On the Overland Trails with William Clark

“William Clark’s compelling account of having survived hardship and danger on the western trails is here brought out of obscurity and expertly contextualized by two of the foremost authorities on the Utah War of 1857–58. The book is a model of careful editing, sensitive handling, and informed research.”—Charles E. Rankin, editor of Toward a More Perfect Union: The Civil War Letters of Frederic and Elizabeth Lockley
“William Clark’s measured account of his extraordinary overland journey has long been a vital, if hard to consult, source for anyone seeking to understand the North American West at the eve of the Civil War. In this first scholarly edition of Clark’s narrative, William MacKinnon and Kenneth Alford provide essential context that allows contemporary readers to understand the importance of once-famous figures whose significance has faded from popular memory. Their thorough research illuminates the arc of Clark’s life before and after his trip to California, as well as how his account came to be. They guide us to a fuller understanding of nineteenth-century commercial freighting on the plains, the intricacies of the Utah Expedition, and the precariousness of life in the Mountain West.”—George A. Miles, retired William Robertson Coe Curator of the Yale Collection of Western Americana
“MacKinnon and Alford have transformed an already wonderful account of an intriguing adventure in the antebellum West into a scholarly gem that paints the strange Utah War episode with all its color and accompanying grit.”—Gene A. Sessions, coauthor of Camp Floyd and the Mormons: The Utah War
“Rescued from obscurity, Clark’s vivid account of trials and travel in the American West offers witness to the overland trail, the oft-forgotten conflict between Utah’s Latter-day Saints and the U.S. government in 1857–58, and the tragic Mountain Meadows Massacre, with strong contextual support from the editors.”—Robert Clark, editor of Overland Journal