Dreams of El Dorado : a history of the American West / H.W. Brands.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Brands, H. W., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

West (U.S.)--Discovery and exploration.

West (U.S.).

West (U.S.)--History.

United States--Territorial expansion.

United States.

Territorial expansion.

Frontier and pioneer life--United States.

Frontier and pioneer life.

Discoveries in geography.

West United States.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

xvi, 524 pages : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Basic Books, 2019.

Summary:

Brands tells the thrilling, panoramic story of the settling of the American West. He takes readers from John Jacob Astor's fur trading outpost in Oregon to the Texas Revolution, from the California gold rush to the Oklahoma land rush.

Contents:

Part I. Napoleon's gift. The river at the heart of America ; The corps of discovery ; West by northwest ; To the Pacific

Part II. A skin for a skin. Astoria ; Comcomly's dismay ; The white-headed eagle ; Mountain man ; Colter's run ; Ursus horribilis

Part III. Gone to Texas. Moses Austin's dying wish ; Texas will be lost ; Ruin and redemption ; Victory or death ; Bloody Palm Sunday ; Laying there yet

Part IV. The great migration. The four wise men ; Females wanted ; Trapped out ; Waiilatpu ; For God and country ; The way west ; The business of the trail ; Desperate fury ; Ambassador from Oregon

Part V. The world in a nugget of gold. The secret of the Sierra Nevada ; Gold mountain ; Crime and punishment ; The spirit of '87 ; To be decently poor ; Where can we go?

Part VI. Steel rails and sharps rifles. Stephen Douglas's brainstorm ; North, south, west ; Free soil ; Hell on wheels ; Saints and sinners ; Once we were happy ; There would be no soldiers left ; Adobe walls ; Lost river ; The pride of Young Joseph

Part VII. The middle border. Abilene ; Hard lesson ; Into the great unknown ; The arid region ; More like us ; It grew very cold ; Less corn and more hell ; Bonanza

Part VIII. The cowboy in the White House. Rough riding ; West takes east ; Cashing in ; John Muir's last stand ; The long, long trail.

Notes:

Maps on end pages.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Brands, H. W., author. Dreams of El Dorado

ISBN:

9781541672529

1541672526

OCLC:

1057730722