Book excerpt: Oklahoma's central location makes it a natural crossroads, and the trails of yesterday became the superhighways of today. Perhaps the best example is Route 69, also known as the Jefferson Highway. The paved highway was begun in 1915, but its course was heavily traveled for centuries before that. Engineers could map no better path than the generations who cut it through the wilderness out of necessity. Author Jonita Mullins leads a journey along this ancient way that recalls some of Oklahoma's most important history and celebrates some of its most fascinating characters.