Fowler Public Library

This book describes the wagon route that settlers took to Oregon Territory and the dangers of traveling west.

Follows a wagon trail to California in 1848 as hundreds of pioneers endure great hardships while traveling 2,000 miles of wilderness.

When a disastrous decision by the new wagon master forces Jesselynn Highwood and her companions to separate from the wagon train, she races back to Fort Laramie to find a guide to take them to Oregon. But the guide has a far different plan, and following her heart, Jesselyn agrees to join him, her rag-tag band in tow. The ensuing journey is fraught with hardship and danger. Back in the East, Louisa Highwood and brother Zachary are captured by Union...

James MacLaren's life is overturned in the winter of 1846, when his Nez Perce wife deserts him and his children die of smallpox. In the grip of a profound sorrow, MacLaren, whose home once spanned a continent, sets out to find his wife. But an act of secret vengeance changes his course, introducing him to a different wife and mother: Lucy Mitchell, journeying westward with her family. Lucy, a remarried widow, careful mother, and reluctant emigrant,...

Based on the diary of a goldseeker named William Swain and over 500 other diaries and letter collections, this book reveals the life and times of the forty-niners and their families.

Uses materials from letters and diaries written by survivors of the Donner Party to relate the experiences of that ill-fated group as they endured horrific circumstances on their way to California in 1846-47.

"The explosive true saga of the legendary adventurer Jedediah Smith and the Mountain Men who explored the American frontier, written by New York Times bestselling authors of Blood and Treasure Bob Drury and Tom Clavin. It is the early 19th century, and the land recently purchased by President Thomas Jefferson stretches west for thousands of miles. Who inhabits this vast new garden of Eden? What strange beasts and natural formations can be found? Thus...

"Would you have survived traveling the Oregon Trail? Make decisions and tally your score to find out. Written at a lower reading level with considerate text, these high maturity books are sure to grab struggling readers as they engage and play along. Also includes a table of contents, glossary, index, author biography, sidebars, educational matter, and activities"--

In his 1845 diary, thirteen-year-old orphan Jedediah describes his wagon train journey to Oregon, in which he confronts rivers and sandy plains, bears and rattlesnakes, and the challenges of living with his fellow travelers. Includes historical notes.