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The Way West: True Stories Of The American Frontier
The Texas Rangers, Forty-Niners, the Alamo and clashes with Native Americans — the American West has a diverse and remarkable history.
An ideal book for fans of Michael Punke, Bob Drury and Tom Clavin.
James A. Crutchfield’s The Way West is a bold anthology of Western history. It draws together the research and writings of numerous historians from the Western Writers of America. Collectively their works demonstrate how the history of the American West helped the United States form its identity.
Rather than simply focussing on famous characters and events, the authors also cover many of the long-forgotten individuals and more obscure tales to provide new insights into this legendary era.
Accounts of how the early explorers charted this vast region, of how men, women and children made their treacherous journeys across the continent as well as how law and order eventually came to settle in the region after many years of violence are all covered in The Way West.
“Join the Western Writers of America on a journey back in time and lose yourself in the colorful history of the American West. Here is history with the hide still on — steeped in lore and rich in detail — as only the talented members of the WWA can tell it.” Paul Andrew Hutton
“A good primer for the general reader who wants a taste of Western history. But there’s also quite a bit of arcane miscellany to surprise even the most knowledgeable devotee on the subject.” The Washington Times
An ideal book for fans of Michael Punke, Bob Drury and Tom Clavin.
James A. Crutchfield’s The Way West is a bold anthology of Western history. It draws together the research and writings of numerous historians from the Western Writers of America. Collectively their works demonstrate how the history of the American West helped the United States form its identity.
Rather than simply focussing on famous characters and events, the authors also cover many of the long-forgotten individuals and more obscure tales to provide new insights into this legendary era.
Accounts of how the early explorers charted this vast region, of how men, women and children made their treacherous journeys across the continent as well as how law and order eventually came to settle in the region after many years of violence are all covered in The Way West.
“Join the Western Writers of America on a journey back in time and lose yourself in the colorful history of the American West. Here is history with the hide still on — steeped in lore and rich in detail — as only the talented members of the WWA can tell it.” Paul Andrew Hutton
“A good primer for the general reader who wants a taste of Western history. But there’s also quite a bit of arcane miscellany to surprise even the most knowledgeable devotee on the subject.” The Washington Times
425 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2005
449 people are currently reading
183 people want to read
About the author
James A. Crutchfield
96 books13 followersJames A. Crutchfield is the author of many books on United States history, including Tragedy at Taos: the Revolt of 1847, Eyewitness to American History, and Legends of the Wild West. His contributions to a variety of newspapers and nationally distributed magazines and journals number in the hundreds. He has been awarded the Spur Award from Western Writers of America and is a two-time award recipient from the American Association for State and Local History.
A native-born Tennessean whose direct ancestors were among the first settlers of Nashville in the 1780s, he has most often turned his probing eye toward their stories. But his writing career has spanned the entire continent, from the days of George Washington and the American fur trade to the Army of the West and the histories of such Western states as Montana, New Mexico and Arizona as part of his It Happened in… book series.
A native-born Tennessean whose direct ancestors were among the first settlers of Nashville in the 1780s, he has most often turned his probing eye toward their stories. But his writing career has spanned the entire continent, from the days of George Washington and the American fur trade to the Army of the West and the histories of such Western states as Montana, New Mexico and Arizona as part of his It Happened in… book series.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
May 29, 2023
In his introduction to this anthology, Paul Andrew Hutton sets the scene:
‘The history of America is, at its core, the story of the American West. In 1893, America’s greatest historian, Frederick Jackson Turner, postulated that the origins of American exceptionalism were to be found in the movement of successive frontiers across the North American continent.’
While I am fascinated by stories of explorers and exploration, I am saddened by the impact of both on indigenous peoples especially in Australia, where I live, and in America. I picked up this book with mixed feelings but was soon drawn into the history exemplified by the various accounts included in this anthology. I learned, for example, about the Second Declaration of Independence, about the Texas Rangers, and about the trails followed by more than forty-five thousand Utah-bound Mormon emigrants between 1847 and 1869. I learned more about John Wesley Hardin, as well as about some of the intrepid women amongst the Forty-Niners.
As I read, I reflected on the fact that many of the settlements in the American West are comparatively recent given that European settlement of the American east coast go back to (at least) the early 17th century.
If you are interested in the settlement of the American West, in some of the drivers of settlement, in some of the people and events, I can recommend this book.
Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Sapere Books for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
‘The history of America is, at its core, the story of the American West. In 1893, America’s greatest historian, Frederick Jackson Turner, postulated that the origins of American exceptionalism were to be found in the movement of successive frontiers across the North American continent.’
While I am fascinated by stories of explorers and exploration, I am saddened by the impact of both on indigenous peoples especially in Australia, where I live, and in America. I picked up this book with mixed feelings but was soon drawn into the history exemplified by the various accounts included in this anthology. I learned, for example, about the Second Declaration of Independence, about the Texas Rangers, and about the trails followed by more than forty-five thousand Utah-bound Mormon emigrants between 1847 and 1869. I learned more about John Wesley Hardin, as well as about some of the intrepid women amongst the Forty-Niners.
As I read, I reflected on the fact that many of the settlements in the American West are comparatively recent given that European settlement of the American east coast go back to (at least) the early 17th century.
If you are interested in the settlement of the American West, in some of the drivers of settlement, in some of the people and events, I can recommend this book.
Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Sapere Books for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
November 17, 2023
The Way West: a True story of American frontier
The way, West, a true story of America’s frontier is a captivating book written about the settling of the state of Mississippi, Alabama, the capturing of the northern port of Florida from the Spanish, and taking New Orleans. It talks about people that are recognized as American heroes, Andrew Jackson Known as old Hickory. It was quite an excellent book on history of the settlement of our country America. And the immortal words of Davy Crockett, when he lost his second bid for Congress “ You can all go to hell, I am going to Texas”
The way, West, a true story of America’s frontier is a captivating book written about the settling of the state of Mississippi, Alabama, the capturing of the northern port of Florida from the Spanish, and taking New Orleans. It talks about people that are recognized as American heroes, Andrew Jackson Known as old Hickory. It was quite an excellent book on history of the settlement of our country America. And the immortal words of Davy Crockett, when he lost his second bid for Congress “ You can all go to hell, I am going to Texas”
December 9, 2024
Collection of stories of explorers, native Americans, soldiers, settlers, cowboys, criminals and railroad workers that made the West. Many famous characters appear in the stories making the reading very educational. I enjoyed the book.
October 14, 2024
Excellent read
I would of given this book 6 stars had there been some diagrams of the new towns ,states,rivers and plains.I will read this book again.
I would of given this book 6 stars had there been some diagrams of the new towns ,states,rivers and plains.I will read this book again.
November 9, 2025
OK book.
This was an ok book for me. It was not what I expected, but it had many interesting and thoughtful moments.
This was an ok book for me. It was not what I expected, but it had many interesting and thoughtful moments.
December 30, 2014
This book is a collection of short nonfiction stories about the American West. Most of the stories are situated in the 1800s, although a few bleed over into the early 1900s. There are some educational and entertaining stories here, although there is some repetition of themes. Additionally, there is no real organization, which may or may not be a good thing, depending on what you're looking for. For example, a story about the Alamo is followed by another about steamboats in the Pacific Northwest. That lack of organization contributes to the feeling of variety, but it takes away from any overarching themes that could have been developed.
Where this book lost some points for me was with the writing style of the chapter's authors. Supposedly, all of these authors are award-winning writers who focus on the west, but many of them have a very non-academic, cliche-filled and hokey writing style that gets very old after a while. Also, if a reader is a hardcore historian, the complete lack of citations for sources will no doubt bother them.
Overall, an entertaining read, but the formatting could have been improved some.
Where this book lost some points for me was with the writing style of the chapter's authors. Supposedly, all of these authors are award-winning writers who focus on the west, but many of them have a very non-academic, cliche-filled and hokey writing style that gets very old after a while. Also, if a reader is a hardcore historian, the complete lack of citations for sources will no doubt bother them.
Overall, an entertaining read, but the formatting could have been improved some.
May 14, 2012
An essential collection of old west stories by the who's who of western writers. All the names you've heard of in western lore, Billy The Kid, John Wesley Hardin, Wyatt Earp etc plus some that the average follower of the old west may not have heard of prior to reading this book.
July 4, 2010
Some good stories. Some boring ones.
Read
August 11, 2011Every chapter was written by a different historian about a little known facet of history. Very interesting and accessible. It was full of colorful tidbits that tickled this writer's imagination.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews