The California Trail
George R. Stewart, The California Trail (McGraw Hill, 1962) This book details the story of the California Trail from 1841 to 1849. Each chapter is a year-by-year survey of the…
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May 15, 2020
The Overland Mail: 1849-1869
LeRoy Hafen, The Overland Mail: 1849-1869 (Originally published 1926) Hafen's book, which grew out of his doctoral dissertation, is the pioneering work on overland mail in the trans-Mississippi west. This…
May 14, 2020
Wagon Roads West
W. Turentine Jackson, Wagon Roads West: A Study of Federal Surveys and Construction in the Trans-Mississippi West, 1846–1869 (University of California Press, 1952) This book is a meticulous, exhaustive study…
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May 9, 2020
The Plains Across
John D. Unruh, Jr., The Plains Across: The Overland Emigrants and the Trans-Mississippi West, 1840-60 (Univ. of Illinois, 1979) This book grew out of Unruh's doctoral dissertation, apparently ten years…
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May 8, 2020
The Old Trails West
Ralph Moody, The Old Trails West (Promontory Press 1963) This book details the various trails used across the western U.S., beginning with the Spanish missions in the southwest, spreading up…
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May 6, 2020
Death of a Gunfighter
Dan Rottenberg, Death of a Gunfighter: The Quest for Jack Slade, the West's Most Elusive Legend (Westholme 2008) This book represents the author's quest to sort the fact from the…
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April 27, 2020
South Pass: Gateway to a Continent
Will Bagley, South Pass: Gateway to a Continent (University of Oklahoma Press, 2015) So far, this is the only book related to the Pony Express ride I regret buying. It's…
April 21, 2020
Historic Resource Study of the Pony Express National Historic Trail
Historic Resource Study of the Pony Express National Historic Trail
Anthony Godfrey, Historic Resource Study of the Pony Express National Historic Trail (United States Department of the Interior/National Park Service 1994) At a certain point in conducting research on the…
April 17, 2020
Bike. Camp. Cook. Cookbook
Bike. Camp. Cook. Cookbook
I stumbled across a website today that offered a free PDF download of a bikecamping cooking guide [Update: the cookbook is no longer free]. The site is "Bike. Camp. Cook.,"…
April 14, 2020
Bikepacking Shelters
What shelter system is best?
"The route passes through the high plains and the high desert. Keep in mind that buildings out here had to be built with the natural materials that were available. That…
April 14, 2020
Jan Bennett and her Pony Express rig
What kind of bike is best?
"Naturally, your riding style, comfort level, and how much weight you plan to carry will determine the answer to this for you. I rode it on a 27.5+ hardtail with…
April 14, 2020
Empire on Wheels
Raymond W. Settle and Mary Lund Settle, Empire on Wheels (Stanford University Press 1949) Empire on Wheels, along with a couple of other books written by the Settles, is one that…
April 13, 2020
A Life Wild and Perilous
A Life Wild and Perilous
Robert M. Utley, A Life Wild and Perilous: Mountain Men and the Paths to the Pacific (Henry Holt 1997) I bought this book when it first came out. I've been interested…
March 26, 2020
Stagecoach West
Stagecoach West
Ralph Moody, Stagecoach West (Promontory Press 1967) I think I picked this book up at a Friends of the Library sale. Great book. Incredibly detailed. I've read it twice now. As…
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March 26, 2020
The Pony Express trail: Yesterday and Today
The Pony Express Trail
William E. Hill, The Pony Express Trail: Yesterday and Today (Caxton Press, 2010) My partner, Lisa, gave me this book when I first mentioned I wanted to ride the Pony Express…
March 25, 2020