The Overlanders

Day 2--We stopped in at the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center in Baker City today. An amazing museum telling the story of more than 500,000 pioneers who braved a 2,000-mile journey, walking all of the way. 

These pioneers, known as "Overlanders," took with them everything they owned. They left family and friends, knowing they would never see them again. They went to a place they had never seen. They overcame incredible obstacles along the way--heat, hunger, thirst, illness, danger, mountains, uncertainty, rains, sometimes snow.  More than 30,000 died along the way.

Each day was tedious--walking alongside their wagons for 15-20 miles in the dust. They had no emergency road service for breakdowns. No fast-food places to grab a meal. No wi-fi to check on the weather, catch up on the news, or connect with friends. 

Today, we rush past these trails on the freeway. In a week, we could easily cover the same distance that took them 6 months to travel. By plane, we could do it in a day.

The Overlanders traveled in wagons that came to be called Prairie Schooners. We found some of these wagons at the Interpretive Center. They are about 11 feet long and less than 4 feet wide, containing everything the Overlanders had in the world.

In some ways, our van feels to us like is a prairie schooner--a 20-foot vehicle carrying all of life's essentials and taking us on a cross-country journey.

We don't pretend the determination that characterized many of the Overlanders. But as we drive through some of the rugged terrain they traveled, we will think of their courage.