Acquire Oregon Country: The Story Of The 1843 Oregon Trail Migration Engineered By T.J. Hanson Edition

love books about this era of pioneering, but I can't say I'm a fan of this book, If you're going to write a book of historical FICTION I would expect a few liberties to make it more compelling.
I do however applaud amp appreciate the obvious research put into creating the book, Perhaps the author would have been better suited to write a nonfiction account using all his research, As is, the dialog was clumsy and overly simplified, Wonderful read!!


Loved this book! The story kept me excited throughout the entire book, History , excitement and marvelous details, A must read.
Oregon Countrypages by T, J. Hanson This was a wonderful book, I really enjoyed the journey, This was the first wagon train to go to Oregon Country, It was a very large wagon train with lots of hardships with cattle, wagons , people walking beside their wagons, accidents, wagons breaking down.
Each family having to watch out for their cattle, their children, and making their food supply last the trip, I can't imagine going through some of the hardships that they had to face and come up with solutions and to go that far not knowing what was ahead of them.
This was a long book but I enjoyed every minute of it, I will remember this book for a long time, This was a well written book written by an author with great talent, The characters were well described you feel that you know each on individually, The journey is described so well that you can feel each bump the wagon is going over and are crossing all the rivers right along beside them.
There are some sad stories that touch your emotions, Even though there is some fiction in it this is our history and these things did really happen, A really good book don't miss it, This is a difficult book to review, The author as a researcher is clearly gifted, As a writer, the author is really not good at fiction,

Here is an example of his storytelling and descriptions, "So the morning passed with Jacob relating tales and Abby questioning him on regional geography, Indian tribes, their customs and the land ahead.

At noon the Light Column stop short of a lava field, The rough rock terrain appeared to extend for several miles, so before embarking, Colonial Martin thought it wise to rest the stock.
"
Abby and Jacob often have interesting discussions but we are not privy to them, Abby often thinks the landscape is lovely and writes about it in her diary, but we never get the description.
We get lava fields described as tough rock terrain and that is it,

Here is another example, "As he had often done in the past, Jacob watered the stock from one of the twentygallon barrels, then hobbled them for the night.
Before dusk he watered them again and moved each animal three ties to ensure that they got as much forage as possible.
Other emigrants may have resented knowledge and prowess of the West, but his care for Abby's outfit was evident, Here, over one thousand miles from Independence, that extra care was obvious to everyone, Abby's outfit was probably more capable of meeting the difficulties of the Snake River Plains than any other company, "
Every single day and every single night, Jacob and Abby do the same thing and every single time we are told what they did.
The train splits into several columns and every single day the author tells us which of the columns is ahead and which is behind and by how much.
It is like the ongoing description of a race I care nothing about,
Frequently the writer tells us how superior Abby is to every other person in the wagon train, This makes me dislike Abby not because she is boastful, but because the author holds her up as a 'modern' and makes all the women with families out as hopeless dups of their husbands.
This is not a novel set in, don't superimpose modern sensabilties overtly onto thes,

If you can live with the lack of descriptions, the laughable dialogue and the sheer monotony of the same details described endlessly in the same words, then grab your quirt A word used tens of thousands of times and learn about the Oregon Trail.
This is worth reading, you will just wish Michener and when you get done go read Centential to see a similar topic by an actual writer.
Oregon Country was an excellent book written by an historian who is obviously an expert on the subject, He takes the reader along on the incredible journey of the first largescale migration to Oregon inwith the pioneers who literally blazed the trail.
He loves the day to day details of this subject and you will too, It is like an intellectual adult version of the Little House on the Prairie series, You feel like you are there with the pioneers, but are very glad, of course that you were not!
It is, of course a remarkable story.
The author takes you along the trail with the actual people who traversed it, You get involved in all aspects of this life affirming, highly admirable, amazingly stranger than fiction, true story,
I am seeking out the trail museums

on an upcoming trip due to reading this book,
Highly recommend.


I ended up enjoying the story after a rocky start, The repetitiveness of the details at the beginning almost made me put the book down, but I'm glad I stuck with it.
Once I got to know the characters, the repetitiveness of the author wasn't as obtrusive, This was a thoroughly enjoyable history lesson and I will be looking for more tales based on this era of American life.
Gret book I love it

Grea






t book love it it was wrote like you was there and you just see it with yours mind eyes

This is the story of Abby, who is recently widowed and determined to finish her husband's dream of starting a new life in the Wallamet now spelled Willamette valley.
The story follows her through her journey to Independence, getting her wagon purchased and stocked, hiring the fur trapping mountain man Jacob to man her rig and off on the trail to Oregon.
This is not a page turning, racy sit on the edge of your seat type of book, This follows every bit of day to day business, from how they made their food, hunted, crossed the rivers, and kept not only themselves but their livestock alive.


The trail follows the western plains, over the Rockies, through Idaho into Oregon's Blue Mountains and finally through the Columbia River Gorge on the way to the end of the trail at Oregon City.
Although I mentioned some might not find this a racy page turner, I was thoroughly fascinated and had a hard time putting the book down.
The historical detail, even of the day to day part of living on the trail was fascinating the buffalo stampede was just heart stopping.


All in all a very good tale of a courageous woman with "sand" as Jacob called her, able to live up to and exceed the challenges of the Oregon Trail to reach her destination and achieve her dreams of a new life in Oregon City.
I especially enjoyed the last of the tale, as Abby sees the Columbia River for the first time and her reaction to the beauty of that river.
I am fortunate to live in the Pacific Northwest and have traveled many times along that glorious river, and the author brought all of it magically to life the rapids which are long gone due to dams, the basalt cliffs, the waterfalls, Beacon Rock are all there for the reader to experience along with Abby.


This was a first rate book and I highly recommend for any lover of historical fiction or for one interested in the Oregon Trail.
Wonderful!

One of the most detailed and extensive accounts of the Oregon migration Ive ever read.
The author fully captures the duration and difficulties of the journey, After trial and suffering and long, long tiring days we learn weve now traveledmiles, Impossible! We should be at least halfway there by now! Onlymore miles to go! Ive made the trip across country in a plane numerous times.
Ive made the trip by vehicle a few rimes and it seems the trip will never end, even traveling atmph.
I cannot imagine making that long, long trip at a pace when twenty miles a day is considered a good day!

TJ Hanson, you nailed this one! I loved most of the characters, sincerely hoped others would roll down a mountain and never be found again.
I couldnt understand Abbys infatuation with Sam, My eyes would have looked like a Japanese anime within two minutes of beginning to converse with him, He was not the brightest bulb on the tree! On the other hand, I fell in love with Jacob within a week and hoped he and Abby would stay together despite his advanced age.
An educated mountain man, who could ask for more,

I throughly enjoyed this saga and dreaded it coming to an end, Will be looking for more by this author, Very interesting historical topic. Not always easy to persevere with the writing style being seminovel, semihistorical report, Some of the details made it rather dry but knowing it was true also made it fascinating, Love these types of books

I love thinking about all the people had to go through many years before.
We have it so easy nowadays, .