Most of the material for this website was collected and organized in the years of 2020-24. In 2021, just before traveling along the Oregon Trail, I had the idea that a compilation of the writing of some of the notable diarists who went on the trail in the mid-1800s could be presented as an account of the daily life of the pioneers. 

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I drew primarily from six different journals of those who made the trip to provide the reader a daily account of the journey beginning in late April when most caravans began the journey from NW Missouri through to the end of the journey in Western Oregon in mid to late Fall. The diarists are:

 

Father Lempfrit’s name was Honore-Timothee Lempfrit (1803-1862), a French Catholic priest who had recently arrived in America. Belonging to the order of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, the forty-five-year-old priest was being sent by his order to serve as a missionary among the Indians in Oregon. An Irish Catholic emigrant in St. Joseph by the name of David O'Neil struck a deal with the priest. For fifty dollars, O'Neil agreed to carry his baggage in his two already overstuffed wagons and would provide him with meals. Father Lempfrit then went and bought himself a tent and a "pretty little black pony" on which to ride across the plains. He went West on the Oregon Trail in 1848.

 

Keturah Belknap (1820-1913) was the 28-year-old wife of George Belknap and the mother of their three-year-old boy, Jesse. She had previously lost three infant children due to illness and was presently in her 2nd term of pregnancy. Her account of the journey was taken from the book, “Emigrants on the Overland Trail.” Their wagon train left St. Joseph on May 4, 1848 with the Watts group from Iowa.

 

Agnes Stewart (1832-1921) was a 21-year-old single woman traveling with her family from Allegheny City, Pennsylvania. The account of her journey was given in a monograph by Claire Warner Churchill called “The Journey to Oregon: A Pioneer Girl’s Diary”, Oregon Historical Quarterly, March 1928. Their wagon train left St. Joseph on May 3, 1853.

 

Mary Ann Boatman (1833-1911) and her husband, Willis, were married in 1851 in Illinois; they did not start having children until they were settled in Oregon. Mary Ann’s account of the journey is taken from the book, “Surviving the Oregon Trail, 1852.” Their wagon train left Council Bluff on May 20, 1852.

 

Joel Palmer (1810-1881) from Indiana, was chosen as the captain of an 1845 wagon train. His “Journal of Travels over the Rocky Mountains to the Mouth of the Columbia River” quickly became a popular guide for future immigrants on the Oregon Trail.  His wagon train left Independence on May 6, 1845.

 

Medorem Crawford (1819-1891) was a 23-year-old when he first traveled the Oregon Trail in 1842. He married after arriving in Oregon and he and his wife had seven children. He also led three additional wagon trains to Oregon in 1861, 1862 & 1863. His journal was published in booklet form as the “Oregon Trail Journal of Medorem Crawford” in 1897. His group left Independence on April 29, 1842.

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The following was taken from Newton G. Finley’s 1852 Memoir (Oregon Trail Stories, compiled by TwoDot publishing.) I like it because it says so much about the food and implements taken on the Oregon trip by the typical family.

 

Tents and Supplies

     Each family prepared tents for themselves and also looked after their supplies of food. These tents were of simple durable construction: the frame consisting of three poles of convenient proportions; two being the same length used as uprights, the third used as a ridge-prier and

indicating the length of tent. These three timbers being then ingenious united, completed the framework then with the cloth covering and ropes for anchoring with the necessary stakes for pinning in the earth, and the sleeping quarters are complete.

     Cooking vessels consisted of pots with bails or handles attached, and large Dutch Ovens for baking bread. The arrangements for hanging vessels over the fire were made by taking two iron rods of equal length pointed at one end with rings formed at the opposite extremity, sufficiently large to admit a good stout steel bar and hooks, then we have the outfit complete for boiling food and preparing all liquid refreshments. Fuel was a big factor, and on the open plains consisting largely of buffalo chips and sage brush. Water was abundant and of good quality.

     Our supply of food was bountiful and of the best grade also of great variety, consisting in part of: cornmeal, flour, buckwheat flour, ham, bacon, sausages, dried beef, beans, peas, potatoes, rice, coffee, tea, sugar, honey, syrup, milk, butter, dried fruits, apples (green), walnuts, hickory nuts, hazel nuts, etc. Each family did their own cooking. We had fresh milk twice daily, butter fresh daily, procured simply by placing milk at morning in the churn, put it aboard the wagon, at night we had the genuine article.

 

Here is another narrative about recommended provisions for families planning for the trip on the Oregon Trail. It is taken from the 1846 journal of Joel Palmer (Journal of Travels Over the Rocky Mountains to the Mouth of the Columbia River).

     Each family should be provided with a sheet-iron stove, with boiler; a plat­form can easily be constructed for carrying it at the hind end of the wagon; and as it is frequently quite windy, and there is often a scarcity of wood, the stove is very convenient. Each family should also be pro­vided with a tent, and to it should be attached good strong cords to fasten it down.

     The cooking fixtures generally used are of sheet iron; a Dutch Oven and skillet of cast metal are very essential. Plates, cups, &c., should be of tin ware, as queens-ware is much heavier and liable to break, and consumes much time in packing up. A reflector is sometimes very use­ful. Families should each have two churns, one for carrying sweet and one for sour milk. They should also have one eight- or ten-gallon keg for carrying water, one axe, one shovel, two or three augers, one hand saw, and if a farmer he should be provided with one cross­cut saw and a few plough moulds, as it is difficult getting such articles in Oregon. When I left the country, ploughs cost from twenty-five to forty dollars each. A good supply of ropes for tying up horses and catching cattle, should also be taken. Every person should be well supplied with boots and shoes, and in fact with every kind of clothing. It is also well to be supplied with at least one feather bed, and a good assortment of bedding. There are no tame geese in the country, but an abun­dance of wild ones; yet it is difficult procuring a sufficient quantity of feathers for a bed. The Muscovy is the only tame duck in the country.

