Bill, retired after teaching high school history for thirty-three years in Commack, NY, lives in the East, but his heart is in the West. Some of his ancestors went west after the Civil War. He has spent his summers researching and traveling along the major trails for over thirty years. He has driven, hiked, and even ridden over parts of the trails. He has spent days in research facilities looking for old photos, sketches and maps and then spent summers traveling the West trying to locate the same places to photograph them as they appear today. Some sites were previously unknown, and he and his wife Jan even located and identified a grave of a gold rush Argonaut. He has lectured, served as a consultant, appeared in an Oregon Trail documentary, and written both books and articles about the West. He served two terms on the Board of Directors of the Oregon-California Trails Association (OCTA). He presently serves as its education chairperson. He is a member of the Western Writers of America, the Western History Association, and many other related organizations.

    Jan recently retired after teaching Special Education for thirty-two years on Long Island, NY. She has had a lifelong interest in history and has enjoyed traveling along many of the trails. Throughout the years she developed many materials which she successfully used with her own students. She was listed in Who's Who in American Education and was one of the recipients of OCTA's Outstanding Educator Awards in 1995.

Bill, Jan and their son cooking over buffalo chips at an earlier living history demonstration sponsored by the Oregon-California Trails Association. CLICK PICTURE FOR LARGER VIEW

Jan and Bill presenting a program to a school group.. CLICK PICTURE FOR LARGER VIEW