American Exploration

A companion book for young listeners based on 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus, the groundbreaking best seller by Charles C. Mann.

Perhaps no American president is more associated with nature and wildlife than Theodore Roosevelt, a prodigious hunter and adventurer and an ardent conservationist. We think of Roosevelt as an original, yet in The Naturalist, Darrin Lunde shows how from his earliest days Roosevelt actively modeled himself in the proud tradition of museum naturalists - the men who pioneered a key branch of American biology through their desire to collect animal specimens and develop a taxonomy of the natural world.

Leif Erikson was born to be an explorer. His father, Erik the Red, had established the first European settlement in present-day Greenland, and although he didn't yet know it, Leif was destined to embark on an adventure of his own. The wise and striking Viking landed in the area known as Vinland almost five centuries before Christopher Columbus even set sail! "Leif the Lucky" and the other fierce, sea-fearing pirates were accomplished navigators who raided foreign lands for resources, hunted for their food, and passed down Old Norse myths from one generation to the next.

Katherine knew it was wrong that African Americans didn't have the same rights as others - as wrong as 5+5=12. She knew it was wrong that people thought women could only be teachers or nurses - as wrong as 10-5=3. And she proved everyone wrong by zooming ahead of her classmates, starting college at 15, and eventually joining NASA, where her calculations helped pioneer America's first manned flight into space, its first manned orbit of Earth, and the world's first trip to the moon!

The great unknown of the Southwest is conquered by a one-armed man and his crew of adventurers, placing the Colorado River and the Grand Canyon on the map of the American continent. It is a journey no human being had ever made before. Dangerous rapids, narrow canyon walls offering no escape, terrifying river waterfalls, capsized boats, near drowning, lost equipment and disillusioned men are dramatically described by John Wesley Powell, leader of this adventurous party.

California’s transformation into the most populous state in America and the home of some of the country’s richest citizens spread amongst Silicon Valley and Hollywood, was certainly no accident. California has always been one of the most diverse and multicultural states in the United States, way before it was a state at all, and even before the arrival of the Europeans. 

Twelve-year-old Sumiko feels her life has been made up of two parts: before Pearl Harbor and after it. The good part and the bad part. Raised on a flower farm in California, Sumiko is used to being the only Japanese girl in her class. Even when the other kids tease her, she always has had her flowers and family to go home to. That all changes after the horrific events of Pearl Harbor.

Racism and profit were driving forces in the growth of slavery. The transatlantic trade of enslaved people saw millions of kidnapped Africans sent around the world, many of them to the Americas. Even after the importation of enslaved people was banned in 1808, slavery did not end in the US. Listen to this book to learn about the Middle Passage, the triangular trade, and the people who continued fighting for change after the importation of enslaved people was banned.

When Portuguese sailor Ferdinand Magellan set sail from Spain in 1519, he believed he could get to the Spice Islands by sailing west through or around the New World. He was right, but what he didn't know was that the treacherous voyage would take him three years and cost him his life.

In July 1776 a pair of Franciscan friars, Francisco Atanasio Dominguez and Silvestre Velez de Escalante, were charged by the governor of New Mexico with discovering a route across the unknown Southwest to the new Spanish colony in California. They had other goals as well, some of them secret: converting the indigenous natives along the way to the true faith, discovering a semi-mythical paradise known as Teguayo, hunting for sources of gold and silver, and paving the way for Spanish settlements from Santa Fe to Monterey. In strict terms, the expedition failed.

Outside influence to the natives began the moment America was discovered. The most famous explorer known to have discovered America was Columbus. But did you know that he was accompanied by Ponce de Leon and others? This book is a tribute to the members of Columbus’ expedition.

Jedediah Strong Smith (1799-1831) was an author, cartographer, frontiersman trader, and explorer of the Pacific Northwest, credited with discovering the South Pass, a natural crossing point of the Rocky Mountains for pioneers on the Oregon, California, and Mormon trails during the 19th century. The book covers his visits to and troubles with the authorities of then-Mexican California and his travels through Utah, Nevada, and the Oregon Country. Smith’s letters, maps, and journals played a major part in boosting US expansion toward the West. 

This exciting historical novel tells the story of a 12-year-old Chumash boy and his family who become captives in a California Spanish mission more than 200 years ago. This is historical fiction based entirely on historical fact that reveals the devastating impact colonization had on California Native peoples.

Follow the saga of American exploration, from Jefferson and Monroe securing the Louisiana Purchase through the bold explorations of Lewis & Clark and Sacagawea. Experience the dawning of a new age aboard Robert Fulton's steamboat, and ride the rumbling wagons of the Oregon Trail pioneers. Feel the devastating effects faced by proud Native American warriors, and witness the mammoth undertaking of the transcontinental railroad. Journey with the brave souls who hung out the sign, "Gone West".

What were the reasons for explorations? Didn’t the Europeans enjoy the lives they’d been living? This book will discuss why the Europeans were willing to cross the seas, despite unfavorable conditions, to explore and settle in new lands. Of course, there will be a discussion on how they wanted to find wealth, new trade routes, navigation methods, and even expand religion. Listen to this audiobook today.

In 1935, during the wind-swept years of the Dust Bowl, three people went missing on separate occasions in the rugged canyon country of southeastern Utah, a place “wild, desolate, mysterious”. A 13-year-old girl, Lucy Garrett, was tricked into heading west with the man who had murdered her father under the pretense of reuniting with him. At the same time, a search was underway for Dan Thrapp, a young scientist on leave from the American Museum of Natural History.

In 1492, Christopher Columbus sailed across the ocean and discovered America. Right? WRONG! Columbus never actually set foot in what is now the United States. His voyages took him to islands in the Caribbean and along the coast of South America. The truth is, when Columbus first arrived, Indigenous peoples, including the Taino, had been living there for thousands of years, raising their families, running their societies, and trading with their neighbors. He didn’t “discover” the lands at all! And his name? Not even really Christopher Columbus!

Este país centroamericano es dueño de una gran riqueza natural representada en su variada flora y fauna, una superficie cubierta por hermosos y verdes follajes, además de un cálido y fresco clima ha hecho que Costa Rica sea conocida como el país de la eterna primavera. Por otro lado, este paradisíaco territorio se ha consolidado desde hace dos décadas como una de las democracias más estables de América, además de lograr uno de los mejores índices de desarrollo a nivel latinoamericano.

Todos los detalles de la famosa isla en un audiolibro que no puede perderse. Este bello país del Caribe, gobernado por el régimen castrista desde hace más de medio siglo con Fidel Castro a la cabeza, es conocido por ser el epicentro de una magnífica cultura musical, un pueblo que pese a sus problemas anhela por su libertad, y una alegría invencible.

Los pormenores de la existencia en este maravilloso país centroamericano, bañado por las aguas del Océano Pacífico al oeste y el mar Caribe por el este. Sui historia, geografía, economía, sociedad, manifestaciones culturales, y mucho más, en un audio que Usted no se puede perder.