     For each adult, there should be two hundred pounds of flour, thirty pounds of pilot bread, seventy-five pounds of bacon, ten pounds of rice, five pounds of coffee, two pounds of tea, twenty-five pounds of sugar, half a bushel of dried beans, one bushel of dried fruit, two pounds of saleratus, ten pounds of salt, half a bushel of corn meal; and it is well to have a half bushel of corn, parched and ground; a small keg of vinegar should also be taken. To the above may be added as many good things as the means of the person will enable him to carry; for whatever is good at home, is none the less so on the road. The above will be ample for the journey; but should an additional quantity be taken, it can readily be disposed of in the mountains and at good prices, not for cash, but for robes, dressed skins, buckskin pants, moccasins, &c. It is also well for families to be provided with medicines. It is seldom however, that emigrants are sick; but sometimes eating too freely of fresh buffalo meat causes diarrhoea, and unless it be checked soon prostrates the individual, and leaves him a fit subject for disease.

 

 

1st Day in Kansas: [Note: In all of the diarist's accounts, I have given their exact wording, with no correction of spelling, punctuation, etc. Any comments of my own or other editors are given in italics.]

 

C.W. Cooke- April 29. Crossed the river from St. Joseph, arose the bluff, and encamped on the western hill, with a fine view of the river on the East, and the Indian Territory spread out like an immense map on the west. The weather was fine, the air pure, and the prospect truly delightful. [The ferry took them across the Missouri River to northeast Kansas, where they would cover 130 miles in the next 13 days.]

 

Keturah Belknap- April 26. All are on the stir to get to the wharf before the other com­pany gets here, and now begins the scene of danger. The river is high and looks terrific; one wagon and two yoke of oxen are over first so as to have a team to take the wagons out of the way; it is just a rope ferry. All back safe. Now they take the wagons and loose horses. They say it will take about all day to get us over. Next the loose cattle that go as they are in a dry lot without anything to eat. When they get the cattle on the boat they found one of our cows (Brock) was sick; she had got poisoned by eating the Jimpson weeds. She staggered when she walked on the ferry and in the crowd she was knocked overboard and went under but when she came up the boat man had his rope ready and throwed  out and lassoed her and they hauled her to land but she was too far gone to travel so the boatman said he would take our wagon and stock over for the chance of her so they hauled her up to the house and the last we saw of her a woman had wrapped her in a warm blanket and had a fire and was bathing her and pouring milk and lard down her. She could stand alone the next morning so we bade farewell to the Missouri River and old Brock. The Watts company will stay here till the Jacksons (George, Benjamin and Andrew) get over the river and we will move on to fresh grass and water.

 

Agnes Stewart- May 3. We will leave this place today and glad to get away. I cannot like St. Joseph. There is beautiful scenery around here but I do not like it so well as my native hills. They were bare and shabby. but, oh dear, they were childhood's home. There first I learned to romp and play and love others so well. There was a young man made a bargain with us to go to Oregon to help us on the way. His name is John Stewart. He is from Tennessee. [Not related to Agnes' family.] The last load to cross the river in the evening which consisted of four men and one yoke of oxen met with trouble. The ferry ran onto a root of a tree in the water and upset. All the men were drowned, and the cattle, although yoked together, swam out and were recovered next morning. The men had been drinking too much and were reckless.

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2nd Day:

 

C.W. Cooke- This morning when we arose about half our cattle were gone owing to the carelessness of some of the company who thought it useless to stand guard. Twas late when we got off and we travelled 3 miles and encamped on Mosquito creek...here an old dead Indian warrior wrapped in his rug and sitting high up in an oak tree was a striking example of the peculiar mode of interment, as well as character of these singular people.

 

Keturah Belknap- Mosquito Creek, Kansas. We will now form a company and make some laws so all will have their part. Some of the oxen are getting tender-footed; they have been trying to shoe them but gave it up. I have washed and ironed and cooked a nice skillet of corn bread (enough for two dinners for George, Jessie, and I). This morning the roll is called and everyone is expected to answer his name. They have quite a time with the election of officers. Every man wants an office. George Jackson and Joe Watts are pilots; they have both been over the road before and have camping places noted down so now we take the trail again. The order is for the first one hitched up [to] "roll out." So we are ahead on the lead today. Then Beathers are next but tomorrow we will be behind.

 

Somehow, there were no diary entries for Agnes Stewart for the next two weeks; Keturah is silent for the next five days.

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3rd Day:

 

As a fill-in for Agnes Stewart and Keturah Belknap for the next couple of weeks, I will post accounts from other diarists from the 1848 wagon train at this point in the trail. Today’s substitute diarist is William Porter. He writes:

 

William Porter- Started with the intention of going only 8 miles—we crossed a small stream about as large as Bay Creek on which are some Indians making some attempt to farm. Three miles further is what is called the agency [Nemaha Indian Sub­agency] at which place we arrived about noon, and not knowing the distance across the prairie we continued on till 11 o'clock in the night and then stopped without wood or water. You should leave this agency early in the morning. There is a farm at this agency which appears to be conducted poorly. Retraced 4 or 5 miles of our road for the purpose of getting to wood and water off the road to the left. Water plenty, but wood scarce. Two of our company went back to the agency to get their wagons repaired, and we were lying by the rest of today.

