Dad of Divas' Reviews: Book Review - Blazing a Wagon Trail to Oregon

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Book Review - Blazing a Wagon Trail to Oregon

About the Book 
Blazing a Wagon Trail to Oregon is the story of a determined group of American pioneers who set out to move their families on wheeled vehicles from the settled frontier in Missouri to the far Pacific shore. Their incentive was simple enough. Times were tough in 1843, and they had heard of a lush new land existing in a place called Oregon, a land ready to be settled by hard-working farmers. Although a new life seemed to await them just over the horizon, none of them suspected how formidable that horizon really was.

Diaries, letters home, and later reminiscences tell their story and document their emotional responses to their experiences. Beginning with the earliest assembly of wagons outside the frontier town of Independence, Missouri, the reader follows “this grand adventure” to its conclusion six months later in Oregon. By introducing the various participants through a weekly chronicle, the author enables readers to view these shared experiences from sometimes revealingly different angles of vision. In effect, readers themselves become vicarious members of the train.

About the Author
Lloyd W. Coffman holds a master’s degree in history from Washington State University. In the early 1990s, at the request of Eastern Oregon State University, he developed and taught a class on the history of the Oregon Trail. Now semiretired, he and his wife, Janet, reside in McMinnville, Oregon.

My Take on the Book
This was an amazing book that really brings you closer to the Oregon Trail and the people behind this. I loved the fact that he shares excerpts from diaries and letters as it really makes the journey and the trial and tribulations real. Through reading this you can truly see how difficult of a journey this was, and how every day could potentially bring catastrophe to the family that was making the journey.  I have to say that once I was into this story I did not want to put it down, instead I wanted to see the whole book through to see what happens in the end!

All opinions expressed in this review are my own and not influenced in any way by the company.  Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider. Please refer to this site's Disclaimer  for more information. I have been compensated or given a product free of charge, but that does not impact my views or opinions.

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