No comments about Over my shoulder.

No comments about Comprehensive Index to Oregon Trail Diaries.

No comments about Renderings from the Gold Beach, Oregon Pioneer Cemetery: A Self-Guided Walking Tour of Tales, Trails, Trials, and Tombstones.

No comments about Nordi's Gift.

No comments about Oregon Bible Records from Museums of the Willamette Valley.

No comments about Over the Applegate Trail to Oregon in 1846: The Pringle Diary and Other Pertinences, the Unabridged Diary With Genealogy Added by Anne Bileter, Ph.D..

No comments about From Boats to Board Feet: The Wilson Family of the Pacific Coast.

No comments about Guytons Galore - From French Huguenots to Oregon Pioneers.

2 comments about In Tar and Paint and Stone: The Inscriptions at Independence Rock and Devil's Gate.

1. Levida Hileman has done an exceptional job of painstakingly picking through the thousands of inscriptions left behind by the overland emigrants at the celebrated Oregon Trail landmarks of Independence Rock and Devil's Gate. Levida and her coworkers tallied over 2,000 names, and where historical documentation was available, brief notations of these individuals are included. As she points out, this book may also be used for some to trace genealogical ancestry.
   Reviewer Dr. Lund notes on the book's back cover, "If you are a serious student of the western emigration, you will want this book." No argument there. Even to the novice of westward migration this is a wonderful look into the history, mystery, legends and emigrant experiences of this seemingly mythical, but certainly real place, along the Oregon Trail.
   An insightful read.



2. This is a well-written and thorough resource for Independence Rock and the surrounding area. I found it facinating and helpful and would highly recommend it to anyone who has interest in the area. The authors have put an incredible amount of time and effort into listing all the known and readable writings in the area. You should get it before you go, rather than after you leave as I did. Your experience will be much greater if you look through the book first and take it with you.

3 comments about Skookum: An Oregon Pioneer Family's History and Lore.

1. Well, the first part of the book was too lengthy and disjointed as it built up to the family disaster. I would have appreciated just a straight tale. The later profiles of people were a lot easier to follow and very entertaining. The information included on the local Native Americans was great and thus the 4 star rating. As a local Oregonian, the farming and political information was also intriguing. I also feel the author missed out by not detailing her own life but maybe this could be a subject for another book.



2. Shannon Applegate spent seventeen years researching the copious and rich family documents that provide the basis for this extraordinary history. It is clear that she not only combed the documents with a scholar's eye but also lived them with a family member's passion. The very public history of the pioneering Applegate men--Jesse, Charles, and Lindsay--is balanced by intimate portraits of the private--and sometimes even secret--lives of the Applegate women. The blend of epic drama, domestic detail, and quiet pathos is irresistible.



3. Thank you, Shannon. Homey feeling for a book that works through the ins and outs of one of Southwest Oregon best known pioneer families. As the Applegates were all strong supporters of the Oregon Republican League,.. we couldn't be prouder than to give this work two thumbs up. A nonpartisan text, for a populist nation, from a fiercely independent time in our regions history.