Across The Great Divide

by McCartney, Laton

• ISBN13: 9780786270804
• ISBN10: 0786270802
• Edition: Large
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-12-09
• Publisher: Thorndike Pr

Summary

When Lewis and Clark struggled across the high Rockies in Montana and Idaho, their route was too perilous for wagon trains to follow. Six years later, on the return trip from establishing John Jacob Astor's fur trading post at Astoria, Robert Stuart and six companions traveled from west to east for more than 3,000 grueling miles by canoe, horseback, and foot, following the mountains south until they came upon the one gap in the Rocky Mountain chain that was passable by wagon. Resurrecting a pivotal moment in American history, this is the never-before-told story of the young Scottish fur trader who made the trailblazing discovery of the Oregon Trail and changed the face of the country forever. Book jacket.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. 1
Mr. Astor's Proposal	p. 7
A Highlander's Progress	p. 12
Hidden Agenda	p. 22
In Pursuit of Castor canadensis	p. 29
Starting Over	p. 34
Final Preparations	p. 38
Aboard the Tonquin: New York to the Falkland Islands	p. 45
Paradise	p. 57
Arrival	p. 64
Getting Settled	p. 68
The Overlanders: From Montreal to the Missouri	p. 78
Visitors	p. 88
The Diplomat	p. 96
The Rainy Season	p. 106
The Overlanders: From the Missouri to Astoria	p. 111
Dangerous Passage, Reunion, and Rescue	p. 127
Bearers of Bad News	p. 136
Taking Stock	p. 141
Send-Off	p. 147
Jeopardy	p. 151
Up the Columbia	p. 155
The Snake	p. 170
Shortcut	p. 186
Crows	p. 191
To the Tetons	p. 199
Hunger	p. 211
South Pass	p. 217
The Chateau of Indolence	p. 226
Reversals	p. 233
Uprooted	p. 237
Winter March	p. 241
Surrender	p. 246
Down the Platte	p. 249
St. Louis and New York	p. 262
Afterword	p. 271
Notes	p. 277
Bibliography	p. 289
Acknowledgments	p. 293
Index	p. 295
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.