Contained within the pages of this two volume set are hundreds of short stories retelling the history and exciting day-to-day experiences of the early Oregon Trail Pioneers. These stories were passed down to their family descendants and printed in the Sunday Oregonian newspapers in 1935-36. David W. Hazen, Staff Writer, The Oregonian, started the popular series and named it "Oregon or Bust". Additional articles are included in the books about the Indian Wars; the Gold Rush in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho; the Outlaws and Murderers that ravaged the Oregon Country; the Vigilantes who rounded up the lawless and "hung 'em high"; articles about several Northwest Empire Builders; the story of a pioneer woman who's 3 needles helped to built a university in Oregon; and one revealing how the human body is affected by the horrible effects of Near Starvation, Dehydration, and Malnutrition. The sides of the canvas-covered wagons often had the hastily scrawled words "Oregon or Bust" painted on them, written to encourage the determined travelers who had heart-pumping dreams of getting to Oregon--or die trying. Thousands did both.