Customer Reviews

In Tar and Paint and Stone: The Inscriptions at Independence Rock and Devil's Gate

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This is a well-written and thorough resource for Independence Rock and the surrounding area. I found it facinating and helpful and would highly recommend it to anyone who has interest in the area. The authors have put an incredible amount of time and effort into listing all the known and readable writings in the area. You should get it before you go, rather than after you leave as I did. Your experience will be much greater if you look through the book first and take it with you.

Levida Hileman has done an exceptional job of painstakingly picking through the thousands of inscriptions left behind by the overland emigrants at the celebrated Oregon Trail landmarks of Independence Rock and Devil's Gate. Levida and her coworkers tallied over 2,000 names, and where historical documentation was available, brief notations of these individuals are included. As she points out, this book may also be used for some to trace genealogical ancestry.
Reviewer Dr. Lund notes on the book's back cover, "If you are a serious student of the western emigration, you will want this book." No argument there. Even to the novice of westward migration this is a wonderful look into the history, mystery, legends and emigrant experiences of this seemingly mythical, but certainly real place, along the Oregon Trail.
An insightful read.