The American Trails Series was initiated by The Bobbs-Merrill company in 1947 with the publication of The Wilderness Road by Robert Kincaid. Under the leadership of the series' editor, Jay Monaghan an historian for the State of Illinois, two more volumes in the series were produced. For whatever reason the publisher discontinued the series in 1948 with the publication of
The National Road by Philip Jordan. The series was however picked up again by McGraw-Hill in 1962 using the same name for the series and placing editorial control in the hands of A. B. Guthrie, Jr. Under Guthrie's leadership fifteen more volumes were produced by McGraw-Hill many of them written by some of this country's most capable writer/historians. Although there seems to be no direct connection between these two publishing houses most collectors of The American Trails Series believe that a complete collection of The Trails Series must contain the three Bobbs-Merrill titles as well as the fifteen published by McGraw-Hill. The list that follows is only a partial representation of all eighteen titles.
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