Customer Reviews

To Truckee's Trail

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Other reviewers here have mentioned the historical content and general plan of this fine novel. I too found those interesting and the story increasingly absorbing as it went on. But let me add this: I have always valued fiction as my prime means of understanding history. I am not the first to note that--no less an authority than Ursula McGuin has pointed out that people's thoughts and feelings are an essential guide to our understanding of what we are and may become. Four years of Latin in school were not nearly as helpful to my understanding of ancient Rome as the novels of Stephen Saylor, for example. Patrick O'Brian's magnificent Jack Aubrey series helped me put into focus the Napoleonic era. But oddly, while I've read a good bit of Texana and westerniana, I've never read an account through the eyes of people who traveled west in one of the early wagon trains--not until To Truckee's Trail, that is. Besides being pleasurable entertainment it has awakened me to the incredible achievement of these pioneers, and the debt which we Americans owe them to this day. What they did made us what we are, and To Truckee's Trail eloquently and efficiently makes that clear.

A lot of people are intrigued by "reality" TV shows, and although the medium is new, the desire to view the struggles of others from a safe distance is not. The allure seems to have something to do with the notion of "stranger than life." As it's no secret that there's NOTHING stranger than life, true stories make compelling reading.

As a kid, I watched westerns like "Wagon Train." "To Truckee's Trail" is the grown-up version, a fictionalized account of just such an adventure. Unlike television, though, the story is candid about all the loss, hardship and privation that an overland journey to California in the late 1840's entailed. The best way to make the dangerous traverse of the Rockies, (endured by travelers who were already stretched to their utmost by crossing the desert) remained a matter of conjecture.

There are various points of view in the novel, but the most prominent narrator is the expedition's doctor, a man uniquely positioned to interact with all the members of the party--at their best and at their worst. There are also many excerpts from diaries and letters--some real and some fictional--but both carry the absolute ring of authenticity. The author's feel for period dialogue and sensibility never fails.

Although the book starts a bit slowly because of the many characters which have to be introduced, once the wagon train rolls away from "civilization," the excitement begins. As in any shake-down cruise, you soon learn where the weaknesses--in equipment, crew, and morality--exist. There are stresses and strains, illnesses and disagreements. There are Indians and deserts, floods and storms, and at the end, those trackless mountains to cross. All the while, Time, in form of the oncoming impassable snows, urges the travelers forward, even while the strongest of them is ready to drop.

The story gains momentum all the way, and if you're a fan of true adventure, or if you're a long-time lover of Westerns, you'll certainly enjoy "To Truckee's Trail." Personally, I found it fascinating to "witness" the combination of foolhardiness and grit that would soon send so many Anglo emigrants over the mountains in search of a land "overflowing with milk and honey."

Although this is a fictional recreation, it's clear the author did a great deal of research on the background of not only the Townsend Party members, but the era itself.

It's a chronicle of a journey across country from Ohio to Sutter's Fort (or is that Sutter's Mill?) CA in 1844; their trial and travails, their hopes and dreams and motivations.

It reads perfectly well as an adventure story -- kids and adults alike will love it if they enjoyed _Swiss Family Robinson_, but where the author really shines is in her depiction of the people and the times. The characters come alive with the virtues of the American pioneer: grit, honor and decency, but their portrayal is never over the top.

The author picked up on the vocabulary and diction of the 1800's as well, so it's double fun from a literary or stylistic standpoint.

The only thing I found wanting was more detail but that would have slowed down the story-telling. A map would have been useful and I found myself hoping some recipes, of all things.

Ms. Hayes has written a solid, partially fictional account of a wagon train of pioneers striking across the western plains and mountains in search of a better life in California. From the journal of a versatile doctor and from interviews with some of the participants done in later years, Ms. Hayes paints a portrait of the raw struggles pioneers of the early 1800's experienced.

Her prose is measured and the characterizations are well done. Her descriptions are often vivid and at times poetic such as when she describes a night sky:

"The sky had entirely darkened now, pricked by a brilliant spangle of stars."

Her attention to detail and her obviously thorough research of the era make this book a solid, believable account richly textured and with great depth.

The further I got into the book, the more engrossed I became. I empathized with the struggles of the characters in the book, which Ms. Hayes brings to life and and in so doing illuminates for us something of the 19th century mindset.

To Truckee's Trail is entertaining and educational. A fine work and a worthy read.

Barry Yelton, Author of Scarecrow in Gray, A Civil War Novel

Have you ever wondered what it must have been like to cross the prairies and the Rockies, then the truly perilous trip through the snowy mountains to California during the first half of the 19th Century?

Celia Hayes (best known to the blogosphere as "Sgt. Mom") has written a great book which will take you on this harrowing journey in a way that reading history can't. What's unusual about this is that unlike many historic novels it has a documentary feel to it (it is loosely based on real characters and events). The action is punctuated by diary entries, and a (fictionalized) 1932 interview of one of the members of the party who lived into his late 90s and recalls his childhood memories.

It is a riveting read. Close calls with Indian war parties, political treachery, near starvation and freezing to death, and inevitable illnesses and deaths. It's truly amazing that they made it.

