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Snowbound
In this powerful biographical novel, Richard Wheeler—winner of the Owen Wister Lifetime Achievement Award and five Spur Awards—tells the amazing tale of the American explorer and hero, John Fremont, and his attempt to find a railway route to the west along the 38th parallel.
Trapped in the snowbound Colorado mountains, Fremont must fight his way out. He battles the frigid elements in a harrowing journey over the backbone of the continent. In this tale of desperate danger and fierce courage, Wheeler presents the reader with a survival saga par excellence—a struggle of man against man, man against nature, man against himself—and a novel you will never forget.
Trapped in the snowbound Colorado mountains, Fremont must fight his way out. He battles the frigid elements in a harrowing journey over the backbone of the continent. In this tale of desperate danger and fierce courage, Wheeler presents the reader with a survival saga par excellence—a struggle of man against man, man against nature, man against himself—and a novel you will never forget.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2010
7 people are currently reading
96 people want to read
About the author
Richard S. Wheeler
124 books66 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
There are other authors with this name. One writes Marine Corps history. Another, Civil War history. Another writes in the political sciences.
Richard S. (Shaw) Wheeler was born in Milwaukee in 1935 and grew up in nearby Wauwatosa.
There are other authors with this name. One writes Marine Corps history. Another, Civil War history. Another writes in the political sciences.
Richard S. (Shaw) Wheeler was born in Milwaukee in 1935 and grew up in nearby Wauwatosa.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
December 1, 2025
"Snowbound" is an historical fiction written like a biographical account of John C Fremont's 4th expedition in 1848-1849 with journal entries from the participants. It won a Spur Award in 2010 and is a fun read because it is one of those true stories that might sound unbelievable and inauthentic if it were a fictional creation.
Fremont is known as the Pathfinder for his monumental role taming the American western frontier as an explorer with his scout Kit Carson, mostly from 1842-1846. He captured California during the Mexican war, he was the first Republican Party nominee for President later in 1856, and a Union General in the Civil War in which he got his butt kicked by Stonewall Jackson a few times near where my family used to live in McGaheysville, VA. He was a quirky guy, and you can find contentious statements as to his character and achievements, usually with folks agreeing he was a complicated fellow, at times inspiring and heroic and holding an affection from the men who served under him while also being ill-fit to lead, a glory hound and a manipulator not concerned for the lives of men under his command. That's something that served him well in an Army command; to win a war an officer needs to detach himself from worries about casualties in order to best achieve an objective. But in a private enterprise whose only purpose is to self-aggrandize, it is far less noble.
His 4th western expedition in 1848, the setting for this book, with its goal of finding a path for a transcontinental railroad along the 38th parallel is notable for it's horrible failure - I won't spoil it but you can look it up on wikipedia if you want to know the true story before reading the book.
Verdict: A good short survival literature read, history lesson, and adventure, closer in spirit to polar exploration survival stories than to cowboy westerns. I'll copy Larry McMurtry's book cover comment here, which I can't sum up better: Snowbound is "a haunting novel about hubris and its consequences."
Jeff's Rating: 3 / 5 (Good)
movie rating if made into a movie: PG-13
Fremont is known as the Pathfinder for his monumental role taming the American western frontier as an explorer with his scout Kit Carson, mostly from 1842-1846. He captured California during the Mexican war, he was the first Republican Party nominee for President later in 1856, and a Union General in the Civil War in which he got his butt kicked by Stonewall Jackson a few times near where my family used to live in McGaheysville, VA. He was a quirky guy, and you can find contentious statements as to his character and achievements, usually with folks agreeing he was a complicated fellow, at times inspiring and heroic and holding an affection from the men who served under him while also being ill-fit to lead, a glory hound and a manipulator not concerned for the lives of men under his command. That's something that served him well in an Army command; to win a war an officer needs to detach himself from worries about casualties in order to best achieve an objective. But in a private enterprise whose only purpose is to self-aggrandize, it is far less noble.
His 4th western expedition in 1848, the setting for this book, with its goal of finding a path for a transcontinental railroad along the 38th parallel is notable for it's horrible failure - I won't spoil it but you can look it up on wikipedia if you want to know the true story before reading the book.
Verdict: A good short survival literature read, history lesson, and adventure, closer in spirit to polar exploration survival stories than to cowboy westerns. I'll copy Larry McMurtry's book cover comment here, which I can't sum up better: Snowbound is "a haunting novel about hubris and its consequences."
Jeff's Rating: 3 / 5 (Good)
movie rating if made into a movie: PG-13
December 2, 2025
Richard S. Wheeler’s Snowbound is historical fiction done so right that even a history-or-nothing purist like me finished it shivering and cheering in equal measure.
