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Explores the great westward migration on the Oregon Trail in the nineteenth century and the experiences of those who traveled that way. ... Read more

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In today's world of jet airplanes and smooth highways, it is nearly impossible to imagine the hardships faced by the thousands of people who headed west along the great Oregon Trail.In this detailed and engaging account, historian David Dary recounts the full saga of the trail's history, from its creation in the early 1800's, to its peak during the '49 Gold Rush, its rapid decline following the completion of the transcontinental railroad, and finally, its revival as a modern day historical treasure.L L Dary introduces us to the pioneers: trailblazers, fur-traders, and missionaries, who made the first journeys to Oregon County, an internationally disputed territory comprising present-day Washington, Oregon, and California. We learn of the road's steadily increasing popularity, as economic problems or the promise of adventure and wealth lead thousands of homesteaders, gold-rushers, and entrepreneurs to pile their hopes and dreams into wagons and head west. Using journals and letters, as well as company and expedition reports, public records and newspaper stories, Dary takes us inside the day to day experiences of the travelers, as they risked ruin at every step from disease, weather, and human deceit. Trail.L L Through Dary's expert and comprehensive history, we learn how the events of the day turned a small trickle of pioneering men and women into the greatest mass migration in American history. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

The Oregon Trail
I have to say that this is one of the most boring history books I have read to date and I've read hundreds. I'm not aware of factual errors the other reviewers mention (as I'm not that familiar with this period in American history), but the book is so generally written with so many names and dates that it's almost as boring as the high school textbooks we all hated. Not quite that bad, but certainly not up to the standards I've come to expect from a History Book Club selection.
I'm half finished with the book and though I really hate to give up on any book I start, I may not finish this one. I can't really recommend it.

Interesting, but not fully satisfying
I will not go into the factual errors in the book.Those have been described by other reviewers.Mr. Dary's book is occasionally excellent.It has two appendices on place names along the Oregon Trail and its various cutoffs; and the location and a description of the cutoffs and other roads of the Oregon Trail.These appendices will be very useful to the reader who wants a handy reference tool for locating on a modern map places of interest or import to the emigrants.These appendices alone could justify to some the purchase of this book.Also, the description of the decline of the trail and it resurgence is very good.I have five criticisms of Mr. Dary's book:(1) The cursory description on the "why" thousands sold everything, left family and home to travel to an unknown land through unknown but certain dangers. The only overarching explanation Mr. Dary gives that spurred the overlanders was a poor economy.Surely not everybody was running from bad credit or the bank!There must have been other reasons, or combingation of reasons.(2) What reasons pulled so many initially to Oregon rather than California?Was it only because California was Mexican territory?(3) I also yearned for a greater description of the Indian tribes the overlanders interacted with, the effect upon the Indians of so many strangers going through their lands, what the perception emigrants had of Indians when they started their journey, and what perceptions the Indians had of the emigrants.(4) Mr. Dary occasionally switches from discussing one emigrant party to discussing a few lines later another party travelling in a different season or location.This aburpt shifting in people, places and times left my mind with a muddle of names, places and dates that ran together without much distinction.(5) The maps are adequate, but small and most have too little detail to be of much use in orienting the text to the geography.Another book which I suggest those interested in this topic read is Frank McLynn's "Wagons West".Mr. McLynn's book goes into greater detail than Mr. Dary of the "why" thousands travelled west before the Civil War (about 30 pages of discussion); Mr. McLynn gives a greater description of how they travelled including the construction of the wagons and tack; a good discussion of the perils and diseases which the emigrants faced; the affect of the Trail upon the resident Indians; and the particular challenges, rigors and pleasures of women on the Trail (38 pages).Mr. McLynn's book covers the Oregon Trail, the several trails to California, and the Mormon emigration to Utah.So, you get a broader scope of the migration of people, how the various trails related to each other, and where the emigrants on those various trails entertwined.Also, Mr. McLynn's attention to the detail of camp life (for example, he describes the origin of circling wagons)is fascinating. Ms. McLynn spends considerably more energy than Mr. Dary describing in detail the travels and travails of particular emigrants and their parties.Mr. McLynn's narrative style describing individual groups is not only filled with details, it sometimes borders the "can't-put-it-down".The bottom line on Mr. Dary's book for me: he is a talented writer that gives the flavor of what the emigrants went through in their journey, but not much more; a description of the "Trail" and its various "cutoff"s that at times is disjointed and requires having an atlas in your lap if you wish to follow where the emigrants are in his narrative; somewhat useful maps, but most need greater detail; excellent appendices... you'll love these; and very good description of the decline and rebirth of the Oregon Trail during and after the Civil War.A book worth to purchase and read.But, if you are going to only read one book on this subject, purchase and read Mr. McLynn's "Wagons West".Happy Trails!

