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Authors: Steve Sheinkin

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Biographies of key figures in the history of the West
This book features a huge and diverse cast of characters. I tried pretty hard to search out quotes and stories to make key characters come alive. Here are some of the sources that I found most helpful.
 
Ambrose, Stephen.
Crazy Horse and Custer: The Parallel Lives of Two American Warriors
. New York: Doubleday, 1975.
Anderson, Irving. W.
A Charbonneau Family Portrait.
NPS booklet.
Bankes, James. “Wild Bill Hickok.”
Wild West Magazine
, August 1996.
De Bruhl, Marshall.
Sword of San Jacinto: A Life of Sam Houston.
New York: Random House, 1993.
Fellman, Michael.
Citizen Sherman: A Life of William Tecumseh Sherman
. Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 1995.
Fleming, Walter L. “Pap Singleton, The Moses of the Colored Exodus.”
American Journal of Sociology
15 (July 1909): PP Nos.
Foote, Shelby.
The Civil War: A Narrative,
vol. 3. New York: Random House, 1974.
Graham, W. A.
The Custer Myth: A Source Book of Custeriana.
Mechanicsburg, Pa.: Stackpole Books, 1995.
Leckie, Shirley A.
Elizabeth Bacon Custer and the Making of a Myth
. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1993.
Rosa, Joseph G.
Wild Bill Hickok: The Man & His Myth
. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1996.
Sandburg, Carl.
Abraham Lincoln: The Prairie Years and the War Years,
1-vol. ed. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1954.
Seigenthaler, John.
James K. Polk, 1845–1849.
The American Presidents. New York: Times Books, 2003.
Thomasma, Kenneth.
The Truth About Sacagawea
. Jackson, Wyo.: Grandview Publishing Co., 1997.
Utley, Robert.
The Lance and the Shield: The Life and Times of Sitting Bull
. New York: Ballantine Books, 1993.
“Virginia Reed Elopes.”
Illinois Journal
, April 16, 1850.
Williams, Jean Kinney.
Bridget “Biddy” Mason
. Minneapolis: Compass Point Books, 2006.
Memoirs and other firsthand accounts by participants
These sources were by far the most important to me in writing this book—which explains why the list is so long. And you don't always have to go to libraries to search for this stuff. These days you can find many of these texts online at the Library of Congress site (
www.loc.gov
) or at the websites of universities. Though sometimes I read a book online and loved it so much I just had to order a real copy, like with Preuss's
Exploring with Frémont
and James Beckwourth's
Adventures
. Hey, I said I was a history nerd. I mean, story detective.
Abbott, E. C.
We Pointed Them North: Recollections of a Cowpuncher.
New York: Farrar & Rinehart, 1939.
Beckwourth, James P.
The Life and Adventures of James P. Beckwourth.
New York: Harper & Brothers, 1856.
Black Elk.
Black Elk Speaks: The Life Story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux, as told to John G. Neihardt
. New York: MJF Books, 1932.
Brown, James S.
California Gold: An Authentic History of the First Find with the Names of Those Interested in the Discovery
. Salt Lake City: Pacific Press Publishing Co., 1894.
Carson, J. H.
Early Recollections of the Mines
. Pamphlet published in
San Joaquin Republican
, 1852.
Chivington, John M. “Reports of Col. John M. Chivington,” in
The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate
Armies,
vol. 41. Washington, D.C.: United States War Department, 1893.
———. “Testimony of Colonel J. M. Chivington.” Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, Massacre of Cheyenne Indians, 38th Cong., 2nd sess. (Washington, 1865), pp. 4–12, 56–59, 101–8.
Christman, Enos.
One Man's Gold: The Letters and Journal of a Forty-niner
. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1930.
Clark, William, and Meriwether Lewis.
The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition
. Edited by Gary E. Moulton. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1983.
Clyman, James. “Narrative by James Clyman,” original manuscript owned by the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, CITY.
Custer, Elizabeth B.
Boots and Saddles, or Life in Dakota with General Custer.
New York: Harper & Brothers, 1885.
———.
Following the Guidon
. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1890. Donner, Elizabeth.
The Expedition of the Donner Party and Its Tragic Fate
. Los Angeles: Grafton Publishing Co., 1920.
Ebutt, Percy G.
Emigrant Life in Kansas
. London: S. Sonnenschein and Co., 1886.
Howard, Oliver O.
My Life and Experiences Among Our Hostile Indians.
Hartford, Conn.: A. D. Worthington & Co., 1907.
