Explorer Books (Pathfinder Social Studies: U.S. History): First Flight

In this book, the author describes and discusses twelve "Trails" which have been designated as "Historic" in accordance with the National Trails System Act passed by Congress in 1968. Included are well known trails such as that taken by Lewis and Clark, the Oregon Trail, the Trail of Tears, and the Iditarod Trail; as well as lesser known, though equally important, trails such as the Overmountain Victory, California, Pony Express and Nez Perce Trails. Each of the twelve trails is discussed in a separate chapter, with each chapter beginning with an illustration showing the route taken by its subject trail. Some are thousands of miles long while others, like the Selma to Montgomery Trail, are much shorter. And each chapter is beautifully illustrated with pictures of interest taken along the way. What makes the book most interesting, however, is that each trail is discussed from three perspectives, historically, geographically, and present day travel wise. And best of all, the author's dialog smoothly weaves these perspectives into an interesting, informative, and entertaining text. Historically: he tells us why each trail was created, who the people were who traveled on it, and what happened to them along the way. Geographically: he describes the lay of the land when each trail was traversed and what major obstacles lay along the way. And, finally, he describes each trail as it exists today, identifying major points of interest, such as the five-foot deep ruts carved in solid rock by some 500,000 wagons heading west, near Guernsey, Wyoming, and advises those interested as to what parts of the original trails can still be seen and walked today. I learned a lot of history by reading this book (some good and some bad) and, although, I likely will never set out to walk any part of these trails, I really enjoyed learning about them. I think other readers will to.