This work offers a new and comprehensive account of the fastest and most beautiful sailing ships ever built. It explores the quest for speed on the seas from the early 1800s through the fast-paced times of the 1850s spurred on by the California Gold Rush of 1849. Not only are the career details of such noted ships as the Flying Cloud and Challenge discussed in detail, but they are also put in context with the times in which they operated. Their builders in East Coast states from Maine to Florida are discussed in detail, as are the men, and a woman in one instance, who commanded and manned these ships. The book documents the roles that owners and shipping agents played, what kinds of cargo the ships carried worldwide and the unusual trades in which they participated.

Founded at the fork of two wilderness rivers, Fort Des Moines (which narrowly escaped being named Fort Raccoon) was a temporary garrison of dragoons to keep the peace between Native Americans and settlers until the area could be organized into a territory. After the soldiers left in 1845, pioneers and squatters moved into the abandoned cabins of the stockade, and the city of Des Moines was born. Its central location between the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers made it a natural center of provisioning and commerce for travelers heading west, and the city grew large enough to become Iowa's state capital in 1857. With the city consistently ranked in the top ten best places to live and work, the residents of Des Moines enjoy a quality of life that is the envy of most. This collection of images provides a look back to the historical roots that made the city what it is today.