Local author celebrates 25th anniversary of her book

In a town brimming with creative spirits, talented writers, nature junkies and successful small business entrepreneurs - Leavenworth produces a lot of local talent and celebrated author Susan Butruille is one of them. Her well known novel, "Women's Voices from the Oregon Trail" will be returning in an expanded and updated format for the 25th anniversary edition.  
    The beginning of her career as a writer can be traced back to a fishing column she did while based in Petersburg, Alaska. Butruille then continued her career with bigger fish to fry - she completed her Oregon Trail book and then accomplished "Women's Voices from the Western Frontier", "Women's Voices from the Mother Lode: Tales from the California Gold Rush". In her books she incorporates music, poetry and even quilting.
    Although she's a Colorado native, Butruille is a Leavenworth resident since 2003 and is very interactive in the community, such as serving as a historical consultant for the Icicle Creek Center for the Arts. She was also a co-founder of the production "Dangerous Woman'.
    "(In 1991) I heard about the upcoming sesquicentennial of the Oregon Trail, the official beginning was in 1843 and I had studied and written about women's history a long time. I wanted to incorporate what I knew about women's history into the commemoration of the Oregon Trail so that women's voices would be included," said Susan Butruille.
    The 25th anniversary edition will have an added feature "Guide to Women's History Along the Oregon Trail" in the expansion and updated version of the book. In the first part of the book she covers the women's lives before they left for the journey, what the journey was like for them and what the journey was like when they landed. The second part, is the guide which goes state by state and contains information about places of interest while also covering both trail related and non trail related women's history.
    "I like it because there's so many monuments to men's experiences, men's achievements," said Butruille. "Women, not so much."
    Many historical adaptions, re-tellings and stories are often told through the eyes of prominent men and magnify their accomplishments littered across historical timelines. Butruille used her writing platform to highlight the perspective of the women making these historical treks. Her trio of books, including Oregon Trail, are significant amongst other historical documentations because she uses a different lens to view the past - looking through the eyes of the often times forgotten gender.
    "So often they're (women) either erased or left out," said Butruille. "And honestly I would say erased rather than forgotten, because erase has a connotation of purpose rather than accident."
    Though 25 years have passed since the book was published and nearly 175 years since the beginning of the Oregon Trail, Butruille reflects on how much things have both changed and remained stagnant over time.
    "When I first decided to write this book, I did what any independent thinking woman would do - I called my mother. We traveled the trail together," said Butruille. The pair started at the official beginning of the Oregon Trail in Independence, Missouri. "One interesting theme of our trip was that as we were traveling we were also listening to the confirmation hearings for Justice Clarence Thomas, who was accused of sexual harassment so it's quite jarring that we've just been through the Kavannagh trial. And it kind of all turned out the same."
    Throughout her journey tracing the Oregon Trail, her and her mother conversed over what the women on the trail were thinking and doing at particular points. Butruille also stopped at museums, gathered information, got copies of diaries and even collected recipes. Before updating the 25th anniversary edition, her husband joined her this time as she traveled the trail again.
    "I really needed to travel the trail again and find the changes and common threads between then and now," said Butruille. "The journey was very different than the one with my mother, but both equally inspiring."
    Locals will have a chance to learn more about her inspiring journey when Butruille will sign copies and listen in person to her presentation on several opportunities this November. She can be found at the Leavenworth Library on Friday, Nov. 16 at 6:30 p.m., a Book for All Seasons, on Sat., Nov. 17 at 1 p.m. and a Wine and Chocolate Event at the Upper Valley Museum at Wenatchee River Institute on Sat., Nov. 24 at 4 p.m. At the Leavenworth Library event. At the library event, she will be singing at least one song either reminiscent of the time or from the time.
    "I hope it (the book) gives them a better understanding of the position of the women who came - their social positions, contributions that they made to the migration and their attempts at communicating with the people that they encountered. And just a deeper appreciation of traces of women's history wherever you happen to be," said Butruille.