Community Chat

[Marienkaefer2]

I am currently reading this book called "The Oregon Trail" by Rinker Buck.  Some of you may have heard of him because of a book he wrote called "Flight of Passage" about his real life experience flying a plane across country with his brother when they were teens.

Anyway, I had never heard of him, but I saw him speak on a book segment on CSpan, and I was intrigued so I read this book.

He and one of his other brothers, in their 60s, decided to make the trip across the Oregon Trail from Missouri to Oregon about 4 years ago.  They tried to recreate it as closely as possible.

It's such a great book about so many things.  First of all, he narrates a lot of the history of the Oregon Trail (which I've always been interested in.)  

It's also the story of two brothers who didn't particularly get along that well learning to rely on one another and each other's strengths to make it across the country in a wagon with three mules, and no support vehicles.

Speaking of the mules, they are a central part of the story, and he describes them so well that if you are an animal lover, you will love this.

I think this is a great book and I highly recommend it (if you haven't heard of it already) if you are looking for something to read, and you like a combination of history and personal stories.

I'm almost done with it, and it's making me want to take another trip back to eastern Oregon and Washington.  

[Marienkaefer2]

Correction:

The book is called "The Oregon Trail:  A New American Journey."

[cotton4me]

Sounds really interesting - thanks.  I read a book about pioneers who traveled west (can't remember the name). It was based on their journals.  I couldn't put it down.  What they went through and how they survived is amazing.  It certainly took great fortitude and strength.  

[Marienkaefer2]

One more thing:

I am highly aware of the impact that the migration caused by the Oregon Trail pioneers had on the Native American population.

I have read a lot about that too.

I think both histories are important for all of us to learn about.  

[MaggieMack]

I remember driving across Dnner Pass as a young child and wondering how did anybody get a covered wagon over that. It still mystifies me today. Sounds like a great read! In one of my past lives, I am certain I was a pioneer woman who survived the travails!

[Marienkaefer2]

---

@cotton4me wrote:

Sounds really interesting - thanks.  I read a book about pioneers who traveled west based on their journals (can't rememer the name) and I couldn't put it down.  What they went through and how they survived is amazing.  It certainly took great fortitude and strength.  

---

cottonball,

ITA!  What they went through is amazing.  I think it is good for us in this day and age to remember the strength and resilience that ordinary, every day people from all walks of life demonstrated back then. 

Part of the book details the Mormon handcart migration. Another part of history that I never learned about.

These people were immigrants from Europe.  They took a ship from Liverpool, England to NY or Boston, got on trains as far as the the jumping off points in Missouri, then built handcarts and walked all the way from Missouri to Utah or Idaho pushing/pulling their belongings!  

[Marienkaefer2]

---

@MaggieMack wrote:

I remember driving across Dnner Pass as a young child and wondering how did anybody get a covered wagon over that. It still mystifies me today. Sounds like a great read! In one of my past lives, I am certain I was a pioneer woman who survived the travails!

---

I have long been interested in and fascinated by the pioneers.  Maybe in a past life, I was one, too!  The image of a covered wagon just draws me in.  My grandfather always had two "Conestoga wheels" that he restored and painted in front of his house.  This was a man from Italy, living in NJ!   I never knew where he got them or why.  ???  

I read that they would unhitch the mules, empty the wagons and lower them with ropes over dangerous terrain.  

[Kachina624]

Sounds like a good book.  I've long been intrigued by the lives women lived back in those days, especially living at trading posts in the Southwest, on ranches and as miner's wives during the gold/silver mines days in Colorado.

[sassenach1]

It is a great story! I read it a few month ago.  What a modern historic adventure. I would love to experience a few days of the trail.  Our ancestors endured incredible hardship.

[Marienkaefer2]

---

@Kachina624 wrote:

Sounds like a good book.  I've long been intrigued by the lives women lived back in those days, especially living at trading posts in the Southwest, on ranches and as miner's wives during the gold/silver mines days in Colorado.

---

@Kachina624

I grew up in Arizona, and I remember my dad taking me to historical sites like that when I was a kid...old trading posts, even ghost towns.

I also remember going with him to the res to buy silver and turquoise jewelry from the Navajos and Hopis. My dad, an Irish guy from NJ, was great at being able to talk to anyone, and he eventually made friends with a couple of Navajo jewelry makers who made me some bangles and rings when I was a kid.