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Lions of the West: Heroes and Villains of the Westward Expansion
From Thomas Jefferson’s birth in 1743 to the California Gold Rush in 1849, America’s westward expansion comes to life in the hands of a writer fascinated by the way individual lives link up, illuminate one another, and collectively impact history. Jefferson, a naturalist and visionary, dreamed that the United States would stretch across the North American continent, from ocean to ocean. The account of how that dream became reality unfolds in the stories of Jefferson and nine other Americans whose adventurous spirits and lust for land pushed the westward Andrew Jackson, John “Johnny Appleseed” Chapman, David Crockett, Sam Houston, James K. Polk, Winfield Scott, Kit Carson, Nicholas Trist, and John Quincy Adams. Their stories—and those of the nameless thousands who risked their lives to settle on the frontier, displacing thou- sands of Native Americans—form an extraordinary chapter in American history that led directly to the cataclysm of the Civil War. Filled with illustrations, portraits, maps, battle plans, notes, and time lines, Lions of the West is a richly authoritative biography of America—its ideals, its promise, its romance, and its destiny.
732 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 18, 2011
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1612 people want to read
About the author
Robert Morgan
282 books398 followersRobert Morgan is an American poet, short story writer, and novelist.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 112 reviews
September 26, 2011
This book was very well written and entertaining. It is a collection of biographies of famous people who were instrumental in the western movement. I have read other books about our Manifest Destiny, but none of them had quite this approach or were as easy and interesting to read. Each chapter is a like a novella of the person's life, each about 40 pages in length. Highlighted are the lives of Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, John Chapman (Johnny Appleseed), David Crockett, Sam Houston, James Polk, Winifield Scott, Kit Carson, Nicholas Trist and John Quincy Adams.
Their biographies are told in a very annecdotal manner. They are quite interesting and give little tidbits of information demonstrating their strong feelings for their country and the western expansion, but also conflicting feelings toward Native Americans and slavery. In fact, some of them lived with or married Native Americans or owned slaves (but did not know how to change the nation's dilema of slavery.)
One of my favorites was Johnny Appleseed. He was a vegetarian and a very spiritual individual following the teachings of Swedenborg, often preaching to people as he travelled. He wore mismatched clothing, often a burlap bag with cutouts for his arms and legs and went barefooted in winter. He carried seeds with him wherever he went planting orchards that he owned and bartering with seeds. He did not believe in grafting different tree species.
Sam Houston was also a very colorful character. He lived with the Cherokees for 3 years in his youth. He wore very colorful dress and did many celebratory dances, probably based on those he witnessed in his youth. He had a hardy constitution, being wounded several times in the War of 1812, but always pulling himself through.
James Polk refused to share his military orders with his own senators. He was described as having the most secrecy in office until Nixon.
Kit Carson showed a real romantism about the west, yet he was quite ruthless when it came to revenge. He was illiterate, yet was fluent in 13 languages!
These are some of the things that "personalized" the accounts of the heroes and villains of the westerd expansion.
This was a great book by a gifted author. I would highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in U.S. history.
Their biographies are told in a very annecdotal manner. They are quite interesting and give little tidbits of information demonstrating their strong feelings for their country and the western expansion, but also conflicting feelings toward Native Americans and slavery. In fact, some of them lived with or married Native Americans or owned slaves (but did not know how to change the nation's dilema of slavery.)
One of my favorites was Johnny Appleseed. He was a vegetarian and a very spiritual individual following the teachings of Swedenborg, often preaching to people as he travelled. He wore mismatched clothing, often a burlap bag with cutouts for his arms and legs and went barefooted in winter. He carried seeds with him wherever he went planting orchards that he owned and bartering with seeds. He did not believe in grafting different tree species.
Sam Houston was also a very colorful character. He lived with the Cherokees for 3 years in his youth. He wore very colorful dress and did many celebratory dances, probably based on those he witnessed in his youth. He had a hardy constitution, being wounded several times in the War of 1812, but always pulling himself through.
James Polk refused to share his military orders with his own senators. He was described as having the most secrecy in office until Nixon.
Kit Carson showed a real romantism about the west, yet he was quite ruthless when it came to revenge. He was illiterate, yet was fluent in 13 languages!
These are some of the things that "personalized" the accounts of the heroes and villains of the westerd expansion.
This was a great book by a gifted author. I would highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in U.S. history.
March 14, 2012
A well written book, but one that doesn't quite live up to its promise. This is a collection of biographic sketches -- all necessarily limited in scope. The common theme: the subject had some impact on American Westward expansion. But the connections are odd and tend to focus on major political or military players. We have presidents Jefferson, Jackson, and Polk; generals Houston and Scott; and, incongrously, "Johnny Appleseed" (John Chapman), David Crockett, Nicholas Trist, and Kit Carson, along with the strange epilogue concerning John Quincy Adams of all persons. Of these, six were tied up in the Mexican-American War in a key way, making that the real center of the book. Only Polk emerges as any sort of "villain." There were troubling omissions: John Fremont didn't warrant a full chapter, Thomas Hart Benton barely made the book as a citation, and the Mormons are overlooked almost altogether. And the book is heavily weighted towards the Texan and Mexican Cessions and there's practically no attention given to the migration of commonfolk.
November 13, 2017
Nicely done. Bordering on five stars. Morgan really invests the time at the beginning of the book to explain WHY this era and its participants are important, and not just for the trumpeting of American virtue or the flogging of American vice. Then, choosing to examine westward expansion through well-chosen parallel lives gives a unique vantage point. Some of the issues these guys faced in themselves or in the culture around them with the same. Some, depending on quirks of personality or background, made for a much different journey. If you are the sort who wishes you could read more, this is a good selection because it gives you a fair exposure to several different figures.
