Fascinating details about the logistics and mechanics of the undertaking and some interesting folks who assisted along the way made this an interesting read. Favorite Quote: The contradiction of being able to see the modern world more clearly from the vantage of a nineteenth-century wagon appealed to me. Seeing America slowly was, in a way, like eating slow food - I wasn't covering much ground in a single day, but I was digesting a lot more. From the 1830s to the late 1860s, the Oregon Trail was one of the major routes for anyone wanting to travel west across the United States — and it certainly became the most famous, leading to many books about the Oregon Trail being written. This book starts out slow. Not too slow - it's the build-up process of the Oregon Trail. I usually don't like all this build up stuff. I wanted to get into the meat of the 1840s and 1850s trek to Oregon by covered wagon. But as I read the story all this build up made sense.

The Oregon Trail is a smorgasbord of a book. It’s a travel book, it’s a history, and it’s a family saga. While telling an incredible tale of the first covered wagon crossing of the entire Oregon Trail in a century, it chronicles the history and importance of the trail as the highway of history’s largest overland migration. Along the way it fills us in on incidental histories — mule breeding, wagon building, etc. The author also relates his family history — his eccentric father who took his family on covered wagon vacations along the East Coast in the late ‘50s, sparking a lifelong interest that culminated in this journey and book. If read as a light-hearted memoir instead of a factual nonfiction book, it's not bad. While the brother will be off-putting to some due to his colorful vocabulary, I found his interjections of humor refreshing in what otherwise could be dull at times. He writes, that by 2011 “I had become that familiar subspecies of the North American male, the divorced boozehound with a bad driving record and emerging symptoms of low self-esteem. I knew that I had to escape again – this time in a big way.” When I strike the open plains, something happens. I’m home. I breathe differently. That love of great spaces, of rolling open country like the sea, it’s the grand passion of my life.” – Willa Cather, (epigraph to The Oregon Trail: A New American Journey) It is all told in robust prose, filled with humor and insightful observations about America now and then. The added bonus was how good the people were, across the country, supporting the brothers, on their journey, reminding us how caring and decent, Americans can be.By turns frankly hilarious, historically elucidating, emotionally touching, and deeply informative. The Oregon Trail: A New American Journey” is an excellent book from both a historical and an autobiographical standpoint, but it’s more than that. It’s a good and entertaining story for high schoolers and up. Even those who don’t like nonfiction or history will like this one. Could not be more in my wheelhouse! A stunt memoir! Set in the American West! Bringing to mind tales of Laura Ingalls Wilder! And it's funny with a cranky old guy as the author's companion a la Bill Bryson! I knew this book would be a hit with me from the moment I heard about it.

Also interesting content on his family history and the personal dynamics of his relationship with his brother. The author's youthfulness helps to assure the inevitable comparison with the Anne Frank diary although over and above the sphere of suffering shared, and in this case extended to the death march itself, there is no spiritual or emotional legacy here to offset any reader reluctance. And then it gets kind of good! Their lives, including the mules and the dog, are in danger more than once and a genuine camaraderie is formed. This is why I hate to not finish books; sometimes the best is yet to come.Nevertheless, they set a record for being the youngest aviators to fly coast-to-coast. Rinker wrote about it in his first book, Flight Passage (1997).

I guess I'm just a bit too put out by all the macho posturing, the need for spelling out the word instead of just f* despite how often it's used.... And what's the deal with all the insults and prejudices expressed against so many people including Amish, Mormons, RVers, himself... the only ppl he admires are his brother & cowboys and that attitude gets old, whether it's sincere or persona for the sake of humor. Crazyass passion is the staple of life and persistence its nourishing force. Without them, you cannot cross the trail.”

Table of Contents

I had thought this book would be as enjoyable as A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail, with both authors challenging themselves to complete two very different historical trails along with their similarly crazy and risk-taking cohorts. I am a walker, so I could somewhat empathize with Bill Bryson, and he's at least entertaining. But... Seeing America slowly was, in a way, like eating slow food-I wasn't covering much ground in a single day, but I was digesting a lot more.” Publishers Weekly: " An entertaining and enlightening account of one of America’s most legendary migrations. Even readers who don’t know a horse from a mule will find themselves swept up in this inspiring and masterful tale of perseverance and the pioneer spirit. [3] Rinker does an excellent job in his research of the old Oregon Trail and inserts it in the story as they travel along some of the same ruts/trails that remain today. The variety in subject matter is amazing: from the history of mules, to wagon craft, to irrigation theories, to the 19th century pioneers’ diaries, to public corrals, to descriptions of the terrain, to the hospitality offered them by people thrilled to be part of the process. Obstacles along the way were plentiful, and no matter how much planning was done, a certain number were unforeseeable. It was important to be able to adjust to whatever challenges were presented, and the author covers these in an interesting manner.