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4th Day:

 

The substitute diarist for today and tomorrow is William Anderson, a young single man employed by Isaac Miller to drive one of his wagons. He wrote:

 

William Anderson- We traveled about 16 miles and camped in the open Pereri [prairie] without wood and but very little watter no watter for our stock at all we concluded to caral [corral] our cattle to keep them from straying off in search of watter so we formed a caral with the waggons leaving three gaps in it at dark the cattle were drove in and a gard placed at each gap ... about 11 o'clock when everything was still and the cattle all laying down and as dark as a stack of black cats all at once one of the girls sleeping in one of the waggons kicked a basket of tin dishes out the fore part of the waggon it fell on the tung [tongue] from there on the ground making a tremendous racket in an instant every ox was up and runing out and gone here we cattlemen boys and dogs yelling "sooke sooke hoah hoah hoah" over the pereri for about a mile when we succeeded in getting round them and drove them back into the caral where we kept them a few minutes when one knocked a yoke down that was sitting up against the waggon and here they all went agan we got them up and they broke out a third time so we gave it up and never carraled our cattle any more to guard inside our waggon carall.

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5th Day: 

 

William Anderson- We again started and traveled 14 miles when we were over­taken by a storm which gave us a complete drenching and we were forced to camp on the plains out of sight of timber without any fire all wet and cold and shivering thus we passed the night the rain pouring down in torrents the most part of the fore part of the night I was on gard until midnight then crawled under a waggon and lay until morning and not a dry thread on me. [This was near present-day Sabetha, Kansas]

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6th Day: 

 

 "The wind blew so hard I could not get out of the wagon for fear of being blown away," complained Martha Moore. "The wind so rocked the wagons that in vain I wooed the goddess Sleep." But the wind that accompanied a Platte valley storm could be downright ruinous. This caprice of the wind was experienced by William Knight: "A suddent gust wrenched my felt hat from my head and the next instant a blinding flash revealed it more than 100 feet in the air. I never saw it again."[If there was time to batten down the hatches, it might be done as J. Carr reports:] "tie the mules to the wheels and lash the wagons down to picket pins." Or one might follow Abbott's recommendation: "Place wagons in the form of a V, pointed west, and stake down every horse inside the V. But if the gale was of sufficient force, precautions were futile; tents were blown down and wagon covers were ripped away. Jared Fox exclaimed that the hurricane “nearly turned our wagons wrong side out." East of Fort Laramie, F. S. Dean saw two wagons blown upside down.

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7th Day: 

 

C.W. Cooke- We have had but eleven wagons previously, today James Curl and Richard Miller overtook us with 31 more and 200 cattle, the prairie level as a sea far as your eye can reach. Travelled 12 miles and encamped. This evening we organized and elected James Curl Captain or genl…Superintendent with powers and prerogatives subject to the direction of a Board of trustees, or committee of 3, the train having started from the 3 different counties, each division appointed a Commissioner. Those from Nodaway chose James Fulkerson and Richard Miller, those from Holt, Judge Kimsey, those from Buchanan, C. W. Cooke. [The group calling itself "The Plains Baptist Church" was co-captained by James Fulkerson and the Reverend Richard Miller, who was Mary Ramsey Miller Fulkerson's brother and the husband of Nancy Leeper Fulkerson, a sister of James Fulkerson. James' daughter Margaret would later marry James Curl’s son, Caleb. Margaret and Caleb would be 16 and 18 at the time of the journey.]

 

Editor's Quote- You walk through a series of arches, so to speak, and then, presently, at the end of a corridor, a door opens and you see backward through time, and you feel the flow of time, and realize that you’re only part of a great endless procession.  John Huston

 

8th Day:

 

C.W. Cooke- Council met and after taking the strength of the company and finding it to be 48 men capable of bearing arms, divided them off in the companies of six with a sergeant at the head of each...Divided the night into 4 watches of 2-1/2 hours each...4 watches each night...8 sergeant companies…makes a man stand 2-1/2 hours every second night...traveled 12 miles today...passed 2 companies, hundreds of Oregon migrants. Encamped on the Nimahaw. [This would be close to present-day St. Benedict, Kansas and 50 miles west of St. Joseph, Missouri.]

 

Keturah Belknap- [Nemaha River, Kansas.] Just as we were ready to sit down to supper, Joe Meek and his posse of men rode into camp. They were going to Washington D. C. to get the government to send soldiers to protect the settlers in Oregon and they told us all about the Indian Massacre at Walla Walla called the "Whitman Massacre." They had traveled all winter and some of their men had died [one of Meek's fabrications] and they had got out of food and had to eat mule meat so we gave them all their supper and breakfast. The captain divided them up so all could help feed them. Father B. Belknap was captain so he and George took three so they made way with most my stuff I had cooked up.

