| The book follows a wagon train of settlers bound for Oregon, and, as you know from the moment his name is mentioned, Dick Summers, a "retired" mountain man from The Big Sky, becomes the train's guide. An admirable new character is introduced, whom you wish you could follow further, after their arrival in Oregon. The members of the wagon train experience the challenges and personal dynamics that must have been typical on the long, dangerous, exhausting trip. The book has given me a new understanding of the process of settling the west and has made me want to see some places that I would not otherwise have been interested in. |