| An overland journey, from New York to San Francisco in the summer of 1859. |  | Author: Horace Greeley
Publisher: University of Michigan Library
Category: Book
List Price: $39.95
Buy New: $37.31
You Save: $2.64 (7%)
New (13) Used (4) from $37.31
Avg. Customer Rating:  2 reviews
Sales Rank: 4676757
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 400
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.6
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 5.9 x 1.3
ISBN: 1418133116
Dewey Decimal Number: 910
EAN: 9781418133115
ASIN: 1418133116
Publication Date: January 1, 1800
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand new Book, ALL days Low Price !
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
In the spring of 1859 Horace Greeley, celebrated editor of the New-York Tribune, set off to explore the projected central route for a great transcontinental railroad line connecting the Mississippi Valley and the West Coast. Greeley traveled to California, primarily by stagecoach, and sent back a series of letters describing the scenery and human endeavor he encountered. He dismissed the plains as a region of "sterility and thirst." Of the new gold fields near Denver he predicted that they were only a modest representation of the rich veins that ran throughout the Rockies. He understood too that it would be those who mined the miners, rather than those who dug for gold, who would reap financial rewards. An inveterate reporter, Greeley commented on everything he saw, from prairie dogs to Mormons to the scenic wonders of the Yosemite valley. He was tireless in recounting economic possibilities for farmers, miners, ranchers, and merchants, ultimately concluding that much of the West was a vast, untapped resource waiting for courageous pioneers and innovative settlers.
|
| Customer Reviews:
 Go West, Young Man July 14, 2000
14 out of 14 found this review helpful
There were three great books written about journeys to the American West in 1859: The best was Mark Twain's semi-fictional ROUGHING IT. The next best was Sir Richard F. Burton's THE CITY OF THE SAINTS, about a journey to see what Mormonism was all about and to meet with Brigham Young. That Horace Greeley's book should be third in this line-up is no disgrace. There is so much self-conscious mythmaking about the Old West that eyewitness accounts of intelligent observers are as rare as hen's teeth. Before the completion of the Trans-Continental Railroad, any journey across the Great Plains was attended by danger, discomfort, and memorable encounters. It is unfortunate that there so so few good accounts. Greeley was first and foremost a newspaper man. He had a sharp eye for what he thought would interest his readers (unlike Twain & Burton who wrote sub specie aeternitatis) and did not disappoint. His descriptions of the Indians, the rigors of the road, and the struggling communities a-borning west of the Platte make for fascinating reading. This is one of those great books to take along on a car journey through the Rockies and Great Plains.
 He was my great great uncle. It was very interesting September 25, 1998
3 out of 13 found this review helpful
It was really great, I'm just kidding I haven't even read it yet, but I am going to mainly because I'm related and like to read.
|
|
|
Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| |
