Bound for the Promised Land

This is an engrossing book detailing one man's hopes of getting to California from Tennessee during the 1800s and hooking up with his father, who set off 3 years earlier. As Adam Cloud prepares to leave Tennessee, he meets up with Harry Creekmore, a compulsive liar, con-man, and charlatan. Harry is escaping from the law, and takes up with Adam (who happens to have some money from the sale of his farm and looks like a reasonable meal ticket). Along their way, they meet up with the Jennings family, a bunch of northern psychopaths and idealists, out to set up a California commune without the slightest idea of the hardships ahead. Then they are joined by Clifford and Ishtar Baynes, a couple of opportunistic weasels. And life is very hard. For most of a year, the bunch deals with weather, food, illness, and Indian problems. The difficulties of living with strangers--people completely foreign in upbringing, values, and goals--are well described, and although Adam starts off as a naive do-gooder, by the end, he's sadly enlightened about human weaknesses (including his own). The scenery is vivid, and every character in this book is well developed, from their basic motivations to their dreams. I found myself noting that I've known people just like these people, and I'm pretty glad I didn't have to spend months crossing the country with them. What a pity that Adam didn't cross paths with the Ingalls family.