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Emigrants on the Overland Trail : the wagon trains of 1848 / Michael E. LaSalle.

Van Pelt Library F593 .L288 2011
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Format:
Book
Author/Creator:
LaSalle, Michael E., 1945-
Language:
English
Subjects (All):
Overland Trails--Description and travel.
Overland Trails.
Pioneers--West (U.S.)--Diaries.
Pioneers.
Pioneers--West (U.S.)--Biography.
West (U.S.)--Description and travel.
West (U.S.).
Overland journeys to the Pacific.
Overland Trails--History--Sources.
Frontier and pioneer life--West (U.S.)--Sources.
Frontier and pioneer life.
Genre:
Diaries.
Biographies.
Sources.
Physical Description:
xix, 516 pages : illustrations, maps ; 23 cm
Place of Publication:
Kirksville, Mo. : Truman State University Press, [2011]
Summary:
A farmer in California now after 40 years of practicing law, LaSalle focuses on what historians of the wagons trains call the lost year, 1848, when few diaries, journals, or other narratives had surfaced. Inspired by a long letter passed down in his own family, he began searching for more primary material, and found enough for a book. He relies mostly on seven diarists, each traveling with a different wagon train that year. They include a college-educated teacher, a barely literate ox driver, a young mother, and a French priest. Among his perspectives are just five months to get there, a vast green sea, the Babylon of the west, and the heavenly scent of Oregon pine. He includes illustrations and maps. Annotation ©2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Contents:
Just five months to get there
St. Joseph: a rising star
Load the wagons
The talk before the walk
A vast green sea
Indian troubles
Independence: a star in decline
Through the tallgrass prairie
Black beasts, black faces
Come, come ye saints
The Babylon of the West
The sweetness of the sweetwater
Les mauvaises terres
The great trail forked
Snaking through vulcan's workshop
Glory, hallelujah, I shall die a rich man yet!
The heavenly scent of Oregon pine
Time to pay the gatekeeper
The end of the journey
Epilogue.
Notes:
Includes bibliographical references (pages 469-492) and index.
ISBN:
9781935503958
1935503952
9781612480213
1612480217
OCLC:
733238850

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