Roughing It On The Oregon Trail

Twins Liz and Lenny, along with their time-traveling grandmother, join a group of pioneers journeying west on the Oregon Trail in 1843.

Many of the events that took place along the Oregon Trail are well known--the perils the Applegate family faced as they rafted down the raging Columbia River, the plight of the Donner Party as they found themselves snowbound and starving at Truckee Lake. But do you know the whole story? It Happened on the Oregon Trail reveals the stories of these well-known events as well as many lesser-known happenings, providing insights about the adventurous emigrants who, beginning in the 1840s, headed west in covered wagons in search of a better life. The hardships and the joys of the 2000-mile journey across plains, mountains, and deserts come alive in this entertaining and informative book.

Go west, young pioneer—your journey begins here! In this first leg of your trek on the Oregon Trail, you need to find your way to Chimney Rock—but not without unpredictable challenges ahead. This is the first installment of four books that will take you all the way to Oregon Territory—if you make the right choices. In book one of this exciting choose-your-own-trail series, it's 1850 and your first goal is to get your family, covered wagon full of supplies, and oxen to Chimney Rock on time. But hurry—you'll need to make it through the rugged mountains before winter snow hits. Plus, there are wild animals, natural disasters, unpredictable weather, fast-flowing rivers, strangers, and sickness that will be sure to stand between you and your destination! Which path will get you safely across the prairie? With twenty-two possible endings, choose wrong and you'll never make it to Chimney Rock on time. Choose right and blaze a trail that gets you closer to Oregon City!

In the bestselling tradition of Bill Bryson and Tony Horwitz, Rinker Buck's The Oregon Trail is a major work of participatory history: an epic account of traveling the 2,000-mile length of the Oregon Trail the old-fashioned way, in a covered wagon with a team of mules—which hasn't been done in a century—that also tells the rich history of the trail, the people who made the migration, and its significance to the country. Spanning 2,000 miles and traversing six states from Missouri to the Pacific Ocean, the Oregon Trail is the route that made America. In the fifteen years before the Civil War, when 400,000 pioneers used it to emigrate West—historians still regard this as the largest land migration of all time—the trail united the coasts, doubled the size of the country, and laid the groundwork for the railroads. The trail years also solidified the American character: our plucky determination in the face of adversity, our impetuous cycle of financial bubbles and busts, the fractious clash of ethnic populations competing for the same jobs and space. Today, amazingly, the trail is all but forgotten. Rinker Buck is no stranger to grand adventures. The New Yorker described his first travel narrative,Flight of Passage, as “a funny, cocky gem of a book,” and with The Oregon Trailhe seeks to bring the most important road in American history back to life. At once a majestic American journey, a significant work of history, and a personal saga reminiscent of bestsellers by Bill Bryson and Cheryl Strayed, the book tells the story of Buck's 2,000-mile expedition across the plains with tremendous humor and heart. He was accompanied by three cantankerous mules, his boisterous brother, Nick, and an “incurably filthy” Jack Russell terrier named Olive Oyl. Along the way, Buck dodges thunderstorms in Nebraska, chases his runaway mules across miles of Wyoming plains, scouts more than five hundred miles of nearly vanished trail on foot, crosses the Rockies, makes desperate fifty-mile forced marches for water, and repairs so many broken wheels and axels that he nearly reinvents the art of wagon travel itself. Apart from charting his own geographical and emotional adventure, Buck introduces readers to the evangelists, shysters, natives, trailblazers, and everyday dreamers who were among the first of the pioneers to make the journey west. With a rare narrative power, a refreshing candor about his own weakness and mistakes, and an extremely attractive obsession for history and travel,The Oregon Trail draws readers into the journey of a lifetime.

"Roughing It in Gold Country" covers nearly sixty-five years of traveling from the southernmost boundaries of the Mother Lode to the north near the Yuba Gap. From the age of sixteen William S. Pierson built on a fascination for the bright yellow metal of the Mother Lode. It happened while he attended Sequoia High School during the Great Depression, while providing for himself by harvesting hay in Mountain City, Nevada, delivering groceries around Tahoe City, and working in a gold mine. He has explored for new treasures from the depths of many mine shafts from Death Valley to the Yuba Gap, from the highest in elevation, the Old Kentucky Mine, to the oldest continuously running gold mine in California, the Sixteen-to-One in Alleghany, California. Writing in a rich and prosaic style, the author describes the fascination for gold that bestows upon its seekers a lifelong desire for its possession.

Meet Ranger! He's a time-traveling golden retriever who has a nose for trouble . . . and always saves the day! Ranger has been trained as a search-and-rescue dog, but can't officially pass the test because he's always getting distracted by squirrels during exercises. One day, he finds a mysterious first aid kit in the garden and is transported to the year 1850, where he meets a young boy named Sam Abbott. Sam's family is migrating west on the Oregon Trail, and soon after Ranger arrives he helps the boy save his little sister. Ranger thinks his job is done, but the Oregon Trail can be dangerous, and the Abbotts need Ranger's help more than they realize!

The Readiness Year is a perfect guide for helping children get ready for school. It includes sections on what students need to know to succeed in kindergarten, assessments, tips for creating the perfect "readiness" classroom, and instructional units to promote higher-level thinking! Get students ready with The Readiness Year! 160 pages.

Matches quality children's books with each day of the year to provide a focus for story time. The lessons in this book will help children develop creative connections between reading and the world around them, introducing them to many other people and places throughout the world.