How to Get Rich on the Oregon Trail Book

This next volume in the charmingly tongue-in-cheek How to Get Rich series hits the jackpot once again. How to Get Rich on the Oregon Trail continues the winning combination of authentic historical facts and entertaining fictional voices. The narrative offers good-humored and practical advice for a trip out west along the Oregon Trail.

This whimsical recounting of one family’s journey to their new homestead will give readers an appreciation of the hardships faced by all those who signed up for the great migration. These include hunger, thirst, sickness, hostile American Indians, and even deceit and thievery on the part of fellow travelers. The book also shows the ingenuity, skill, and trickery used to overcome such challenges.

Wittily interweaving the fictional characters’ adventures with historical personages, locales, and events, Tod Olson captures many distinctive facets of the pioneering American spirit. Uniquely, he examines the economic angles of America’s westward expansion, showing the lure of financial opportunities that tempted so many onto the Oregon Trail—and the harsh realities that they discovered along the way. Artwork and archival images create a scrapbook collage effect, making the book a visual feast, and a fascinating snapshot of this period of American history. The rich back matter includes a note from Marc Aronson that specifies what is fact and what is fiction, as well as an extensive "Encyclopedia of the Oregon Trail."

VOYA

When William Reed was fifteen, his family decided to leave their comfortable life in Springfield, Illinois, and head West. It was 1852 and nearly 60,000 other people set out on the Oregon Trail as well. This book is William's account of his family's journey on the trail. There were plenty of hardships—from cholera, scurvy, and mountain fever to raging rivers, unscrupulous suppliers, and downright scoundrels even among their companions. William tells of a band of Indian warriors who stole his family's oxen and horses. He and his brother later discovered that the "warriors" were the associates of a fellow traveler who planned to sell the livestock for an inflated price to desperate emigrants. As in How to Get Rich in the California Gold Rush (National Geographic, 2008), fact mixes with fiction to relate historical events. Although the details of William's experiences resemble real happenings, no evidence endures of the existence of William or his family. Olson and his colleagues produce a highly readable account of life on the Oregon Trail. As informative as any textbook, this book is far more entertaining and is sure to hold the interest of young teen readers or anyone with an interest in the Westward movement. Reviewer: Debbie Clifford