human
We are traveling over the old Oregon Trail, my boy, Mr. Peniman told him.
gpt
It is an old, old trail, the first highway made into the wilderness of the west by the feet of white men.
human
Who made it?
gpt
The trail was first made in 1813 by what was known as the Astorian Expedition, which set out from St. Louis with about a hundred men, intending to cross the mountains and build a fort for the American Fur Trading Company in Oregon. You boys should read the history of that expedition; you would find it most interesting.
human
Did they get there?
gpt
Yes, Sam, they got there. When I knew that a part of our journey would lead us along the old Oregon Trail I read up its history. They had a terrible journey, but after great losses and hardships seven men reached the Columbia River, where they built a fort which they called Astoria, after John Jacob Astor of New York, the president of the fur company. The Indians set upon them and stole their goods and their stock, and they returned to St. Louis with only one old horse, which they had succeeded in trading for with a friendly Indian.
human
But that was so long ago, Father, put in Joe,
gpt
I should think the trail would have been lost since.
human
It probably would have been, answered his father,
gpt
Jiminy, that’s interesting, cried Joe, who had been listening intently;
human
River ahead!
gpt
Yes, he said,
human
whooped Lige,