In the winter of 1848–49, John C. Frémont—fresh off a court-martial for mutiny and still desperate to impress his powerful father-in-law, Senator Thomas Hart Benton—decided to prove a year-round transcontinental railroad could run along the 38th parallel. Spoiler: nature disagreed. Violently.
Old mountain men, trappers, and anyone with a pulse begged him not to try the Sangre de Cristo and San Juan mountains in deep winter. Frémont waved them off as timid. He hired “Old Bill” Williams, a guide who openly admitted he’d never crossed those ranges after October, loaded up on ego-fueled scientific instruments and needless baggage, skimped on food, and marched 33 men and 120 mules straight into hell.
What follows is one of the grimmest survival stories in American history. Ten men perish from cold and starvation. The rest eat their mules, their moccasins, and—when nothing else remains—their dead companions. Wheeler writes the cold so fiercely you’ll reach for a blanket in July. You’ll feel the lead in exhausted legs, the sting of snow-blindness, the dull horror of watching mules gnaw each other’s tails before collapsing. And through it all rides Frémont—arrogant, deaf to reason, yet somehow still magnetic enough that most of his freezing, starving men refuse to abandon him.
Wheeler never flinches from the man’s flaws. This is no swashbuckling Pathfinder myth. This is a brilliant, brittle ego who leaves his grieving 24-year-old wife Jessie (still bleeding from the death of their infant son) to cross the Isthmus of Panama alone while he goes off to nearly kill himself and everyone who trusted him. Jessie, fierce and loyal to the end, somehow still loves the man who treats her like an afterthought.
I started the book braced for hero worship and found the opposite: a complex, deeply flawed human whose vanity cost lives, yet who somehow kept the devotion of men who should have shot him and gone home. Wheeler hands you the tragedy without ever letting you look away.
Five glittering stars. Snowbound is vintage Wheeler—lean, vivid, and honest to the bone. He even tucks a fat bibliography in the back for the skeptics (like me) who need the receipts. Fiction? Yes. But the kind that feels truer than most histories I’ve read.
If you want to feel winter in your marrow and watch hubris collide with wilderness in slow, merciless motion, clear your schedule. This one will haunt you in the very best way.
In the winter of 1848–49, John C. Frémont—fresh off a court-martial for mutiny and still desperate to impress his powerful father-in-law, Senator Thomas Hart Benton—decided to prove a year-round transcontinental railroad could run along the 38th parallel. Spoiler: nature disagreed. Violently.
Old mountain men, trappers, and anyone with a pulse begged him not to try the Sangre de Cristo and San Juan mountains in deep winter. Frémont waved them off as timid. He hired “Old Bill” Williams, a guide who openly admitted he’d never crossed those ranges after October, loaded up on ego-fueled scientific instruments and needless baggage, skimped on food, and marched 33 men and 120 mules straight into hell.
What follows is one of the grimmest survival stories in American history. Ten men perish from cold and starvation. The rest eat their mules, their moccasins, and—when nothing else remains—their dead companions. Wheeler writes the cold so fiercely you’ll reach for a blanket in July. You’ll feel the lead in exhausted legs, the sting of snow-blindness, the dull horror of watching mules gnaw each other’s tails before collapsing. And through it all rides Frémont—arrogant, deaf to reason, yet somehow still magnetic enough that most of his freezing, starving men refuse to abandon him.
Wheeler never flinches from the man’s flaws. This is no swashbuckling Pathfinder myth. This is a brilliant, brittle ego who leaves his grieving 24-year-old wife Jessie (still bleeding from the death of their infant son) to cross the Isthmus of Panama alone while he goes off to nearly kill himself and everyone who trusted him. Jessie, fierce and loyal to the end, somehow still loves the man who treats her like an afterthought.
I started the book braced for hero worship and found the opposite: a complex, deeply flawed human whose vanity cost lives, yet who somehow kept the devotion of men who should have shot him and gone home. Wheeler hands you the tragedy without ever letting you look away.
Five glittering stars. Snowbound is vintage Wheeler—lean, vivid, and honest to the bone. He even tucks a fat bibliography in the back for the skeptics (like me) who need the receipts. Fiction? Yes. But the kind that feels truer than most histories I’ve read.
If you want to feel winter in your marrow and watch hubris collide with wilderness in slow, merciless motion, clear your schedule. This one will haunt you in the very best way.
November 14, 2019
An interesting historical novel undone by a faulty approach. John C. Fremont is one of those fascinating, contradictory characters in American history whose lives call out for fictionalization. Soldier, statesman, adventurer, rogue - which is he? Unfortunately, Wheeler leaves it up to us to decide, using multiple narrators to less than good effect. I wanted to like this book but I believe I would have been better served by one of the biographies listed in his afterword. Some interesting conclusions but not much of a read.
