Tyler's narrative has long been considered the authoritative work on this heroic battalion of Mormon volunteers. The battalion, numbering about 500 men, was organized at Council Bluffs, Iowa, in July 1846. After reaching Santa Fe, they headed to California following the Gila River. They experienced, as reflected in Tyler's vividly written account, a journey filled with unbelievable hardship. Thirst, starvation, heat, and freezing cold were their constant companions." The reached San Diego in January 1847 and, though they never saw combat, they "established Fort Moore in Los Angeles and strengthened the American hold on California. In addition to telling the story of the trek west, Tyler provides and important overview of the bitter rivalry between Stephen Watts Kearny and John C. Fremont for political control of newly conquered California; life in the pueblos of San Diego and Los Angeles; the return journey to Salt Lake City; and the role of several 'Battalion Boys' who were at Sutter's Mill on that fateful January 1848 morning when John Marshall discovered gold."—Zamorano 80

本書は、信仰に突き動かされた男たちが極限の自然に抗い続けた「沈黙の英雄譚」です。一度も戦火を交えずして西部の礎を築いた彼らの歩みは、不屈の精神を証明する叙事詩の輝きを放っています。タイラー軍曹の生々しい筆致は、過酷な荒野を彷徨う者たちの息遣いを今なお鮮烈に伝えます。 歴史の激動期を一兵卒の視点で捉えた本作は、開拓史の裏側に眠る若者たちの葛藤を鮮明に描き出します。彼らの情熱は、歴史を単なる知識ではなく血の通ったドラマとして体感させてくれるでしょう。開拓時代の真実が、この一冊には凝縮されています。