frontier and pioneer life

The author chronicles his experiences living in the wilderness of Alaska and recounts his day-to-day activities of building a log cabin and making what he needed from materials around him.

"From tales of early baseball in the old west to the young men who fought for Texas Independence, these short stories by experts in their fields bring together a different view of the American West--the tales of the young men and women who were part of the story"--Provided by publisher.

Presents the history of the Donner Party, a group of American pioneers who set out for California, but who resorted to cannibalism when their journey took a drastic turn in the Sierra Nevada.

"It is January 12, 1888, and you are caught by surprise by a powerful blizzard that sweeps across the Midwest. Dangerously cold temperatures, high winds, and deep snow make travel nearly impossible. Will you be able to find your way home through the storm after leaving school? Can you find your father after he becomes lost in the blinding snow? Will you be able to help your students find shelter after the storm ruins your schoolhouse? With dozens of possible choices, it's up to YOU to find a way to survive one of history's worst blizzards"--Provided by publisher.

"The idea of the American frontier means a lot to many Americans' images of themselves and their country. Everyone has heard stories or watched movies showing tough, brave settlers crossing the continent, daring harsh weather, hostile natives, and rough terrain to nobly 'tame' the frontier and expand the United States"--Provided by publisher.

Don't awaken what sleeps in the dark. In a future ravaged by fire and drought, two climate refugees ride their motorcycles across the wasteland of the western US, and stumble upon an old silver mine. Descending into the cool darkness of the caved-in tunnels in desperate search of water, the two women find Lavinia Caine's diary, a settler in search of prosperity who brought her family to Nevada in the late 1860s. But Lavinia and the settlers of the Western town discovered something monstrous that dwells in the depths of the mine, something that does not want greedy prospectors disturbing the earth. Whispers of curses and phantom figures haunt the diary, and now, over 150 years later, trapped and injured in the abandoned mine, the women discover they are not alone . . . with no easy way out. The monsters are still here and they are thirsty.

"A gripping and wholly original account of the epic human tragedy that was the great Klondike Gold Rush of 1897-1898"--Provided by publisher.

"In 1873 the people of Labette County in Kansas made a grisly discovery. Buried on a homestead seven miles south of the town of Cherryvale, in a bloodied cellar and under frost-covered soil, were countless bodies in varying states of decay. The discovery sent the local community and national newspapers into a frenzy that continued for over two decades, and the land on which the crimes took place became known as 'Hells Half-Acre.' When it emerged that a family of four known as the Benders had been accused of the slayings, the case was catapulted to infamy. The idea that a family of seemingly respectable homesteaders--one among thousands who were relocating further west looking for land and opportunity after the Civil War--were capable of operating 'a human slaughter pen' appalled and fascinated the nation. But who the Benders really were, why they committed such a vicious killing spree, and what became of them when they fled from the law is a mystery that has remains unsolved to this day--not that there aren't some convincing theories. Part gothic western, part literary whodunnit, and part immersive study of postbellum America, Hell's Half-Acre sheds new light on one of the most notorious cases in our nation's history while holding a torch to a society under the strain of rapid change and moral disarray. Susan Jonasus draws on extensive original archival material, and introduces us to a fascinating cast of characters, including the despairing families of the victims as well as the fugitives that helped the murderers escape. Hell's Half-Acre is not simply a book about a mass murder. It is a journey into the turbulent heart of nineteenth century America, a place where modernity stalks across the landscape, violently displacing existing populations and wearily building new ones. It is a world where folklore can quickly become fact, and an entire family of criminals can slip right through a community's fingers, only to reappear at the most unexpected of times"--.

". . . read about the Oregon Trail and westward expansion from three perspectives. Each perspective is based on real things that happened to real people who traveled or experiences the Oregon Trail. As you'll see, the same event can look different depending on one's point of view"--Page 3.