George R. Stewart, The California Trail (McGraw Hill, 1962) This book details the story of the California Trail from 1841...
Read More
The Overland Mail: 1849-1869
May 14, 2020
LeRoy Hafen, The Overland Mail: 1849-1869 (Originally published 1926) Hafen's book, which grew out of his doctoral dissertation, is the...
Read More
Wagon Roads West
May 9, 2020
W. Turentine Jackson, Wagon Roads West: A Study of Federal Surveys and Construction in the Trans-Mississippi West, 1846–1869 (University of...
Read More
The Plains Across
May 8, 2020
John D. Unruh, Jr., The Plains Across: The Overland Emigrants and the Trans-Mississippi West, 1840-60 (Univ. of Illinois, 1979) This...
Read More
The Old Trails West
May 6, 2020
Ralph Moody, The Old Trails West (Promontory Press 1963) This book details the various trails used across the western U.S.,...
Read More
Death of a Gunfighter
April 27, 2020
Dan Rottenberg, Death of a Gunfighter: The Quest for Jack Slade, the West's Most Elusive Legend (Westholme 2008) This book...
Read More
South Pass: Gateway to a Continent
April 21, 2020
Will Bagley, South Pass: Gateway to a Continent (University of Oklahoma Press, 2015) So far, this is the only book...
Read More
Historic Resource Study of the Pony Express National Historic Trail
April 17, 2020
Anthony Godfrey, Historic Resource Study of the Pony Express National Historic Trail (United States Department of the Interior/National Park Service...
Read More
Bike. Camp. Cook. Cookbook
April 14, 2020
I stumbled across a website today that offered a free PDF download of a bikecamping cooking guide [Update: the cookbook...
Read More
What shelter system is best?
April 14, 2020
"The route passes through the high plains and the high desert. Keep in mind that buildings out here had to...
Read More
What kind of bike is best?
April 14, 2020
"Naturally, your riding style, comfort level, and how much weight you plan to carry will determine the answer to this...
Read More
Empire on Wheels
April 13, 2020
Raymond W. Settle and Mary Lund Settle, Empire on Wheels (Stanford University Press 1949) Empire on Wheels, along with a couple...
Read More
Fear and Discomfort
April 3, 2020
When I think about riding the Pony Express Trail, the two feelings that come up are fear and discomfort. And...
Read More
2 Replies
Riders of the Pony Express
March 30, 2020
Riders of the Pony Express, Ralph Moody (1958, republished 2004 University of Nebraska Press) This is a short book, and...
Read More
A Life Wild and Perilous
March 26, 2020
Robert M. Utley, A Life Wild and Perilous: Mountain Men and the Paths to the Pacific (Henry Holt 1997) I bought...
Read More
Stagecoach West
March 26, 2020
Ralph Moody, Stagecoach West (Promontory Press 1967) I think I picked this book up at a Friends of the Library sale....
Read More
The Pony Express Trail
March 25, 2020
William E. Hill, The Pony Express Trail: Yesterday and Today (Caxton Press, 2010) My partner, Lisa, gave me this book when...
Read More
What is Bikepacking?
March 25, 2020
Bikepacking is, basically, just what it sounds like: Backpacking, but getting from Point A to Point B on a bike...
Read More
Why Ride the Pony Express Trail?
March 24, 2020
I first started thinking about cycling the Pony Express in September 2017. That’s when I came across a website with...
Read More