Going West in the 1840s
This book attracts from the beginning with a beautiful map on the inside covers showing the route of the Oregon Trail and its offshoots from Missouri to Oregon and California. Two hundred and fifty thousand people traveled over the trail by covered wagon during its heyday from the 1840s to the 1860s and more than 2,000 accounts of the passage were written by the emigrants themselves.

The author begins with a brief description of the Chinook Indians who lived atthe terminus of the trail where the Columbia River joins the Pacific.He describes the early European voyages to the region and then quickly moves to the era of the fur trappers and mountain men.This can be a bit dry given the multiplicity of travelers and their trips.

The book hits its stride with Chapter 6 and the description of the emigrants traveling over the trail in the 1840s and 1850s.The author quotes extensively from the accounts of the emigrants themselves. The most touching of the stories is the two-page account of Catherine Sager of the death of her mother and father along the trail.Later in the book we encounter Catherine as a captive of the Cayuse Indians.I am inspired now to seek out Catherine Sager's book and read her full story.

In the final chapter, "Rebirth of the Trail," the author tells the fascinating story of Ezra Meeker who traveled the trail in 1852 and decided to retrace his path in 1900 at age 77.Meeker's epic covered wagon re-voyage excited interest in the old trail and created a movement to preserve portions of the route, some of it still marked with the wagon wheel ruts of the emigrants.

The book is well illustrated with photographs, maps, and art. Appendices describe related trails, historical landmarks, and there is even a glossary of 19th century words and phrases that might not be familiar to a modern reader.This is an excellent and attractive book for the general reader.

Smallchief

Just the facts
Dary reports in great detail the daily life of settlers heading west. He did a prodigious amount of research. However, the details are tedious and incorrect at times. I yearned for an insightful observation or at least a summary statement. He offered none.

Needed more fact checking
This book is aimed at the general reader and, as such, is organized in a clear manner. It covers the trail period well and, in what is unique, also covers the efforts to preserve the trail up to the current Oregon-California Trails Association.That said, the book needed to be edited again for factual errors.There are way too many.They range from trivial: Shoshone Falls is north of the Oregon Trail not south; Idaho was not included in the list of present day states made from the Old Oregon Country; to more important: Jim Bridger did not SELL Fort Bridger to the Mormons in 1853; to a real howler: blaming the 1854 Ward massacre in present day southern Idaho on the Yakama Indians, instead of the Shoshones (and by the way there were two survivors).It's too bad. This could have been a good general history for the non-specialist with a little more care. As it is it is OK as an overview, but be careful with the details. ... Read more

Product Description
Ideal for today's young investigative reader, each A True Book includes lively sidebars, a glossary and index, plus a comprehensive "To Find Out More" section listing books, organizations, and Internet sites. A staple of library collections since the 1950s, the new A True Book series is the definitive nonfiction series for elementary school readers. ... Read more

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This true story will take you backto the early 1930's as banks were failing, businesses were closing and families were losing every penny they had.But there were also good times as families, friends and strangers bondedtogether to help one another. A child of twelve, whose elderly father pased away in 1928, is left alone to support himself and his aging mother just as the country is entering The Great Depression.Out of necessity, he is forced to quickly become a man and take on the full responsibilities of adulthood.The book tells howdetermination and inner strength that grew from childhood challenges, later helped him fight for his life when he contracted the deadly polio virus as an adult. ... Read more

