In Women's Voices from the Oregon Trail, Susan Butruille artfully
narrates the lives and struggles of the women who followed the
2,000-mile trail to Oregon 175 years ago. This twenty-fifth anniversary
edition not only retraces the women's journeys, but also brings their
narratives to life in diary, song, history, poetry, quilts, and recipes.
Beginning with the Midwestern farms where most of the women were
from--and where so many started their journey by squeezing their
families' lives into the tiny space inside a covered wagon--Susan
follows their trek step by step.
These women toiled across unforgiving landscapes, braving dangerous
rivers and mountain passes, prairie storms and disease, to reach the
strange and bountiful land where a new home was supposed to await. The
author herself retraces this trail as it is today in Guide to Women's
History Along the Oregon Trail, documenting where to find the markers,
signposts, landmarks, and historical sites that still show the lasting
impact of the brave women who uprooted their lives to heed the call of
Oregon Fever.