Out where the West begins. Volume 2, Creating and civilizing the American West
(Local Collection Book)

Includes bibliographical references and index

"In 1790, it was not a given that the young United States, bruised and healing from its struggle for independence and populated by fewer than 4 million inhabitants, would even survive, much less flourish. But the great adventure that came next--the exploration and settlement of the lands lying to the west and stretching to the Pacific Ocean--would build a nation where only a patchwork of eastern seaboard colonies had existed before. [This book] follows the saga of more than one hundred influential men and women--political and military leaders, religious thinkers, civil rights proponents, suffragists, African American pioneers, writers and artists, explorers and surveyors, architects, inventors, innovators, medical professionals, and conservationists--who together wove the story of early western fronter America. The engaging account of their lives forms a unique tapestry of human experience"--Jacket.