Historical Atlas of the American West

This is a wonderful book. With all my summer road trips around the West, I don't know how I got along without it but from now on it will always be in arms reach. Almost all the maps are simple line maps just showing national and state boundaries so that for instance the map of WWII Japanese-American relocation camps is the sparse line map with dots sprinkled around the West marking the location of the camps. On the facing page is a concise history of the subject of the preceding map. There are obvious subjects like the Oregon Trail, and more obscure subjects like the distribution of hog farms. My favorite is a map showing the dispersion northward of horses left behind by Spanish explorers and that were to become the favored mode of transportation of the Plains Indians. I have a couple of similar books just for California but to my knowledge this is the only such map book for the American West.

If you are curious about the events that took place during the development and history of the west, this book is for you. If you are looking for a general reference book on the west, this is it. The book has a map and a one-page description for that particular topic. The topics include flora and fauna, geology, railroad expansion routes, emigrant trails, indian battles and exploration. Topics are not limited to 19th century history. Some maps and information are available for World War 2 POW camps and military installations.