The Great West

I have done quite a bit of reading, 30 plus books, on the exploration of the North American continent, on America's continual Western migration, first across the Appalachians, then the Mississippi and on to California and Oregon to complete America's Manifest Destiny. When I became aware of David Lavender's The Great West, I thought it would be a simple retelling of some of what I had read earlier, starting with the fur trade and focusing on events West of the Mississippi River. But no, this book starts in 1750, prior to the French and Indian War, with colonial migration southward from Philadelphia down the Great Wagon Road. I wish I had started my study here for this is the finest, most complete work on America's Manifest Destiny that I have yet to discover. It is easy to see Lavender's primary calling was teaching. He delivers a better understanding of how regional events, for example the early 1800 political unrest in the then trans-Appalachian West, fit into the larger geopolitical picture of the contention between Spain, France, Britain and the United States as America's trans-Appalachian migration drives the Louisiana Purchase. The Purchase was quite a dynamic event: It united America for the first time, pushing America's frontier across the Mississippi River to a new set of expansion challenges. As Lavender describes it, "Doubling the geographic area of the country through the Louisiana Purchase seemed to reduce in proportion the wits of some frontiersmen. Local stump orators forgot that they had recently been agitating for a separate Republic west of the Allegany Mountains and began crying for still greater expansion by the Stars and Stripes." That's Lavender: Informative, pithy, sarcastic and humorous. He does not tell events in isolation but rather delivers them as part of the whole cloth, providing seamless transitions between events. This is the type of analysis you can expect from Lavender in all aspects of this interpretation of America's Western migration and he answers a myriad of unanswered questions in this excellent work. His explanations of the key drivers of the settling of Texas, Indian Removal, the Black Hawk War, the beginnings of the fur trade, the Santa Fe Trail, Taos and the Oregon and California Trails are all interrelated and he leaves no stone unturned in his explanation of these migration drivers. David Lavender covers our Manifest Destiny like no other and in the process he conveys a better learning experience than any other author I have had the good fortune to enjoy. You can expect succinct and original analysis, insights and conclusions, remarkably interesting color and a superb read!

This book has something for every history buff. The beginning chapter focuses on the movement beyond the Alleghenies in 1763, initially it was agreed upon by legislators as belonging to Native Americans. Soon however, a greater understanding of how vast the land beyond was, creating a temptation to explore and exploit. The book is very systematic in covering the time periods based on various Congressional Acts and Wars as well as further development of the lands. Along side the narrative is a wide variety of pictorials that demonstrate the story told. Many Photographs of Pioneers including "Mountain Man" Jim Baker a scout who worked along side Kit Carson; a lawless woman; Survivors of Smallpox exposure; Entertainers for the 49er's; Indians from Different Tribes; Advertisements for Land for Sale; Religious Artifacts (including a tract put out by Catholics showing Protestants "withered ends of the branches of the true church"; San Francisco photos in the 1850's; Railroads; Clearing the Land; Indian Pictorial of Custer's Last Stand; Daguerreotype of Santa Anna, the Mexican ruler at the Battle of the Alamo; Maps of territories at the time they were starting to be settled; and many more. What I really appreciated about this book is that it doesn't read like a dry, factoid filled book you had in seventh grade, the author and other collaborators enjoyed their subject. You will too.