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.
Not to be confused with the 1952 Western movie Wagons West, or the 1994 John Candy film Wagons East!.
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The Wagons West series:
- Independence!
- Nebraska!
- Wyoming!
- Oregon!
- Texas!
- California!
- Colorado!
- Nevada!
- Washington!
- Montana!
- Dakota!
- Utah!
- Idaho!
- Missouri
- Mississippi!
- Louisiana!
- Tennessee!
- Illinois!
- Wisconsin!
- Kentucky!
- Arizona!
- New Mexico!
- Oklahoma!
- Celebration!
Tropes:
A-I:
- Ancestral Name:
- Tim Holt is named for the first Holt that immigrated to America,
- Mike Holt is named for his grandfather Michael "Whip" Holt.
- 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.
- Arranged Friendship: Growing up, Toby Holt and Beth Blake were constantly being put together by their mothers in the hope that one day they would eventually marry, but instead they ended up dreading each other. It is realized later by their mothers that — had their relationship been allowed to grow naturally — they probably would have been attracted to each other, but by the time they are attracted to each other, one and/or the other had married someone else.
- Arrows on Fire: Indians occasionally tried to set covered wagons on fire.
- Artifact Title: The first four books focused on a wagon train going west to Oregon. The next three of the four books had a wagon train as a prominent part of the story. However, after the beginning introduction of the lead villain of the fourteenth book Missouri!, wagon trains were no longer a part of any story in any way.
- Artistic License – History: quite a few
- The first wagon trains to Oregon began in 1844 and were completed in a matter of months, while in the novel the first train began in 1837 and did not reach Oregon until 1839.
- Toby and Mary White Owl met in 1861 at a Union hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, which caused Janessa to be born later that year. Even without the Continuity Snarl mentioned below, the Union army did not capture Memphis until June 1862
- In Illinois! the Great Chicago Fire took place soon after Paris fell to the Germans in 1871; it was actually 8 months later.
- Artistic License – Medicine: Dr. Martin always acts as through germ theory was known even as early as the 1830s.
- Assassin Outclassin': in Kentucky!, assassins are sent to kill Henry. Henry manages to kill them instead, althro he still becomes injured.
- Badass Family: the combined Holt/Blake family.
- The Baroness: Gisela von Kirchberg is a Sexpot but her age difference to Henry gives her traces of a Rosa Klebb.
- Best Friends-in-Law: Averted, but teased. Close friends Sam and Whip are attracted to the sisters Claudia and Cathy, respectively, at first sight. While it looks like both couplings will get married, only one does.
- Better as Friends: Edward Blackstone and Pamela are both considered highly attractive, but after a brief affair realized that there is no real chemistry between them, and thus decide to just be friends and travel companions.
- The Blacksmith: Ted Woods was a Hoosier blacksmith who had been in jail for 10 years before joining the original wagon train. He was an important supporting character in the first four novels and would make appearances off and on in the rest of the original series.
- Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie: Sam Brentwood requests being buried in an unmarked grave along the Oregon Trail.
- Camp Follower: 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.
- Chronic Hero Syndrome: Toby Holt definitely fits this trope.
- Cliffhanger: Once Aaron Fletcher took over the original series, he employed a cliffhanger at the end of each novel. Most of the time, the cliffhanger was easily dismissed as soon after the next novel began.
- Clue of Few Words: in Kentucky!, the murdered Secret Service agent was only able to leave the word "Talcott" before he died. Talcott refers to Talcott, Connecticut, where the assassination of President Grant is to take place
- Continuity Snarl: The switchover to a new author in Illinois! caused problems.
- The first was the introduction of Janessa, who was said to be born in 1861; due to her father having not yet left on the wagon train until after the start of the Civil War (April 1861) in Nevada!. There is simply not enough time for him to travel all the way to the other side of the country, get reassigned to another theatre in war, and then get Janessa's mother pregnant in time for Janessa to be born in 1861.
- Henry in Utah! began four years of West Point in the fall of 1868, yet had graduated in time to serve in Paris as a 2nd Lieutenant for the end of the Franco-Prussian war in the spring of 1871...less than 3 years later.
- Damsel in Distress: if a heroine has a significant other whose one of the main male characters, rest assured she will eventually become one.
- Dead Person Impersonation: one of the villains in Montana! does this.
- Did You Die?: while on the original wagon train, Whip was telling some of the boys on how he almost didn't survive one winter because he did not spend enough time on clothes meant for cold protection. One of the boys asked if he died, to which Whip responded with a chuckle and made sure to hammer in the point to the boys that one needs to make sure a job is properly done.
- Economy Cast: American pioneers would try to have as many children as possible in order to have help around the farm. However, in the series almost everyone in the main cast only had one child, and at most two. It was sometimes explained away with miscarriages after the fact, but seemed as a forced excuse. The only exception was Toby but he didn't have a third child until the last pages of the original series, and in the subsequent series The Holts his first two children were adults, leaving his third and fourth child as the only ones underfoot.
- Evil Brit: the lead antagonists in the first four novels and the eighth book Nevada!; unlike most villains in the series, they went back to Britain in failure instead of being killed.
- Filler: the fourteenth to seventeenth booksnote were the last books written by Gerson, but a reader could skip them to when the series continued with a different author by the same pen name, and the only thing one would wonder is, "Who is Martha and what happened to Clarissa?".
