Publisher's Synopsis
All along the mid-1800s Western frontier, the path of fugitive slaves in the Underground Railroad was wrought with challenges. Even if an escapee managed to avoid the more violent residents, he was hard-pressed to manage survival on the drought and illness-prone frontier, where newly settled sympathizers could rarely give accurate descriptions of the topography, climate, or food sources. This book details the history and development of the Underground Railroad in Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma. The topics include: the sacking of Lawrence and its role in upping guerilla warfare; escapees' use of steamboats along the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers; and the activities of John Brown, James Montgomery, Dan Anthony, and others.