October 9, 2012
Loved his true story
I was right there with them in the mountains .....
I was right there with them in the mountains .....
February 18, 2018
I thought I would be reading about John Fremont as an experienced and adventurous explorer and I expected to be impressed and amazed at his accomplishments. I didn't know about his unique (in a negative way) personality and faults as a human being that would cause his management of his fourth expedition to be so outrageously poor and inhumane. The telling of the story by many different individuals who were in the party was extremely effective. The prose, the development of the story, the very real and honest descriptions of their harrowing adventure made for excellent reading. I learned to really dislike Fremont, and wanted to know much more about some of the men who accompanied him - more about their thoughts and actions, more about what they did after it was over. Excellent book.
January 5, 2018
I'm sorry to be different than many of the others but I wasn't all that happy with the book. Granted their was a lot of stuff that made you really wonder if this was real or fiction and there were times when I nearly gave up on it since it seems like many of the 'situations' were repetitive but I did finish the book, just would not 'highly recommend it".
November 28, 2019
7/27/16 journal entry: "Good but sparse at times tho eye-opening; novelization of Col. John Fremont's fiasco of an 'expedition' to seek a railroad route across the West to California. In winter. Man, whatta boob, egotistical fool and downright nitwit. Some of his company hardly impressive in just following ridiculous orders. 'Pathfinder," my ass!"
February 20, 2022
Very interesting story about John Fremont’s failed attempt to find a passage for the railroad along the 38th parallel from St.Louis to San Francisco. His first mistake was to go in the dead of winter. He lost 10 of the 33 men on the journey. The story also reveals the narcissistic nature of Fremont…quite the egomaniac.
March 15, 2017
Excellent story of Colonel John Fremont's attempt to cross the Colorado mountains in the heart of winter 1844-45, to the detriment to the 25 or more men that travelled with him.
November 12, 2019
Not a flattering protrait of Fremont, educational for sure since he seems to be admired locally.
May 31, 2020
Great book to read during a california heatwave. John fremonts expedition blunders through the frigid Santa Rosa mtns and most freeze to death.
February 25, 2021
An enjoyable read. There is a strange irony about Fremont and the former president #45. People liked both of them but for unknown reasons. Both thought they were wonderful yet clearly were not.
May 18, 2023
It was a good book, but I was disappointed with the ending. I would've liked to learn a bit more about what happened afterward with all involved!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 15, 2015
Not many people know about the disastrous 1848-1849 winter trek of John C. Frémont and his men. Thirty-three men with one hundred thirty mules and plenty of supplies set out for California along the 38th parallel. Frémont brought along an expert topographer, a doctor, an artist, and many loyal men from his previous California campaigns. John C. Frémont was one of the premiere trailblazers of his time, yet through arrogance or poor judgement, or a little of both, he incurred devastating losses in this fateful journey.
The author develops the story through multiple viewpoints; that of John C. Frémont, Dr. Andrew Cathcart, Edward Kern, Bill Williams, and others. I especially enjoyed the chapters in the doctor's point of view. All of these men lent a different slant to the story, but throughout it all, the reader is led to believe that Frémont had an oversized ego and a distance from human emotion and connection. Yet, he still managed to make him appear to care about his men and their condition.
The story begins with the team heading westward across the mountains in good cheer and good health. Bill Williams, the guide, tells Frémont the route along the 38th parallel is too dangerous, but Frémont doesn't listen and instead pushes forward. Later, as the mental acuity of the guide begins to wane, they find themselves boxed into an impassable area buried deep under snow in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, fighting to keep themselves alive. By the time Frémont understands that Bill Williams is lost, he has one option. He leaves most of his men behind in small camps and goes to New Mexico for relief. The story of the relief efforts is heartrending.
This biographical novel is engaging and thoroughly researched. Snowbound was my introduction to the author Richard S. Wheeler, and I'm quite happy to have discovered his book. I'll be looking for more books by this author.
The author develops the story through multiple viewpoints; that of John C. Frémont, Dr. Andrew Cathcart, Edward Kern, Bill Williams, and others. I especially enjoyed the chapters in the doctor's point of view. All of these men lent a different slant to the story, but throughout it all, the reader is led to believe that Frémont had an oversized ego and a distance from human emotion and connection. Yet, he still managed to make him appear to care about his men and their condition.
The story begins with the team heading westward across the mountains in good cheer and good health. Bill Williams, the guide, tells Frémont the route along the 38th parallel is too dangerous, but Frémont doesn't listen and instead pushes forward. Later, as the mental acuity of the guide begins to wane, they find themselves boxed into an impassable area buried deep under snow in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, fighting to keep themselves alive. By the time Frémont understands that Bill Williams is lost, he has one option. He leaves most of his men behind in small camps and goes to New Mexico for relief. The story of the relief efforts is heartrending.
