Oh, The Places We Will Go

I've always been a bit of a history buff. (It's genetic. Blame my dad.)

Naturally, when my friend Spartacus Jones put me onto the idea of a long ride, I knew that not just any 1,000 mile trek would do. I wanted to retrace history.

The Oregon Trail came to mind. That, however, is not terribly original. It is also very long. Plenty of longriders have made 2,000 mile journeys, of course, but they must have had more time and money at their disposal than I.

I thought again.

A bit of web surfing revealed scores of possiblities. The one that caught my eye was the Nez Perce Trail. At 1,170 miles, it's long enough to meet Long Riders Guild standards (I confess that I hope to someday be worthy of the honor of a membership invitation). It's in my corner of the country, which makes it more practicable than, say, the Wilderness Road. It offers a pleasant blend of wilderness and rural landscape.

More importantly, the Nez Perce Trail bleeds history -- almost literally. This is the path of Chief Joseph's historic retreat from the U.S. Army in 1877, when he fled with his people in an effort to keep peace with the whites while refusing to sign a treaty that would drastically reduce Nez Perce lands.

But the story is not so simple as that. The Nez Perce Trail is littered with with heroes slain, with villians triumphant and innocents lost, with betrayal and chicanery and revenge -- but also with courage and wisdom, perhaps even hope.

It holds questions, too, for me. Come, we will ask them together.