Children on the Oregon Trail

It seemed obvious to me that this book, on the list of 1001 Children's Books You Must Read, was a book I should take along on my trip to Oregon.

But the mail can be stubbornly slow at times. This was one of those times. The book didn't arrive until I returned from Oregon.

Glad it did. I don't think I could stand to be driving around in the air conditioned comfort of a rental car, stopping to eat at four-star restaurants, and staying in luxurious hotels while reading this book, a story based on true events, a story that takes place in the same setting, with a family who travel the same path, but with parents who die on the trail of fever, and with the seven children, one of whom is a newborn baby, who travel on alone after their parents' deaths, on foot, through rain and snow, shooting animals for food, searching for clean water, fighting off bears.

Whew. Makes Wild, a book that is partially set in the same location, seem like a day in the park.