“Ox Team Days on the Oregon Trail,” originally written by Ezra Meeker and Howard R. Driggs in the early 1920s, has been re-released as a paperback. This book, a true account of life on the Oregon Trail and one of Project Gutenberg’s most-downloaded nonfiction books, will be released June 11, 2013.

Sit in the passenger seat of Ezra Meeker’s covered wagon as he braves mountains, fords rivers, and fends off Indians in pursuit of the West Coast. This true account of one man’s 1852 trek across the plains with his wife and infant son offers an invaluable glimpse into the hardships, heartaches, and simple joys of pioneers.

Once off the trail, you’ll be right alongside Ezra as he cruises up and down Puget Sound in search of the perfect place to settle down, learns survival techniques from native neighbors, and braves the Cascades once more to help the rest of his family make its way to the West. Then, more than fifty years later, you’ll join 76-year-old Ezra as he hops aboard a covered wagon one last time to re-blaze the almost forgotten Oregon trail, preserving it forever with markers and monuments.

Rediscover what it took to build America as you witness the character and courage of the trailblazers in this real-life adventure story.

About the Authors:

Howard Driggs was a son of Mormon pioneers, Driggs spent much of his life collecting stories from the Westward Expansion, and eventually served as the president of the Oregon Trail Memorial Association, where he met Ezra Meeker.

Ezra Meeker left Iowa in 1852 bound for the Oregon Territory with his wife and young son and became a primary founder of King County, Washington. There he raised his family, earned and lost a fortune growing hops, and remained committed to the community. Then, after fifty-four years of helping to develop the West, Meeker decided, at the age of 76, to reblaze the almost forgotten Oregon Trail, marking the historic route and attracting attention to the cause as he went.