Trail of the pinto to Oregon J. Paul Loomis signed first edition bookA long and often toned down story, this is almost more patently an account of part of the opening of the Northwest in the early 1800's than it is an adventure. For around the story of 14 year old Nat Kane, who is with Captain Bonneville's trapping and exploring expedition to the Columbia River country in 1832, are descriptions of Indians and their life, of the issues developing between Indians and white men and between the British and Americans. The plot is simple. Trano, a trapper and a member of the expedition, steals the furs for himself and then casts suspicion on Indians who have been friendly. Nat is instrumental in revealing him. But the narrative, covering the expedition's many battles and negotiations, with Blackfeet, Crows, the Nez Perce and the Hudson's Bay Company, is as much a history lesson as it is a story and at times is inclined to drag in detail.