May 18, 2014
If you want to get an overview of the westward expansion and the people who made it happen, this is a great place to start. Structured as a series of nine mini-biographies, this book does indeed show us the heroes and villains. What is interesting, and perhaps shouldn't be surprising, is that most people were not one or the other, but both. They were real people with blind spots, flaws, egos, insecurities, vices, courage, ambition, talent, ingenuity, determination, etc. But whatever their particular mix of virtue and vice was, each played a significant role.
Because the lives of those portrayed overlapped, the book cannot proceed in an entirely linear fashion. I found that it could be confusing to keep the chronology straight when reading about each of the players. Moreover, at times, the book had to retell the same story several times in order to show the respective roles of each of the players. Nevertheless, for the most part, the book provided an engrossing narrative and fascinating insights into the development of the West. One point that comes across loud and clear is that while these LIons of the West helped to establish formal US ownership over the land we now call the United States, they actually followed, not led, the Westward Expansion. The Westward Expansion was led by the unstoppable flow of everyday people who would populate Texas, California etc and effectively make them American in populace long before they were American in leadership or ownership.
I first heard of this book by listening to a podcast of an interview with Robert Morgan. As good as this book is, it still is a bit dryer than listening to him talk about it. While Mr. Morgan found some great material to work with and provided lots of great insights, he could not inject into his written volume quite the same amount of excitement, interest and enthusiasm that he exuded when talking about this topic and the people who were the subject of his book.
Because the lives of those portrayed overlapped, the book cannot proceed in an entirely linear fashion. I found that it could be confusing to keep the chronology straight when reading about each of the players. Moreover, at times, the book had to retell the same story several times in order to show the respective roles of each of the players. Nevertheless, for the most part, the book provided an engrossing narrative and fascinating insights into the development of the West. One point that comes across loud and clear is that while these LIons of the West helped to establish formal US ownership over the land we now call the United States, they actually followed, not led, the Westward Expansion. The Westward Expansion was led by the unstoppable flow of everyday people who would populate Texas, California etc and effectively make them American in populace long before they were American in leadership or ownership.
I first heard of this book by listening to a podcast of an interview with Robert Morgan. As good as this book is, it still is a bit dryer than listening to him talk about it. While Mr. Morgan found some great material to work with and provided lots of great insights, he could not inject into his written volume quite the same amount of excitement, interest and enthusiasm that he exuded when talking about this topic and the people who were the subject of his book.
February 16, 2015
This review is not about Robert Morgan’s actual book, Lions of the West, it is a critique of the audio adaptation of his book. This is because the audio version was so distracting, I could not listen to it in its entirety.
Translating a written work into verbal form is a difficult task. One can take a great book and ruin it with an incompatible narration. Alternatively, an average book can be transformed by a creative reading. It is further complicated by preferred listening styles. Bearing this in mind, I found David Drummond’s interpretation of Morgan’s, Lions of the West, impossible to listen to. This is due to my dislike of Drummond’s reading style, which I am not comfortable with. He narrates the book as if he is reading it at you versus to you. He speaks with tight, staccato-like bursts of information. There is no fluctuation in his tone. It sounds as if he is issuing commands to the reader. I tried many, many times to get past Drummond’s technique and simply hear the narrative. I could not. Therefore, I am unable to make a true assessment of Morgan’s work.
Translating a written work into verbal form is a difficult task. One can take a great book and ruin it with an incompatible narration. Alternatively, an average book can be transformed by a creative reading. It is further complicated by preferred listening styles. Bearing this in mind, I found David Drummond’s interpretation of Morgan’s, Lions of the West, impossible to listen to. This is due to my dislike of Drummond’s reading style, which I am not comfortable with. He narrates the book as if he is reading it at you versus to you. He speaks with tight, staccato-like bursts of information. There is no fluctuation in his tone. It sounds as if he is issuing commands to the reader. I tried many, many times to get past Drummond’s technique and simply hear the narrative. I could not. Therefore, I am unable to make a true assessment of Morgan’s work.
October 21, 2012
Morgan sees most of these events through a modern PC filter. It's rather annoying to inpugn 2012 motives on early 19th century actions. Otherwise, an interesting read.
November 11, 2019
This title might seem to be a "giddy up horsy" let's go West, but, it's not! The writing is bold and strong. Outlining the rolls of Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, John Chapman, David Crockett, Sam Houston, James K. Polk, Winfield Scott, Kit Carson, Nicholas Trist and John Quincy Adams -- the book elevates the reader from words with maps and photographs. Because I was doing research on Jefferson, and we know that Jefferson had the endless mind, we usually think of his life during the times in France and Virginia. Yet, remember, he began studying relics of all types -- plants to rocks and began collecting and categorizing everything in his mind and for display; for his continued enjoyment, for others, and also to brag about the wonders of our country as some felt this "new land" was just swamp and could not grow much to feed a population. Or, we think of him as the mathematician or architect. As he considered the West, and struggled with the problems of slavery, we learn that he thought it might be one option as slaves were given their freedom -- if they could not afford to return to Africa, this country had space for them to thrive and develop communities West. He was forever fascinated with what did lie West! The climate, soil, minerals, mountains and thought of this and the need for scientist to document everything they saw and to perhaps develop a contract with him -- one being with French botanist Andre Michaux. His commitments and then health problems (probably Crohn's Disease) prevented him from allowing as much travel as he wanted to explore what was now our Pacific coast and all parts between.
With eight books of fiction under Robert Morgan's belt, thirteen published titles of poetry and two non-fiction, he is not new to writing. He understands the word, "frontier" and the displacement of thousands of Native Americans. He is a recipient of an Academy of Arts and Letters Award for Literature and was inducted into the NC Literary Hall of Fame in 2010. This IS a good read.
