“Doherty traces the history of the settlement of various frontier lands through a study of the lives and achievements of seven men: Henry de Tonty (Arkansas), Auguste Chouteau (Missouri), Daniel Boone (Kentucky), John Sevier (Tennessee), Stephen Austin and Sam Houston (Texas), and Eli Thayer (Kansas). . . . The subjects come alive through the use of quotes from the men themselves, or from people who knew them. The relentless push to the West by settlers, with little or no regard for the Native Americans, is clearly described.”
—School Library Journal