Ezra Meeker has done a signal service for our country in reblazing the Oregon Trail. He has accomplished an even greater work in helping to humanize our history and vitalize the geography of our land, by giving to us, through this little volume, a vivid picture of the heroic pioneering of the Farther West. HOWARD R. DRIGGS CONTENTS INTRODUCTION TO THE AUTHOR v PART ONE--FROM OHIO TO THE COAST 1. BACK TO BEGINNINGS 1 2. BOYHOOD DAYS IN OLD INDIANA 9 3. LEAVING THE HOME NEST FOR IOWA 15 4. TAKING THE TRAIL FOR OREGON 21 5. THE WESTWARD RUSH 33 6. THE PIONEER ARMY OF THE PLAINS 38 7. INDIANS AND BUFFALOES ON THE PLAINS 43 8. TRAILING THROUGH THE MOUNTAIN LAND 49 9. REACHING THE END OF THE TRAIL 57 PART TWO--SETTLING IN THE NORTHWEST COUNTRY 10. GETTING A NEW START IN THE NEW LAND 69 11. HUNTING FOR ANOTHER HOME SITE 78 12. CRUISING ABOUT ON PUGET SOUND 86 13. MOVING FROM THE COLUMBIA TO PUGET SOUND 99 14. MESSAGES AND MESSENGERS 106 15. BLAZING THE WAY THROUGH NATCHESS PASS 115 16. CLIMBING THE CASCADE MOUNTAINS 122 17. FINDING MY PEOPLE 128 18. INDIAN WAR DAYS 135 19. THE STAMPEDE FOR THE GOLD DIGGINGS 141 20. MAKING A PERMANENT HOME IN THE WILDS 146 21. FINDING AND LOSING A FORTUNE 154 22. TRYING FOR A FORTUNE IN ALASKA 160 PART THREE--RETRACING THE OLD OREGON TRAIL 23. A PLAN FOR A MEMORIAL TO THE PIONEERS 165 24. ON THE OVERLAND TRAIL AGAIN 177 25. TRAILING ON TO THE SOUTH PASS 185 26. REVIVING OLD MEMORIES OF THE TRAIL 195 27. A BIT OF BAD LUCK 204 28. DRIVING ON TO THE CAPITAL 212 29. THE END OF THE LONG TRAIL 219 THE WORLD'S GREATEST TRAIL