With eight books of fiction under Robert Morgan's belt, thirteen published titles of poetry and two non-fiction, he is not new to writing. He understands the word, "frontier" and the displacement of thousands of Native Americans. He is a recipient of an Academy of Arts and Letters Award for Literature and was inducted into the NC Literary Hall of Fame in 2010. This IS a good read.
March 14, 2021
I did not realize until I finished that the "Goodreads"/publisher blurb touts the quality of the maps, drawings, etc., that are a part of the written work. I really liked the audio version in spite of there being not a single graphic to which I turned. It is really quite a story that Morgan tells. I did get a sense that the idea of "manifest destiny" takes a back seat here to just the idea that once a gaggle of people showed up on the east coast, and then realized the vastness of what was "out west," that the phrase 'from sea to shining sea' was almost inevitable. Yes, these 'lions' goaded things in that direction, but the power of settlement/expansion doses seem to have been very 'grass roots' in character.
March 28, 2024
This was both a big surprise and a real disappointment. That said, this book has one of the most remarkable and valuable prefaces I’ve ever read- philosophizing on the very nature of history, and our ability to document it any historical writing… With some truly profound insights. That was worth the effort to get the book in the first place… Unfortunately, once you start reading the book, while super well researched with tons of interesting facts, the narrative just doesn’t progress very well at all m. It’s very choppy, and not very engaging. You would literally have to read it for the facts which are piled on one after the other, without any real cohesion.
February 26, 2021
An interesting look at some of the men who were key players in westward expansion. I loved all the little details about the upbringing of the men, the overlapping narratives, and even the geeky details about various battles—and the military maneuvers involved.
Didn’t know a lot about some of these figures, so it was interesting to get a bit more detail through the stories here.
Didn’t know a lot about some of these figures, so it was interesting to get a bit more detail through the stories here.
October 23, 2012
Very enjoyable read about the heroes ( known and unknown) and absolutely abominable treatment of Native Americans during the period of westward expansion. From Jefferson to Davey Crockett to Johnny Appleseed to Kit Carson, a interesting mix of history and personal trials and triumphs for the men who expanded the US territory to the Pacific. Great details about the war in Texas, California, and Mexico plus lots of domestic and international intrigue as the country fights, buys, and cheats to gain territory. There were men of great vision who personified the best of what the Founding Fathers desired for the colonies. Also, hearing about the personal failings and dark stories of certain heroes who have taken on almost mythological stature who in the defining moment stand up and earn their place in history. While others cower under the veil of political power and abuse those who dare to disagree.
September 23, 2011
This was one of the most interesting books I have read. The information that is held between it's covers is well written and interesting. It holds your attention and does not bore you with just plain facts and dates but, brings the history to you in a well written story form. This book will come in handy if my boys ever have to write a report on any of the subjects plainly spelled out in this book. My favorite chapters were on Johnny Appleseed and Kit Carson. Yes, Johnny was a true man and not just a legend. Anyone who has a interest in how our country was discovered and populated should read this book. I also believe it could be a great help in teaching the youth of this country our interesting and colorful past. A must read.
October 16, 2011
I won this book through a Goodreads First Reads Giveaway. I definitely enjoyed it much better then the dry history books I had to deal with in school. I found the writing to be interesting and it definitely kept my attention. It is obviously informative but almost on a more personal level as opposed to 'these are the dry, boring facts'. As a person who is always interested in history, especially from the beginnings of our country, I was able to pay attention to the book, instead of constantly thinking to myself, isn't there a better way? I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys history and likes learn more details of what we have already been taught.
December 30, 2012
This book consisted of short biograghies of historical figures who had a part in the westward expansion. It could spark your interest of reading more complete biograghies of those people or related events.
Want to read
August 3, 2011Yay! My daughter won a copy on Goodreads...I wanted this one...lol
May 10, 2017
I was disappointed by how this book rambled and yet always seemed to jump to the conclusion of the author and therefore must prove his point.
I do not recommend this book.
I do not recommend this book.
June 22, 2020
I will preface my review by admitting that I am being slightly overcritical. I would still recommend this professionally researched book, but I would be sure to point out that I felt a strong disconnect between the title and the content.
I will first start with errors and assumptions that I made. First and foremost, my understanding of the title and what I perceived as the West was either mislead or incorrect to begin with. I must fully admit either one or both were at fault. This book delivered on its promise of heroes but was almost void of any real attention paid to notable villains. In fact, the most prominent “villain” in the book was also a hero, another was viewed through the lens of hindsight where the term villain was more a synonym for “flaws”. Those who could have been villains were mostly mentioned in passing or simply did not receive the chapter they deserved (I am looking at you Antonio de Padua Maria Severino Lopez de Santa Anna!). In this regard the book was very underwhelming.
My second misconception with the book was the time period. My perhaps ill-conceived perception of the West stems from the “Wild West”, which I would peg from about the 1850s – 1920s. Sampling analysis of my friends would support this viewpoint. Even if this perception is flawed, missing a good 150 years, its only fair to make the same critique of the book, which is missing the last 75 years of the same era. Picking up a book about westward expansion and reading about the founding fathers, Alabama, Florida, Tennessee, Virginia, Ohio, and Indiana for sixty percent of the book left me feeling duped by the title. I indeed felt like I was reading a book that offered more insight into the colonial frontier than the West in a colloquial sense.
** SPOILERS **
My third gripe with the book was the structure. So many of the figures focused in the narrative overlap and some I felt did not need to be included at all. John Chapman (Johnny Appleseed) and James K. Polk are two examples. Chapman made it as far west as Indiana and while an interesting read, folklore or not, his two main accomplishments were spreading apple orchards and Swedenborgianism while resembling our own Vermin Supreme. On the other hand, Polk was mentioned in almost every chapter, after his own, and his own chapter mentioned almost everyone but him. These individuals were great to read about, but I would have liked to have seen both these characters replaced with villains.
