Hard Road West

"Alternates seamlessly between vivid accounts of the nineteenth-century journey and lucid explanations of the geological events that shaped the landscape traveled.... The reader comes away with both an appreciation for the arduous cross-continental wagon journey and an understanding of the events that created such a vast and difficult landscape." - Library Journal "Meldahl draws on his professional knowledge to explain the geology of the West, showing how centuries of geological activity had a direct effect on the routes taken by the travelers.... Meldahl provides a novel account of the largest overland migration since the Crusades." - Science News"