Early Western Trails

Books for Teens

To order any of these titles, contact the library by email, mail or phone. You may also request these titles online through our OPAC. Happy Reading!

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Amelia and the Outlaw by Lorraine Heath.
RC 55693.
Texas, 1881. Out of jail on a work release program, Jesse Lawton falls in love with Amelia, the seventeen-year-old daughter of Judge Harper. Amelia returns his affection, but her father and brothers have other ideas. For senior high readers.

Beyond the Divide by Kathryn Lasky.
RC 22737.
A sheltered Amish girl runs away from her comfortable Pennsylvania home in 1849 to join her father on a trek to California. After their small band crosses the Continental Divide, the struggle for survival grows desperate, and the girl ends up alone and starving in the Sierra Nevada mountains. An elegantly told pioneer story based on thorough research. For junior and senior high and older readers.

The Chisholm Trail by Wayne Gard.
RC 16219.
An account of the Texas cowhands' road to high adventure. The story of this famous cattle route, which opened up the Southwest in the 1870s to railroading, beef farming, and meat packing, is also the story of its time. Adult reading level.

Dangerous Passage: The Santa Fe Trail and the Mexican War by William Y. Chalfant.
RC 39684.
Set in the late 1840s, this is the story of a road that ran from Independence, Missouri, to Santa Fe, New Mexico, and the role it played in the Mexican War and in claiming southwest territory for the United States. The road, known as the Santa Fe Trail, played an equally dramatic role during encounters with Native Americans that soon escalated into the Indian Wars. Adult reading level.

Far from Home: Families of the Westward Journey by Lillian Schlissel.
RC 30465.
By using the diaries and letters of four separate families who traveled west in the 1800s and early 1900s, the authors show the human cost of the trek westward. The families studied are from Oregon, Colorado, New Mexico, and North Dakota. Adult reading level.

The Gentle Tamers: Women of the Old Wild West by Dee Alexander Brown.
RC 11160.
Account of feminine aspects of Western life and the women who rode beside heir men and helped tame the West. Adult reading level.

Honor’s Pledge by Kristen Heitzmann.
BR 13505.
Seventeen-year-old Abigail Martin falls in love with southerner Montgomery Farrel, who has moved to Colorado after the Civil War. He returns her love but is committed by oath to another. Abigail trusts in God to find a solution. Some violence. Rocky Mountain Legacy series. For senior high and older readers. If you are interested in reading more books in this series, contact the library.

Jubilee Trail by Gwen Bristow.
RC 33721.
When Garnet Cameron graduates from a young ladies' academy in New York in 1844, she is considered the perfect example of a genteel young woman. She has several offers of marriage, but not until Oliver Hale comes to town does Garnet accept a proposal, even though it means a trip to California over the Jubilee Trail. But the hardships of the journey are almost too much for Garnet, especially when she becomes a pregnant widow. Adult reading level.

Miranda and the Warrior by Elaine Barbieri.
RC 56415.
Western territories, 1871. Miranda Thurston slips away from the fort where her father is stationed to visit a friend's ranch. She is captured by Shadow Walker, a Cheyenne. Against all odds the two fall in love, and Miranda has to choose her future. For senior high readers.

O Pioneers! By Willa Cather.
RC 47646 or LP 656.
A tale of the hardship of Nebraska pioneers, relating the bravery, independence, loyalty, enterprise and unrequited love of the pioneers. For high school and adult readers.

The Oregon Trail by Francis Parkman.
RC 25385.
An account of the author's experiences during the early days of the West. He writes of big game hunts, encounters with Indians, and camp life on the trail. Adult reading level.

Outlaw Trail by Robert Redford.
BR 3988.
A unique blend of history and adventure in which the popular actor expresses his love for nature and the land. This love motivates him to promote the preservation of the Old West. Covering many miles on horseback in Wyoming and Utah, his small party of nine set out to retrace the legends and heritage of American history. Adult reading level.

Pioneer Women: The Lives of Women on the Frontier by Linda S. Peavy.
RC 52566.
Discusses the role of women in the westward expansion of the United States: their experiences on the journey, homesteading, performing household chores, in family dynamics, and as community builders. Based on the letters, diaries, memoirs, and oral histories from women of varied origins, ethnicity, and circumstances. Adult reading level.

Pioneer Women: Voices from the Kansas Frontier by Joanna Stratton.
RC 16749.
Memoirs of women who lived in Kansas from 1854 to 1890 offers segments of frontier life dealing with their strengths and achievements, such as the construction of dugouts and sod houses, fighting off grasshoppers, adjusting to loneliness and hard work, and the bloody strife over the slavery issue. Adult reading level.

The Pioneers by Time Life Books.
BR 5671.
Conveys the spirit of heroic endeavor that characterized the great migration in 1841, when a stream of men, women, and children poured out of Independence, Missouri, headed west. Mostly American-born, they were home-seekers determined to find the fertile earthly paradise they were told existed on the other side of the continent. The Old West series. Adult reading level.

Remember the Alamo by Amelia E. Barr.
LP 647.
Romantic historical drama of the battle for Texas as viewed through the eyes of a San Antonio doctor and his bicultural family, divided in their beliefs yet united in their love for each other. For senior high readers.

Ride the Wild Trail by Max Brand.
RC 9759.
Don Grier was a young boy when he set out through the wilderness with a brutal and vindictive taskmaster. Two months later Don had the toughness and fighting skills of a man. Adult reading level.

Tales of the Frontier: From Lewis and Clark to the Last Roundup by Everett Newfon Dick.
WOD 556.
In a series of some 80 informally retold stories and sketches, Professor Dick of the history department of Union College, Lincoln, Nebraska, chronicles American frontier life during the 19th century. Adult reading level.

Wagons Westward: The Old Trail to Santa Fe by Armstrong Sperry.
RC 54083.
In 1846, fifteen-year-old Jonathan Starbuck leaves the security of Independence, Missouri, on horseback seeking the adventure and freedom of the trail. Inspired by a guide, Pierre Leroux, Jonathan heads west with gambler Black Jack Bannock's wagon train. For grades 6-9 and older readers.

Westward the Dream by Judith Pella and Tracie Peterson.
RC 55028.
In 1862, Brenton Baldwin and his sister Jordana leave the east to join relatives Victoria and Kiernan O'Connor in California. Accompanying them is Kiernan's sister Caitlan, newly arrived from Ireland. Brenton photographs the expanding railroad as they travel west, trusting God to protect them. Ribbons West; book 1. For other books in this series, contact the library. For senior high and older readers.

Women’s Diaries of the Westward Journey by Lillian Schlissel.
RC 21093.
The diaries, letters and reminiscences of the women who migrated West. Offers an accurate, unsentimental picture of the daily lives of the families who traveled the Overland Trail from the mid-West to California or Oregon between 1840 and 1870. Adult reading level.

Young Pioneers by Rose Wilder Lane.
BR 3248.
A stirring pioneer novel of frontier life in the Dakotas as a young couple face the stern realities of crop failure, winter storms, separation, and loneliness. For high school and adult readers.