     Some want to turn back and others are telling what they would do in case of an attack. I sit in the wagon and write a letter as these men say if we want to send any word back they will take it and drop it in the first Post Office they come to so I am writing a scratch to a lady friend. While I'm writing I have an exciting experience. George is out on guard and in the next wagon behind ours a man and woman are quarreling. She wants to turn back and he wont go so she says she will go and leave him with the children and he will have a good time with that crying baby, then he used some very bad words and said he would put it out of the way. Just then I heard a muffled cry and a heavy thud as something was thrown against the wagon box and she said "Oh you've killed it" and he swore some more and told her to keep her mouth shut or he would give her some of the same. Just then word came, change guards. George came in and Mr. Kitridge went out so he and his wife parted for the night. The baby was not killed. I write this to show how easy we can be deceived. We have a rest and breakfast is over. Meek and his men are gathering their horses and packing, ... The woman was out by the roadside with a little buggy and her baby asleep in the wagon under a strong opiate.

 

9th Day: 

 

C.W. Cooke- Travelled 12 miles the cattle wandering so much evening and morning, after the guard comes off and before they go on have caused us to lose more cattle than any other difficulty…There being some 4 old men and 12 or 15 boys in camp the former unoccupied and the latter in mischief and indolence…The council met and appointed the old men captains over the boys to guard the stock of evenings...From the time we stop till night and of mornings from the time the regular guards come off till we start...the old men to manage the boys alternately...Resolved also that the last sergeant at daylight in the morning have a trumpet sounded when every cow must be milked and every ox yoked before the guard is released or the cattle turned out to graze.

 

Agnes Stewart- We have traveled 12 miles today. I am very tired, sitting in the shade of a tree waiting for the wagons to come up. Still, we go on. I walked more today than I ever did before. I do wish Stewart's folks would come up to us, as I do not like to be parted from any of our people. [This refers to a sister and her husband who were some distance behind.] When we all get together again, I hope we will not be parted. It is very warm today, but a nice breeze flying makes it pleasant. It is nice when all is well and happy. Passing a muddy little run. I don't know its name. Take in wood and water and go on again. How beautiful everything looks. As far as I can see it is beauti­ful green hills and I can see many trees in the distance, and I can see a thunder cloud in the distance, too,—black, black it rises, and then it rolls, and all is so grand. The sun beam­ing through in one place makes the clouds blacker. In appearance the forked lightning flashes and seems to drop to the ground. I must get in the wagon and not get wet if I can help it. It makes one so uncomfortable. Oh, such a windy day. We could not have a fire to cook breakfast. We had to travel five miles to a hollow place. 'Tis dreadful cold. Oh, the wind goes to a person's heart. I will shiver to death. I feel for the men gathering the cattle and yoking them up. It was so cold for them, and no warm breakfast. Camping under the heavens as usual.

 

Editor’s Note: I have become so pleased with the whimsicality and humor of a Father Lempfrit’s diary notes, that I will be including the account of his 1848 journey from now on. His name was Honore-Timothee Lempfrit, a French Catholic priest who had recently arrived in America. Belonging to the order of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, the forty-five-year-old priest was being sent by his order to serve as a missionary among the Indians in Oregon. An Irish Catholic emigrant in St. Joseph by the name of David O'Neil struck a deal with the priest. For fifty dollars, O'Neil agreed to carry his baggage in his two already overstuffed wagons and would provide him with meals. Father Lempfrit then went and bought himself a tent and a "pretty little black pony" on which to ride across the plains.

 

Father Lempfrit- Around 10 o'clock we were surrounded by Indians called Pawnee. If I would not have been in America I would have believed myself present at carnival time, a real masquerade! They were daubed with red, white and yellow; some had their skin painted in long lines rather like the zebra, some had one eye red, the other white, and others had their faces painted in four or five colours. Their chief wore on his chest three big tin medals, these bore the effigy of George III, King of England. The chief's hair was dressed in the form of a horse's mane, the hair at the back was drawn up towards the front, and instead of a large hairpin he stuck a sheaf of green reeds through his hair. This handsome head of hair was adorned with ... a long dragoon's sword sheath from which he hung a sheaf of reeds. At St. Joseph I had procured a pretty little black pony for myself. I had a beautiful saddle with a fur horse blanket that was very attractive to the Indian chief; he eyed it with envy.

 

10th Day: 

 

Agnes Stewart- We present a sight watching the cattle with a whip while the men are yoking them up, some packing up the wagons. Little Janet Warner passing around with a coverless umbrella. Stewart's folks in sight. Cattle lying on the ground. What awkward attempts some of the men make at yoking the cattle. Some of them scarcely ever saw cattle before they started on this journey. Some of them swearing. I think they might do without that, sinning their souls away for nothing. How plain we are told, "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord, thy God, in vain." And yet one would think there was no hereafter, or no God to serve.

 

Father Lempfrit- Today, a strange adventure befell me. I had taken the lead with my pony. I came into a huge plain. By midday I had not yet found the smallest stream and I was dying of thirst. The caravan was late and I urged my horse hoping to come to come across some little spring. Around four o'clock I stopped to say my office [prayers]. My horse was grazing about ten paces away from me. All of a sudden I see him rear up on his hind legs, absolutely terrified, immediately I notice two moving shadows that seemed to me like the top of two barouches. At first I thought that it was the caravan's vehicles arriving, but while I reflected that we had no waggons covered in blue, I could discern two objects, one white, the other blue. So I went up to my horse to get my spyglass. What was my surprise when, with the aid of my glass, I unmistakably distinguished two Indians creep­ing along, with blankets over their heads. The wind was blowing up the blankets in a way that made them appear like carriages to me. I was frightened. I mounted my horse, departed at a gallop, and made for a forest in which to hide whilst waiting for the caravan to arrive. Towards 7 o'clock in the evening I thought I could see three men coming. Indeed these were our people. I told them about my adventure and they laughed uproariously!

