A library consultant in Council Bluffs, Iowa as well as author, Morgans notes that most traffic through the region and period he defines was going west to settle new territories such as Utah, Washington, Oregon, and of course California. But there was another current, heading north to freedom across the Canadian border, and that is the one he teases out from obscure sources such as runaway slave advertisements in newspapers, articles from Canadian newspapers about people who made it, letters, reminiscences, books, and narratives by and about escapees. A particular rich vein, he says, are interviews with over 2,000 former slaves conducted as part of the Works Project Administration Federal Writers' Project during the 1930s. He tells as much of each story as he can find. His chapters include hemp and Little Dixie empires in Missouri, liberty via steamboat in Arkansas, fleeing from farms and plantations, and Oklahoma. Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)