SOLVED. a red wood tree and a pioneer on the oregon trail [s]

[Malbadeen]

my ex-father in-law has mentioned a book, several times, that he read as a child about a tree on the Oregon trail (maybe a red wood) and a pioneers passing the tree over time and the tree changing and growing until it ends up being the yolk for an ox.
Sound familiar?
wouldn't I be the best ex-daughter in-law ever if someone could help me find this?

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer]

I'll bet it's The Tree on the Trail by Holling C. Holling! I love his books, which are now coming back in print.

[Bryan457]

Definitely Tree in the Trail

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Malbadeen, are you still looking for this? Was it The Tree in the Trail?

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Malbadeen left the group but I'm moving this to Solved. One reviewer writes:

"A cottonwood tree cannot move from where it spouts, so, in this story, the world comes to the tree. As it grows and mature, a history rolls by from flint-arrow-shooting Indians without horses, to horse-proud Commanches, to Spanish soldiers to finally American wagoners bent on trade in Santa Fe. Through this, the tree endures until it dies of old age. Then, finally, it moves as a yoke for the oxen that pull a wagon of goods on the Santa Fe trail."