American Caravan - Author

About the Author

Alice Anne Thompson earned her Bachelor of Science degree in History from Saint Louis University and her Masters Degree in American History from Washington University, both in Saint Louis, Missouri.  She received her Doctorate in American History from Saint Louis University in 1980. Since 1983 she has taught American and European History at area universities and colleges including: Saint Louis University, Fontbonne University, Saint Louis Community College, and Saint Charles Community College.  She is considered a pioneer in developing multi-cultural and multi-media formats and lesson plans for educators and teachers. She is the author of the non-fiction work American Caravan, a history of one of the last great wagon trains to cross the American West during the post Civil War era.  She is also the director of a research team focused on locating the burial site of the central character of American Caravan, Sister Mary Alphonsa Thompson, S.L., a nineteen-year-old missionary teacher who died July 24, 1867, while enroute to Santa Fe, New Mexico.  She has traveled the Santa Fe Trail and the western part of the United States extensively and has presented lectures on her research related to the Santa Fe Trail and the American West in the post Civil War era. She is a member of the Santa Fe Trail Association and the Western Writers of America.  Alice Anne Thompson now resides in Golden, Colorado.