Howard, William Willard. “The Rush to Oklahoma.”
Harper's Weekly,
May 18, 1889.
Jackson, Donald, ed.
Letters of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, with Related Documents
, vol. 1. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1978.
Jefferson, Thomas.
The Writings of Thomas Jefferson,
vol. 6. Washington, D.C.: Taylor and Maury, 1854.
Chief Joseph. “An Indian's View of Indian Affairs.” North American Review
,
April 1879.
Kip, Leonard.
California Sketches, with Recollections of the Gold Mines.
Albany, N.Y.: E.H. Pease & Co., 1850.
Knapp, Louise Amelia.
The Shirley Letters from California Mines in 1851–52.
San Francisco: Printed by T. C. Russell, 1922.
Knower, Daniel.
The Adventures of a Forty-niner: An Historic Description of California, with Events and Ideas of San Francisco and Its people in Those Early Days
. Published by the author, 1894.
Leeper, David Rohrer.
The Argonauts of Forty-nine: Some Recollections of the Plains and the Diggings
. South Bend, Ind.: J. B. Stoll & Co., 1894.
Lincoln, Abraham.
Speeches and Writings, 1832–1858
. New York: Library of America, 1989.
Love, Nat.
The Life and Adventures of Nat Love
. Published by the author, Los Angeles, 1907.
Luther Standing Bear.
My People the Sioux
. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1928.
Marryat, Frank.
Mountains and Molehills, or Recollections of a Burnt Journal
. London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1855.
Mayer, Frank H.
The Buffalo Harvest.
Denver: Sage Books, 1958.
Meriwether, David.
My Life in the Mountains and on the Plains.
Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1965.
Megquier, Mary Jane.
Apron Full of Gold: The Letters of Mary Jane Megquier from San Francisco, 1849–1856.
San Marino, Calif.: Huntington Library, 1949.
Polk, James K.
The Diary of a President, 1845–1849
. New York: Longmans, Green and Co., 1929.
Preuss, Charles.
Exploring with Frémont
:
The Private Diaries of Charles Preuss
. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1958.
Pringle, Catherine Sager. Across the Plains in 1844. Pamphlet, 1860.
Reed, Virginia.
Across the Plains in the Donner Party: A Personal Narrative of the Overland Trip to California
. Published by the author, 1891.
Ruede, Howard.
Sod-house Days: Letters from a Kansas Homesteader, 1877–78
. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1937.
Ryan, William Redmond.
Personal Adventures in Upper and Lower California, in 1848–49
. London: W. Shoberl, 1850.
Sanford, Mollie Dorsey.
Mollie: The Journal of Mollie Dorsey Sanford in Nebraska and Colorado Territories
. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1959.
Seymour, Silas.
Incidents of a Trip Through the Great Platte Valley
. New York: D. Van Nostrand, 1867.
Singleton, Benjamin. Testimony of Benjamin Singleton before the Senate Select Committee Investigating the “Negro Exodus from the Southern States.” Washington, D.C., April 17, 1880.
Siringo, Charles A.
A Texas Cowboy
. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1950; reprint of 1886 edition.
Stanley, Henry M.
My Early Travels and Adventures,
vol. 1. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1895.
Summerhayes, Martha.
Vanished Arizona: Recollections of My Army Life.
Salem, MA: The Salem Press, 1911.
Sutter, John.
The Diary of Joann August Sutter
. San Francisco: Grabhorn Press, 1932.
———. “The Discovery of Gold in California.”
Hutchings' California Magazine,
November 1857.
Svendsen, Gro.
Frontier Mother: The Letters of Gro Svendsen
. Translated and edited by Pauline Farseth and Theodore C. Blegen. Northfield, Minn.: Norwegian-American Historical Association, 1950.
Taylor, Creed.
Tall Men with Long Rifles. Set Down and Written out by James T. DeShields as told to him by Creed Taylor.
San Antonio: Naylor Co., 1971.
Toponce, Alexander.
Reminiscences of Alexander Toponce: Pioneer, 1839–1923.
Published by Mrs. Katie Toponce, Ogden, Utah, 1923.
Twain, Mark
. Roughing It
. New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1871.
Vallejo, Guadalupe. “Ranch and Mission Days in Atla California.”
Century Magazine
, December 1890.
Vallejo, Mariano Guadalupe.
Historical and Personal Memoirs Relating to Alta, California.
Translated by Earl R. Hewitt, 5 Vols. Bancroft Library, University of California Berkeley, 1875.