 

Edwin Bryant in 1846- Late in the afternoon we reached the summit of a ridge, overlooking a [The Little Blue River in Kansas] valley, through which winds a small rivulet, the banks of which are fringed with tim­ber. The view from the ridge of the beautiful valley below appeared almost like a creation of enchantment. Involuntary exclamations of pleasure and admira­tion escaped from the lips of the whole advance party as soon as the scene became visible.

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11th Day

 

Agnes Stewart- It is a beautiful day. The sun is shining bright and warm, and a cool breeze blowing makes it very nice indeed, and it seems very much like home. If I had a horse—but, no, I would not like that either. Oh, they are just starting, so I must stop for today. Oh, I feel so lonesome today. Sometimes I can govern myself, but not always, but I hold in pretty well considering all things. Trying to write walking but it won't do. We stopped for the night in a pretty place.

 

Father Lempfrit- I took the lead with my little pony. We came into vast and beautiful prairie land where there were some very pretty little hills. Unfortunately, my horse was too nimble, and I found myself too far ahead. The caravan had halted at 6 o'clock that evening. I was alone in that immense prairie—it was as if I were alone in the world. Not the smallest sound came to tear me away from my rever­ies. I waited in vain until 9 o'clock in the evening. In Europe, the Christian soul rejoices when hearing the sound of the bells; here there is absolute silence, it is as if nature is in suspended animation. I started to feel afraid and decided to return on my tracks. It was not until very late at night that I caught sight of our campfires.

 

Elizabeth Geer and J. Q. Thornton -The Big Blue [also called Blue Earth River] was second only to the Kaw in difficulty of crossing. This 1846 expedition addressed itself to crossing the Big Blue, said Thornton, "by the construction of large canoes, to be used, when lashed together, as a sort of raft. .. . Two large cottonwood tree ... Were felled.... It was intended to unite them by means of cros timbers, so as to admit the wheels of the wagon . . . then to attach lines to both ends of this 'Big Blue Rover' ... and by pulling backward and forward, convey over all our wagons and goods." In 1850 a Dr. Tompkins found the Big Blue "12 rods wide and so deep that floats or rafts are indispensable for crossing. Several persons are drowned at this crossing every year.... Such horrid noises caused the braying of the asses, lowing of oxen, screaming of women and children with the fiendish cursing and swearing shouted in all languages by furious madmen was enough to becraze the greatest stoic in all Christendom."

 

12th Day​

 

Agnes Stewart- We started early this morning. We'll surely make a good day's travel today. A beautiful day. Lizzie [her older sister] is quite ill with some bad disease. Left Stewart's folks for good I suppose. This seems hard to bear for mother frets so much. If he [Stewart] would throw away one of his big wagons then we would wait for him. Yet if it was not for Anna and the children, I would not care so much, but it is hard to leave them behind. Martha, if you could see me now, traveling in the hot sun, and thinking of you. Passed the grave of a young man, just 21 years of age. Starting with all the pride of his heart in life, thinking, no doubt, of wealth and pleasure, when he possessed the wealth that thousands had done before him, but left with all his wild ambitions to wander away on the plains. Perhaps some romantic notion filled his heart before he started. Such things often happen to people. Perhaps a dear wife, or sisters, not knowing where he is, expecting his return at some appointed time, are to be disappointed. "Hope deferred maketh the heart sick." This is very true.

 

Father Lempfrit- There were only 11 waggons in our caravan; another of 21 waggons was three days ahead of us. The captain proposed to me that I take the lead with an Irishman and go and request the captain of that caravan to wait for us. I was told that the caravan was only 45 miles away, that is why we took only a small quantity of food with us. I had three biscuits and a roasted starling—we left at 8 o'clock in the morning. We covered twenty-five miles without meeting up with the caravan.

 

James Pritchard in 1849 at the beginning of the Gold Rush to California- By noone today [May 11, 1849] we came to where the St. Joseph road & Indipen­dance road came together. It was allarming to see the long strings of wagons that were on the road. I counted just passing before us as we came into the St. Jo. road 90 Ox teams in one string. And as far as the eye could reach forward and back the road was just lined with them. It would appear from the sight befor us that the Nation was disgorgeing it self and sending off its whole inhabitance.

 

Editor’s Note: We are now accompanied by two new diarists who will continue with us all the way to Oregon and whose wagon trains from Independence, Missouri met the trail from St. Joseph near Hanover, Kansas. They are Joel Palmer and Medorem Crawford.

 

Joel Palmer- In the afternoon we struck the Blue River along which fifty miles lay the route we were traveling. Its banks afford oak, ash and hickory, and often open out into wide and fertile bottoms. Here and there we observed cotton wood and willow. The pea vine grows wild, in great abundance on the bottoms. The pea is smaller than our common garden pea and afforded us a pleasant vegetable. We saw also a few wild turkies. Today we reached a point where a trail turns from this stream, a distance of twenty-five miles, to the Platte or Nebraska river. We kept the left hand route, and some nine or ten miles beyond this trail, we made our last encampment on the river.

 

Medorem Crawford- Started at 6 o'clock AM. Stopped 1:00 hours for dinner, overtook the company. Camped on the Blue at just past 4 o'clock E. traviled 21 miles.

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13th Day, Nebraska: [By day's end they had crossed into Nebraska, southeast of present-day Fairbury.]

 

Medorem Crawford- Cloudy morning started at just past 7 o'clock. Stopped for dinner at p. 11: started at p. 2. Camped at 7 o'clock E. on the head waters of the Blue R. which we have been following up for the last 3 days, good water & wood, traviled 16 miles.

