Ralph K Andrist: 8 books

To most people, thanks to Mark Twain, "Mississippi" suggests riverboat. Here, from award-winning historian Ralph K. Andrist, is the dramatic story of the great, Mississippi steam paddle-wheelers and the world through which they moved - a world these revolutionary ships and their captains, crews, and creators were largely responsible for bringing into being.

On May 14, 1804, a party of explorers dispatched by President Thomas Jefferson set off up the Missouri River into America's newly acquired Louisiana Territory. Under the leadership of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, the men of the Corps of Discovery would cross the continent and into history....

The Erie Canal was a preposterous idea. Even President Thomas Jefferson, usually ahead of his time, believed that it could not be built for at least a century, and yet, the Erie Canal came to be just as its planners had thought it would. For the first time in the history of the United States, a cheap,...

The discovery of a nugget in California in 1848 set off the first gold rush in history. In 1849 alone, the population increased 500 percent as 80,000 men rushed to claim its riches; three years later, nearly 250,000 people lived there. By 1865, miners had dug and panned 750 million in gold from the...

One of his ships was rotten, his cold-weather gear was inadequate, and his officers disliked him, but Lieutenant Charles Wilkes had his orders. In 1838, he sailed into the unknown Antarctic. Here, in this essay by award-winning author Ralph K. Andrist, is the harrowing story of his great expedition.

Fortress, ambulance, amphibious home on wheels, the covered wagon stands as the symbol of winning the West. Here, in this essay by award-winning author Ralph K. Andrist, is its seldom-told story.

The last glacier that covered most of North America reshaped the land, turned rivers in their courses, and influenced human and natural history. Here, in this essay by award-winning author Ralph K. Andrist, is its story.

Andrew Jackson - war hero and spokesman for the frontier, the first president from west of the Alleghenies, the first born in a log cabin - fought his way to the White House. Once there, he stood for the rights of common citizens, founded the Democratic Party, expanded the powers of the presidency,...