Other editions of book The Covered Wagon

the story of a crowd of forerunners going through the old West from Kansas to Oregon. On their journey, they felt the hotness of the desert, mountain snow, hunger and thirst, and Indian assault. "Look at 'em come, Jesse! More and more! Must be forty or fifty families." Molly Wingate, middle-aged, portly, dark browed and strong, stood at the door of the rude tent which for the time made her home. She was pointing down the road which lay like an ecru ribbon thrown down across the prairie grass, bordered beyond by the timber-grown bluffs of the Missouri. Jesse Wingate allowed his team of harness-marked horses to continue their eager drinking at the watering hole of the little stream near which the camp was pitched until, their thirst quenched, they began burying their muzzles and blowing into the water in sensuous enjoyment. He stood, a strong and tall man of perhaps forty-five years, of keen blue eye and short, close-matted, tawny beard. His garb was the loose dress of the outlying settler of the Western lands three-quarters of a century ago. A farmer he must have been back home.

Emerson Hough (1857-1923) was an American author, best known for writing western stories. Hough graduated from the University of Iowa with a law degree. He moved to White Oaks, New Mexico, and practiced law there but eventually turned to literary work by taking camping trips and writing about them for publication. He is best known as a novelist, writing The Mississippi Bubble (1902) as well as The Covered Wagon (1922). Hough was also a conservationist, and was the catalyst behind a law passed by the U. S. Congress to protect the buffalo in Yellowstone National Park. His other works include The Singing Mouse Stories (1895), The Girl at the Halfway House (1900), The Law of the Land (1904), Heart's Desire (1905), The Way of a Man (1907), 54- 40 or Fight (1909), The Purchase Price (1910), The Man Next Door (1917), The Passing of the Frontier (1918) and The Sagebrusher (1919).

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface.We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

This classic American novel, written by Emerson Hough, was first published in 1922. The Covered Wagon, which is set in 1848, tells the story of a group of pioneers who made their way from Missouri, across the plains, through the mountains to Oregon and California. Real life and fictional characters from Clay County, Missouri are central to the story. Will Banion (the hero) leads the “Liberty Train.” He fought with Clay County hero Alexander Doniphan during the Mexican War. Molly Wingate (the heroine) is also from Liberty and taught school at the Clay Seminary. The scoundrel of the story, Sam Woodhull, is part of a second wagon train from Jackson County. Throughout the story, as the combined wagon train moves westward, Woodhull seeks to discredit Banion while both vie for Molly’s affections. This story will be of interest to anyone who wishes to gain insight regarding the dangers and hardships faced by the pioneers who made the trek from Missouri to the western territories across the Oregon Trail during those early days.