The Plains Across (book)
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The Plains Across: The Overland Emigrants on the Trans-Mississippi West, 1840–60 is the definitive book on overland travel across the Great Plains prior to the Civil War. It was written by John D. Unruh, Jr. and published by the University of Illinois Press in 1970.
The book was a doctoral dissertation at the University of Kansas under George L. Anderson and Clifford S. Griffin. It covers mainly the Oregon, Santa Fe, and Mormon Trails.
[edit] Chapters
- Introduction: The Historians and the Overlanders
- 1. Public Opinion, 1840-48
- 2. Public Opinion, 1849-60
- 3. Motivations and Beginnings
- 4. Emigrant Interaction
- 5. Emigrant-Indian Interaction
- 6. The Federal Government
- 7. Private Entrepreneurs, 1840-49
- 8. Private Entrepreneurs, 1850-60
- 9. The Mormon "Halfway House"
- 10. West Coast Assistance
- 11. The Overlanders in Historical Perspective.
[edit] Editions
- Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 1970. LoC 78-9781. ISBN 0-252-00698-4
