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Alter, Judy. The Santa Fe Trail. Danbury: Children's Press, Inc., 1999. Includes a short history of the trail that became an important commercial route to the southwest in the 1800s. 32 pages.
Chambers, Catherine E. California Gold Rush: Search for Treasure. Mahwah: Troll Communications, 1998. Black and white sketches illustrate what life was like during the California gold rush, including the hard work and severe weather that plagued the prospectors. 32 pages.
Chrisp, Peter. The Whalers. Stamford: Thomson Learning, 1995. This picture essay traces the development of whaling from ancient to modern times. Includes quotations from first-hand accounts, photographs, maps, and charts. 47 pages.
Erickson, Paul. Daily Life in a Covered Wagon. London: Puffin-Penguin, 1997. Diaries and letters from the Larkin family's trip to Oregon in 1853, along with photographs of objects from the past, provide a rich description of how the pioneers dressed, what they ate, and what they saw. 48 pages.
Freedman, Russell. Indian Chiefs. New York: Holiday House, 1987. Biographies of the lives of Red Cloud and five other western chiefs. This book is for more advanced readers. 149 pages.
Katz, William Loren. Black Women of the Old West. New York: Atheneum, 1995. Black women were a part of frontier life, as homesteaders, cooks, nurses, cowgirls, teachers, and shopkeepers. Archival photographs illustrate the text. Includes a bibliography. 84 pages.
Krensky, Stephen. Striking It Rich: The Story of the California Gold Rush. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996. This is an entertaining look at life in the California goldfields, including maps and descriptions of the sea routes taken by prospectors. 64 pages.
Levine, Ellen. If You Traveled West in a Covered Wagon. New York: Scholastic, 1992. This book uses a question and answer format to tell about life on a wagon train on the Oregon Trail in the 1840s. 80 pages.
Morley, Jacqueline and David Dalsriya. How Would You Survive in the American West? New York: Franklin Watts, 1997. Using a question and answer format, the books asks questions about dangers one might face on a wagon trail and then directs the reader to the page that has the answer. 48 pages.
Murdoch, David. Cowboy. London: DK Publishing, 2000. Beautiful photographs with accompanying text illustrate the history of the United States cowboy. 64 pages.
Nash, Carol Rust. The Mormon Trail and the Latter-day Saints in American History. Springfield: Enslow, 1999. The author traces the history of the Mormon Church and the Mormons' search for their "Promised Land" through text, black and white historical photos, and quotes from primary source documents. 128 pages.
"Oregon Trail." Cobblestone: The History Magazine for Young People. Dec. 1981. Each issue contains easy-to-read articles, primary source readings, excellent illustrations, and occasional crafts and puzzles. Web site: cobblestonepub.com. About 50 pages.
Pelz, Ruth. Black Heroes of the Wild West. Greensboro: Open Hand Publishing, 1990. This collection of brief biographies documents the rich contributions of black Americans during the settlement of the West. 58 pages.
Sandler, Martin. Pioneers. New York: HarperCollins, 1999. Vintage photographs from the Library of Congress provide an overview of the settlement of the West, from the first settlers to the development of towns. 96 pages.
Sanford, William R. The Santa Fe Trail In American History. Springfield: Enslow, 2000. A history of the trail that became an important commercial route to the southwest United States during the 1800s. 112 pages.
Schanzer, Rosalyn. Gold Fever: Tales from the California Gold Rush. Washington: National Geographic, 1999. Using quotations from diaries, letters, and memoirs, this book provides a detailed, exciting account of the story of the California gold rush including the discovery of gold, the journey to California, and life in mining camps. 48 pages.
Schlissel, Lillian. Black Frontiers: A History of African American Heroes in the Old West. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995. This book tells the stories of black men and women who explored and settled the West. Contains vintage photographs and a bibliography. 73 pages.
Steedman, Scott. A Frontier Fort on the Oregon Trail. New York: Bedrick, 1994. Many aspects of frontier life are described in this book, but the focus is on what life was like in and around the forts. 48 pages.
Stein, R. Conrad. The Story of the Clipper Ships. Danbury: Children's Press, Inc., 1981. The clipper ships had a short but exciting place in history during the mid-1800s. This book describes their design, their uses, and their decline. 31 pages.
Trinklein, Michael. Fantastic Facts About the Oregon Trail. Mequon: Boettcher/Trinklein, 1995. This fascinating collection of unusual facts about the Oregon Trail is by the author of the PBS documentary films "The Oregon Trail" and "The Gold Rush." 50 pages.
Viola, Herman J. Sitting Bull. Milwaukee: Raintree Steck-Vaughn, 1990. This book describes the life of one of the most famous Indians in American history, Sitting Bull, Sioux Indian chief. Contains a time line of Sitting Bull's life. 32 pages.
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