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Discover how between 1810 and 1870 more than 300,000 people traveled west to Oregon Country along trails that were once footpaths used by American Indians. Learn what it was like to join one of the wagon trains leaving Missouri. See and how people on the t

... Read more

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WOMEN'S VOICES FROM THE OREGON TRAIL narrates the lives and evokes the voices of the women who traveled the 2,000 mile trail to Oregon 150 years ago. The book artfully blends women's diaries, songs, history, poetry, recipes, and quilts. Susan Butruille first takes us to the Midwestern farms where most of the women came from, then on their brave and outlandish trek, and finally to the strange and bountiful land where a new home was supposed to be. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Pioneer voice of women
Being a western historian, with the read of this book, it immediately became a part of my library.It is my belief that the subject has been on longover looked and this book did an excellant job with adding light to what the female gender went through basic with the say so of a husband.Yes, I would heartily recommend this book.

Emotionally Written, Wonderful Book
Susan Butruille has captured the feeling behind the women's hard covered exterior on the Oregon Trail. This book touched me deeplyin the way that I cried during reading of the book and thought about the book many times after reading it. I read this book in two days and since then have visioned it while living my life here in 2002. I have felt so much for the reallife women of the diaries in this book that I talked about it with my husband and simple things that used to get him or me in a tizzy before I read this book now seem so trivial and unimportant. I think that this book changed my life, the way I look at life in a way that I appreciate way more than I did before I read this book and think much about how wagon women would solve a problem that I have daily and if they would have had that problem (via computers or toasters) at all because everything was so much more primitive, necessary and simple YET hard and trying and exhausting back then.
In two words I have for anyone thinking about buying this book is PLEASE DO ..... it will enrich your life. It did Mine.

Emotionally written.Wonderful book.
Susan Butruille has captured the feeling behind the women's hard covered exterior on the Oregon Trail.This book touched me deeplyin the way that I cried during reading of the book and thought about the book many times after reading it.I read this book in two days and since then have visioned it while living my lifehere in 2002. I have felt so much for the reallife women of the diaries in this book that I talked about it with my husband and simple things that used to get him or me in a tizzy before I read this book now seem so trivial and unimportant.I think that this book changed my life, the way I look at life in a way that I appreciate way more than I did before I read this book and think much about how wagon women would solve a problem that I have daily and if they would have had that problem (via computers or toasters) at all because everything was so much more primitive, necessary and simple YET hard and trying and exhausting back then.
In two words I have for anyone thinking about buying this book is PLEASE DO ..... it will enrich your life.It did Mine.

Wonderful
This is a poignant and moving book.It is well constructed.It addresses the daily activities, as well as the overall significance, of women on the Oregon Trail. The book weaves together (and is centered around) excerpts from diaries and other first hand writings.Hearing the stories from those who experienced the journey was an emotional and educational treat.

Interesting women's history
If you are interested in the day to day lives of women as they walked the Oregon Trail, you'll enjoy this book. ... Read more

Product Description
The 1852 overland migration was the largest on record, with numbers swelled by Oregon-bound settlers, as well as hordes of gold-seekers destined for California. It also was a year in which deadly cholera took a terrible toll in lives. Included here are firsthand accounts of this fateful year, including the words and thoughts of a young married couple, Mary Ann and Willis Boatman, released for the first time in book-length form.

