Books by David Lavender

Presents an account of the imperial rivalries between England, Spain, France, and the United States, and their role in Thomas Jefferson's decision to sponsor an expedition that might strengthen the young country's claims to lands it had purchased but never seen.

Illustrates the 'westward vision' that impelled the early explorers of the American interior. This title describes the efforts of emigration societies, of missionaries like Marcus and Narcissa Whitman, and of early pioneer settlers like Hall Jackson Kelley, Jason Lee, and Thomas Jefferson Farnham, and the routes they took to the 'Promised Land'.

The exploration and conquest of the Pacific Northwest is the dominant theme of Land of Giants, a book which (in the words of William O. Douglas) "gives one a sense of participation in moulding the manifest destiny of America." English and Spanish seadogs seeking a northwest passage to the Orient were the first comers; then, following Bering's explorations, Russian fur traders descended on the Aleutians. In turn, the Lewis and Clark expedition, the activities of the great fur companies, and "Oregon fever" spurred on overland traffic westward; and as gold silver, and copper drew thousands more into the new land, railroads and steamship lines grew up to serve the mushrooming settlements. Land of Giants tells also of the tragic squeeze play on the Indians, the rise of the fishing and lumber industries, the development of modern power and reclamation projects, and the struggles of the conservationists to preserve natural resources and wild life. "Reading Land of Giants, we can believe that history trod here, that issues existed, that men schemed and dreamed and struggled, and so the present came to be."¿A. B. Guthrie Jr., Saturday Review of Literature.A well-known Western historian, David Lavender is the author of more than twenty books, among them Bent's Fort, One Man's West, and most recently California: A Bicentennial History and Winner Take All: The Trans-Canada Canoe Trail.

Presents the author's ode to his days on the Continental Divide and the story of his experiences making a living in the not so wild but not yet tamed West. This title introduces some of the most charming characters in western literature.

From the earliest Spanish explorations in the late 1500s through the present, California's history and growth have been both tumultuous and phenomenal. All the historical facts are here: the missions and the Indians, the struggles between the Mexicans and the Americans, the fabulous gold rushes, statehood in 1850, railroad wars, furious labor upheavals, the disastrous scandals and bankruptcies of the 1920s, and the recent gigantic tamperings with nature. David Lavender tells, with unusual clarity and grace, the story of a beautiful state's rise to giganticism. In an afterword to this Bison Book edition, he looks at California today.