"The Oregon Trail: A New American Journey" by Rinker Buck
450 pages, published by Simon & Schuster , ©2015 People are familiar with the Oregon Trail . A lot of adults were introduced to it by a computer game in elementary school. History buffs have studied the 2,100-mile route that started in Missouri and ended in Portland, Oregon. We are all familiar with the route and the dangers that came with it. Today, the wagon trails are replaced by the asphalt-laden state roads and interstate highways. High-speed vehicles are the norm today on the old trail, but there was a covered wagon that retraced the routes taken by the intrepid pioneers of the 1840's. If you missed it, you can read about it in Rinker Buck's "The Oregon Trail: A New American Journey". Buck's book begins with stories of growing up in New Jersey. His father collected a myriad of old vehicles. One summer, he announced to his wife and eleven children the family was going to travel by wagon to Pennsylvania. "It would be a combined camping and coaching e...