The Last American Highway: A Journey Through Time Down U.S Route 83: Nebraska Kansas Oklahoma (The Highway 83 Chronicles)

Descending 1,885 miles straight down the center of the United States from Westhope, North Dakota, to Brownsville, Texas, is U.S. 83, one of the oldest and longest of the federal highways that hasn't been replaced by an Interstate. Award-winning author Stew Magnuson takes readers on a trip through the Nebraska Sand Hills, the Smoky River Valley in Kansas and the singular Oklahoma Panhandle. Along the route are the stories of the famous, the infamous, and the forgotten. Buffalo Bill Cody hunted these lands, but what about Buffalo Jones, who set out to save the American bison from extinction? This is where the ruthless, but now largely forgotten bank robbers, the Fleagles committed their most heinous crime; where the Grand Duke Alexis of Russia met George Armstrong Custer and Pussy Cat Nell dispatched the corrupt Sheriff "Brushy" Bush with a shotgun blast. What ties together President Eisenhower, the architect Frank Lloyd Wright and author Truman Capote? Highway 83, of course.

Praise for The Highway 83 Chronicles:

"Stew's book is not exactly a guidebook. It's more of a travel narrative, and like most good travel narratives, it embeds within itself the stories of others."

-- Tom Isern
Host of North Dakota Public Radio's Plains Folk and professor of history, North Dakota State University

"In his first volume profiling what is perhaps America's most unique thoroughfare, Magnuson manages to capture the essence of the history of the Dakotas, as well as their past and present culture.  His very personal and witty storytelling keeps the reader fully engaged."
--Michael L. Lawson
author of Dammed Indians Revisited

"The Last American Highway" embodies the best of road trips - sweeping scenery, quirky companions, riveting history and best of all, in Stew Magnuson, an appreciative and amusing guide to a part of the country too often ignored. Reading it isn't enough. When you get to the last page, you'll want to drive Highway 83 yourself.
--Gwen Florio,
author of Montana and Dakota

Part of what makes the Great Plains so "great" are the people who love, travel and celebrate this country. Stew Magnuson, besides being a son of the Great Plains, truly gets what it is all about. Where many see a stark, flat speedway to get from one destination to another, Magnuson sees it for what it is: a beautiful, haunting land of constantly changing horizons, loaded with hidden stories of the famous and not-so-famous. To travel the Great Plains takes a guide, and Magnuson's Highway 83 series is the perfect company.

-- Jeff Barnes, author, The Great Plains Guide to Custer and The Great Plains Guide to Buffalo Bill