Tracking Down Coyote (The Oregon Country Library, V. 6)

Book review by Jane
This is a book Joel forwarded to me. I was attracted to the western subject matter because we were planning a trip out to see Joel. I enjoyed reading about Coyote, who is a spirit apparently in the Native American tradition. Tracking Down Coyote went back and forth over some family vacations and a personal hiking trip the author took, and later compared a wagon expedition with his own hiking and camping trips. The book went over some of the Native American traditions, where they came from, and what they represented. Also included were excerpts from diaries of some of the pioneers, which I found interesting, as I love reaching into the past. For the author’s part, I couldn’t consider it an exact diary of what the author did because of the jumping back and forth, but it didn’t seem that the author finished what he set out to do. His pack was extra heavy and he encountered hardships. But he visited gravesites and milestones that he wished to see, so maybe he did finish in retrospect.

The end of the book was a little disturbing to me, however, and made me have a second take. I’m still not sure I got the author’s tone right, but the author did condone doing illegal acts to combat the logging industry to preserve the landscape from destruction. I would think there is more power in people coming together through the system, but the author seemed to think that the government would not step in until the damage was done and the money was reaped. The author is an educated person, who has also had real life experience, but had apparently seen enough to get this kind of opinion. I appreciated the second take, which made my reading experience more interesting and gave me points to ponder. The author brought quotes back from the pioneers as well, which seemed to give strength to his argument of standing up to the machine (literally). The author ended on the note of expressing that the reader get out and enjoy nature.

Jane.