The Plains Across: The Overland Emigrants and The Trans-Mississippi West, 1840-60, by John D. Unruh, Jr.

MID-AMERICA + THE PLAINS / MOUNTAIN WEST / PACIFIC NORTHWEST. 
History, American West. 

There are few things better on our hunts than uncovering a significant volume in a forgotten corner of a flea market. Such was the case here, we would discover … When published in 1979, this massive yet stylistic work of deep dive research opened up a broader periphery on the western migration of mostly European settlers than had ever before been considered. It reset and broadened the discussion, and would be a Pulitzer Prize finalist the following year. The larger story has this being a work many decades in the making, with multiple historians building up the study and then passing it on to a next generation pupil to carry forward. Unruh was able to finally bring it to print, rightfully beginning the foreword with kudos to all those on whose shoulders he stood. Focusing on the three main overland emigrant trails—the Oregon, the California, and the Mormon (all of which intertwined at points)—this full tome covers the westward motion in the decades prior to the Civil War from start points in west Missouri, Iowa, across Kansas and the length of Nebraska, and then on through Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Oregon, and California. It devotes significant space to the “public opinion” to be found in the young nation’s newspapers, the reasons behind why so many risked everything to go, the emigrant's interaction with each other (they found lots of company), and the First Nation inhabitants who then called the land along the trails home. Much of this latter part, as we know, did not go so well, prompting the federal government to get deeply committed. Forts sprang up all along the routes and there was no love loss between Mormon pioneers and the federal soldiers. Here is a great summary we found on the D.C. Public Library site: “Readers get a feel for how the ‘overlanders’ got along with each other; their relations with Indians; the battles of overcoming hunger, thirst, cold, etc. … private entrepreneurs along the trail who were trading and selling goods at exorbitant prices … the Mormon influence throughout the Salt Lake area … (and) the federal government's role in Westward emigration by improving roads, establishing forts along the way and implementing troops to guide and protect the overlanders to safety.” [Condition: Used Very Good. This volume is in great shape. There is only a slight amount of humidity stress visible on the spine, while most of the interior is in pristine shape. There are only a hanful pages that we noticed containing pen markings: 118, 119, 123, 129, 149, 205, the underlined passage on 149: “the greatest litterbugs in American history”!] 

Condition: Used Very Good. 
Nonfiction / History. 
John D. Unruh, Jr. 
University of Illinois Press, 1979. 
Hardcover (First Edition), 565 pgs, 7.25 x 10.25” / 3.5 lb