Trains of white-topped prairie schooners carried thousands of settlers on the long, grueling trek west from the Missouri River during the years of the Oregon migration.
The covered wagons, in groups of 50 to 100, faced months of jolting travel across rolling plains, treacherous rivers, hazardous Indian country, mountains, and desert.
In addition to the hardships of the trail, the day-by-day life of the wagon train brought accidents and ailments, cooking and housekeeping problems, parties, and squabbles.
Wryly documented with colorful details and more than 50 drawings, here is a realistic and fascinating account of what it was like to make such a trip-from choosing equipment and supplies and getting underway at the main jump-off point of Independence, Missouri, to the end of the trail 2000 miles later.
—from the dust jacket
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