In its immediacy, Surviving the Oregon Trail, 1852 opens a window to the travails of the overland journeyers--their stark camps, treacherous river fordings, and dishonest countrymen; the shimmering plains and mountain vastnesses; their trepidations at crossing ancient Indian lands; and the dark angel of death hovering over the wagon columns. But also found here are acts of valor, compassion, and kindness, and the hope for a new life in a new land at the end of the trail. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

The Way it Was Following the Oregon Trail
Through the diaries of Mary Ann and Willis Boatman supplemented with the diaries of other travelers author Weldon Rau has provided us with a unique and interesting account of the difficulties encountered traveling along the Emigrant Road during the year of 1852.Beginning near the end of March and finally completing their trek to the west coast from Illinois in October seven months later the book covers the numerous trials and tribulations adventure seekers dealt with in search of a better life.Weather, insects such as mosquitoes and ticks which caused "mountain fever", and Indians were minor problems that needed attention.Short-tempered individuals giving in to stressful situations at times led to murder with frontier justice leading up to the hanging of the offending person.By far, however, the leading cause of death was the disease of cholera which lead to severe dehydration.This disease was caused by the unsanitary conditions along the Oregon Trail as individuals left their waste at any convenient location.If you were wealthy you may own a conestoga wagon to transport your wares pulled by oxen.As is true with travelers today over-packing was a mistake people made.Oxen needed grass and water as fuel and this was not always readily available.Heavy objects such as stoves and anvils were later discarded along the trail as the animals died carrying objects that had to necessarily be later tossed away.

The diary of the Boatman's ended with their arrival at the Blue Mountains of present-day northeast Oregon.We can only guess why, but it was probably due to fatigue finally setting in along with scanty provisions left for the trip.Both Mary Ann and Willis Boatman lived to a ripe old age and are buried in the Puget Sound area of Washington where they finally settled since the area around Portland had been pretty much settled by the time of their arrival.A significant amount of the book is Mary Ann Boatman's diary which is in smaller print than the regular text which makes for somewhat more difficult reading, but I found this book to be a worthwhile addition to my library on the history of the American west.

1852...
The Oregon Trail in 1852 was a very crowded route.As much as 70,000 people used it that year.They had to deal with clouds of dust, lack of food and water, cholera, bad roads, little to no grass, dangerous rivers and sometimes even Indians.Mr. Weldon Willis Rau used his grandparent's first person accounts, along with many others, to give us a taste of what traveling the Oregon Trail was like.From packing, to trading, to setting up a homestead at the end of the journey he really helps us to understand the struggle to survive.But the promise, the reward of freedom and land and, yes, even wealth, drove people to go West.Many, in fact I would say most, didn't reach their goal.Some turned back.Some died.Some just stopped, set up a home and decided to roam no more.
Having just played The Oregon Trail, 5th Edition, before reading this book I was amazed on how much I knew already.The maps in the book are very detailed and I even recognized many of the stops along the way.Yet the book, of course, helped me learn so much more about the conditions the folks traveled under, the people they had to deal with and the decisions they have to make.
Lots of information about the geology and the landscape.The author knows the area and it comes out in his work.He loves the history, both the natural history and the history of the frontier life.
A must for any library on the Old West, first person history, American History, frontier life or anybody interested in the Oregon Trail.

Surviving the Oregon Trail
When you read this book you can see a lot of research went into it. Makes all the difference. I really injoyed reading this book. Thanks Sus

Stamina, endurance and perseverance
The amount of determination, courage and fortitude to travel the continent as an overlander in 1852 must have been unimaginable.This is a remarkable first hand account of the Boatman's journey from Illinois to the Oregon Territory, along with quotes from other overlanders' diaries during the same year.Suffering from the heat, thirst, food shortages for both emigrants and livestock, the cold, rain, mud, river crossings, cholera epidemics and other illnesses, exhaustion and death to many who attempted such an endeavor, this book has it all.The author, a decendent of the Boatmans, has put forth a most wonderful book depicting the hardships and misfortunes of the early day pioneers. A+

Surviving the Oregon Trail 1852
I have known the author for more than 30 years, so I have been aware of his 15-year effort to research, write, and publish this book as it unfolded. It is with pleasure, therefore, that I can attest to how well crafted it is. Rau tells the story of his great-grandparents' journey by employing extensive quotes from their written accounts and from the accounts of other 1852 Oregon Trail travelers. These quotes are woven together and amplified by Rau's observations of the physical, cultural, and social settings they experienced, including how the geology along the way influenced the development of the terrain. The book is also very well edited. I found but one typographical error and two place names missing from one map.

