Book Review: The Oregon Trail: An American Saga

Authors

Howard Jablon, Purdue University - North Central Campus

Date of this Version

2006

Document Type

Article

Comments

Published in GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY 26:1 (Winter 2006) Copyright © 2006 Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska–Lincoln.

Abstract

David Dary's The Oregon Trail is a pleasant excursion on a well-traveled road. His hook is not a trail-blazing work of the stature of such classics as Francis Parkman's The California and Oregon Trail (1849) and Bernard De Voto's The Year of Decision, 1846 (1943), nor is it as erudite as John D. Unruh's The Plains Across (1979) nor as encyclopedic as Merrill J. Matte's Platte River Road Narratives (1988); however, it remains a useful introduction to the subject.