Very shortly, I'm going to be traveling on the Oregon Trail. But, unlike our forefathers who settled this land, I'm going to be traveling it in reverse. My journey will begin in Salt Lake City, from which point I will be heading east to St. Louis and then on to Ohio. Which got me to thinking of the comedy "Wagons East," the brilliant John Candy's final film before his death in 1994. It also starred Richard Lewis and the always swoon-worthy Rodney A. Grant. It was a funny take on a wagon train in reverse, heading back east from Oregon.Which got me to thinking about how many times a wagon train going east really happened, during the mass migration in the 1800s. Disgruntled Americans, who were tired of being used for target practice by the Indians, wives and children whose head of household had met with a terrible end and were returning to family, goldminers who went belly up instead of making their fortunes. How many were there who returned? One never reads about people who traveled the Oregon Trail in reverse.
I'm guessing there were more than a few who left the wild west behind and returned home to the civilized east. So I think I'll be in good company. To travel the trail in either direction will fulfill a life-long dream of mine. I followed the Santa Fe Trail on my last cross-country drive. This time, it'll be the big one. I can't wait.
How about you? What life-long ambition is still on your bucket list?
That's a really interesting idea. I wonder how many people DID go back? I'm pretty sure I would have been one of them!
ReplyDeleteI'd like to think I'd be one of the hardy souls who made it to Oregon and stuck there, but I have a feeling the call of the safe civilized life back east would beckon me home.
ReplyDeleteI would love to be on a wagon train too, but one of my ambitions (and I still have a few) is to spend a week on a dude ranch and I already have one picked out :) not far from Salt Lake City LOL, well relatively speaking, it's near Glacier National Park.
ReplyDeleteI've always thought a week on a dude ranch would be fun, too. Love the idea. And, you'd probably be able to get a story idea or two. Reminds me of a Billy Crystal movie...
ReplyDeleteThought-provoking post, Becky. In 1964, my family left Staten Island, NY for Flagstaff, AZ. We took to the rails via the Super Chief, and it was the adventure of a lifetime for me, a tender eleven-year-old girl. As I look back on that time, I realize I probably shared the exhilaration, excitement, and fears of many of my fellow travelers from earlier eras. I still live in the western US, and I've come to love the vastness and beauty here. At night, I can look up at the sky and see thousands of stars and the Andromeda galaxy, and, sometimes, I hike in places where no one has walked before. I'm not certain I could ever get this land out of my blood. I wonder how many who crossed via covered wagons felt the same way. The West became home; there was no going back.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard for me to imagine the land you are describing. Although the centre of Australia is amazing - vast with a sky you can drown in. I have crossed from East to West before they sealed the roads (1971) in an HR Holden - not a wagon train, I know but almost as old :-). I have a feeling I would have stayed and not gone back on your trail...I never back away from a challenge even if it is madness!
ReplyDeleteHope you catalog your journey with lots of pics.
ReplyDeleteHaving spent some time with family in Nevada---the thing that grabbed me about a lot of the Southwest was how desolate it was.
Huge, wide-open, empty, treeless spaces..some very dry, others covered with rugged and seemingly impassable mountains and large areas that were nearly people-less. Those things must have been quite the sight for those Easterners headed West.
Once when I visited my son in 'Vegas, I left Pgh, by air, in the very early evening; sort of following the sunset.
Up over the Great Plains and along into the desert basin of the Great Salt Lake--you could see the wheel ruts of the thousands of wagons that had traveled that route.
one word:
DAUNTING.
mla
It is impressive to see the ruts still after all this time. I saw some when I followed the Santa Fe Trail. And I'm writing about it, in my new book, The Road To Comfort.
DeleteI've seen the wagon ruts mia spoke of whren we were in Kansas. Hard to believe they are still there untouched by man's obsession for gobbling up land.
DeleteI've seen the wagon ruts mia spoke of whren we were in Kansas. Hard to believe they are still there untouched by man's obsession for gobbling up land.
DeleteI've always wanted to do a train trip through the West. Hope you will share your journal and photos when you return. I'm sure it will be an interesting experience. Safe travels, Becky!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Christy. I can't wait. I've always wanted to travel the Oregon Trail, but always thought I was about 150 years too late. Now, I'm going to get the chance to do so.
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