Wagon train adventures

It’s fun to read about the sesquicentennial wagon train travels. The wagon train assembled in Firebaugh earlier this month to help Fresno County highlight its history and count down the days until its 150th birthday celebration April 19 in Fresno.

Teacher Bill Coate has been leading four covered wagons pulled by mules; the "pioneers" are fifth-graders from the 11 towns who have spent the night on the wagon train and travel with it to the next town, learning about pioneer life along the way.

Some of my favorite books growing up dealt with the pioneer experience, from the Laura Ingalls Wilder “Little House” series to “Patty Reed’s Doll,” which dealt with the Donner party’s fateful trip west over the Sierra Nevada in 1846.

Around the same time I was getting into the “Little House” books, our nation was going through the celebration of its bicentennial in 1976. My interest in stories of the pioneers may have been piqued by news of the Bicentennial Wagon Train that traveled cross country to celebrate the event. I remember it made stops in Ohio, where I grew up.

What a great opportunity for the Fresno County fifth-graders who are getting a taste of what it was like to travel in those wagon trains as our nation was settled.