Akron Public Library

Historic pioneer trails serve as some of the most fascinating links to our nation’s past and retracing them can be an exhilarating and educational experience. Following the Santa Fe Trail is aimed at assisting modern travelers to enlarge their understanding of the trail and increase the enjoyment that comes from following in the wagon tracks of pioneers. Originating in Franklin, Missouri, the Santa Fe Trail was the first and most exotic of America’s...

This is the true story of the Santa Fe Trail, of the turbulent explorers, traders, and fighters surging westward. It is the well-told, accurate record of an exciting era which will live again for every reader who turns these pages.

Her journal describes the excitement, routine, and dangers of a successful merchant's wife. On the trail for fifteen months, moving from house to house and town to town, she became adept in Spanish and the lingo of traders, and she wrote down in detail the customs and appearances of the places she went. She gave birth to her first child during the journey.

In the Wyoming wild, Blackfoot warriors prepare for battle, their bloodlust stirred by a legendary prophet promising victory in a war that will forever rid the plains of the white man. To legendary mountain man Preacher, it isn't a promise - it's a threat. But being out-numbered in a savage frontier means justice will be as hard-earned and uncertain.

A soldier-author's view of the American frontier The history of the expansion of the frontier of America is particularly marked by the famous-perhaps legendary-trails upon which pioneers in their 'prairie schooners' or cattlemen driving their great herds crossed the vast continental interior. All roads tell their own stories, not by virtue of being routes of passage, but because of the personalities of those who travelled them and the events that...

The 775-mile-long wagon road between frontier Missouri and Santa Fe, New Mexico was dangerous. Intense heat, killing blizzards, and the constant threat of attacking Indians made traveling the Santa Fe Trail very risky. In spite of the hardships, the Santa Fe Trail became an important link in America's growth. The area along the Santa Fe Trail became vital to the Union in the Civil War. After its victory, the area became a main frontier and the railroad...