HC book "A Life Wild and Perilous: Mountain Men and the Paths to the Pacific"

Description: For Americans, the reality of the Trans-Mississippi West (west of the Miss. River) dawned with the early 1800's. President Thomas Jefferson knew little about what he'd just bought from Napoleon Bonaparte of France, but he had long been interested in lifting the veil from the western reaches of the N. American continent. Jefferson sponsored two Virginia military men to go forth and bring back detailed observations about America's latest acquisition- Lewis and Clark. The information was tantalizing enough to cause a boom in "mountain" men willing to risk their lives in Indian-controlled areas. The conquering went unabated until the early 1900's. In two great movements of American history, exploration and national expansion, a small gathering of colorful and eccentric men played a decisive part. They were the Mountain Men- the old adventurers who sought individual freedom and financial reward in the beaver streams of the Rocky Mountains. In their allotted span, little more than 50 years, they came to know the American West as well as the Indians whose trails they followed. What they learned and how they mapped the West did not remain locked in their minds. It began to seep out in their own time and cascaded forth as the continent was slowly conquered. Much of the information contained in travel guides that lured more and more people to "go west" was pure fiction- witness the beleaguered Donner Party that resorted to cannibalism to survive a harsh winter. This is great reading, esp. for a teenager. Let me suggest also watching the movies "Jerimiah Johnson" with Robert Redford and "The Revenant" with Leonardo DiCaprio, as well as the new 2-part movie "Horizon" with Kevin Costner. This subject of the mountain men is particularly good for middle school and high school history presentations.

Price: 13.6 USD

Location: Bedford, Virginia

End Time: 2024-12-15T02:11:34.000Z

Shipping Cost: 5.38 USD