“Diana Ahmad has written the definitive history, told largely from the point of view of the animals, of the great pre-1869 overland wagon migrations.” —John H. Monnett, author of Where a Hundred Soldiers Were Killed: The Struggle for the Powder River Country in 1866 and the Making of the Fetterman Myth
"Success Depends on the Animals is a valuable addition to overland history. Ahmad presents an interesting idea—that the journey transformed emigrants into overlanders—and that 'Like the emigrants, the domestic animals became overlanders.' " —Missouri Historical Review
“Success Depends on the Animals will be a welcome addition to the bookshelves of Overland Trail devotees looking to understand the significant role that animals played in making that journey happen.” —Oregon Historical Quarterly
“Success Depends on the Animals is a remarkable monograph that is of interest to general readers and to general readers and to historians of the United States West. Her study advances the historiography of the overland trails and suggests new ways of thinking about human-animal relationships.”—Western Historical Quarterly
"With all of the volumes written about the experiences of Overland Trail emigrants, it is somewhat surprising that seldom has the story of the four-legged emigrants been addressed. Diana Ahmad has attempted to correct that shortcoming in what is billed as the first book of its kind ... This entertaining, highly readable [book] will be a great addition to your bookshelf. You will finish it with a greater appreciation for the animals who walked the same trails as the emigrants did, but did it in harness and pullling heavy loads."—Overland Journal
"Ahmad draws on dozens of trial diaries and journals, as well as guidebooks, to make a persuasive case for the centrality of animals to the overland experience. This book could be a valuable adjunct to western and environmental history courses."—Utah Historical Quarterly
“Ahmad’s Success Depends on the Animals is a compelling read. It is accessibly and clearly written. In its simplest form, it reads rather like the plot of a road movie. However, this would be to underestimate its impact. Here we learn about the complexities of a relationship between human and animals forged by necessity and strengthened in adversity. It is a story of compassion, but also one in which hard pragmatism dictated that sacrifices be made out of mortal necessity. Ahmad’s work is valuable in that it extends our knowledge of this period of America’s history. It is also a welcome, and still much-needed, contribution to historical research in the field of animal-human relationships. Ultimately, we learn how, “like the emigrants, the domestic animals became overlanders” (p. 86).” —H-Net Reviews
"Success Depends on the Animals extends the important discussion found in Virginia DeJohn Anderson’s Creatures of Empire. There is a real contribution to both the history of United States westward expansion and animal studies here." - Abel A. Alves, Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences
