Other editions of book Ox-team Days On The Oregon Trail...

The journey of the early pioneers on the Oregon Trail, told by one of the first settlers.Ezra Meeker captured his trip across the American West in his journal. His story describes the journey which the early Oregon settlers made in order to settle and colonise a new territory with many hardships and heartaches along the way.His account is regarded as one of the most authentic accounts of the American westward migration. This edition has contextual information such as maps and drawings to enhance the gripping narrative of Ezra Meeker.Ezra MeekerEzra Meeker was an American pioneer who with his family undertook the dangerous journey west with the first pioneers by ox-drawn wagon. He left Iowa and migrated to the Pacific Coast. He endured hardships on his journey, but pushed on to claim land on the Oregon territory. In his engaging and gripping account he tells how he and his party overcame the many obstacles and dangers they encountered. His account gives a real sense of the old west and the spirit of the early pioneers.Later in life he became convinced that the Oregon trail was being forgotten and despite people trying to discourage him from making the dangerous journey a second time he undertook the journey and marked the trail along the way.In his rich and long life (he lived to 97), he met the president, Henry Ford, became the 'hop king', was mayor of Puyallup and is a major reason we know so much about the Oregon Trail. His story shows how difficult life was for the early pioneers and gives a true insight into the early American West.What was the Oregon trail?The Oregon Trail is a 2,200-mile (3,500 km) historic east–west large-wheeled wagon route and emigrant trail that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon. The eastern part of the Oregon Trail spanned part of the future state of Kansas and nearly all of what are now the states of Nebraska and Wyoming. The western half of the trail spanned most of the future states of Idaho and Oregon.From the early to mid-1830s the Oregon Trail and its many offshoots were used by about 400,000 settlers, ranchers, farmers, miners, and businessmen and their families.Chapters1. Back to Beginnings2. Boyhood Days in Old Indiana3. Leaving the Home Nest for Iowa4. Taking the Trail for Oregon5. The Westward Rush6. The Pioneer Army of the Plains7. Indians and Buffaloes on the Plains8. Trailing through the Mountain Land9. Reaching the End of the Trail10. Getting a New Start in the New Land11. Hunting for Another Home Site12. Cruising About on Puget Sound13. Moving from the Columbia to Puget Sound14. Messages and Messengers15. Blazing the Way through Natchess Pass16. Climbing the Cascade Mountains17. Finding My People18. Indian War Days19. The Stampede for the Gold Diggings20. Making a Permanent Home in the Wilds21. Finding and Losing a Fortune22. Trying for a Fortune in Alaska23. A Plan for a Memorial to the Pioneers24. On the Overland Trail Again25. Trailing On to the South Pass26. Reviving Old Memories of the Trail27. A Bit of Bad Luck28. Driving On to the Capital29. The End of the Long Trail

•This edition adds 100+ photos, maps, and notes to Meeker’s original manuscript.The Oregon Trail comes alive in this page-turning true story of Ezra Meeker’s journey west. As fresh today as the day he wrote it, Meeker’s first-hand account paints a vivid picture of the hardships and joys of the western migration.The bonus material provides a layer of context that gives readers a much deeper understanding of one of the most interesting Americans of all time.Ezra Meeker’s quest for new frontiers began in his boyhood. As soon as he was old enough, he ventured west on the Oregon Trail. After settling in what is now the state of Washington, he found himself destitute and hungry. But Meeker was a man of action—and gradually built himself up to the point where he became the richest man in the state. Then, he lost it all. Penniless, he built another fortune, and then lost that too.Later in life, he dedicated himself to preserving the memory of the Oregon Trail, retracing his original journey. With two oxen and a covered wagon, he traveled from Washington state to Washington D.C. in the early 1900s, a two-year odyssey that attracted great fanfare in cities along the way. Without Meeker’s preservation and education efforts, it’s unlikely schoolchildren today would know much about the Oregon Trail (and there certainly would not be an Oregon Trail game!)Ezra Meeker was an eyewitness to history; a real-life Forrest Gump. He traveled the Oregon Trail in its heyday, experienced the Klondike gold rush, made enormous fortunes in the wild west, became nationally famous, and met three U.S. presidents.And he details it all in this fascinating book. Enjoy the journey!

Ezra Meeker's famous recollections of life in the American wilderness are published here complete with the one hundred and twenty original photographs and illustrations. In his memoir, Ezra Meeker casts his mind back to his early years growing up in Indiana during the 1830s and 1840s. He recalls setting off for Iowa and Oregon along the long and winding Western trail; the Gold Rush, which fueled migration to the farthest reaches of the continent, is remembered with evocative clarity. Meeker recalls the lives and characteristics of the Native American peoples, and the fellow migrants he met on his travels. Meeker pens valuable descriptions of the varied wilderness; the dusty plains, towering mountains, dense forests and barren deserts of America are described with moving vividness. In his later years, Ezra Meeker gained fame and renown by undertaking a journey across the USA across the Oregon Trail once again. This famous expedition of 1906-1908 is recalled, with some of the monuments Meeker placed in the small towns he traversed along the way photographed. The final chapters see Meeker personally meet President Theodore Roosevelt. By the time this autobiography was published in 1922, much of what Meeker described in the United States was well on the way to being bygone. The Western reaches of the country were undergoing rapid settlement, as advances such as the radio and the automobile made North America continent seem much smaller. Ox-Team Days on the Oregon Trail is therefore a retrospective of the United States as it grew in size and influence over almost a century, as well as a depiction of the nation's beauty and vastness.

Ezra Meeker's famous recollections of life in the American wilderness are published here complete with the one hundred and twenty original photographs and illustrations. In his memoir, Ezra Meeker casts his mind back to his early years growing up in Indiana during the 1830s and 1840s. He recalls setting off for Iowa and Oregon along the long and winding Western trail; the Gold Rush, which fueled migration to the farthest reaches of the continent, is remembered with evocative clarity. Meeker recalls the lives and characteristics of the Native American peoples, and the fellow migrants he met on his travels. Meeker pens valuable descriptions of the varied wilderness; the dusty plains, towering mountains, dense forests and barren deserts of America are described with moving vividness. In his later years, Ezra Meeker gained fame and renown by undertaking a journey across the USA across the Oregon Trail once again. This famous expedition of 1906-1908 is recalled, with some of the monuments Meeker placed in the small towns he traversed along the way photographed. The final chapters see Meeker personally meet President Theodore Roosevelt. By the time this autobiography was published in 1922, much of what Meeker described in the United States was well on the way to being bygone. The Western reaches of the country were undergoing rapid settlement, as advances such as the radio and the automobile made North America continent seem much smaller. Ox-Team Days on the Oregon Trail is therefore a retrospective of the United States as it grew in size and influence over almost a century, as well as a depiction of the nation's beauty and vastness.

THE WORLD'S GREATEST TRAIL "Worn deep and wide by the migration of three hundred thousand people, lined by the graves of twenty thousand dead, witness of romance and tragedy, the Oregon Trail is unique in history and will always be sacred to the memories of the pioneers. Reaching the summit of the Rockies upon an evenly distributed grade of eight feet to the mile, following the watercourse of the River Platte and tributaries to within two miles of the summit of the South Pass, through the Rocky Mountain barrier, descending to the tidewaters of the Pacific, through the Valleys of the Snake and the Columbia, the route of the Oregon Trail points the way for a great National Highway from the Missouri River to Puget Sound: a roadway of greatest commercial importance, a highway of military preparedness, a route for a lasting memorial to the pioneers, thus combining utility and sentiment." -- Ezra Meeker FROM THE OFFICE OF HISTORICAL DOCUMENT ACCESS AND ARCHIVES: Imagine, if you will, the great undertaking that Ezra Meeks approached -- first, as a newly married young man with a desire to strike out on his own, and then, as a man with most of his life behind him. In his old age he approached the return to the Oregon Trail with a life of experiences behind him. He knew, as he traveled from Washington State to Washington D.C. in his covered wagon, that he would bring attention to the preservation of The Oregon Trail. He could not have known, however, that his advocacy would continue to grow and inspire future generations. The Office of Historical Document Access and Archives is proud to bring this heritage title to a new generations of readers. It is also available as an e-book, with text-to-speech capability for sight disabled readers.

The title, in this case, does not tell the whole story. Yes, Ezra Meeker early on takes on the character and reputation of an ox-team driver on the legendary Oregon Trail. As adventurous as this phase of his adulthood is, however, it is only the his first of many occupational identities. Meeker’s story begins with a somewhat typical but engaging chronicle of his Indiana childhood and his trek toward a future in the pioneer days West. After a spell on the famous trail, he sets out on other escapades—and thrilling ones they are. He encounters various Native-American tribes, vast buffalo herds; he travels with wagon trains of hardy pioneers, encountering hostile Indians and crossing dangerous streams; He becomes one of the early settlers of the Northwest, establishing his family there before venturing off to the gold fields. In the early twentieth century, in his mid-sixties, he is again an ox-team driver, this time on the long journey to the nation’s capitol as part of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Oregon trail. There, he is honored by none other than the President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt.

Excerpt from Ox-Team Days on the Oregon TrailAn old prairie schooner was rebuilt, and a yoke of sturdy oxen was trained to make the trip. With one com panion and a faithful dog, the veteran Started out. It took nearly two years, but the ox-team journey from Washington, the state, to Washington, our national capital, was finally accomplished.The chief purpose of Mr. Meeker in this enterprise was to induce people to mark the famous old highway. To him it represented a great battle ground in our nation's struggle to win and hold the West. The story of the Oregon Trail, he rightly felt, is an American epic which must be preserved. Through his energy and inspiration and the help of thousands of loyal men and women, school boys and school girls, substantial monuments have now been placed along the greater part of the old pioneer way.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

The Oregon Trail--what suggestion the name carries of the heroic toil of pioneers! Yet a few years' ago the route of the trail was only vaguely known. Then public interest was awakened by the report that one of the very men who had made the trip to Oregon in the old days was traversing the trail once more, moving with ox team and covered wagon from his home in the state of Washington, and marking the old route as he went. The man with the ox team was Ezra Meeker. He went on to the capital, where Mr. Roosevelt, then President, met him with joy. Then he traversed the long trail once more with team and wagon--back to that Northwest which he had so long made his home. This book gives Mr. Meeker's story of his experiences on the Oregon Trail when it was new, and again when, advanced in years, he retraced the journey of his youth that Americans might ever know where led the footsteps of the pioneers. The publication of this book in its Pioneer Life Series carries forward one of the cherished purposes of World Book Company--to supply as a background to the study of American history interesting and authentic narratives based on the personal experiences of brave men and women who helped to push the frontier of our country across the continent.