idaho

The Trail

At the mention of the Oregon Trail, many young Americans will recall fording rivers, crossing plains, and being waylaid by dysentery or broken legs in a popular game played on flickering computer screens. The real Oregon Trail, used by many American pioneers during the westward migration from Missouri to Oregon during the mid-nineteenth century, was far more remarkable.

Your first impression of Frank Eld would probably underestimate him. He’s middle-aged and has graying hair, and his beard reaches his chest. He usually wears suspenders with a flannel shirt and is almost always wearing a hat. He looks like any other country farmer. But if you catch a glimpse of his blue eyes behind those spectacles, twinkling just a bit, you may think twice about who this man really is.