Notes From The Frontier

The mortality rate of westering pioneers was very high. Perhaps the greatest cause of death was pioneers not knowing the basics of survival.

The log cabin is an American icon. The rough-hewn, squat and humble house has long been lionized in our lore.

Baby boomers grew up on the 1964 Daniel Boone tv series and the theme song. Some of you may even be able to sing along.

Johnny Appleseed was born John Chapman in 1774 in Massachusetts. His father was a Minuteman under George Washington.

By far the most traveled frontier route West was a common trail shared by Oregon-bound and California-bound settlers.

If patience is a virtue, oxen are saints.

Packing could mean the difference between life and death on the trail and varied wildly depending upon sensibilities.

The Oregon Trail has been called a 2,000-mile-long graveyard.

Both my mother and my mother-in-law grew up on Iowa farms and attended one-room country schools.