Title: Tree in the Trail
Author: Holling Clancy Holling
Major Themes: Santa Fe Trail, Frontier Life, Native Americans, New Mexico
Synopsis: When an Indian boy saved a cottonwood sapling from the buffalo, it became a focal point of the Santa Fe Trail.
I believe I first read Tree in the Trail in the 1980s, when we discovered it at the local library. I loved this way of looking at history and geography with a particular object as a focal point, which Holling Clancy Holling does superbly in each of his five books that we have.
Publisher’s description:
The book tells the story of a lone cottonwood tree encountered as a sapling by a Kansa Indian boy in 1610, on what became the Santa Fe Trail, and the events that passed by the tree: buffalo migrations, warring tribes, the coming of the Spaniards, French trappers, and trade caravans on the Trail. Eventually, the tree dies and is made into an ox-yoke and travels down the Trail itself in 1834 to Santa Fe, New Mexico.
My thoughts:
It was very easy to fit Tree in the Trail into our school day. Each chapter is one page, with a full-color painting opposite and often several pencil drawings in the margins, sometimes with more information and sometimes not. I simply read a chapter each morning, and we enjoyed the beautiful illustrations. This is a delightful way to introduce young readers to the Plains Indians and the Santa Fe Trail.
WARNING: A few times, people are chased by other people with the intent to harm them.
Age levels:
Listening Level—Ages 5 – 8, 8 – 12, Family Friendly
Reading Independently—Ages 8 – 12
Links to buy this book:
Amazon: Paperback | Hardcover
AbeBooks: View Choices on AbeBooks.com
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