Sándor’s Oregon Trail is a five-part TV series looking for the right broadcaster.
Episode 1: Jumping Off, Missouri and Kansas
Sándor prepares his modern equipment with gore-tex and sunscreen for a long journey. And learns what the pioneers packed their wagons with at the National Frontier Trails Center in Independence, Missouri. From there, he crosses the Missouri river to Kansas, meeting members of the Pawnee, Osage, and Omaha tribes. He visits the spring where members of the Donner party carved their names before the world learned of their fate in the spring of 1847.
Episode 2: Across the Prairie, Nebraska
In Nebraska Sándor follows the Platte River across the prairies, visiting historic Fort Kearney, and the glorious landscapes of Chimney Rock, and Scotts Bluff. He meets Lakota people and learns some of their traditional skills. He learns why Mormon pioneers headed to their promised land of Salt Lake City traveled on the north bank of the river, and learns traditional skills like blacksmithing and traditional native archery.
Episode 3: Crossing the Rockies, Wyoming
In Wyoming, Sándor visits the Ayr ruts, where thousands of wagon wheels carved ruts six feet deep that remain today, and Fort Laramie, first a trading post and later a military station. After tasting the Sweetwater River and the view from the top of Independence Rock, he crosses the Rocky Mountains through South Pass, the key to getting wagons across the continent. And meets members of the Arapaho and Shoshone Tribes as well as the mountain men who gather every year to reenact the Green River Rendezvous.
Episode 4: Following the Snake, Idaho
On the western side of the Rocky Mountains, Sándor follows the Snake River across southern Idaho through sharp lava, visiting a spring where soda water bubbles up from the earth and Shoshone Falls, taller than Niagra. He meets members of the Shoshone and Bannock Tribes.
In Eastern Oregon, Sándor crosses the Blue Mountains and meets members of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation at their Tamastlikt Cultural Institute. After nearly 2,000 miles of travel, he reaches the Columbia River and paddles from The Dalles to the end of the Oregon Trail in Oregon City, now a suburb of Portland. He learns traditional fishing and salmon smoking from Columbia River tribes like the Yakama and Warm Springs.