Sierra Crossing: First Roads to California
Howard (geography, Armstrong Atlantic State Univ., Georgia) offers a history of overland roads to California. Fur trappers and mountain men were the first European Americans to traverse the mountains, deserts, and passes. Their routes laid the foundation for wagon trains, overland stages, freight wagons, and, finally, the railroads. The elevation and snow of the Sierra Nevadas created great challenges for road builders, as did politics?both local and national. California cities vied to become terminuses, and sectional difficulties at the federal level postponed the building of a transcontinental railroad until the 1860s. With the completion of the Union Pacific in 1869, the nation was physically joined, the Western territories were secured, and the mineral wealth, agricultural lands, and seaports of California were now a part of the national system. Howard has used diaries, letters, newspapers, and official reports while also describing present conditions of many of California's first roads to produce an entertaining piece of scholarship. Recommended for all public libraries.?Patricia Ann Owens, Wabash Valley Coll., Mt. Carmel, ILCopyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.