Some great observations along the way. I loved this one:

"A good wife will re-load for you, a great one will take up a knife and slit your enemies' throats."

Very rugged people, these pioneers.

I found myself wondering how so many of their descendants came to evolve into the soft people we've become today.

Don't miss this book. It's a real treat. I loved every page.

The story opens with Dr. John Townsend lamenting about selling everything and joining a wagon train to take him and his family to California. The year is 1843. His wife, Elizabeth, tosses and turns in a fever beneath the piled blankets. He fears the air is too dry for her and wants to take her to where she can breathe easy. After much consideration, they do indeed sell everything except for a few precious items, his surgical tools, Elizabeth's grandmothers china tea set , and his small writing desk and journals.

They soon have everything well stocked in their wagon to begin their journey. They meet up with a group of wagons heading west, and begin their journey. With high spirits, and a newly elected wagon captain, they set off into the great unknown. Although the families grow closer over time and help each other with assorted camp life, many challenges spring into their path. Rivers that aren't quite passable, the loss of livestock, and the fear of Indians are just a few.

One day, they come to an impasse. They are camped at the Great Sink and cannot find a path that will get them over the mountains-at least not a path that the wagons can cross. They debated leaving the wagons and just walking out with packs on their backs. But with much discussion, they discarded that idea because of the women and children. They wouldn't be able to carry enough supplies. Then an elderly, naked Indian strolls into camp, much to the astonishment of many. He sits down with the captain and doctor, and many other men and they have a discussion by drawing pictures in the sand.

The next morning, the men follow the Indian into the mountains. He wants to show them a path they could take through the mountains. All the way, he is shouting to them, "Truckee." Since they didn't speak his language, they just nodded. In Indian, it means "everything is satisfactory." Since they didn't know this, they thought that was his name. So they named the mountain pass after him, "Truckee's Trail."

Getting the wagon train through the mountain pass though was only one of the major challenges this strong group of men and woman overcame. Soon , winter would be upon them, and time and supplies were running short.

The long-lost diary of Dr. John Townsend is reconstructed and carries you through the trials and tribulations that this great group of Americans went through. A fascinating read about their adventures and sacrifices to get to the land of "milk and honey." Filled with some true accounts, and some excerpts from diaries and letters from real and fictitious characters, the book is lend some authenticity of the true account.

Armchair Interviews says: Interesting historical fiction of the early settlers.

I must say right off that I know the author. And I might as well add that this is not the sort of book I would normally take up to read. That out of the way, this is a good book. It reads like a first-hand account. I love history and so I was suprised that the diaries were fictional although the story was based on fact. She fooled me for about the first quarter of the book but then I was not asking my self critical questions. The story pulls you along and Celia opens a imaginative door snd invites you into the past.

This is not the sort of book a Science-Fiction aficionado normally reads, but once put in my hands, it proved fascinating.

The author, Celia Hayes, has a gift for getting into the heads of aliens and making their thoughts comprehensible. She's done this before, sort of (see Our Grandpa Was An Alien). The aliens in this case are 19th century pioneers with the desire to take a long and terribly difficult trip to a place they had never seen. What kind of being would leave almost everything they own and all their friends to walk a thousand miles through dangerous wilderness with the few things they have left packed in a small wagon? What mindset does it take to keep going in the summer heat as your wagon bumps you with every rock between Iowa and California? How could they possibly keep driving their wagons up a steep stream bed filled with freezing water and never-ending obstacles?

Aliens? Yes, they were. They were like us but not like us. The mind of a pioneer is an amazing place--almost as amazing as what they managed to do. They had one heck of an adventure and that is beautifully captured. Ms. Hayes admires these people, that is clear. There is good reason for that: What the infamous Donner party failed to do--get everyone there alive--these folks did two years earlier. How they managed to do this is envisioned for us by a natural story teller who writes with a loving hand. The growing friendships, the difficulties to overcome, the pain and doubts, and the faith. By the end of the book, I admired these bold aliens, too. This would make a great movie.

Were the books in school this well written, I might have done as well in history as in math and science!

As a previous commenter noted, a map would be a great addition. A quick search on Google for "California trail map" can fix that small problem for the reader. Take my advice: be a reader.

I first encountered the author as Sgt. Mom commenting on a blog that I read daily. From that I found she had written a trilogy called the Adelverein trilogy about the Germans settling in central Texas 25 miles from where I was raised so had to read it. Actually I devoured the three books as I could hardly put them down.

From the dust cover, I discovered that her first book, The Truckee Trail, was written as a re-creation of the Stevens party crossing the Sierras for the first time. We've owned a cabin about five miles west of the Donner Summit since early 1990s. The emigrant trail passes one block from our cabin and one can still see ruts in the exposed rocks made by the multitude of wagons over the few years it was used to settle California and I was familiar with the story.

Having read about the Stevens party previously did not detract from the enjoyment of reading this book in the least since the characters come to life and help you to understand the tremendous strength of character it took to cross those daunting mountain peaks better than any history book possibly could. There's a reason that you don't find low scores for the book. It's fun and it's well written and it tells an important story.