This popular history focuses on the hearts and minds of a restless population as it moved west across the Mississippi River in the 1800s.  The river port town of New Madrid, Missouri, strategically located just below the junction of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers and destined to be the new capital of “New Spain,” was en route for thousands of new Americans.

New Madrid’s pioneers reveal their past, and their stories unfold through personal letters, newspapers, official records and other sources. The author recounts stories of legendary people such as Meriwether Lewis, Aaron Burr, and family members of Thomas Jefferson, whose lives crossed with those of area residents.

This book is a treasure for readers curious about American life in earlier times and will be eye opening for anyone whose ancestors experienced the westward movement, participated in the Civil War, were slaves, slave owners, or American Indians.