Out Where the West Begins, Volume 2: Creating and Civilizing the American West Free online reading

In 1790, it was not a given that the young US, bruised and healing from its struggle for independence and populated by fewer than four million inhabitants, would even survive, much less flourish. But the great adventure that came next - the exploration and settlement of the lands lying to the west and stretching to the Pacific Ocean - would build a nation where only a patchwork of Eastern seaboard colonies had existed before.

The first audiobook in this series, Out Where the West Begins: Profiles, Visions, & Strategies of Early Western Business Leaders, profiled 50 individuals who made significant contributions to the economic development of a young nation. This second volume follows the saga of more than 100 influential men and women - political and military leaders, religious thinkers, civil rights proponents, suffragettes, African American pioneers, writers and artists, explorers and surveyors, architects, inventors, innovators, medical professionals, and conservationists - who together wove the story of early Western frontier America. The engaging account of their lives forms a unique tapestry of human experience.

In the words of the author, “Understanding our distinctive past helps us better comprehend who we are now and who we wish to become.”