Imagine you are traveling west from Independence, Missouri, on a 2,000 mile trip to Oregon in the mid 1800s. Since there are no cars, trains, or passenger jet services you take the most reliable and speedy form of transportation available at the time. Your wagon is pulled by a yoke of slow oxen or stubborn mules. The trip will take three to six months to complete. You travel on a dirt trail through tall prairie grass, over broad flowing rivers, high mountain ranges, and blistering hot deserts. Chances are good that your oxen and mules - along with some of your traveling companions - will die from exposure, disease, starvation, and accidents along the way. If the animals pulling your wagon die your chances of survival are greatly diminished. It is imperative that you complete the journey before winter or else you and your group could freeze to death in the snowy Rocky Mountains. After completing this dangerous trip you hear about the new cutting edge technology that has just reduced the dangerous 2,000 mile trip down to a week, all for the price of one ticket. In 1869, after decades of travel, the Oregon Trail fell into disuse. The rumbling of freight and passenger trains were heard on the first transcontinental railroad and saved time and a multitude of lives. This book is about what made the short trip possible.