Check nearby libraries
Buy this book
Spanning 2,000 miles and traversing six states from Missouri to the Pacific Ocean, the Oregon Trail is the route that made America. In the fifteen years before the Civil War, when 400,000 pioneers used it to emigrate West, the trail united the coasts, doubled the size of the country, and laid the groundwork for the railroads. The trail years also solidified the American character: our plucky determination in the face of adversity, our impetuous cycle of financial bubbles and busts, the fractious clash of ethnic populations competing for the same jobs and space. At once an American journey, a work of history, and a personal saga, this book tells the story of Buck's 2,000-mile expedition across the plains. He was accompanied by three cantankerous mules, his boisterous brother, Nick, and an "incurably filthy" Jack Russell terrier named Olive Oyl. Along the way, Buck dodges thunderstorms in Nebraska, chases his runaway mules across miles of Wyoming plains, scouts more than five hundred miles of nearly vanished trail on foot, crosses the Rockies, makes desperate fifty-mile forced marches for water, and repairs so many broken wheels and axels that he nearly reinvents the art of wagon travel itself. Apart from charting his own geographical and emotional adventure, Buck introduces readers to the evangelists, shysters, natives, trailblazers, and everyday dreamers who were among the first of the pioneers to make the journey west.
Check nearby libraries
Buy this book
Previews available in: English
Showing 1 featured edition. View all 1 editions?
Edition | Availability |
---|---|
1
The Oregon Trail: a new American journey
2015, Simon & Schuster
in English
- First Simon & Schuster hardcover edition.
1451659164 9781451659160
|
aaaa
Libraries near you:
WorldCat
|
Book Details
Edition Notes
Includes index.
Classifications
The Physical Object
ID Numbers
Community Reviews (0)
Feedback?March 17, 2024 | Edited by ImportBot | import existing book |
August 18, 2021 | Edited by MARC Bot | import existing book |
August 6, 2021 | Edited by New York Times Bestsellers Bot | Add NYT bestseller tag |
July 18, 2019 | Created by MARC Bot | import new book |