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Route for the Overland Stage

James H. Simpson's 1859 Trail Across the Great Basin
  • Jesse G. Petersen
  • Funded by: This book is freely available in digital formats through the Utah State University Library Digital Commons.
Language: English
Published/Copyright: 2008
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About this book

The 1859 exploration of the Great Basin by army topographical engineer James Simpson opened up one of the West's most important transportation and communication corridors, a vital link between the Pacific Coast and the rest of the nation. It became the route of the Pony Express and the Overland Mail and Stage, the line of the Pacific telegraph, a major wagon road for freighters and emigrants, and, later, the first transcontinental auto road, the Lincoln Highway, now Highway 50.

No one has accurately tracked or mapped Simpson's original route, until now. Jesse Petersen shows in words, maps, and photos exactly where the explorer went. Sharing his detective-like reasoning as he walked or drove the entire trail west and Simpson's variant route returning east, Petersen takes readers on a mountain and desert trek through some of America's most remote and striking landscapes.

Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
April 1, 2008
eBook ISBN:
9780874216943
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
Main content:
256
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