[DaughterofEve]

Thank you all now and in advance, the details on this thread are and will be so valuable to me. I trust my Freeper contacts for this kind of thing especially!

Amazon loves you all for the months and years ahead! : )

[Zacs Mom]

A US history book I really enjoyed is:

Bernard DeVoto's "The Year Of Decision ~ 1846"
Copyright 1942

Year of Decision 1846 tells many fascinating stories of the U.S. explorers who began the western march from the Mississippi to the Pacific, from Canada to the annexation of Texas, California, and the southwest lands from Mexico. It is the penultimate book of a trilogy which includes Across the Wide Missouri (for which DeVoto won both the Pulitzer and Bancroft prizes) and The Course of Empire. DeVoto's narrative covers the expanding Western frontier, the Mormons, the Donner party, Fremont's exploration, the Army of the West, and takes readers into Native American tribal life.