Long Day's Journey: Steamboat & Stagecoach Era

Category: History: U.S.: 19th Century

Publishing Information: 1999 by Univ of Washington

ISBN: 0295976918

Binding: Cloth

Description: In Long Day's Journey Carlos Schwantes gathers historical ì photographs, advertisements, posters, and contemporary accounts ì to recreate one of the most colorful periods in the American ì West. He traces the rapidly evolving saga of miners and settlers ì struggling to get from here to there in the days before railroads ì reached the West, trying to establish methods of transportation ì and communication between the eastern United States and the new ì territories that became Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, and ì Wyoming-first by sea, around continents, then by land and water ì routes across America. Many of the enduring images and myths of ì the West derive from this era: the Pony Express, mule trains and ì plodding oxteam freighters, the picturesque side-wheelers and ì sternwheelers that churned along the rivers, the colorful Concord ì stagecoaches drawn by four or six jingling, fleet horses.

Schwantes describes in detail the technology of preindustrial ì modes of transportation. He explains the economics that linked ì the birth and death of western towns and cities, the business ì history of entrepreneurs and stagecoach and steamboat companies, ì and the challenges facing passengers and employees on the stages ì and steamers of the northern West. Integrating more than 200 ì historical photographs and other illustrations with vivid ì contemporary accounts, Schwantes presents a fascinating history ì of Americans forging the first working connections between the ì West and the rest of American-connections that the railroads ì would soon smooth and strengthen. His book RAILROAD SIGNATURES ì ACROSS THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST<.i> detailed that story; here he ì tells of the people and animals and equipment supplanted by the ì twin ribbons of steel.

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