ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

"Lions of the West" - A Summer Reading Recommendation

Updated on June 27, 2014

Nine biographies of the westward expansion by Robert Morgan

It took both heroes and villains for the westward movement of the United States to succeed in the first half of the 19th century. Morgan has woven this set of nine biographies, some familiar, some not, into an intricate pattern that tells the story of the westward expansion in an easy to read format while further educating us on how it actually took place - and who played the key roles. I highly recommend this book for your summer reading.

In this lens, I have provided very brief information on each of the nine men featured in the biographies by Morgan. My intent is to whet your appetite to read the book. How did I do? ;-)

The image is courtesy of the main page at Amazon - see the Amazon Spotlight Personal Review immediately below for the link.

Amazon Spotlight Personal Review - Lions of the West - A book by Robert Morgan

Lions of the West by Robert Morgan provides a set of nine biographies woven together to tell the story of the westward expansion of the United States in the first half of the 19th century. Some are names you will readily recognize. Others you may be reading about for the first time.

Lions of the West
Lions of the West
We each should understand how this thing some call "Manifest Destiny" took place. It did not just happen. It took men (and women) of great courage, personal tenacity, and unwavering belief in what they were doing - often against the wishes of those in command or supposed in charge. This is a great summer reading book.
 
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson was the third President of the United States. He was an American Founding Father and author of the Declaration of Independence. When he was elected president in 1800, he oversaw a peaceful transition of power, then proceeded to purchase the vast Louisiana Territory and send the Lewis and Clark Expedition across the continent.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States. Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and soldier. He defeated the Creek Indians in the Battle of Horseshoe Bend and the British in the Battle of New Orleans. He was known as "Old Hickory" because of this toughness and aggressive personality.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Johnny Appleseed image
Johnny Appleseed image

John Chapman

Johnny Appleseed

John Chapman, also known as Johnny Appleseed, was an American pioneer nurseryman who introduced apple trees to large parts of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois.

Photo image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

David Crockett
David Crockett

David Crockett

David "Davy" Crockett was a 19th century American folk hero, frontiersman, soldier and politician. He represented Tennessee in the U.S. House of Representatives, served in the Texas Revolution, and died in the Battle of the Alamo.

Photo courtesy of WIkimedia Commons.

Sam Houston
Sam Houston

Sam Houston

Samuel "Sam" Houston was an American statesman, politician and soldier. He is best known for his leading role in bringing Texas in the United States. He was elected as Governor of Tennessee as a Jacksonian. Houston is the only person in U.S. history to have serves as governor of two different states. He was the 7th Governor of Texas.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

James Polk
James Polk

James K. Polk

James Knox Polk was the 11th President of the United States. Polk has been called the "least known consequential president" of the United States. He set an agenda entering his four years in office and accomplished it. He had promised to only serve one term, and did that. He died of cholera three months after leaving office.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Winfield Scott
Winfield Scott

Winfield Scott

Winfield Scott was an American Army general. He served as Commanding General of the United States Army for twenty years, longer than any other holder of the office. He was a hero of the Mexican War and served as military governor of Mexico City. He was an unsuccessful presidential candidate of the Whig Party in 1852.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Kit Carson in his later years
Kit Carson in his later years

Kit Carson

Kit Carson was an American frontiersman and Indian fighter. Born in rural present-day Missouri, he left home at age 16. He became a mountain man and trapper in the west. He explored the west to California and north through the Rocky Mountains. He lived among and married into the Arapahoe and Cheyenne tribes. He was hired by John Fremont as a guide.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Kit Carson on Amazon

Blood and Thunder: The Epic Story of Kit Carson and the Conquest of the American West
Blood and Thunder: The Epic Story of Kit Carson and the Conquest of the American West
Learn more about Kit Carson by reading this stirring set of stories.
 
Nicholas Trist
Nicholas Trist

Nicholas Trist

Nicholas Trist was an American Diplomat. He was married to the grand-daughter of Thomas Jefferson. At one time he served as private secretary to Andrew Jackson. He served as U.S. Consul in Havana, Cuba. During the Mexican War, President Polk sent Trist to negotiate with the Government of Mexico.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Poll of the biographies

Mount Elbert and horses, near Leadville, Colorado
Mount Elbert and horses, near Leadville, Colorado

Which of the nine are you most anxious to know more about?

See results
working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)