MEMBER NEWS
New Book Showcases Hardships and Hope of Brave Oregon Pioneers Author Writes Novel After First-Hand Experience on a Wagon Train During a Grueling Re-Enactment of People Traveling Along the Applegate Trail Southern Oregon | February 8, 2021 | Press Release L inda Lochard’s passion for Oregon history inspired
she discovered, either by their diaries or during the re-enactment. Here’s what readers are saying about Linda and Life Along the Applegate Trail :
her to write a historical novel about her real-life experience on a wagon train along a treacherous route that 80 people followed in 1846 as an allegedly safer alternative to the Oregon Trail. Life Along the Applegate Trail: A Tale of Grit and Determination by Linda D. Lochard debuts on March 8, 2021, in hardcover, paperback, and ebook. The book is available for pre-order now, and Linda is available for interviews such as this one on a local TV station. The new release from Two Sisters Writing & Publishing will mark International Women’s Day. “I wanted to tell a story that highlights the hope that these people had as they traveled into unknown territory while braving harsh weather, bears and cougars, and threats of Indian attacks,” says Lochard, a Medford resident who was Director of the Visitors and Convention Bureau Director when she took the wagon train trip. “I also wanted to celebrate the strong women who endured tremendous hardships while giving birth and taking care of children and husbands, as well as cooking during their six- month trip through the blazing heat of the desert and the frigid temperatures on the rugged mountain passes.” Lochard skillfully balances the grim scenes of death, fear, and anxiety about the unknown with happy moments of dining and dancing, as well as romance between the main characters, the beautiful widow Questa and a gentlemanly cowboy, Chase Gunner. The idea for Linda’s first book began to evolve in 1993 when she helped plan the 150th Anniversary celebrations of the Oregon Trail and the Applegate Trail. As the Visitors and Convention Bureau Director, as well as a member of the Oregon Trail Board of Directors and the Applegate Trail Coalition, she traveled on a wagon 31 days during a 51-day journey that re-enacted the 1846 Applegate Trail trip. The experience earned her Travel Oregon’s Frank Branch Riley Heritage Tourism Award and inspired her to write her own story, as real and as rich as many of the “characters”
“The book draws you
into the story immediately, sharing the struggle of a
young woman’s adventure into the hardships of traveling west. One feels her strength and commitment to the adventure she has begun. I can’t wait to see how her story unfolds.” – Maie Grynick Nadig “….I got pulled into the story right away, and could easily imagine being there. I am eager to read the full story.” – Dr. Larry Nadig “On May 14th, 1844, my family left Tennessee for the “Land of Milk & Honey – the Oregon Territory.” We dug our roots deep into Oregon. I am a HUGE fan of anything Oregon Trail and a big romance novel reader. Linda Lochard has lived the trail. Her writing brings to life the toll on the women who made the journey and the hope that kept them going. I hope you enjoy the journey.” – Mary Neal-Ireland-Hambleton, 5th Generation Oregonian, Author & CEO of Soul Canyon Training & Development
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The Business Review | March 2021
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