Lastly, while this book is researched well and all chapters were interesting to read about, I felt that the author including bits and pieces of information that offered nothing, and in fact distracted from the immediate narrative. One great example of this is a sentence found in the chapter of Sam Houston.
“He later said two ravens appeared above the captured brass cannon” [End Paragraph]
This sentence struck me as an oddity, and I began to think it was included simply because it existed. There is no explanation to support why this sentence is important, I am left guessing that someone (who, a bystander?) interpreted this as an omen. As someone who is terribly unfamiliar with all omens, is a raven good or bad? Is one raven better than two, two ravens better than one, do they cancel, do they compound, is their exponential omening? The inclusion of this sentence and those like it, I found distracting and their inclusion left me feeling like I was reading a collection of college dissertations.
Would I recommend this book? Yes – I would. Even at two stars this book contains a lot of great and interesting information.
I will first start with errors and assumptions that I made. First and foremost, my understanding of the title and what I perceived as the West was either mislead or incorrect to begin with. I must fully admit either one or both were at fault. This book delivered on its promise of heroes but was almost void of any real attention paid to notable villains. In fact, the most prominent “villain” in the book was also a hero, another was viewed through the lens of hindsight where the term villain was more a synonym for “flaws”. Those who could have been villains were mostly mentioned in passing or simply did not receive the chapter they deserved (I am looking at you Antonio de Padua Maria Severino Lopez de Santa Anna!). In this regard the book was very underwhelming.
My second misconception with the book was the time period. My perhaps ill-conceived perception of the West stems from the “Wild West”, which I would peg from about the 1850s – 1920s. Sampling analysis of my friends would support this viewpoint. Even if this perception is flawed, missing a good 150 years, its only fair to make the same critique of the book, which is missing the last 75 years of the same era. Picking up a book about westward expansion and reading about the founding fathers, Alabama, Florida, Tennessee, Virginia, Ohio, and Indiana for sixty percent of the book left me feeling duped by the title. I indeed felt like I was reading a book that offered more insight into the colonial frontier than the West in a colloquial sense.
** SPOILERS **
My third gripe with the book was the structure. So many of the figures focused in the narrative overlap and some I felt did not need to be included at all. John Chapman (Johnny Appleseed) and James K. Polk are two examples. Chapman made it as far west as Indiana and while an interesting read, folklore or not, his two main accomplishments were spreading apple orchards and Swedenborgianism while resembling our own Vermin Supreme. On the other hand, Polk was mentioned in almost every chapter, after his own, and his own chapter mentioned almost everyone but him. These individuals were great to read about, but I would have liked to have seen both these characters replaced with villains.
Lastly, while this book is researched well and all chapters were interesting to read about, I felt that the author including bits and pieces of information that offered nothing, and in fact distracted from the immediate narrative. One great example of this is a sentence found in the chapter of Sam Houston.
“He later said two ravens appeared above the captured brass cannon” [End Paragraph]
This sentence struck me as an oddity, and I began to think it was included simply because it existed. There is no explanation to support why this sentence is important, I am left guessing that someone (who, a bystander?) interpreted this as an omen. As someone who is terribly unfamiliar with all omens, is a raven good or bad? Is one raven better than two, two ravens better than one, do they cancel, do they compound, is their exponential omening? The inclusion of this sentence and those like it, I found distracting and their inclusion left me feeling like I was reading a collection of college dissertations.
Would I recommend this book? Yes – I would. Even at two stars this book contains a lot of great and interesting information.
December 9, 2021
Robert Morgan’s Lions of the West: Heroes and Villains of the Westward Expansion is structured as a series of nine mini-biographies. Morgan’s biographies showed that “Lions of the West” were real people with blind spots, flaws, egos, insecurities, courage, and talent. Due to the lives in Morgan’s biography being overlapped it is impossible for the book to move in a chronologically linear fashion, because of this Morgan must retell the same story several story several times in order to show respective roles of each of the players. Morgan portrays many of the players in westward expansion, Jackson included, as not being a leader of expansion but a follower. That Jackson simply followed the unstoppable flow of everyday people that would populate the south and the new western territories. Morgan’s viewpoint of Jackson is a placid approach to covering Jackson considering H.W. Brands view of Jackson as the leader that opened the south for plantations and jumpstarted slavery in his Andrew Jackson: His Life and Times. (Brands 2006)
Morgan focuses heavily on Jackson’s efforts to clear the Creeks and Cherokee from their homelands in Alabama, North Carolina, and Tennessee, establishing that he viewed Jackson’s main contributions to westward expansion as being his policies on Indian removal. Yet, Morgan is critical of Jackson’s Indian Removal policies, even more critical of allied natives that helped Jackson defeat pro-British hostile Indians during the War of 1812. Morgan shows less focus on Jackson’s pursuit of the Creeks into Florida which helped to persuade Spain to sell Florida to the United States. Morgan and Brands are similar in their accounts of David Crockett, being a fierce opponent of Jackson. Crockett is portrayed in both biographies similarly and focus is placed on Crockett’s time in politics, the time in which he becomes an outspoken critic of Jackson and his policies on Indian removal. Morgan focuses on the decision by Crockett to join forces under William Travis at the Alamo since Travis was anti-Jacksonian and forces under Sam Houston were Jacksonian.
