Customer Reviews

Ghosts of the Pioneers: A Family Search for the Independent Oregon Colony of 1844

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This is a wonderful intermixing of a contemporary family and a historical account of a journey west following the trail of the early settlers as they traced the path of the 1840 wagon trail to Oregon. It fully recognizes the tragedies and challenges of the early settlers while sharing the humorous adventurous of the struggling efforts of the author's own family. A very good read!

This book manages to smoothly move along several tracks. The historical track captures vividly the amazing
risks taken by families during that brief period of western expansion before the golden spike changed it
forever. The contemporary journey with Braden's family is full of hilarious observations of various things and people found along what's left of the Oregon Trail. The stops in what pass for "campgrounds" and the characters
encountered there made me put down the book to laugh. The third track, which was perhaps the most compelling, was the author's attempt at chasing down and describing some aspect of the American character that still permeates modern living, an ongoing search for deeper resonances than appear on the surface. I was struck by how he managed to conjure up intimations of this in me. Little shadows of epihanies hiding between
the words in this casually told but utterly engrossing tale.

Mr. Braden's account of the historical pioneer trek is interesting when he sticks to the facts (when he gets the facts right, which is not always the case). His post-Freudian commentary is annoying. His reason for reenacting the trek and account of his family is egotistical and shows little knowledge or sympathy with the contemporary West and is typical of an Eastern tourist. Disappointing.