ACROSS THE GREAT DIVIDE: Robert Stuart and the Discovery of the Oregon Trail

Lewis and Clark might have won all the early acclaim for their transcontinental journey, but the actual opening of the West to American settlement came a few years later as part of a commercial enterprise. Robert Stuart was a member of a venture financed by John Jacob Astor that set up an outpost near the mouth of the Columbia River as an initial step in a plot to monopolize fur trade in the western territories. In June 1812, Stuart was chosen to lead a small party on a journey back east to give Astor an update on how they were faring. After wandering around the northwest for a bit, they eventually found the one gap in the Rocky Mountains wide enough to cross by wagon. In the decades following, about 300,000 pioneers would take the Oregon Trail to settle in the western territories. It would be easy for McCartney (Friends in High Places), a direct descendant of Stuart, to focus solely on his ancestor's accomplishments, and there's no shortage of stunning vistas and threatening experiences with Native American war parties. But McCartney never loses sight of the big picture, depicting the fierce competition among early 19th-century fur traders and the impending threat to Astor's project from the onset of the War of 1812. Despite the hoopla surrounding his return, Stuart's reputation eventually languished for more than a century. This gripping account may not lift him fully out from under the shadow of his more famous predecessors, but it should guarantee he won't soon be forgotten again. Photos. Agent, Charlotte Sheedy. (Sept.)