"In th mid-1800s, the dream of Manifest Destiny and the hope of a better life inspired thousands of Americans to cast their sights westward. 'Wagons Trains and Settlers' travels alongside these pioneers as they cross the vast plains, deserts, and mountains of North America. Explore the routes the settlers took, experience daily life in a wagon train, and discover the dangers that families faced on the trails."--P. [4] of cover.

"In th mid-1800s, the dream of Manifest Destiny and the hope of a better life inspired thousands of Americans to cast their sights westward. 'Wagons Trains and Settlers' travels alongside these pioneers as they cross the vast plains, deserts, and mountains of North America. Explore the routes the settlers took, experience daily life in a wagon train, and discover the dangers that families faced on the trails."--P. [4] of cover.

This book captures the excitement and hardship of settlers heading to the Wild West on wagon trains. Readers will delight in learning about the caravans of wagons that made their way through unsettled and wild land to make it to a place of new beginnings. This book describes the ways people prepared for their journeys on wagon trains, as well as what life was like on the trail. Brilliant visuals illustrate the book to bring this Wild West adventure to life. Information-rich text will engage readers as sidebars and “Truth or Myth?” fact boxes provide a dynamic and unforgettable reading experience.

From 1822, when the first wagons were used in the Santa Fe trade, until 1880, when the completion of major railroad lines made the wagon train all but obsolete, wagon freighting was essential to the trade, settlement, and growth of the American West, from the Missouri Valley to the Great Basin. Freighters carried goods to and from Santa Fe, bringing in much of the trade goods for the settlements of the Mountain West. Under contract to the government, they supplied the army sent to fight Mexicans and American Indians. Without the wagonmasters, the flow of gold from the mines of Colorado and Montana, which proved essential during the Civil War, would have been delayed at least a decade. The Wagonmasters is the first comprehensive account of this colorful bygone industry and the men who worked the wagon trains--bullwhackers and mule skinners. A breed apart, they developed their own customs and language, greatly enriching American speech. The business was hard, dirty, and dangerous, but the wagon freighters, like the U.S. mail, almost always came through.

Since the establishment of the American colonies, the frontier expanded westward steadily until the country bordered both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Soldiers, explorers, missionaries, and fur traders were the first Europeans to penetrate the country's interior. Soon, gold miners, dirt farmers, and cattle ranchers followed, blazing dangerous trails across barren lands and snow-topped mountain ranges. American Indians were too few to stop the relentless tide of pioneers, despite their efforts. Readers discover the personalities, routes, and circumstances that propelled Americans to claim the mysterious 'Great American Desert' west of the Mississippi River.

Using excerpts from diaries, and letters to songs, speeches and legal documents for the study of Indians, pioneers and settlers this book is intended to serve as a resource for the learning of interpretive and investigative historical skills. It is also suitable for the Scottish Curriculum P7-S4.

Presenting the “lost” year of the overland emigrants in 1848, this volume sheds light on the journey of the men, women, children, and the wagon trains that made the challenging trek from Missouri to Oregon and California. These primary sources, written by seven men and women diarists from different wagon companies, tell how settlers endured the tribulations of a five-month westward journey covering 2,000 miles. These intrepid souls include a young mother, a French priest, a college-educated teacher, and an ox driver. Subjected to the extremes of fear, failure, suffering, and hope, they persevered and finally triumphed.