The Lost Wagon

by Jim Kjelgaard

The Lost Wagon is a novel written by Jim Kjelgaard. The story is set in the American West during the 1800s and follows a young boy named Chip who is traveling with his family in a covered wagon. When their wagon breaks down in the middle of the wilderness, Chip's father sets out to find help, leaving Chip and his mother stranded with no food or water. As Chip and his mother struggle to survive, they encounter a group of Native Americans who offer to help them. Despite his initial fear, Chip learns to trust the natives and develops a strong bond with a young boy named Little Buck. Together, they set out to find Chip's father and bring him back to the stranded wagon. Throughout the novel, Kjelgaard explores themes of survival, trust, and the importance of community. The Lost Wagon is a thrilling adventure story that will keep readers on the edge of their seats until the very end.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.

Genres: Westerns, Historical Fiction, Historical

305 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1955

About the author

an American author of young adult literature.

Born in New York City, New York, Jim Kjelgaard is the author of more than forty novels, the most famous of which is 1945's "Big Red." It sold 225,000 copies by 1956 and was made into a 1962 Walt Disney film with the same title, Big Red. His books were primarily about dogs and wild animals, often with animal protagonists and told from the animal's point of view.

Jim Kjelgaard committed suicide in 1959, after suffering for several years from chronic pain and depression.
- Wikipedia -

Reviews

[Clay Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good story about hard scrabble farming. There is a good surprise in the end.

[Logan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite it being supposedly an adult novel, it really read like a young adult or juvenile book to me, and I would recommend it for that age group as a nice introduction to the West, the Oregon Trail, and the consequences of that many people moving and what motivated them to. I really enjoyed it.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book chronicles the Tower family's trek from their farm in Missouri to the meadows of Oregon. Although I actually prefer Kjelgaard's animal stories, this is well written, with a real feeling for the early American West.

[Rena Sherwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's more of a 2.5 than a three, so I rounded up.

This book shows you why Jim Kjelgaard usually wrote kid's books. This was only just over 300 pages long, but it felt more like 1000. It took FOREVER to finally get going. It was six chapters before the family sets one foot from home in Missouri.

The point of view is mostly from Joe, the immigrant family patriarch, but shifts to other characters' perspectives, like his wife and eldest daughter Barbara, better known as Bobbi. The back story was far too long and complicated. There were also way too many characters to keep track of.

There is a dog in this story, a black and white mongrel, but he only plays a small part. He's the companion of Joe's oldest son Tad, and not a family pet. His name is Mike -- and the star of Irish Red would also be named Mike.

There are plenty of horses and mules here, but the main two equines are a pair of unnamed roan mules. One was a "horse mule", meaning male, and the other a "mare mule" or female. Although described as mates for seven years, they have no foals, since male mules are sterile, although once in a blue moon, a female mule is fertile. These two mules were far and away the most interesting characters in the book ... and they don't even have names. WTF, Jim Kjelgaard?

The family gets into scrapes, and it's interesting to see how they get out of them, but these scrapes come few and far in between. We get pages about romance, plowing, the weather, town life in Missouri ... yeah.

In these kinds of books, there are inevitably showdowns with Native Americans, here called Indians. The end comes very suddenly and very stereotypically. We don't even know what happens to the mules or horses, or even the chickens, in the end. It just happens so quickly, without much explanation. It's as if Jim Kjelgaard got sick of his own book.

[Michael McCue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jim Kjelgaard was one of my favorite authors when I was a boy. His books were full of adventures outdoors and nature. The Lost Wagon was written for adults. It touches on mature themes of commitment loyalty self-sacrifice and persistence. I was surprised at how well he covered these themes. I still prefer his juvenile fiction but I would have liked to tell him this was well done. Unfortunately Kjelgaard died in 1959.

[Janie R. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this fascinating, historical fiction! A family travels by wagon train from Missouri-destination-Oregon. They travel The Oregon Trail, and meet many obstacles along the way.
There is a surprise ending to the story!

[Grace K · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best books I have read lately. It is wholesome, funny, entertaining, and exciting. Although it is fiction, it had the flavor of a truly plausable story. I was sorry when it ended. If you decide to read it you won't be disappointed.

[Julia Rossina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was recommended to me by goodreads and to my surprise I'm really liking it. This is the story of a friendly, hardworking and loving family of farmers from Missouri and their move to Oregon. It seems to me not so much an adult novel as a young adult book, nevertheless interesting.

[judy t fawcett · Rating 5 out of 5]

An easy read about a family's moving west in a covered wagon.

I loved reading about this family and their adventures and trials on the Oregon trail. I think you will enjoy this easy read. It's well written and realistic.

[Hilary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book about a family that travels the Oregon trail by themselves.

[Sheri Bauer · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first novel in my collection from many years ago. Must be why I still enjoy stories of the wagons headed west.

[Frances · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful adventure on the Oregon Trail

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I actually really, really enjoyed this one and wish the series continued with the family.

[Nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful adventure.
Favorite author of my childhood.
This was the last of his books that I hadn't read.

[An Old Vintage · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you grew up in the 1990s and played The Oregon Trail on the computers at school, this book is very similar to what happens to players of the computer game. The family had to repair a broken wagon wheel, strangers approached, and the characters even got to search an abandoned wagon for supplies!

If you know, you know.

All of that nostalgia aside, the characters were lovable and you really care what happens to this sweet family. Highly recommended, especially for people who enjoy westerns.

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful entertaining listening 🔰😀

A will written thriller adventure western novel by Jim Kjelgaard about a young family leaving Missouri and taking the Oregon trail 👣 to Oregon to start a new life. I would recommend this novel to readers of historical novels. Enjoy the adventure of reading 👓 or listening 🎶 to 👍 novels 🔰🏡🐕😇 2022

[Casey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating

The slow pace at spots and the skipping over of some of the most difficult parts of the Oregon trail made it very different from most stories of the westward movement.
In the end I was pleased with that.

[Gloria Salazar-Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just spectacular

A spectacular historical fictional story that captures the joys and woes of trekking across the wild plains in hopes of realizing a nearly impossible dream of reaching the unsettled oregon territory.

The ending was a bit abrupt so a sequel would be most welcomed.

[Neal Mirin]

Determine

A home storyline of a man and his family , to do the best he can fore them, but still have a dream.

[Ruth A Calvin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A little too much repetition for the first 6-8 chapters but I enjoyed the story. I am a fan of this type story.

[Audrey Hacker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good solid pioneer book

I loved the simple pioneer life storyline, although conquering of land and peoples is an unfortunate theme. Book flows well and is a simple read.

[Michael Powers · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven't read this book since high school, but was well worth a re-read. Kjelgaard does a fantastic job of making you feel like you are there in the book.

[Jim Pozenel · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Liked it"

Though this one was a little syrupy at times, I enjoyed the story for the most part.

I'll continue to read the remainder of the Jim Kjelgaard books that I've downloaded from Project Gutenberg so far, and hope that more will appear there before I've finished.

They're not literary masterpieces but are pretty well written and entertaining.

[Roman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay book, a little cheesy at times, but interesting.