 

Agnes Stewart- It is raining today and we cannot go on. I am very sick today with the pain in my breast. It is not any better. I wish it was daylight. We camped at a place where a woman had been buried and the wolves had dug her up. Her hair was there with a comb in it still. She had been buried too shallow. It seems a dreadful fate, but what is the difference? One cannot feel after the spirit is flown. I would as soon not be buried at all as to be dug out of my grave.

 

Father Lempfrit- We were going down and Before long a piercing scream came to our ears; my companion (the Irishman) is terrified, he thinks the Indians are after us. "Indian, Indian," he cries, taking off at a gallop. I followed him. Fear had led astray this poor man's senses, he was out of his mind. He did not stop until he reached the edge of a forest more than ten miles away. As it was dark we were able to go no further. I wanted at least that we take cover in the thickness of the forest. Impossible! My friend was so fearful of the Indians that he wanted to bed down in open country. We set our horses free to graze, attaching them with a rope long enough for them to find sufficient grass. Then we ate the remainder of our provisions. The weather was stormy, we were without shelter and I had only my coat to protect me from the rain. We both wrapped ourselves up in it. I would have slept quite well but for my Irishman who could not sleep a wink, believing at every moment that he heard Indians coming upon us unexpectedly. I told him to arm himself with the sign of the cross he set about doing this endlessly, he kept waking me up to show me that he knew how to make it well, asking me if it was properly done like this.... About 4 o'clock in the morning I woke up absolutely soaked by the rain that had been falling throughout a good part of the night. We at once saddled our horses in order to resume our search. We went thirty miles without eating anything.

 

Edwin Banks, 1949- Today we passed the intersection of the Independence road. . . . The multitude that is going is wonderful. It seems as if the whole world was going to market.

 

W. McBride, 1850- At the junction the numbers doubled. . . . they will probably double again from the Council Bluffs Road. . . . it did seem that when they all would all come together they would be like a swarm of locusts.... often more than 700 wagons in view.

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14th Day-

 

C.W. Cooke- travelled 12 miles and encamped on the north bank of the Little Blue Earth river...Buffalo sign today the first we have seen one large dead one being by the road side…met 2 Delaware Indians...first and only Indians since we left Wolf River 20 miles from the states. [The last comment is striking - they really felt they were leaving American soil and civilization behind.]

 

Father Lempfrit- Without provisions we lost heart; we thus resolved to return. The Irish­man still had a piece of bacon that we roasted on the fire, and we ate it with great relish. We went to bed down a few miles from there, then the next day we traveled the whole day without eating anything.... Great was our joy when half an hour later, we found our people. Nearly all of them were asleep. They made haste to prepare something for us to eat, as we were in dire need of food. What made me suffer the most during those three or four days was being deprived of tobacco. I had forgotten to refill my tobacco pouch, with the result that I spent two complete days without having any. Those who have the unfortunate habit of taking snuff will be able to understand what I had to endure.

 

William Anderson- We traveled 17 miles ... just before we camped [about five miles south of present day  Edgar, Nebraska] Isaac Owens came verry near upsetting his waggon there was sort [short] turn to make round a deep washed gorge in making the turn the fore wheel ran off the bank fortunately he stopped the team just as the axel tree struck the ground and saved it from being mashed to pieces then took the team loose and puled the waggon back and pried up the front wheel and got it out without any injury about this time it commenced raining and it pored down in torents and continued all night.

 

Joel Palmer. We set out at the usual hour and crossed over the country to Platte river; having measured the road with the chain, we ascertained the distance to be eighteen and a half miles, from our encampment of last night. It is all a rolling prairie; and in one spot, we found in pools a little standing water. Some two miles before reaching the Platte bottom the prairie is extremely rough; and as far as the eye can reach up and down that river, it is quite sandy." We encamped near a marshy spot, occasioned by the overflow of the river, opposite an island covered with timber, to which we were obliged to go through the shallows of the river for fuel, as the main land is entirely destitute of trees. Near us the Platte bottom is three and a half miles wide, covered with excellent grass, which our cattle ate greedily, being attracted by a salt like substance which covers the grass and lies sprinkled on the surface of the ground. We observed large herds of antelope in our travel of today. In the evening it rained very hard.

 

Agnes Stewart- Made a short day's travel. Seen two buffalo. Mother a little better. Helen [another sister] found a pocketbook. Someone will wish they had not lost it. It contained some friendship lines, some lines of poetry, a lock of hair, but lost to him now. Camping on the vast prairie and in sight of the Platte River.

 

15th Day-

 

C.W. Cooke- Traveled 25 miles and encamped at the grand island on the main Platte river. [At this point they were a little north and east of the regular Trail route, which joined the Platte River to the southwest at present-day Lowell, Nebraska. This would be about 250 miles of travel from St. Joseph, Missouri.]

Father Lempfrit . . . very pretty little roses and some jasmine.... The further we go, the more picturesque the country becomes. One might say that Nature has taken great pleasure in beautifying these wild regions, I said to myself while gazing upon places so lovely, that she must smile to herself that man has so late discovered some of her most beautiful creations.

 

William Anderson- I had a curiosity to know something about the width of this river so I puled off my pants and waded to the opposite shore in the deepest places. I found it was only about 3 feet deep as I came back I steped it and found it to be over 2000 steps across [about a mile] the most singular river I ever saw.

