History Literature / WagonsWest

''Wagons West'' was a series of novels published between 1978-1989 under the pen name of Dana Fuller Ross; prolific western author Noel Bertram Gerson wrote the original 17 novels, with Aaron Fletcher writing the last seven novels after Gerson's death. A sequel series named ''The Holts: an American Dynasty'' lasted ten books and was set eleven years after the end of the last Wagons West book (it was published only a month after the previous series ended); it had a different author but still used the pen name of Dana Fuller Ross. Two prequel trilogies were also written, but they also had a separate author who used the Dana Fuller Ross name.

The original four books featured pioneers being the first wagon train to go to Oregon, with following novels covering the adventurers of some of the pioneers and their descendants, especially with the ninth novel ''Washington!''. The original 24-novel series took place between 1837-1876, and the subsequent series ''The Holts'' had the first nine take place from 1887-1899, with the last novel going from 1900-1941.

[[folder:The Holts: an American Dynasty series:]]
[[index]]
* ''Oregon Legacy''
* ''Oklahoma Pride''
* ''Carolina Courage''
* ''California Glory''
* ''Hawaiian Heritage''
* ''Sierra Triumph''
* ''Yukon Justice''
* ''Pacific Destiny''
* ''Homecoming''
* ''Awakening''
[[/index]]
[[/folder]]

** Cathy Martin is named for her grandmother Cathy Van Ayl/[[spoiler:Blake]]
** Janessa and Charley named their twins after both sets of grandparents: Mary Lavinia and Brandon Tobias.
* AppeaseTheVolcanoGod: nearly happens to a protagonist in Hawaii in ''Carolina Courage''.

* BizarreGamblingWinnings: [[spoiler:Tim Holt]] wakes up after playing poker while drunk only to find out he won a failing newspaper operation, while [[spoiler:losing his silver mine]].

* DamnYouMuscleMemory: in ''Pacific Destiny'', Henry is posing as a Spaniard in the Philippines during the Spanish-American War. Being amazed at a sight he inadvertently says his surprise in English, making a local policeman take notice and demand his papers...a ChaseScene begins.

* GotVolunteered: in ''Yukon Justice'', it is decided that the town of Dawson needs a sheriff. Since no one actually wants to be the sheriff, an election is done and whoever wins the most votes must take the job.

* HistoricalDomainCharacter: several Presidents meet various heroes of the series. Andrew Jackson and Teddy Roosevelt were particularly featured side characters.

* KilledOffscreen: the fate of Tommie Blackstone

* LadyOfAdventure: Teddy Montague is very much this, as we see her excel in dealing with the natives in Brazil and the Philippines.

** Midge Blake's real first name is Marjorie, named for her mother's close friend Marjorie White.

* ThePatriarch: Toby very much became one in the follow up series ''The Holts'', as he advised and criticized his children as they went to their adult professions as he felt needed.

* PuppyLove: It was love as first sight when twelve-year-olds Mike Holt and Eden Brentwood first met at a friends and family gathering in Oklahoma. [[spoiler:They do eventually marry three novels later]].

* RemittanceMan: Hugo was sent to America by his family in Britain as he was an embarrassment to the family, althro it was never stated what he did to deserve it. Once he was gainfully employed, he stopped accepting his remittance.

* SnakeOilSalesman: In ''Oregon Legacy'', during a local epidemic, Janessa calls to task a peddler of fake medicines, whose only defense was pointing out that Janessa was a woman, regardless if she was a medical student. (It was the late 1880s, after all).

* SpinOffspring: With the ninth book of the series, ''Washington!'', the children of the original Oregon settlers became the main focus of the series, especially Toby Holt. Come the follow up series ''The Holts'', Toby's children Tim, Janessa, and later (to a lesser extent) Mike took center stage while other third-generation individuals would occasionally gain focus as well, most notable Sam Brentwood (grandson of the original) and Frank Blake.

* WeaponSpecialization: Michael "Whip" Holt obviously got his name thru his expert use of whips. In his earliest appearances his son Toby was set up to be one with knives, but it eventually became a dropped idea.

** Peter Blake is named for Henry's biological father, with his middle name Heinrich being the German form of his father's name, which Peter's German baroness mother preferred calling Henry.

* ''Illinois!''

** In ''Illinois!'' the Great Chicago Fire took place soon after Paris fell to the Germans in 1871; it was actually 8 months later.

* CampFollower: in ''Illinois!'', during their first meeting the Baroness warns Henry about the camp followers along the Prussian lines, and Henry assures her he avoids them entirely.

* PutOnTheBus: many of the characters introduced in the fifth-eighth novels only appeared for a couple of novels. When a new author took over starting with ''Illinois!'' many long-lasting characters were never mentioned again.

* ''Nebraska!''

* SwornBrothers: Both Sam Brentwood and Whip Holt became blood brothers. When Abe Ellis almost killed Stalking Horse due to a hatred of Indians, Sam told Abe that had he succeeded, Sam would have been obligated to kill Abe in return.

* AccidentalDeclarationOfLove: After a tense situation some of the ladies of the wagon train became involved in, Claudia asks Sam why he is particularly haranguing her for getting in that situation. He says it is because she means more to him than the rest do. He quickly leaves, and both reflect on what he just did... admit that she means a lot to him, a previously confirmed bachelor.

* MalMariee: Cathy's bad situation in ''Independence!'', even if in a frontier instead of a medieval setting.
* MountainMan: both of the wagonmasters and lead protagonists in the first four novels, Sam Brentwood and Whip Holt, were Mountain Men.

* SexlessMarriage: Cathy suffers from this in ''Independence!''

* WeaponSpecialization: Michael "Whip" Holt obviously got his name thru his expert use of whips. In his earliest appearances his son Toby was set up to be one with knives, but it eventually became a dropped idea.
* WidowMistreatment: In ''Independence!'', Claudia is not only forced to sell off the mills she inherited from her late husband but also to abandon her comfortable life in Connecticut for the wagon train life, just because her miserly brother-in-law Otto said so as the law required a man to be in charge of her inheritance. Otto even said she would need his permission to remarry.

* ''Independence!''

* HeroesWantRedheads: at least two of Toby's love interests were redheads. When in one of the later novels his wife Alexandra (who was occasionally implied to be one as well) said they will not count the redheads he has gone for, Toby happily replies that there were too many to count.

* AccidentalDeclarationOfLove: After a tense situation some of the ladies of the wagon train became involved in, Claudia asks Sam why he is particularly haranguing her for getting in that situation. He says it is because she means more to him than the rest do. He quickly leaves, and both reflect on what he just did... that she means a lot to him, a previously confirmed bachelor.