The books in this section are usually hardcover and in decent condition, though we'll sometimes offer hard-to-find books in lesser condition at a reduced price. Though we often put images of the book with their original dust jackets, the copies here won't always (or even often) have them. If that is important to you, please call ahead or say so in the order comments!
In this rousing tale, Armstrong Sperry has caught all the drama and salty excitement of life at sea under the spread of white canvas, the whine of ropes in a gale, and the sheeting rush of water across a heaving deck. Young Robbie Haswell signed aboard the good ship Columbia for more than just a spell at sea. When he sailed from Boston in 1787, he faced the arrogance of a ruthless captain as well as the dangers of uncharted seas. For the Columbia was one of two ships outfitted by Boston merchants to sail around the Horn, take aboard furs on America's unexplored Northwest coast and trade them in Canton for the spices, silks and luxuries of China.
In the telling how America's mariners discovered the River of the West and named it "Columbia," Armstrong Sperry spins a yarn bound to make any red-blooded teen-ager long for the storm-swept seas and the dangers of dark, new lands. How Haswell tangled with the brutal captain of the Columbia, his transfer to the trim sloop Lady Washington, the wild and hazardous rounding of the Horn when the ship staggered madly through mountainous seas, make a prelude to bloodcurdling adventure with the Pacific coast's savage Indian tribes. A tribute to the men and ships that helped win a continent, River of the West is a book that, once started, you won't put down until the last action-packed page!
—from the dust jacket
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