Whitman, Narcissa, and Eliza Spalding.
Where Wagons Could Go
. Edited by Clifford Merrill Drury. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1997.
Wilson, Elijah Nicholas.
Among the Shoshones.
Salt Lake City: Skelton Publishing Co., 1910.
———.
The White Indian Boy.
Yonkers, NY: World Book Company, 1926.
Wilson, Luzena Stanley.
Luzena Stanley Wilson, '49er: Memories Recalled Years Later for Her Daughter Correnah Wilson Wright
. Mills College, Calif.: Eucalyptus Press, 1937.
Yellow Wolf.
Yellow Wolf: His Own Story
. Caldwell, Idaho.: Caxton Printers, 1940.
I
used a lot of quotes in my books
King George: What Was His Problem?
and
Two Miserable Presidents,
which were about the American Revolution and the Civil War (and which I highly recommend, by the way—I'm trying to make a living). But for this book I
really
used a lot of quotes. I wanted to try to tell this complicated story from the point of view of the people who were there, and there were so many people, with so many different points of view! The following list shows you where I found all these great quotes. For more information about the sources, look in the Source Notes.
How the West Moved West
“Every eye in the United States” Jefferson,
The Writings.
“Would you Americans wish to have” Cerami,
Jefferson's Great Gamble
.
“No. Our wishes extend only” Tucker and Henderson,
Empire of Liberty
.
“I should like to know what” Cerami,
Jefferson's Great Gamble
.
“All France's lands west of the Mississippi” Cerami,
Jefferson's Great Gamble
.
“Make it fifty million then” Cerami,
Jefferson's Great Gamble
.
“Doesn't that look like Barbé-Marbois” Cerami,
Jefferson's Great Gamble
.
“The Great Chief of the seventeen great” Jackson,
Letters of Lewis and Clark
“We feel much at a loss” Lewis and Clark,
Journals.
“I felt myself warm” Lewis and Clark,
Journals.
“Most of the warriors appeared” Lewis and Clark,
Journals.
“a man of no particular merit” Lewis and Clark,
Journals.
“The Indian woman recognized” Lewis and Clark,
Journals.
“I now called to him” Lewis and Clark,
Journals.
“She jumped up and ran” Lewis and Clark,
Journals.
“Ocian in View! O! the joy” Lewis and Clark,
Journals.
“You have shot me” Lewis and Clark,
Journals.
“Being possessed with a strong desire” Beckwourth,
Life and Adventures
.
“If you have a needle” Clyman,
Narrative

be-has-i-pe-hish-a
” Beckwourth,
Life and Adventures
.
“Gentlemen, that Indian wants” Beckwourth,
Life and Adventures
.
“I had learned from the Indians” Meriwether,
My Life
.
“This was the most miserable” Meriwether,
My Life
“About night my jailor came” Meriwether,
My Life
“Every man in Texas is called” Leckie,
From Sea to Shining Sea.
“The great problem I had” Brands,
Lone Star Nation
.
“FELLOW CITIZENS AND COMPATRIOTS” Leckie,
From Sea to Shining
Sea.
“Colonel Travis! The Mexicans” Leckie,
From Sea to Shining Sea.
Did Someone Say “Manifest Destiny”?
“It was so dark that we couldn't” Matovina,
The Alamo Remembered.
“We could hear the Mexican” Matovina,
The Alamo Remembered.
“The struggle lasted more” Hansen,
Alamo Reader
.
“Great God, Sue” Hansen,
Alamo Reader
.
“The boys were continually” Taylor,
Tall Men.
“Let us fight fast and hard” Taylor,
Tall Men.
“I was in a deep sleep” Brands,
Lone Star Nation
.
“I saw His Excellency” Brands,
Lone Star Nation
.
“an unheard of journey for females” Whitman and Spalding,
Where Wagons.
“Our fuel for cooking” Whitman and Spalding,
Where Wagons.
“I thought of Mother's bread” Whitman and Spalding,
Where Wagons.
“Yesterday my horse became” Whitman and Spalding,
Where Wagons.
“The American claim” O'Sullivan, “Annexation.”
“Weather good. Food bad” Preuss,
Exploring
.
“Some of the men tried” Preuss,
Exploring
.
“That fellow knows nothing” Preuss,
Exploring
.
“They immediately served” Preuss,
Exploring
.
“The Oregon fever” Utley,
Life Wild
.
“They do say, gentlemen” Schlissel,
Women's Diaries
.