 

Medorem Crawford- Cold, damp, & disagreeable morning rained until 10 O'clock. Started at just past 1 o'clock, camped at past 6 o'clock. traviled 10 miles.

 

Joel Palmer- Our week of advance traveling being expired, we resolved to make a short drive, select a suitable spot, and lay by for washing. We accordingly encamped about six miles up Platte river. As I had been elected captain but for two weeks, and my term was now expired, a new election was held, which resulted in the choice of the same person. The captain, Welsh, who was origi­nally elected by all the companies, had been with us one week, and some dissatisfaction was felt, by our company, at the degree of authority he seemed disposed to exercise. We found, too, that it was bad policy to require the several companies to wait for each other; — our supply of provision was considered barely sufficient for the journey, and it behooved us to make the best use of our time. At present one of the companies was supposed to be two or three days travel in the rear. We adopted a resolution desiring the several companies to abandon the arrangement that required each to delay for the others; and that each company should have the use of the pilot according to its turn. Our proposition was not, for the present, accepted by the other companies. While we were at our washing encampment one of the companies passed us, the other still remaining in the rear.

 

Editor’s Note: We are joined now by our last regular diarist, Mary Ann Boatman, who started from Council Bluffs, Iowa. Mary Ann and Willis Boatman were newlyweds from Illinois. The trail from Council Bluffs and that of the St. Joseph/Independence trails would have intersected at about this point on the Platte River. The account of the Boatman’s journey can be found in “Surviving The Oregon Trail: 1852 by Weldon Willis Rau.

 

Mary Ann Boatman- They [the Turners] all talked the matter over and came to the con­clusion that the best thing they could do would be to retrace their steps homeward. So that was decided by all but one man by the name of Warner, a man of about 40 years of age, who had crossed the plains in 46 to Oregon, and had gone back to Illinois to visit his old home in the fall of '51. On hearing of the Turners making preparations to emigrate to Oregon, he had hired on to the old Mr. Turner [the Deacon] to drive one of his teams. In fact, I think he was the instigator of the move of the whole Turner family. His people lived in their neighborhood and he told such glowing accounts of the far western country that it excited the Turners into action. They sold their farms and made preparation to move to Oregon where they could get donation claims of 160 acres apiece. They, like everybody, thought all one had to do was to take up a claim and go to plowing... No one was expected to get sick and die and that all would be in our favor. As for our party, no one persuaded us to start. My brother William had made preparation to go to California with a party, but as time drew near for them to start, the two men that were in with him backed out. So my husband and his brother John concluded it would be a good chance for them to go in company with him. So the matter was talked over and all decided to go to Oregon and join the Turner train.

 

Agnes Stewart- Passing Fort Kearney. There has passed here 13,000 people, 3,000 wagons, and about 90,000 head of stock. It is a little village 310 miles from St. Joseph. Time seems to roll. Camped near Ft. Kearney. Wednesday, three Indians passed us strangely dressed. Bought one yoke of oxen. Gave $80.00 for them. Sick today as usual. We are near the Platte River which they say is four miles wide. There is a storm now and I am in the wagon by myself. The rest of them are eating their supper in the other one. What dreadful swearing!

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16th Day-

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Father Lempfrit- Someone came galloping up to fetch me to come to the aid of the Captain's son who had fallen from the waggon. He said the boy had broken his legs. I take off at a gallop and reach a spot near where the people were gathered together. I examined the injury. Luckily no bones were broken, it was the tendons that were hurt. I think my patient is now all right.

 

Joel Palmer- Having traveled about eight miles, we halted at noon, making short drives, to enable the rear company to join us. We have no tidings of it as yet. We met seventy-five or eighty Pawnee Indians returning from their spring hunt.

 

Medorem Crawford- Left Blue R. at 6 o'clock AM. Crossed the Pawnee Trail at 8 o'clock. Stopped at 12 for dinner without wood or water except what we carried with us. Started at 2 o'clock & traviled through a ridge of country destitute of wood & water. Camped at 7 o'clock E. on the Platte R. traviled 25 miles.

 

Mary Ann Boatman- Now . . . back to the scene of our parting with the Turners. . . . John Turner had been buried with all the solemnity and respect that a people in like circumstance could bestow.... Mr. Warner of whom I have made mention . . . not wishing to turn back, entered into nego­tiation with the Boatman boys and Richardson to haul his bedding and provisions. He was to take his turn on guard at night. The boys thought it best to buy some of their the Turner's provisions in case ours should run short. We did not start with a spade, so we wanted to buy the one the Turners had, but they said some of them might die on the way home and then they might need it. Late in the afternoon both they and we folks concluded it better to move on from the camp as cholera was such a contagious disease. Now come the parting with those whom we would never meet again in this life.

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17th Day-

 

Father Lempfrit- It has been stormy the whole night. A violent wind prevented us from sleeping. Several of our people are sick from having drunk bad water. Going ahead, I saw a little wolf [coyote] that alarmed my small pony. Shortly afterwards, I see two Indi­ans coming towards us, carrying guns. They were hunters. I gave them my hand and one of them pressed it against his heart. I gave them some tobacco.... The same day we see a large buffalo. One of our men goes ahead to kill it. He misses his shot, and then we noticed that there were more of them lying down behind the one who was keeping watch.

