“Dreams of El Dorado” by H.L. Brands is a captivating and comprehensive account of the American West. The book digs into numerous primary sources to tell the stories of the first settlers and founding narratives for a few cities west of the Mississippi. Brands tackles a broad swath of the American West and does it well. I was not sure if I would enjoy so many stories rolled into one, but the first hand accounts are generally well-curated and easy to follow.

I often imagine what Zebulon Pike and his group felt when they first saw Pikes Peak and the challenge that lay ahead. This book describes the misery of most expeditions. The families facing brutal work, bitter cold, and starvation while trying to survive their journeys will stick with me. 

I appreciated the balance Brands provided while examining the relationship with Indians across the United States. He provides nuance between the relationships of different tribes, and he does not shy away from their mistreatment at the hands of American settlers and government officials. 

I loved learning about the founding of Austin, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, and the building of the transcontinental railroad. I also appreciated an early section detailing the annual beaver trading rendezvous between trappers, traders, and Indians in Green River, Wyoming. The details from Christian missionaries visiting the debauchery are comical. 

Quotes

“In the 1840s American nationalism was scarcely distinguishable from militant Protestantism; the emerging ideology of Manifest Destiny portrayed Columbia, the spirit of America, advancing west with the flag in one hand and the Protestant Bible in the other.”

“The trials of the weakest were the most heart-wrenching. “It was no uncommon sight to see women and children without shoes, and otherwise thinly clad, wading in mud and chilling water almost to their knees,” Taylor recalled. “When a cart or wagon became mired, which was an hourly occurrence east of the Brazos, there was no dearth of helping hands. But in proportion the men were few, and so the women and children were forced to perform most of the labor.”

“Meanwhile Joe Meek caroused with Kit Carson, a mountain comrade—and a scout for John Frémont—who happened to be in Washington. And he regaled the women of the capital as he had regaled Narcissa Whitman at the Green River rendezvous. One of the ladies, taken by Meek’s rugged good looks, inquired whether he was married. “Yes, indeed,” he answered. “I have a wife and several children.” “Oh, dear! I should think your wife would be so afraid of the Indians!” “Afraid of the Indians?” rejoined Meek. “Why, madam, she is an Indian herself.” The woman nearly swooned.”

“Gambling was a favorite sport of the San Franciscans, which was unsurprising in that the entire gold rush was, for its participants, a grand gamble.”   (Some things never change, cc: Silicon Valley Bank)

“No free Californian wished to incur that stigma. Put otherwise, as one Californian did, “In a country where every white man makes a slave of himself, there is no use in keeping niggers.”