friend and mentor to teach him the ropes. Along the way he gets involved in buffalo hunts, Indian wars, discovers a plot involving the New Mexico territory, and more. Well researched, the book gives you a feeling of what it must have been like to be there. There is lots of terminology from the trail here. Unfortunately it is also loaded with racial remarks, things that are very offensive in our times, but must have been acceptable in 1936 when the book was written.

Sperry created the numerous illustrations himself, and they are well done. This short historical novel about the adventures of a 15 year old adventurer are gripping indeed.