It's a Book!

Westward Vision: The Story of the Oregon Trail
David Lavender

Alright, if you’re searching for a sweeping history of the Oregon Trail … here’s the book. Now, not all you folks out there need a detailed who-went-where-with-who narrative of the first years of the trial, but some of us do ;)

Mr. Lavender starts at the beginning and spends a good deal of the book setting the scene of fur-trapping life in the early 1800s. We often forget it was the fur trappers who opened the gates to the west for future settlers. They were the guides. They were hunters and chefs and basically, the survivors.

It’s not until the later half of the book that we start to sense the urgency to around “settling the west”.  Trapper life was fading as the animals began to disappear. The next best option – settle in and farm. Those restless folks out east set the pace for future travelers. Mr. Lavender follows the first settlers to the promise land … and leaves the rest up to us to uncover. I think it’s safe to say we know how it ends.

Again, if you’re in the mood for a detailed beginning to the Oregon Trail – filled with names, locations, trails, and trips – here’s the book. As for info into the daily grind of trail life – looks like we’ll have to keep on reading!