I'm going to be honest here. I can recall very little about the Great Western Trail (GWT). Once I started to read, the names of the trails (Chisholm, Goodnight-Loving, etc) came back to me. I also remember Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove being based on the trails, but I never realized that the character of Gus (played by Robert Duvall in the film version) was based on trail boss Oliver Loving. Other than that, I can honestly say that I keep coming up blank.
There is quite a bit of information to take in while reading about the GWT. In the past there were the people who started it, the people who set up towns throughout the trail, and the trail bosses. In the future/past (the 1900s- the future of the trail and the past of today. Does that make sense? No? Too bad. Moving on!) there are the people trying to change the name (to the Longhorn-Chisholm Trail), the guys who build the landmarkers to show which cities the trails ran through, and the newest generation who are trying to keep the history alive and relevant.
After reading this, I am definitely going to look into more information about the history of the GWT. I'm also most likely going to re-read/watch Lonesome Dove. Since I also enjoy stopping at historical landmarks when I go places (including that one time my mom and I went to look at bluebonnets in Brenham and ended up getting lost trying to find and then finding a Confederate/Union graveyard), so this would be fun and interesting to see where the markers will take me. If you're a history buff, give it a try, because it's well researched, well written, and a solid read.
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