The several - months - long
journey ostensibly begins in St. Joseph, Missouri, but for Buck, whose father was an eccentric amateur adventurer, the
journey really began in his boyhood, during his family's covered - wagon
camping trips through New Jersey and Pennsylvania in the 1950s: «I had told myself that I was out on the trail seeking
adventure, knowledge of an epic era of American history, proof that a modern crossing could still be done.