As whips cracked and oxen strained at the yokes, wagon trains moved out toward the West. Drivers rode beside the lumbering frontier freighters, choking on the dust churned up by hooves and wheels.

Delayed bad weather and rough trails, menaced by Indians, the men responsible for these wagons managed to deliver a varied cargo to settlers whose life and work depended on them.

The vocabulary of bull wagon days is defined in the glossary; a bibliography leads readers to further exploration. The author's "on location" research makes this account especially valuable as background to studies in American History classes.

From the dust jacket