This biographical novel is engaging and thoroughly researched. Snowbound was my introduction to the author Richard S. Wheeler, and I'm quite happy to have discovered his book. I'll be looking for more books by this author.
January 28, 2015
A narrative retelling of John Charles Fremont's third expedition West on the 38th parallel where he got trapped in heavy snows and lost 10 of his men. The story is told from many of the expeditions viewpoints which help get a clear picture of the situation but more importantly of Fremont's character. For those who have grown up learning about Fremont as a hero, this will be an eye opening account into his character.
As a historical retelling of an event I did find the lack of documentation of sources questioning the authenticity of the voices. By the end I was curious and researched more into Fremont's history and thought I would have liked to have read a book on his wife Jessie Fremont and how she contributed to his success as an explorer and politician.
As a historical retelling of an event I did find the lack of documentation of sources questioning the authenticity of the voices. By the end I was curious and researched more into Fremont's history and thought I would have liked to have read a book on his wife Jessie Fremont and how she contributed to his success as an explorer and politician.
March 19, 2014
This book is about John Fremont's disastrous 4th expedition along the 38th parallel. In the afterword the author acknowledges that there was conflicting info about Fremont and in this book he comes off as a big jerk. Fremont supposedly is looking for a rail route along the 38th parallel. He chooses to do this in the dead of winter in one of the worst winters known. He looses 130 mules and men too. The expedition takes him through the San Juan Mountains in Southern CO. against all reasonable advice. His men followed him with blind faith that he knew what he was doing even though he didn't seem to care about them. This fascinated me. The audio version of this book was excellent.
June 6, 2010
The noveliization of John Charles Fremont`s tragic fourth expedition through the Colorado mountains in the dead of winter. The mystery of a man who could lead his expedition to a wreckless assault of the San Juan Mountains in the dead of a horrible winter without regard or sympathy for his men or their familys, without regret for deaths or consequences of poor decisions, and always lay the blame for anything bad that happened on somewhere else. Excellent story and drama, I really enjoyed the story and want to read more of Richard S. Wheeler.
October 23, 2012
This book is very clever, very well written. The problem is you end up hating Fremont within the first few chapters. Knowing you have another 200 pages of his blunders and horrific mistakes to get through, makes it that much harder to read.
His wife was fascinating. I would love to learn more about her. He treated her so poorly and yet she always championed him and his causes, turning him into a legend. I would love to know how you do that to someone who doesn't treat you right.
I would like to read more books by this author.
His wife was fascinating. I would love to learn more about her. He treated her so poorly and yet she always championed him and his causes, turning him into a legend. I would love to know how you do that to someone who doesn't treat you right.
I would like to read more books by this author.
July 18, 2011
A very interesting story of severe hardship. And it is about a man that I have been following around (virtually) in the mountains most of my life. I've even stood underneath the peak named after him but not yet stood on top. Where is it? The Wind Rivers. Good story. The writing is so-so. Mr. Fremont was not a very admirable guy.
saw on new fiction shelf at WHI
saw on new fiction shelf at WHI
January 8, 2011
Excellent biographical novel about crossing the US along the 38th parallel in dead of winter under the guise of mapping out a railroad route or the possibility of one. In reality it is more about the esteemed leader John Fremont's own personal mission to push boundaries. An on the edge of your seat story of as the cover says "man against man, man against nature, man against himself..."
March 16, 2011
This is the story of John Fremont who is trapped in the snow in Colorado. He is on a quest to find a path for the railroad along the 38 parallel ending in San Francisco. He had a very different personality which was expressed in each chapter as the story was told from that person's perspective. Well writen, but a little gory.
January 19, 2015
Richard Wheeler is a great storyteller. While reading this, I thought it was fiction. After I finished and found out that Fremont was a real person, it made the story even more amazing. Wheeler developed the characters well and kept me completely engaged with the story. A great read and great writer.
April 28, 2014
Fictionalized account of Fremont's trek through Colorado during the winter. This was not the brightest thing to do and the book gives a straight forward account of what the men and mules went through.
June 8, 2010
Well written novelistic account of one bad idea in the Colorado winter of 1848.
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August 20, 2010I just picked this book up from the Library and I started reading it yesterday...
September 23, 2010
The only thing that could make this book better is if it was longer! I love to read about people against winter!
September 27, 2010
Another just ok book covered exploration of a possible site for a railway between New York and California. The perils of travel in the winter and what power/fame does to the seeker.
December 23, 2010
Excellent historical novel that really gives a vivid pictures of the trials this ill-fated expedition went through. Told from different perspectives and points of view.
January 16, 2012
It started out interesting but degenerated into a repatition of the same rhetoric.
March 21, 2012
Read my review at my blog
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews