'The Oregon Trail: Harsh Realities of a Westward Dream' Webinar

Tickets: $18.88 ( incl. $3.88 fees ) (includes access to the full replay for one week)

Click the link below to officially register for this experience:

https://www.nyadventureclub.com/event/1981163381004

Before railroads and telegraphs stitched America together, there was only one path to the promise of a better life out West: the Oregon Trail. In the mid-1800s, this treacherous route beckoned pioneers with the hope of land, freedom, and opportunity — if they could survive the journey. What was it really like for the hundreds of thousands who dared to make the perilous trek? From unforgiving landscapes to the myths it later inspired, it’s time to uncover the real story behind America's most iconic migration.

Join New York Adventure Club as we retrace the Oregon Trail, a grueling 2,100-mile overland journey that pushed ordinary people through extreme hardships in pursuit of land, freedom, and a future they could call their own.

Led by presidential historian Louis L. Picone, our unique experience will include:

• A look at America in the 1830s and 1840s, and what drove thousands to risk everything for a new life in the West
• An immersive look at the 2,100-mile trek, revealing what it was really like to travel in a covered wagon through harsh and uncharted terrain
• Stories of the pioneers, including how they prepared, what they feared, and the difficult choices they had to make along the way
• An exploration of the many dangers, from deadly river crossings and disease to starvation, accidents, and encounters with Native Americans
• A breakdown of fact vs. fiction, and how the Oregon Trail has been memorialized in history and pop culture — including the video game that brought it to a new generation

Afterward, we'll have a Q&A with Louis — any and all questions are welcomed and encouraged!
Can't make it live? Don't worry, you'll have access to the full replay for one week.
See you there, virtually!

*Immediately upon registering, you will receive a separate, automated email containing the link to join this webinar
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***A full replay of the experience will be available to all registered guests for up to a week
****If the event has already passed, but it's been less than a week, you can still register for it on our website's active replay section!

About Louis
Louis L. Picone is the award-winning author of Grant's Tomb: The Epic Death of Ulysses S. Grant and the Making of an American Pantheon, The President Is Dead! The Extraordinary Stories of the Presidential Deaths, Final Days, Burials, and Beyond and the forthcoming (Spring 2026) Ulysses’s Odyssey: Ulysses S. Grant’s World Tour at the Dawn of American Empire.
Louis is a member of the White House Historical Association, the Ulysses S. Grant Monument Association, and is also committee Chairman for the Grover Cleveland Presidential Library & Museum in Caldwell, NJ. He holds a Masters in History and also teaches at William Paterson University.
Louis has spoken widely on the topic of the presidents and the places we commemorate them, including the Presidential Sites Summit in Dallas; James A. Garfield National Historic Site in Ohio; Ulysses Grant National Historic Site in St. Louis, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum, and the international conference "U.S. Presidents and Russian Rulers" at the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow. He has appeared on various media outlets including C-Span, Time Magazine, BBC, NPR, and the Washington Post. Louis was also featured on the television program "American Mystery" on the Travel Channel to discuss the mystery of JFK's missing brain.

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Categories: Virtual, Moments in History