- General Failure: Emil Braun in Tennessee! would be a good officer, but his arrogance and ridiculous risk-taking kept him from becoming an actual US Army general and instead became the general of a private militia.
- Gold Fever: affects at least three characters in California! to various degrees during the California Gold Rush, and ends up killing an imposter/mugger in Montana!.
- Happily Adopted: Hank Purcell becomes Henry Blake.
- Has a Type: 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. At least 2 of his main love interests were redheads, and possibly a third if Alexandra counts as one.
- High-Class Call Girl:
- Carolina Brandon has elevated herself to this at the beginning of Nevada!, due to what she purloined towards the end of the previous novel.
- Kale Salton is a top one in San Francisco when she decides to intervene in Beth Blake's trial in Dakota!
- Historical Domain Character: several Presidents meet various heroes of the series. Andrew Jackson was particularly featured in the firsy few books.
- Indian Maiden: Both Whip (in Wyoming!) and Toby (in Dakota!) Holt have their lives made more difficult by have an Indian maiden totally in love with them.
- Injun Country: white settlers going thru and/or settling in Indian lands is a common occurrence in the novels.
J-Z
- Killed Offscreen: the fate of Tommie Blackstone.
- Kissing Cousins: In one book it is said that Toby and Alexandra are first cousins thrice removed, but considering the known relatives and the age of Alex's father it is likely the author meant third cousins. The only problem anyone has with the relationship is the age difference.
- Lady of Adventure: Teddy Montague is very much this, as we see her excel in dealing with the natives in Brazil.
- Last Wish Marriage: the circumstances that led to Toby's first marriage, althro the bride actually survived, causing issues after Toby came back from the war.
- Little Stowaway: two women force their way into the procession to Texas by first sneaking their way onto the ship in Texas!
- Mountain Man: both of the wagonmasters and lead protagonists in the first four novels, Sam Brentwood and Whip Holt, were Mountain Men. Others would come and go during the series
- Mrs. Robinson: Gisela mixes this with the Baroness trope.
- "Near and Dear" Baby Naming:
- Ted Woods Taylor was named by his father Danny Taylor due to his friendship with Ted Woods.
- Cindy Holt was named for her mother's friend and sister-in-law Cindy.
- "Not Really Married" Plot: this becomes an issue in Utah! when one woman's first husband is revealed to still be alive after all.
- Patriotic Fervor: Drove the original wagon train members to settle in Oregon. Plus, Toby Holt often did things just because his country needed him
- Pilfering Proprietor: in California!, Big George owns the biggest establishment around for gold miners to come in for lunch, drinks, and enjoy a prostitute for awhile. He will also have some men rob patrons just after they leave his place, if it is clear they have significant money on them.
- Pity the Kidnapper: in Montana!, the Indians come to regret having captured the three women, as they have created a bunch of complications from demanding proper eating utensils to wanting to interview the chief.
- Private Military Contractors: the creation of one drives the plot in the seventeenth novel, Tennessee!.
- Put on the Bus: 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.
- Quest to the West: the original wagon train members travel west to Oregon in order to have a better lives for themselves.
- Rape as Drama: early novels has the threat of being raped a frequent problem for female protagonists
- Rape Portrayed as Redemption: In Nebraska! Eulalia Woodling had a major personality change for the good after being used as a sex slave by Indians for months.
- Ruptured Appendix: Gisela suffered from appendicitis, normally a death sentence in the 1870s
- Sex Slave: happens to someone in Nebraska!.
- Southern Belle: both Alexandra and Eulalia Woodling, although Alexandra was always a Bonne Belle and Eulalia begun as a Mauvaise Belle.
- Spin-Offspring: 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. The follow-up series The Holts, would do so for the third generation.
- Stepping Out to React: When Harvard-educated Paul is repeatedly being corrected by Lisolette in Oregon!, it gets to the point where Eulalia has to leave the room just so she can laugh about it.
- Stuffed into the Fridge: several wives were killed just to make their husbands widowers
- Sworn Brothers: Both Sam Brentwood and Whip Holt are blood brothers to the Cherokee, Stalking Horse. In Independence!, 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.
- This Bed of Rose's:
- In California, Melissa arranges for the runaway Isaiah to stay at Big George's while he ran away from home.
- In Utah, Kale Salton has Beth stay at her home after the trial.
- Unknown Relative The Holts did not know about the existence of Janessa until she was nine years old.
- Villainous Mother-Son Duo: The Hastings Gang in Montana! is led by a mother and son duo. There is another son, but he is hardly involved in any decision making.
- Virgin in a White Dress: Discussed in California!. With Melissa having been a famous courtesan during the height of the gold rush, it would be seen as a travesty if she wore white and wore a different color. So as not to embarrass her, her friend who was to be married at the same ceremony as her chose to not wear white as well.
- The Von Trope Family:
- Baron Ernest "Ernie" von Thalman is an Austrian nobleman who was encouraged to join the original wagon train for the adventure of it.
- Baroness Gisela von Kirchberg married into her name, and after her widowhood proceeded to accomplish the goal of becoming the richest woman in Europe.
- Wanted a Son Instead: In Texas! the youngest of five daughters has a boys' name as the father was sure by then he'd have a son.
- Weapon Specialization: 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.
