Will Bagley - Work in Progress

Work in Progress

Bagley is currently engaged in his most ambitious project, a projected four-volume study of overland trails and western expansion "Overland West: The Story of the Oregon and California Trails." Two volumes are now available.

The first installment, So Rugged and Mountainous: Blazing the Trails to Oregon and California, 1812-1848, appeared in 2010. It won several awards, and The Atlantic selected it as its Editor's Choice in September 2011.

With Golden Visions Bright Before Them: Trails to the Mining West, the second volume, appeared in 2012."As usual, Bagley delivers hard truths in shimmering prose, lifting the veil of romance that surrounds so much of the American West," The Salt Lake Tribune commented shortly after its release. "It’s no secret that those who packed up their life’s belongings for a new shot at life on the frontier suffered and struggled, but Bagley reveals it all through meticulous research that gives it depth and meaning."

Based on his professional experience in the computer business, Bagley has written a history of LexisNexis with the company's first general counsel. If the book is a success, he plans to write a trilogy about the computer revolution, "The Machine of Time: Chronicles of the Computer Age," which he jokingly calls his “DigitIliad.”