Morgan focuses heavily on Jackson’s efforts to clear the Creeks and Cherokee from their homelands in Alabama, North Carolina, and Tennessee, establishing that he viewed Jackson’s main contributions to westward expansion as being his policies on Indian removal. Yet, Morgan is critical of Jackson’s Indian Removal policies, even more critical of allied natives that helped Jackson defeat pro-British hostile Indians during the War of 1812. Morgan shows less focus on Jackson’s pursuit of the Creeks into Florida which helped to persuade Spain to sell Florida to the United States. Morgan and Brands are similar in their accounts of David Crockett, being a fierce opponent of Jackson. Crockett is portrayed in both biographies similarly and focus is placed on Crockett’s time in politics, the time in which he becomes an outspoken critic of Jackson and his policies on Indian removal. Morgan focuses on the decision by Crockett to join forces under William Travis at the Alamo since Travis was anti-Jacksonian and forces under Sam Houston were Jacksonian.
January 7, 2025
This is a collection of brief entertaining narratives about the men who influenced the westward expansion of the U.S. It is constructed in chronological order so readers can appreciate how the lives and events covered are linked. Some of the lives covered, like John Chapman, a.k.a. Johnny Appleseed, and Nicholas Trist may not be well-known to readers. The chapter on Trist is particularly arresting.
Two chapters that stood out for this reader were about James Polk, Gen. Winfield Scott, and the Mexican War (Chapters 6 & 7). The author gives an informative and lively assessment of Scott and President Polk. Morgan gives readers engaging accounts of John Fremont, Zachary Taylor, General Kearny, General Santa Anna, and a few other lesser known individuals. Their relationships and exploits are a fascinating story.
Some of Morgan’s observations are intriguing, such as his comparison of Kit Carson and Jefferson. He points out they had shared interests in which Jefferson was the “theorist” and Carson the “practitioner,” and they complement each other in the area of science, geography, and ethnography. Fascinating, considering one was highly educated and the other didn’t finish school and couldn’t read or write.
Morgan’s theme is how the story of our westward expansion tells a lot about us as a nation and our myths. Our westward expansion, in particular the Mexican-American War, is exciting and messy. It’s in the messiness, the successes and mistakes coming from the different personalities and the political twists and turns behind Polk’s war, where we find, contrary to many of our national myths, we weren’t always the innocent party.
In his Prologue, the author recalls the words of diplomat and historian George F. Kennan that we would do well to have “a greater humility in our national outlook, for a more realistic recognition of our limitations.” Many of these narratives reveal the overreach resulting from that lack of humility.
Two chapters that stood out for this reader were about James Polk, Gen. Winfield Scott, and the Mexican War (Chapters 6 & 7). The author gives an informative and lively assessment of Scott and President Polk. Morgan gives readers engaging accounts of John Fremont, Zachary Taylor, General Kearny, General Santa Anna, and a few other lesser known individuals. Their relationships and exploits are a fascinating story.
Some of Morgan’s observations are intriguing, such as his comparison of Kit Carson and Jefferson. He points out they had shared interests in which Jefferson was the “theorist” and Carson the “practitioner,” and they complement each other in the area of science, geography, and ethnography. Fascinating, considering one was highly educated and the other didn’t finish school and couldn’t read or write.
Morgan’s theme is how the story of our westward expansion tells a lot about us as a nation and our myths. Our westward expansion, in particular the Mexican-American War, is exciting and messy. It’s in the messiness, the successes and mistakes coming from the different personalities and the political twists and turns behind Polk’s war, where we find, contrary to many of our national myths, we weren’t always the innocent party.
In his Prologue, the author recalls the words of diplomat and historian George F. Kennan that we would do well to have “a greater humility in our national outlook, for a more realistic recognition of our limitations.” Many of these narratives reveal the overreach resulting from that lack of humility.
March 15, 2020
An absolutely amazing book covering the expansion of the United States. At first I felt that the book was a bit scattershot and lacked focus. It was interesting to start with Jefferson, the material made me feel that I was going to read about important people that intersected with the expansion of the United States but not necessarily in a direct way, however by the end of the book I was assured that the biographies I was reading were building a narrative. Not just a narrative but a really intriguing story of expansion.
I will not review, or recap every part of the book but I wanted to say something about my highlights:.
The chapter on Johnny Appleseed Chapman was extraordinarily interesting, I did not know he was a real person. I had no idea how he lived his life and I was exalted to know he had influence to leaders in American history.
The second halves focus on the Mexican American war was very helpful in understanding American expansionism. I had read much of the cited source material and felt that this book encapsulated many of the materials I had read and added more. Knowing that Kit Carson built on Daniel Boone's work was not a fully formed concept in my mind but it is now.
Finally I want to say that the epilogue brought together so much more history and added so much color to the book. John Quincy Adams was not an expansionist yet is essential to understanding this history.
To wrap this review up, I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a generalized history on the expansion of the United States. Myself I have read quite a bit about this period but still gained so much value from having parts I have heard already reiterated as well as gaps I have not heard constructed. This was a terrific source of American history and a fully interesting read.
I will not review, or recap every part of the book but I wanted to say something about my highlights:.
The chapter on Johnny Appleseed Chapman was extraordinarily interesting, I did not know he was a real person. I had no idea how he lived his life and I was exalted to know he had influence to leaders in American history.
The second halves focus on the Mexican American war was very helpful in understanding American expansionism. I had read much of the cited source material and felt that this book encapsulated many of the materials I had read and added more. Knowing that Kit Carson built on Daniel Boone's work was not a fully formed concept in my mind but it is now.
Finally I want to say that the epilogue brought together so much more history and added so much color to the book. John Quincy Adams was not an expansionist yet is essential to understanding this history.
To wrap this review up, I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a generalized history on the expansion of the United States. Myself I have read quite a bit about this period but still gained so much value from having parts I have heard already reiterated as well as gaps I have not heard constructed. This was a terrific source of American history and a fully interesting read.
July 3, 2016
In this book Robert Morgan tells the stories of individuals who greatly contributed to America's westward expansion.
