By 1849 the first wagon trains were creaking over the long trail to Oregon. It was a hard trail, harder than many of the travelers had anticipated. There were rugged mountains to climb, swift rivers to cross. Frequently there was hunger and thirst. Indians raided and killed. Men died and were left behind in lonely graves. But still the top-heavy wagons rolled on, their drivers little aware of the history they were making. 

But before the wagons started there were the trail-breakers — the Lewis and Clark expedition, the "mountain men" who traveled through the wildest country alone in search of beaver streams and buffalo meadows. They, too, made history.

In this exciting and colorful account of the Oregon trail, the author of The First Book of Pioneers continues the story of the great westward migration that determined the future of the United States.

From the dust jacket