Vast Horizons: An American Family Odyssey, 1838-1853, Paperback

In 1838, Lieutenant John Lowry Kline serves with a military escort leading deported Cherokees from Tennessee to northwestern Arkansas. Following which he starts a family and moves to southwestern Missouri. After the Mexican War and a few personal tragedies, he and his kin set out along the Oregon Trail to build a better life in the Pacific Northwest.

The wide open spaces of the West open up before them as they doggedly press on, constantly on the lookout for water, grass, or fuel. As the wagons roll over vast prairies, mountains, and deserts, death stocks among the roofs of canvas. But Kline's resourcefulness and the strength of his family carry them to the upper reaches of the Willamette River, in Oregon's Cascade Mountains.

Based on real people and real events, this inspiring family saga touches on the Trail of Tears, the Mexican War, and the Oregon Trail and is stitched together with romance, humor, and the seemingly limitless fortitude required to navigate such an arduous existence. Witness the trials and times of this era through the prism of one family, as they make their contribution to the Manifest Destiny of the United States.

About the Author:

Terry Collins is the descendent of pioneers who bravely ventured west on the Oregon Trail. While assembling his family tree over a number of years, he uncovered stories of his family's harrowing migration westward. He dramatized the true events into the historical novel Vast Horizons.

Collins grew up in Portland, Oregon, and has had a career in the lumber business. He currently resides in the mountains of northeastern California.