Thomas Jefferson earns a place on the list because of the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark expedition. His efforts were responsible for adding the Missouri River watershed to the U.S. and providing the U.S. with the basis for a claim on Pacific coastline.
Andrew Jackson made the list because of his efforts to clear Indians from their lands in the south, whether Creeks in Alabama or Cherokee in North Carolina and Tennessee. In addition, his pursuit of Creeks into Florida helped to persuade Spain to sell Florida to the U.S. Although his actions were hard on the Indians, including friendly Indians who had helped him defeat pro-British hostile Indians during the War of 1812, they helped to make possible westward expansion.
John Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed, planted orchards ahead of the settlers on the frontier so he could sell fruit trees to them when they staked claims and needed to clear farms and plant orchards. One key to the American claims on western land was the presence of settlers on the land, and his orchard planting efforts supported the agricultural infrastructure that they needed to survive and thrive.
David Crockett, an opponent of Andrew Jackson, had been active in Tennessee politics when he decided to move to Texas after losing his seat in Congress. At the time the Texans were in rebellion against Mexico. He decided to join William Travis at the Alamo because Travis was anti-Jacksonian and forces under Sam Houston were Jacksonian. The deaths of Crockett and the rest of the Alamo garrison turned them into martyrs and helped to inspire other Texans to continue their fight for independence.
Sam Houston, a former governor of Tennessee, led the Jacksonian faction of Texans fighting for independence from Mexico. His decision to avoid a pitched battle with Santa Anna's forces until a favorable moment paid off with a decisive victory at San Jacinto, in which Santa Anna himself was captured. After independence was won, Sam Houston served both as president of the Republic of Texas and as governor of Texas after it became part of the U.S.
The presidency of James Polk saw a substantial expansion of the U.S. The Oregon Treaty ended a boundary dispute between the U.S. and Britain by setting the northern boundary of the Oregon Territory at the 49th parallel. As a result of the Mexican War, the U.S. gained the entire desert southwest at the expense of Mexico. Of all the individuals featured in this book Polk is the goat. War with Mexico gave him an excellent opportunity to expand American territory, but it presented a horrid risk. His best generals, Zachary Taylor and Winfield Scott, were Whigs, and Polk, a Democrat, did not want either of them to gain enough glory to make it to the White House. In forgetting that he was president of the United States and not just of the Democratic Party, he undermined the war effort and refused to give credit where credit was due.
Winfield Scott led the invasion of Mexico that started at Vera Cruz and ended with the capture of Mexico City. The logistical challenges of maintaining a relatively small army in the middle of a hostile country were daunting, but he was up to the challenge. Furthermore, his use of unconventional tactics to keep the Mexicans guessing and off-balance contributed to final victory.
Christopher (Kit) Carson was a mountain man who served as guide and aide to John Fremont in the California campaign of the Mexican War. Without his skills, Fremont would have faced a much tougher challenge. In discussing Carson, Morgan noted an interesting and disturbing dynamic. When Fremont and Carson were working together, they tended to exceed their normal inhibitions. Fremont would give Carson an order to do something like destroy and Indian village feeling absolved of guilt because he wasn't the one carrying out the order, and Carson would obey it feeling absolved of guilt because he was only following orders.
Nicholas Trist was the American diplomat who negotiated the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo that ended the Mexican War. Of all the the biographical accounts in this book this one had to be the most entertaining. Although Winfield Scott was also an accomplished diplomat who could have negotiated peace terms with Mexico after he had achieved victory, Polk did not want him to gain the glory of achieving peace and sent Nicholas Trist to be the negotiator with orders to negotiate peace terms without coordinating with Scott. Because he had orders to keep his mission secret, he went to great lengths to preserve secrecy, all the while newspapers in the Northeast were trumpeting about his mission. Polk worked tirelessly to find the leak, conveniently forgetting that he had confided privately about Trist's mission to a newspaper editor friend. Once Trist arrived at Vera Cruz, his brusque letter of introduction sparked a two-month-long feud between himself and Scott. Soon enough, they became friends and allies and learned to work together as a team. This teamwork was too much for Polk, and he recalled Trist, who decided to defy his president and stay on in Mexico to negotiate the treaty that would end the war.
The book ends with an epilogue about John Quincy Adams. In his younger days, Adams supported westward expansion but later changed his mind, and Morgan explored the reasons for this. He had been forced to resign from the Federalist Party because of his support for the Louisiana Purchase and had supported Jackson when he invaded Spanish Florida. Yet, he proved to be an opponent of the expansionist policies of Jackson and Polk. The root cause of this inconsistency is the slavery question. Adams strongly opposed slavery and had originally hoped that it would gradually fade away. However, the opening of new territories presented the question of whether slavery would be permitted there, and Adams saw in the vehement political battles the seeds of what would become the Civil War. Once he recognized that slavery would expand into new western territories, he opposed westward expansion as a means of containing slavery.
The book is organized as nine chapters, one for each featured individual, and the epilogue. Because some of the individuals were contemporaries and interacted with each other, some information is repeated. For example, Winfield Scott and Nicholas Trist took part in the Mexican War and were discussed in the chapter on James Polk. Their own respective chapters repeated this information and added greater detail. Even with this occasional repetitive information, the book is well written, enlightening and entertaining.
Thomas Jefferson earns a place on the list because of the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark expedition. His efforts were responsible for adding the Missouri River watershed to the U.S. and providing the U.S. with the basis for a claim on Pacific coastline.
Andrew Jackson made the list because of his efforts to clear Indians from their lands in the south, whether Creeks in Alabama or Cherokee in North Carolina and Tennessee. In addition, his pursuit of Creeks into Florida helped to persuade Spain to sell Florida to the U.S. Although his actions were hard on the Indians, including friendly Indians who had helped him defeat pro-British hostile Indians during the War of 1812, they helped to make possible westward expansion.
John Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed, planted orchards ahead of the settlers on the frontier so he could sell fruit trees to them when they staked claims and needed to clear farms and plant orchards. One key to the American claims on western land was the presence of settlers on the land, and his orchard planting efforts supported the agricultural infrastructure that they needed to survive and thrive.
David Crockett, an opponent of Andrew Jackson, had been active in Tennessee politics when he decided to move to Texas after losing his seat in Congress. At the time the Texans were in rebellion against Mexico. He decided to join William Travis at the Alamo because Travis was anti-Jacksonian and forces under Sam Houston were Jacksonian. The deaths of Crockett and the rest of the Alamo garrison turned them into martyrs and helped to inspire other Texans to continue their fight for independence.
Sam Houston, a former governor of Tennessee, led the Jacksonian faction of Texans fighting for independence from Mexico. His decision to avoid a pitched battle with Santa Anna's forces until a favorable moment paid off with a decisive victory at San Jacinto, in which Santa Anna himself was captured. After independence was won, Sam Houston served both as president of the Republic of Texas and as governor of Texas after it became part of the U.S.
The presidency of James Polk saw a substantial expansion of the U.S. The Oregon Treaty ended a boundary dispute between the U.S. and Britain by setting the northern boundary of the Oregon Territory at the 49th parallel. As a result of the Mexican War, the U.S. gained the entire desert southwest at the expense of Mexico. Of all the individuals featured in this book Polk is the goat. War with Mexico gave him an excellent opportunity to expand American territory, but it presented a horrid risk. His best generals, Zachary Taylor and Winfield Scott, were Whigs, and Polk, a Democrat, did not want either of them to gain enough glory to make it to the White House. In forgetting that he was president of the United States and not just of the Democratic Party, he undermined the war effort and refused to give credit where credit was due.
Winfield Scott led the invasion of Mexico that started at Vera Cruz and ended with the capture of Mexico City. The logistical challenges of maintaining a relatively small army in the middle of a hostile country were daunting, but he was up to the challenge. Furthermore, his use of unconventional tactics to keep the Mexicans guessing and off-balance contributed to final victory.
Christopher (Kit) Carson was a mountain man who served as guide and aide to John Fremont in the California campaign of the Mexican War. Without his skills, Fremont would have faced a much tougher challenge. In discussing Carson, Morgan noted an interesting and disturbing dynamic. When Fremont and Carson were working together, they tended to exceed their normal inhibitions. Fremont would give Carson an order to do something like destroy and Indian village feeling absolved of guilt because he wasn't the one carrying out the order, and Carson would obey it feeling absolved of guilt because he was only following orders.
Nicholas Trist was the American diplomat who negotiated the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo that ended the Mexican War. Of all the the biographical accounts in this book this one had to be the most entertaining. Although Winfield Scott was also an accomplished diplomat who could have negotiated peace terms with Mexico after he had achieved victory, Polk did not want him to gain the glory of achieving peace and sent Nicholas Trist to be the negotiator with orders to negotiate peace terms without coordinating with Scott. Because he had orders to keep his mission secret, he went to great lengths to preserve secrecy, all the while newspapers in the Northeast were trumpeting about his mission. Polk worked tirelessly to find the leak, conveniently forgetting that he had confided privately about Trist's mission to a newspaper editor friend. Once Trist arrived at Vera Cruz, his brusque letter of introduction sparked a two-month-long feud between himself and Scott. Soon enough, they became friends and allies and learned to work together as a team. This teamwork was too much for Polk, and he recalled Trist, who decided to defy his president and stay on in Mexico to negotiate the treaty that would end the war.
The book ends with an epilogue about John Quincy Adams. In his younger days, Adams supported westward expansion but later changed his mind, and Morgan explored the reasons for this. He had been forced to resign from the Federalist Party because of his support for the Louisiana Purchase and had supported Jackson when he invaded Spanish Florida. Yet, he proved to be an opponent of the expansionist policies of Jackson and Polk. The root cause of this inconsistency is the slavery question. Adams strongly opposed slavery and had originally hoped that it would gradually fade away. However, the opening of new territories presented the question of whether slavery would be permitted there, and Adams saw in the vehement political battles the seeds of what would become the Civil War. Once he recognized that slavery would expand into new western territories, he opposed westward expansion as a means of containing slavery.
The book is organized as nine chapters, one for each featured individual, and the epilogue. Because some of the individuals were contemporaries and interacted with each other, some information is repeated. For example, Winfield Scott and Nicholas Trist took part in the Mexican War and were discussed in the chapter on James Polk. Their own respective chapters repeated this information and added greater detail. Even with this occasional repetitive information, the book is well written, enlightening and entertaining.
June 10, 2019
Lions of the West: Heroes and Villains of the Westward Expansion is an entertaining and well written account of some of the major political, military and explorer leaders of America's drive westward in the era of Manifest Destiny. There is a long history of tall tales of the the Old West, or historical vignettes of notable heroes and villains of the era. This book is a modern take on that genre, tying the personalities mostly around the era of the Texas and Mexican Wars.
Robert Morgan, a Literature professor from New York, originally from the hills of the Carolina Blue Ridge, writes in an engaging matter that shows real human depth of the personalities. The history is generally well done, and he has obviously done a great deal of study in how the military actions in and around Mexico and California were conducted. The depth of the broader narrative ensures that the individual stories, whether heroes or villains, do not just become one off great stories of the old west.
Lions of the West can be a great tool to understand how and why men of the young United States, in some cases, children and grandchildren of the founding era turned their attention all the way to the Pacific, and away from European concerns. And by placing the personalities in their context, Morgan ensures that the reader can begin to understand why and how the coming Civil War, American industrial expansion and emergence of the United States as a world power began to happen. The way this book is written, it you can read the stories of the individual personalities on their own, but the thread of their interrelatedness is well done.
