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The Way West book cover
Historical Fiction · Tense

A wagon train sets out from Missouri for Oregon

The Way West

by A. B. Guthrie Jr.

1949340 pagesModerate readSteady pace
★ Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, 1950

A wagon train on the Oregon Trail, and the fight over who leads it

A wagon train sets out from Missouri for Oregon under William Tadlock, a former senator, with Dick Summers as the hired guide. As accidents and other challenges mount, the settlers argue about who should lead, and rival factions emerge during the journey. Lije Evans later takes over leadership.

More about this book

Who

William Tadlock, the former senator who leads the train; Dick Summers, the hired guide; and Lije Evans, who later takes over.

World

The Oregon Trail, from Missouri toward Oregon.

What makes it different

It is the second of Guthrie's six novels about the Oregon Trail and the development of Montana, which run from the mountain-man era of 1830 to the cattle empire of the 1880s. It won the 1950 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

Feel

A steady Western about a hard journey and the quarrels along it.

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Page count and cover shown for: Selected edition

Behind the book

It is one of six novels by Guthrie covering the Oregon Trail and the development of Montana, from the mountain man era of 1830 to the cattle empire of the 1880s.

Source: Wikipedia

Further reading

About the author

A. B. Guthrie Jr.American novelist and screenwriter known for his Westerns, born in Bedford, Indiana. His novel The Way West won the 1950 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.