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.
Imagine if you had the chance, that once-ina-lifetime opportunity, to ride the Oregon Trail. And not just ride it any which way, but actually in a wagon, drawn by mules, from Missouri to Oregon. Would you do it? Would you have the "crazyass passion" needed to do it without backup vehicles, without supply drops - but as close to the pioneers as possible?
This is the setting of the book. Rinker Buck decides he's going to do it, and his brother, well...he sort of invites himself along. However, this isn't just a book about two lunatics. It's also a well-researched history of the Oregon Trail itself that showcases some of the fascinating pieces of our history that tend to be forgotten, or even glossed over. Buck covers some of the ways the trail has survived, and some of the ways it hasn't. He shares writings from some of the people who rode the trail, and even a few who helped the Oregon Trail become what it was. And an FYI - he also discusses the ways the Mormon Church has, well....worked to change/cover up the history of some places. (Don't yell at me - I'm just the messenger).
All-in-all, this was an absolutely fascinating book, particularly so since I live in Oregon City, where so much of the history is centered around the Oregon Trail. But even if you don't live in an area related to the trail, it's such a unique and dynamic period of our history, and Buck covers it extremely well. I will definitely be recommending it to friends. Oh, and the mules are pretty fabulous too!
