The Far West and the Great Plains in Transition 1859-1900

In this book, his final work, Rodman W. Paul explores the settlement of the American West in the latter half of the eighteenth century. Lured by stories of open spaces, fertile farming, & grazing lands & by the attraction of gold & silver, people from many nations traveled westward by the thousands. Early migrants rode in stagecoaches & Conestoga wagons; their successors, on the transcontinental railroads, which linked western cities with their eastern counterparts. This comprehensive history describes not only population movement & mining development but also banking, farming, ranching, & other economic ventures. In a new foreword, Martin Ridge places Paul's history in the context of contemporary scholarship. "Paul has given us an authoritative, indeed a brilliant, history of the Far West & the Great Plains as he saw it, through the lens of miners, businessmen, & immigrants." - JOURNAL OF AMERICAN HISTORY. Rodman W. Paul was Professor of History at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena & the foremost historian of mining in the West. Among his many books are CALIFORNIA GOLD, MINING FRONTIERS OF THE FAR WEST, 1848-1880, & THE FRONTIER & THE AMERICAN WEST. Martin Ridge, who originally saw Paul's work through the press, is also a Professor of History at the California Institute of Technology & the author of WESTWARD EXPANSION: A HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN FRONTIER.