"Press tells the story from the point of view of all the people who lived there, including how and why they came, what kind of communities they built, their courage and their failure. Some of the political and military detail is dry, but the discussion is lively, especially the debunking of myths ("The first Europeans in the American West were neither conquerors nor explorers. They were merely lost"). The impassioned account of the forced removals and relocations of the various Indian nations describes the horrific loss of life, of home, and of cultural identity that made the survivors refugees in their own land. The type is small, but it's broken up with many illustrations and sidebars."
--Booklist
Step inside a 19th century frontier fort and discover for yourself what life was like for the pioneers of the American West. Dramatic cutaway illustrations provide a vivid insight into the challenges they faced:
travel westward with a wagon train of pioneers seeking new land to settle;
watch the fort being built in rugged terrain;
spend a day with a soldier, see his uniform and his equipment;
visit an Indian encampment, and learn how they lived;
find out about the traders, carrying basic necessities from fort to fort;
discover how skilled trappers worked;
witness the coming of the Pony Express, Wells Fargo, and the railroad;
learn about the daily life of the pioneers;
find out what happened to the forts after the West was "won".
Recounts the history of the 9th and 10th Cavalry regiments, comprised of African American soldiers recruited to open the West to settlers and whose deeds included escorting wagon trains, carrying mail, and fighting battles against Native Americans.
"Looking closely at the environment, economics, eating habits, and favorite foods of our American forebears teaches us volumes about their world and ours. The 'gravy train' takes on new meaning as kids learn how the pioneers survived the long journey. Video games and television take a back seat as kids learn how to make a prospector's dinner of skillet bread and pork and beans."
Describes, in text and illustrations, the duties, clothes, equipment, and day-to-day life of the cowboys who flourished in the west from the 1860's to the 1890's
"Seeking religious freedom, economic prosperity, or 'elbow room,' thousands of women emigrated to the American West between the 1830s and the 1890s. They traveled alone or with their families by railroad, wagon train, and even on foot. Miller brings these pioneers' stories to life through quotations from diaries, letters, and vintage travel guides. Equally dramatic are the sepia-toned photographs that appear on nearly every page, the most delightful of which is a picture of two daredevils in long skirts cavorting on a rock formation in Yosemite Valley. While this title covers much of the same information as Judith Alter's Women of the Old West (Watts, 1989), it is livelier and gives more equitable coverage of African American pioneers, Native Americans, and Mexican Americans. Buffalo Gals will appeal to fans of Laura Ingalls Wilder's books, and to any student with a hankering for a good read. Yeeeee-ha!"--Rebecca O'Connell, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh for School Library Journal
The life story of the famous hero from his childhood and his teenage years as a Pony Express rider to his days as the showman who kept the legends of the Wild West alive.
Learn about famous outlaws: Wild Bill Hickok -- Calamity Jane -- Doc Holliday -- Jesse James -- Belle Starr -- Billy the Kid -- Joaquin Murietta -- Black Bart.
Traces the history of the following trade and travel routes: the Mohawk Trail, the Wilderness Road and other trans-Appalachian routes, the Mississippi Route, and the Santa Fe, Chihuahua, Oregon, and California Trails
My childhood library was small enough not to be intimidating. And yet I felt the whole world was contained in those two rooms. I could walk any aisle and smell wisdom.
