Saturday, April 05, 2008
Bound for Oregon
by Jean Van Leeuwen
This is a mostly true tale. While researching the Oregon Trail--the route many settlers used to travel overland to the west coast in the mid 19th Century--Ms. Van Leeuwen came across the memoirs of Mary Ellen Todd, a woman who had traveled the trail as a nine-year-old back in 1852, as recorded by Mary Ellen's daughter. It was a fascinating account and, in order to make it more readable to a modern audience, Ms. Van Leeuwen rewrote the tale, fleshing out details with her own imagination and the accounts of other pioneers. She did a good job. The story drew me in and I started wondering how the characters would fare as they made the arduous journey. It's a tale well worth checking out.
LibraryThing link
This is a mostly true tale. While researching the Oregon Trail--the route many settlers used to travel overland to the west coast in the mid 19th Century--Ms. Van Leeuwen came across the memoirs of Mary Ellen Todd, a woman who had traveled the trail as a nine-year-old back in 1852, as recorded by Mary Ellen's daughter. It was a fascinating account and, in order to make it more readable to a modern audience, Ms. Van Leeuwen rewrote the tale, fleshing out details with her own imagination and the accounts of other pioneers. She did a good job. The story drew me in and I started wondering how the characters would fare as they made the arduous journey. It's a tale well worth checking out.
LibraryThing link
Labels: CheckItOut
// posted by John @ 7:58 PM 
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