One hundred and eighty years after Lewis and Clark's “Voyage of Discovery” (1804–1806), Dayton Duncan set out in a Volkswagen camper to retrace their steps. Out West is an account of three separate journeys: Lewis and Clark's epic adventure through uncharted wilderness; Duncan's retracing of the historic trail, now in various ways tamed, paved, and settled; and the journey of the American West in the years in between. Readers traveling with Duncan will encounter the people who inhabit today's West: farmers and ranchers, cowboys and mountain men, Native Americans, residents of dying small towns, city dwellers who have survived cycles of boom and bust. From the Gateway Arch in St. Louis to the Oregon coast, readers will be treated to a landscape as variously impressive as its people.

Dayton Duncan has been a reporter, humor columnist, editorial writer, chief of staff to a governor, and deputy press secretary for presidential campaigns. Born and raised in a small town in Iowa, he now makes his home in Walpole, New Hampshire. His books include Miles from Nowhere: Tales from America's Contemporary Frontier, also available in a Bison Books edition.

"A marvelous and funny book."—New York Times Book Revie

"An entertaining series of road adventures, paved with gems of history and lined with majestic conclusions about the development of the West."—Boston Globe

"A smoothly written combination of history and humor, sociological insights and serendipitous pleasures."—Kirkus Review

"An offbeat story that successfully combines history, travel, and personal adventure.”—Publishers Weekly

"Armchair adventure with history as a bonus."—New Yorker