Wm. Carr Lane was a man of great courage and intelligence who combined action, vision, and leadership to solve problems during the decades leading up to the Civil War. Elected to mayor of St. Louis in 1823 at just thirty-four, Lane was greatly involved in the expansion of the United States as his brawling frontier town grew into a city trapped in struggles over slavery. There is no question he was a fascinating and important man who lived through a period of major and rapid change in America.

William C. Carson, great-great grandson of Wm. Carr Lane, has written an intriguing biography inspired by letters Lane wrote his wife of forty-five years and the journal he kept while traveling over the Santa Fe Trail and in New Mexico. After beginning with an early history of Lane’s life, Carson details his public persona as he was elected to eight terms as mayor of St. Louis, appointed to another, served in the state legislature, worked as quartermaster general of Missouri, ran for Congress, practiced medicine, traded real estate, started businesses, and raised a family. When he died in St. Louis in 1863, Lane was known as a tireless leader who played a critical role during a tumultuous time in American history.

He Moved West with America shares a captivating history of a political leader who, in his own passionate way, made a great impact on the United States during the pre-Civil War era.