Skookum: An Oregon Pioneer Family's History and Lore by Applegate, Shannon - 1988

Skookum is the startlingly original narrative rendering of the experiences of a prominent westering family, from 1843 to the present. The remarkable story of the Applegate family encompasses many of the predominant themes of the early American West; The overland crossing via the old Oregon Trail in 1843, the quirky restlessness of Applegate men who, after reaching the 'promised land,' permitted their travel-worn families to rest only for a while, the effects of the intermittent gold rushes that continued to upset family life long after 1849, the troubled relations between the settler and the Indian. While history, and one family's history in particular, forms the ostensible subject matter of the book, Shannon Applegate is interested not only in what happened to her family, but in what it meant to them."; 7¾" - 9¾" Tall .