Desert Between the Mountains: Mormons, Miners, Padres, Mountain Men, and the Opening of the Great Basin, 1772–1869 - Softcover

Durham, Michael S.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0806131861 ISBN 13: 9780806131863

Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press, 1999

Synopsis

On July 24, 1847, a band of Mormon pioneers who had crossed the Great Plains and hauled their wagons over the Rocky Mountains descended into the Salt Lake valley. They settled alongside the Indians there in an immense, self-contained region covering more than 220,000 square miles aptly named the Great Basin because its lakes and rivers have no outlet to the sea. Within ten years of their arrival, the Mormons had established nineteen communities extending all the way to San Diego, California. But theirs was not a story of splendid isolation. The Mormon way of life was under a constant strain from interactions with miners, soldiers, explorers, mountain men, Indians, the Pony Express, railroad builders, federal officials, and an assortment of other “Gentiles.“ This is the definitive, dramatic, and multifaceted study of the Great Basin, unifying its history with its geography.

About this title

About the Author

Michael S. Durham, a former writer and correspondent for Life magazine and editor of Americana magazine, is author of The Desert States, a volume in the Smithsonian Guide to Historic America series. His latest book is the National Geographic Guide to New York City.

Edition details

• Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0806131861
• ISBN 13: 9780806131863
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 352