Besides being very well crafted, the book has left me with several strong impressions. The travelers, especially the men, approached the trip with a sense of romanticism. It was going to be a grand adventure with a pot of gold waiting at the end. A very different reality forced its way into their consciousness as the trip unfolded. The trip brought out all the best and worst traits of the travelers and those who sought to serve and usually profit from them along the way. They experienced disease, death, and discomfort. They and others suffered from cholera, scurvy, and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Mary Ann and Willis' brothers both died on the trip, as did many others they met along the way. Mary Ann was pregnant for the whole trip and had to walk much of the way, in addition to performing the cooking and other housekeeping chores that fell to her. In addition there were extremes of weather, loneliness, homesickness, sorrow, grief, resignation, thievery, greed, and hardheadedness. These were balanced by bravery, resoluteness, kindness, compassion, neighborliness, concern, and assistance, sometimes from people they didn't even know. The journey had but three possible outcomes; they had to turn back and reach their former homes, get to the Willamette Valley, or die before winter hit. In some ways their journey can be compared with what the first interplanetary travelers will experience. Indeed, even after Willis and mary Ann reached the relative safety of the Willamette Valley and then the Puget Sound country, for years they felt as isolated and separated from their families as if they were on another planet.

If you have had no real appreciation for the magnitude of the feat that Oregon Trail travelers accomplished, you will have when you finish this book. ... Read more

Product Description
Pioneer temperaments, Jacqueline Williams shows, were greatly influenced by that which was stewable, bakable, broilable, and boilable. Using travelers' diaries, letters, newspaper advertisements, and nineteenth-century cookbooks, Williams re-creates the highs and lows of cooking and eating on the Oregon Trail. She investigates the mundane--biscuits and bacon, mush and coffee--as well as the unexpected--carbonated soda made from bubbling spring water; ice cream created from milk, snow, and peppermint; fresh fruits and vegetables.

Understanding what and how the pioneers ate, Williams demonstrates, is essential to understanding how they lived and survived--and sometimes died--on the trail. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Happy Trials.
Good read for those interested in how their ancestors ate -- especially if it is known one of them was among those who went west using this paticular route. Highly recommended. ... Read more

Product Description
The Oregon Trail is the gripping account of Francis Parkman's journey west across North America in 1846.After crossing the Allegheny Mountains by coach and continuing by boat and wagon to Westport, Missouri, he set out with three companions on a horseback journey that would ultimately take him over two thousand miles.His detailed description of the journey, set against the vast majesty of the Great Plains, has emerged through the generations as a classic narrative of one man's exploration of the American Wilderness. ... Read more

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1906. Parkman, American historian, studied and wrote about the history of Canada and the early Northwest. Contents: The Frontier; Breaking the Ice; Fort Leavenworth; Jumping Off; The Big Blue; The Platte and the Desert; The Buffalo; Taking French Leave; Scenes at Fort Laramie; The War Parties; Scenes at the Camp; Ill-Luck; Hunting Indians; The Ogillallah Village; The Hunting Camp; The Trappers; The Black Hills; A Mountain Hunt; Passage of the Mountains; The Lonely Journey; The Pueblo and Bent's Fort; Tete Rouge, the Volunteer; Indian Alarms; The Chase; The Buffalo Camp; Down the Arkansas; and The Settlements. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Real Life
This is an interesting book. It gives insight into what the plains were like prior to the increased hostility between the white-man and the Indians. I reccommend it to anyone interested in western history.

Very Interesting
There are a great many things about Native American life on the plains that I did not realize before reading this narrative. The level of warfare for instance. I wonder if this was heightend at that time related to population pressures from the east ( other tribes and whites ) Anyway, the writer tells an amazing tale of risk and daring while describing the lives of the natives- and we find out some things about the attitudes of the newcomers also. Keeps moving along-- no slow spots.

