The historic trails - as seen by the pioneers and retraced today. Over 100 photos.

The dramatic journeys of the 19th century Gold Rush come to life in this geologist’s tour of the American West and the events that shaped the land. In 1848, news of the discovery of gold in California triggered an enormous wave of emigration toward the Pacific. The dramatic terrain these settlers crossed is so familiar to us now that it is hard to imagine how frightening—even godforsaken—its sheer rock faces and barren deserts once seemed to them. Hard Road West brings their perspective vividly to life, weaving together the epic overland journey of the covered wagon trains and the compelling story of the landscape they encountered. Taking readers along the 2,000-mile California Trail, Keith Meldahl uses settler’s diaries and letters—as well as his own experiences on the trail—to reveal how the geology and geography of the West shaped our nation’s westward expansion. He guides us through a landscape of sawtooth mountains, following the meager streams that served as lifelines through an arid land, all the way to California itself, where colliding tectonic plates created breathtaking scenery and planted the gold that lured travelers west in the first place. “Alternates seamlessly between vivid accounts of the 19th-century journey and lucid explanations of the geological events that shaped the landscape traveled.”—Library Journal

You're in the middle of the Gold Rush, pioneer--and you are headed West on the Oregon Trail with hopes to strike it rich in this choose-your-own-trail experience. Westward ho!

You’re in the middle of the Gold Rush, pioneer—and you are headed west on the Oregon Trail with hopes to strike it rich in this choose-your-own-trail experience. Travel in your large wagon train and decide whether you’ll stay the course to Oregon or take the California Trail toward Sacramento. Do your choices lead to a fortune-filled future, or will they lead you straight into danger? Westward ho!

The fourth and final installment in this choose-your-own-trail series takes you all the way to Oregon Territory—if you make the right choices. The end of the Oregon Trail is near, young pioneer—the final leg of your journey starts here. But, do you have the grit to make it to Oregon City? The wild frontier is full of risks and unpredictable surprises! It's 1850 and you've been traveling for more than three months with your family, covered wagon, and oxen. There are holes in the bottoms of your shoes. You've faced grizzly bears, traded with merchants, and wild bandits. Oregon City is so close you can taste it, but there are still weeks of dangerous frontier travel ahead of you. So which path will you choose? With twenty-two possible endings, every decision counts!

Taking readers along the 2,000-mile California Gold Trail, Meldahl uses the diaries and letters of the 1849 settlers to reveal how geology and topography directly affected our nations westward expansion.

In this sweeping saga, Yvonne Harris tells the poignant stories of Robert and Alice, two young people who join the 1846 wagon train to cross North America on their way to the West Coast. Seeking a better life, thirteen-year-old Robert leaves his impoverished family in Iowa and accompanies the main group as it follows the well-established Oregon Trail to the Pacific Northwest. Alice, a lovely young widow, is forced to follow a husband she despises on the difficult trek even when he insists on taking the Hastings Cutoff with a small party from the wagon train who forego the longer route for a virtually unknown trail touted as a short cut to the West Coast. Alice's husband's hasty decisions dramatically alter the course of their lives; instead of reaching the green fields of California, the party finds themselves trapped on the wrong side of the snow and ice-capped Sierra Nevada with almost nothing left in the way of supplies. Both eventually make their way to Victoria and the BC Interior in search of gold. They encounter the American militia, intent on taking over the Fraser River from the tribes, and Chief Spintlum, who chooses peace over war and saves his people from a massacre. The story is based on the historical accounts of settlers traveling west on the Oregon Trail, the tragic account of the Donner Party and the search for gold on the Fraser River. In preparing to write this narrative, the author climbed the Donner Pass and traveled the Oregon Trail and the Fraser River attempting to recreate the passage across a virtually unknown land.

Oregon and Eldorado or, Romance of the Rivers is a series of short stories by Thomas Bulfinch. All connected to landmarks and nature of Oregon and Eldorado, they are presented as romances between different men and women.

Tells the story of the legendary trail, the mountain men who blazed the way, and the missionaries who followed.

A new American journey.