“Dr. Wilson has determined” Schlissel,
Women's Diaries
.
“During the entire trip” Schlissel,
Women's Diaries
.
“The stench is sometimes” McLynn,
Wagons West
.
“The motion of the wagon” Pringle,
Across the Plains
.
“When performing this feat” Pringle,
Across the Plains
.
“So in twenty-six days” Pringle,
Across the Plains
.
“She spoke kindly” Pringle,
Across the Plains
.
“She would point to one” Ward,
The West
.
“Our ignorance of the route” McLynn,
Wagons West
.
“Every one seemed to live” Vallejo, “Ranch and Mission Days.”
“We were the pioneers” Vallejo, “Ranch and Mission Days.”
“The young Spanish gentlemen” Vallejo, “Ranch and Mission Days.”
“I was a child when we started” Reed,
Across the Plains.
“When we learned of this” Reed,
Across the Plains.
“The farther we went up” Reed,
Across the Plains.
“Even the wind seemed” Donner,
The Expedition.
“We saw a woman emerge” Stewart,
Ordeal
.
“Are you men from California” Stewart,
Ordeal
.
“We are all very well pleased” Reed,
Across the Plains.
“If you insist on remaining” Eisenhower,
So Far from God
.
War, Land, Gold, Trouble
“Hostilities have commenced” Eisenhower,
So Far from God
.
“Mexico has passed the boundary” Leckie,
From Sea to Shining Sea.
“That soil was not ours” Lincoln,
Writings.
“The principle of waging war” Sandburg,
Abraham Lincoln
.
“Mexico should fight to the end” Christensen,
U.S.-Mexican War
.
“Tell Santa Anna to go” Christensen,
U.S.-Mexican War
.
“I beg leave to say” Christensen,
U.S.-Mexican War
.
“I looked out of my bedroom” Vallejo,
Historical and Personal Memoirs
.
“My wife advised me to try” Vallejo,
Historical and Personal Memoirs
.
“They were about as rough” Christensen,
U.S.-Mexican War
.
“To what happy circumstances” Vallejo,
Historical and Personal Memoirs
.
“The bear was so badly painted” Vallejo,
Historical and Personal Memoirs
.
“A paradise of the lizard” Ward,
The West
.
“I want hard times” Ward,
The West
.
“The poor Indians are amazed” Ward,
The West
.
“The disease was raging” Pringle, Across the Plains.
“Suddenly there was a sharp” Pringle, Across the Plains.
“Did they kill the doctor” Pringle, Across the Plains.
“Then a bullet came” Pringle, Across the Plains.
“I sat upon the side” Pringle, Across the Plains.
“My eye was caught” Walker,
Eldorado
.
“I have found it!” Egenhoff,
The Elephant
.
“It did not seem to be” Walker,
Eldorado
.
“just out of the mouth” Lavoie, “Wimmer's Nugget.”
“I will throw it into my” Lavoie, “Wimmer's Nugget.”
“He was soaked to the skin” Andrist,
California Gold Rush
.
“like a crazy man” Walker,
Eldorado
.
“Are you alone” Walker,
Eldorado
.
“I declared this to be gold” Sutter, “Discovery of Gold.”
“I have made a discovery” Holliday,
World Rushed In
.
“That there is gold” Brown,
California Gold.
“Gold! Gold! Gold” Walker,
Eldorado.
“The whole population are going” Ketchum,
Gold Rush
.
“One day I saw a form, bent” Carson,
Early Recollections
.
“My legs performed some entirely” Carson,
Early Recollections
.
“Your streams have minnows” Holliday,
World Rushed In
.
“The gold excitement spread” Wilson,
Memories Recalled
.
“One of our company” Holliday,
World Rushed In
.
“Another insect which is rather” Levy,
They Saw the Elephant
.
“What's the matter” Kip,
California Sketches
.
Welcome to the Wild West
“Do you think I'll lug” Lapp,
Blacks in Gold Rush
.
“This is the best place” Lapp,
Blacks in Gold Rush
.
“What a puzzling place” Kip,
California Sketches
.
“Well, not much” Levy,
They Saw the Elephant
.
“This street is impassable” Walker,
Eldorado.
“Money here goes like dirt” Christman,
One Man's Gold
.
“Good morning, Firmore” Ryan,
Personal Adventures
.
“But, luck or no luck” Ryan,
Personal Adventures
.
“There is gold here in abundance” Walker,
Eldorado.
“The chances of making a fortune” Walker,
Eldorado.
