Old Deseret Live Stock Company

"The 1859 exploration of the Great Basin by army topographical engineer James Simpson opened up one of the West's most important transportation and communication corridors, a vital link between the Pacific Coast and the rest of the nation. It became the route of the Pony Express and the Overland Mail and Stage, the line of the Pacific telegraph, a major wagon road for freighters and emigrants, and, eventually, the first transcontinental auto road, the Lincoln Highway, later Highway 50." "Despite its importance, no one until now has accurately tracked or mapped Simpson's original route. Jesse Petersen shows us - in words, maps, and photos - exactly where the explorer and his party went. Sharing his detective work and historical reconstruction as he walked or drove the entire trails, which varied on Simpson's way west and return east, Petersen takes readers along on a mountain and desert trek through one of America's most remote and striking landscapes."--BOOK JACKET.