Charles E. (Charles Edward) Young

Born in 1846, Charles Edward Young is known for Dangers of the Trail in 1865: A Narrative of Actual Events, published in Geneva, New York, in 1912. The book presents his own recollections of traveling west in the summer of 1865, at the close of the Civil War, and describes the hazards, landscapes, and rough daily life of the trail.

Young writes in a direct, unadorned way that suits the subject. Rather than offering a polished legend of frontier life, he focuses on practical details and the tension of moving through unfamiliar country, which gives the narrative much of its appeal.

Little biographical information was confirmed beyond his birth year and authorship of this memoir, so his reputation today rests mainly on that surviving account. For readers interested in westward travel, Colorado-bound emigrants, and personal narratives of the postwar frontier, his book remains an engaging historical snapshot.