“I am willing to stand” Holliday,
World Rushed In
.
“strewn with old boots” Ketchum,
Gold Rush
.
“My first day's work” Holliday,
World Rushed In
.
“O! William, I cannot wait” Holliday,
World Rushed In
.
“George, I tell you mining” Holliday,
World Rushed In
.
“Boys, what's that” Walker,
Eldorado.
“I'll give you five dollars” Wilson,
Memories Recalled
.
“Madame, I want a good” Wilson,
Memories Recalled
.
“I, as before, set up my stove” Wilson,
Memories Recalled
.
“He came back in a few” Knower,
Adventures
.
“It is far more pleasing to me” Holliday,
Rush for Riches
.
“It is a painful necessity” Ketchum,
Gold Rush
.
“I was sorry to stab” Perl,
Golden Mountain
.
“Oh, don't ever marry” Yung, Chang, and Lai,
Chinese American
.
“You are the chap” Ridge,
Life and Adventures
.
“I have no pile yet” Holliday,
World Rushed In
.
“I feel bad sometimes” Holliday,
Rush for Riches
.
“Got nearer to a female” Holliday,
World Rushed In
.
“I have made up my mind” Holliday,
World Rushed In
.
“I have been many miles” Holliday,
World Rushed In
.
“I always feared this trip” Williams, “
Biddy” Mason
.
“I went to bed and dreamed” Wallace,
The Miners
.
“a mad, furious race for wealth” Wallace,
The Miners
.
“First we would all be” Twain,
Roughing It
.
“Cal, what kind of house” Twain,
Roughing It.
“Don't fail to do the work” Twain,
Roughing It.
“I was absolutely and unquestionably” Twain,
Roughing It.
“I had once been a grocery” Twain,
Roughing It.
Out of the Way of the Big Engine
“I was just eighteen” Corbett,
Orphans Preferred
.
“They refused to move” Corbett,
Orphans Preferred
.
“When we started out” Corbett,
Orphans Preferred
.
“He said I had no right” Wilson,
White Indian
.
“One of the Indians shot” Wilson,
White Indian
.
“They got a few men” Wilson,
White Indian
.
“It will be built” Bain,
Empire Express
.
“Theodore, those people” Bain,
Empire Express
.
“Anna, if you want to see” Ambrose,
Nothing Like It
.
“demanded in the interests” Blumberg,
Full Steam Ahead
.
“This is the grandest enterprise” Blumberg,
Full Steam Ahead
.
“Grab a wad of money” Jenson,
History of Railroads
.
“No man can call” Bain,
Empire Express
.
“This part of the road” Ambrose,
Nothing Like It
.
“There is cheating” Klein,
Union Pacific
.
“I kept him up by dipping” Bain,
Empire Express
.
“Little Indian Boy” Blumberg,
Full Steam Ahead
.
“My son weighs 275” Williams,
Great and Shining
.
“I have gone to sleep” Williams,
Great and Shining
.
“I do not like the idea” Bain,
Empire Express
.
“Everybody saw them” Ward,
The West
.
“I determined to strike a blow” Chivington,
Testimony
“Kill and scalp all” Andrist,
Long Death
.
“It would be murder” Brown,
Bury My Heart
.
“I was still in bed” Hyde,
Life of George Bent
.
“All was confusion” Hyde,
Life of George Bent
.
“Remember the murdered women” Bain,
Empire Express
.
“I was struck in the hip” Hyde,
Life of George Bent
.
“Everyone was crying” Brown,
Bury My Heart
.
“between five hundred and six hundred Indians” Chivington,
Reports
.
“in the most horrible manner” Brown,
Bury My Heart
.
“As to Colonel Chivington” Stefoff,
American Voices
.
“I stand by Sand Creek” Hoig,
Sand Creek Massacre
.
“This was an uncommon thing” Hyde,
Life of George Bent
.
“The white men have crowded” Brown,
Bury My Heart
.
“If the Great Father kept” Ward,
The West
.
“The Great Father sends” Barnard,
Great American West
.
“Give me eighty men” Andrist,
Long Death
.
“I was sixteen years old” Black Elk,
Black Elk Speaks.
“When they came to the bottom” Black Elk,
Black Elk Speaks.
“When we see the soldiers” Brown,
Bury My Heart
.
“startled from their slumbers” Seymour,
Incidents of a Trip
.
“We looked at it” Grinnell,
Fighting Cheyennes
.
“We talked of our troubles” Grinnell,
Fighting Cheyennes
.

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