Download or read book Hard Road West written by Keith Heyer Meldahl and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2008-09-15 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Taking readers along the 2,000-mile California Gold Trail, Meldahl uses the diaries and letters of the 1849 settlers to reveal how geology and topography directly affected our nations westward expansion.