I'm addicted to stories like this
I love to read about the daily living of people in history.I don't know what it is that drags me to it every single time.I liked this story alot.

a great read
Very enjoyable! You can't beat a first person report of traveling through Indian territory! The descriptions of the perils of the journey plus first hand experiences in dealing with the native population make you feel as if you are there, sitting in the teepee, watching as an Indian woman kills and cooks a puppy because you are an honored guest. Great descriptive writing; blood, guts, wildflowers, horses, sunsets, and the beautiful, healthy forms of our Native Americans while they were still free.

Pioneer Historian
As a young college student, Francis Parkman, the later noted historian of the early West, goes to the land of the Lakotas and experiences their life.This is a personal history of the travels of the author through the lands of the Lakota before the great American westward expansion. Tales of Indian life and their "wars" with each other. Also tells first hand of the author's maturation in this environment. Should be required reading for any "lover of the wild west" because "This Was The It Was". ... Read more

Product Description
Describes the paintings done byWilliam Henry Jackson. Tells the story of scenes of the old Westdepicted in them. Includes a bibliography and index. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The Definative Collection of Jackson's Art
No lover of the old west and its art could call his collection complete without this book.And no one was better qualified to write it than author and curator Dean Knudsen.It's given our family hours of pleasure. ... Read more

Product Description
Describes how people traveling on the Oregon Trail lived, discussing their reasons for going west, modes of transportation, interaction with the Indians, and activities on the Trail. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

The Great American Adventure
This is an interesting and well-balanced account of the huge westward migration overland to Oregon and California c. 1843-69.Like all the series, it's well buttressed with contemporary quotes and illustrations, along with numerous sidebars, and provides an excellent introduction to the subject.And it includes a number of facts that I had never encountered before, such as the "Nineteenth-Century 'Bumper Stickers'" squib on p. 26, the Mormon Trail (on the north bank of the Platte) offering less river crossings than the regular trail, the number of jumping-off points and their various advantages, the makeup of wagon trains (i.e., the derivation of the people), and that as many as 10% of all 1841 movers eventually turned back (or, presumably, stopped and squatted), a number that I suspect remained more or less constant throughout the period.Particularly good is the book's overview of the Indian situation: generally peaceful through the '40's, somewhat iffier by 1851, and featuring full-scale raids on wagon trains by 1862.(One emigrant recalls how "an Indian chief" and several of his braves dived into the river and "made every possible exertion" to recover her father's body after he was swept downstream, though they failed to get it.)There also seem to be fewer errors of fact (as measured against my findings over 40-odd years of study) in this volume than in some others in the series.Author Blackwood quotes Jesse Applegate, a well-known emigrant, as saying that "Emigrants were hungry all the time," and attributes this fact to shortage of game, without stopping to think that the dry, fresh prairie air and the unusual exertions connected with westering may have increased their appetites; and he states that "For an Indian, a mule was almost as good a catch as a horse," a point on which authorities seem to differ depending partly on the tribe involved.On the whole, however, I would definitely recommend the book to young (and adult) students curious about the westward migration.

Life on the Oregon Trail
"Life on the Oregon Trail" is one of the series "The Way People Live", telling events of historical significance written in prose format.Readers will identify with the families as they begin tomake decisions of right and wrong in preparation for the trip from East toWest in the 1840s-1850s.Details of required items are given in a formatof actual reports to allow the reader to feel involved rather than to bereading "just a history" book. Pen and ink drawings throughouthelp give a visual image to the facts presented for those who chose to moveto Oregon Country.Actual traveler accounts are included with backgroundsupporting information to help the reader feel the excitement, fear,expense, and futility of these brave souls.Written in a chapter format,with footnotes, bibliography and index, this book would be of great help toclassroom teachers either as a resource for information or to be read tochildren. Young adults studying the Oregon Trail history will find this auseful book to support their studies. ... Read more

Product Description
Describes the Oregon Trail and the pioneers who settled in the Pacific Northwest. ... Read more