Robert Morgan, a Literature professor from New York, originally from the hills of the Carolina Blue Ridge, writes in an engaging matter that shows real human depth of the personalities. The history is generally well done, and he has obviously done a great deal of study in how the military actions in and around Mexico and California were conducted. The depth of the broader narrative ensures that the individual stories, whether heroes or villains, do not just become one off great stories of the old west.
Lions of the West can be a great tool to understand how and why men of the young United States, in some cases, children and grandchildren of the founding era turned their attention all the way to the Pacific, and away from European concerns. And by placing the personalities in their context, Morgan ensures that the reader can begin to understand why and how the coming Civil War, American industrial expansion and emergence of the United States as a world power began to happen. The way this book is written, it you can read the stories of the individual personalities on their own, but the thread of their interrelatedness is well done.
October 23, 2017
This is a long and information-dense book. Each chapter is a short biography of a "lion of the west," the men who propelled American westward expansion through politics and military might. Over the course of the bios, you begin to see the evolution in thought and political maneuverings that occurred over the late 18th and early 19th centuries. From Thomas Jefferson's interest in the unexplored west and his support of the Lewis & Clark expedition, to the Mexican American War of 1846-48, Americans basically homesteaded on lands farther and farther west while politicians pushed for America to develop coast to coast for trade, shipping and "manifest destiny." Nine "lions" are profiled, and the descriptions of their contributions to westward expansion are thorough and interesting. My favorite is Kit Carson, the only "mountain man" profiled, who truly helped to scout and settle a wild and unknown frontier.
August 29, 2018
From Goodreads: "The bestselling historian and biographer of Boone turns his storytelling genius to the lives of ten American legends, each caught in the act of securing America’s past. From Thomas Jefferson’s birth in 1743 to the California gold rush in 1849, America’s Manifest Destiny comes to life in the skilled hands of a writer fascinated by the way individual lives collectively impact history. "
The nice thing about this book is that it gives a brief history of each of these men and their role in securing America's borders as we know them today. Some I was already familiar with through previous history books I've read, but others, such as Johnny Appleseed, James K. Polk and Sam Houston revealed interesting tidbits of which I was previously unaware. This is the kind of book at that whets the appetite and encourages you to learn more about U.S. history.
The nice thing about this book is that it gives a brief history of each of these men and their role in securing America's borders as we know them today. Some I was already familiar with through previous history books I've read, but others, such as Johnny Appleseed, James K. Polk and Sam Houston revealed interesting tidbits of which I was previously unaware. This is the kind of book at that whets the appetite and encourages you to learn more about U.S. history.
January 13, 2020
A well researched and well written historical look at some of US most influential movers and shakers from the early days of this nation. These biographical sketches are all about the wont of this country's expansionist views. Of course, "Westward Ho" is the theme. Robert Morgan writes beautifully about each one of the characters. I hadn't known about Winfield Scott before this and I think every school's history should show that he was a great American and a hero that was done dirty indeed, by James K Polk, no less. Morgan wrote the novel Gap Creek which I had read some time ago. It too, has significance as on of the best novels written more recently.
December 13, 2021
Not a great book, but a good book. A nice intro/overview of America's growth westward, crafted through mini-biographies of men significant in the expansion. Chapters on Jefferson, Jackson, and John Quincy Adams read as familiar. But I enjoyed learning about Kit Carson, Davy Crockett, and the enigmatic (and unfamiliar to many) Nicholas Trist. We take America's continental presence for granted today. "Coast to coast" is the way we live, and the way generations before us lived. It wasn't always such. Whether or not it was meant to be, a "national destiny" . . . lots to speculate/discuss. But men made it happen. This is their story.
October 21, 2022
Very well written as usual for Morgan’s books. His prose is very accessible. As another reviewer mentioned it was a little odd to leave out John Fremont. He obviously isn’t a fan of Fremont. Another obvious somewhat glaring omission was Meriweathwr Lewis. I especially liked the chapters on Kit Carson and Sam Houston. I thought finishing with John Quincy Adams was appropriate. Morgan as myself see JQ Adams as an incredible visionary. Too ahead of his time to be an effective president but incredibly impactful as a diplomat and legislator. A great introduction to characters that impacted western expansion.
April 15, 2021
Morgan delivers a well written and entertaining history lesson from the Louisiana Purchase to the war with Mexico and beyond. He connects the life stories of Jefferson, Jackson, Johnny Appleseed, Crockett, Houston, Polk, Winfield Scott, Kit Carson, Nicholas Trist and John Quincy Adams, delivering a portrait of the development of the American west. Most interesting is the under current of the slavery question and its political impact throughout. The story ends with the California gold rush and we all know what happens just a few short years later.
December 27, 2021
US history from Thomas Jeffferson’s birth in 1743 till the California Gold Rush starting 1849. Focus is on 10 great Americans and how their lives overlap and their individual affects on the westward expansion of the country. Most of them were very interesting. (Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Johnny Appleseed, David Crockett, Sam Houston, James Polk, Winfield Scott, Kit Carson, Nicholas Trist, and John Quincy Adams) Trist was the only outlier who wasn’t in the same league as the others. I enjoyed it and learned some history. 4****
July 5, 2021
At first I thought these were just going to be chapters of random famous people of the west. But it is not. It is about the people who help expand the nation to the Pacific. From some who I have read extensively about as Jefferson, Jackson and Crockett. To others I knew, of course but not read as much about, John Chapman, Sam Houston, Winfield Scott and Nicholas Trist. There is a short history of each man and then what they did to help expand the nation.
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