Plains Bound: Fragile Cargo: Revealing Orphan Train Reality

From 1854 to 1930, New York and other cities shipped as many as 400,000 children "out west." Today fewer than 100 of these children are still alive. Charlotte M. Endorf, author of this book and a woman of amazing energy, traveled some 8,000 miles to interview 55 orphan train riders or, in some cases, their descendants. These real life stories appear in three of her books, Plains Bound: Fragile Cargo and By Train They Came, Volumes 1 & 2. This thoughtfully illustrated book, Plains Bound: Fragile Cargo, contains 28 stories. Charlotte amplifies her text with pictures of orphan train riders, letters, indenture paperwork, drawings, a title page of the Children Aid Society's annual report, orphan train quilts, a map showing number of placements, and a historical timeline of the period. Her daughter, Sarah M. Endorf, illustrated the book. Anyone interested in American history, but especially students of orphan train history, will find much to ponder in this slim attractive volume. MARILYN COFFEY is an award-winning poet and a widely published author of prose. Visit [...] to purchase her work: GREAT PLAINS PATCHWORK, MARCELLA, or KANSAS QUARTERLY Vol. 15 No. 2.