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Mary Ann Boatman- The Turners had turned the teams homeward and we continued westward, as night soon overtook us. We camped in as lonely a place as we could find, not wishing to attach ourselves to some strange train, not knowing what the result might be. Our aim was to try and overtake the train that had gone on, as we had got acquainted with them and too, Mrs. Scott was so kind and good to me. If I imagined I was sick she did all she could to dispel my thoughts and at the same time would administer . . . to my need of food and care in general. She was a motherly woman in every respect. As I have said, we camped alone, and yet not alone in person, but alone in companionship. That night we all slept good as brother was on the road to recov­ery. . . . Mr. Warner cheered us up with his narrative and adventures of crossing the plains in '46, assuring us that we would not have any trouble with the Indians, as he knew the Chinook language and could talk to them and that would be in our favor. At midnight the guards came in and reported the cattle quiet and lying down, so all was in the best of spirits.

 

Agnes Stewart- We saw three antelope today but was not near enough to see what they were like. Saw three men chasing two wolves away from a grave.

 

William Anderson- We traveled 14 miles soon after starting we met a party of them much dreaded Pawnee Indians we stoped and held a talk and gave them some presents and started on agan they followed on and attempted to steal several articles and then left us. They snatched Moses Millers knife out of his Belt and he drawed his pistel and made him give it back agan and they attempted to pull some clothing out of the wagons so we used our ox whips on them and they left sooner than otherwise would have done. In the evening some of our men that were on ahead of the train came riding back and hallowed to us to core [corral] the stock on the inside and every man with his rifle stood ready for the charge beheld when they came up it was the same little band that we had met in the morning numbering about 25 men they came galloping up within one hundred yards and turned and rode round two of our men went to them they gave us to understand by sines that they had a battle with the sue [Sioux] Indians a few days before they warned us to guard our horses close or the sues wood steal them we gave them some bread and meat and made them go over the river an camp and this was the point where the road left the river we remained here all night and kept a strong guard out to guard the stock and Indians they remained quiet at their camp all night.

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18th Day-

 

Joel Palmer- Yesterday we traveled about twelve miles, passing captain Stephens, with his advance company. Today we traveled about the same distance, suffering Stephens' company to pass us." At noon they were delayed by the breaking of an axletree of one of their wagons, and we again passed them, greatly to their offence. They refused to accede to our terms, and we determined to act on our own responsibility. We therefore dissolved our connection with the other com­panies, and thenceforward acted independently of them.

 

Mary Ann Boatman- At an early hour everything was in readiness to start on our journey. We got an early start, driving the cattle as fast as they could travel over the dusty roads, until late in the evening when we came to a low swampy prairie which was covered with tall coarse grass. There were campfires to be seen in every direction, and cattle graz­ing in all directions. Everybody was a stranger to us as we had not overtaken our train that had gone on ahead. Brother Will told the boys to go and take care of the team and allow him to get wood and water for the night as he had been laid up so long . . . he thought it would give him an appetite for . . . supper. So, according to his request, they consented to leave the work of kindling the fire to him. He was assisting me about cooking supper and was holding the long handled frying pan over the fire frying bacon for the evening meal. On looking up he exclaimed "Oh, look at that big black wolf." It was only a few yards away. He got the gun as quick as he could and fired a shot at him, but Mr. Wolf soon hid himself in the tall grass. It had no doubt been attracted to our camp by the scent of the meat frying over the campfire.

 

Agnes Stewart- Passed Plum Creek today, a muddy little stream. Bad crossing making it hard to come through. It makes us glad to get on dry land again. Mother fell in the creek while crossing and got all wet. Mother still keeps better. Tonight, for the first time we cooked supper on a fire made of buffalo chips. I do not like such a use of them. I would rather have wood, but cannot get it, and use water from a puddle hole—no better than it is called at that.

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19th Day-

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Medorem Crawford- Started at 7 o'clock M. Stopped at 12, found a band of Buffalo near the camp nearly 100 killed 3 very good Bulls. Started at 3, saw many Buffalo. Camped at 6 o'clock E. traviled 14 miles. Buffalo came close around the camp killed 6.

 

Joel Palmer- We advanced twenty miles today. We find a good road, but an utter absence of ordinary fuel. We are compelled to substitute for it buffalo dung, which burns freely

 

Mary Ann Boatman- The night was a very pleasant one. About sundown a fog raised making it very dark. As the grass was plentiful the cattle soon filled themselves and laid down to rest. The greatest fear was that wolves might attack them after they had laid down. No, nothing occurred that night to mar our happiness. But little did we know what would be our next sorrow. . . All fear of death had gone out of our little family as I wish to call it. The evening was spent in social conversation, with now and then making mention of loved ones left behind and wondering how long it would take us to make a fortune in a new country that we would soon be occupying with its abundance of everything. Mr. Warner . . . told of how he had trapped the beaver that dammed the small streams and the exorbitant price received for their fur and what an easy task it was to capture a big fat bear whose hide would make a covering for a bed, and the oil suffice to fry all the potatoes and make pie crust for at least six months, besides plenty to make soap for a family washing for a year at least. Of course, if a woman did not wash any oftener than he did, one pound would last a year. He told how easy it was for any person to get their meat for the winter. All a man had to do to get his years supply of meat was to take the gun on his shoulder and go out in the woods and shoot a big fat deer or two and salt them down, and kill grouse and pheasant. Wild geese and ducks would help along the meat supply and furnish feathers sufficient to make beds and pillows for all time to come.. .. It would be an easy thing for us to build houses. All that would be necessary to do would be to cut down some timber and build a comfortable house on our donation claim. These kinds of stories occupied the time until quite late. Of course brother Will and myself were the audience whom he was addressing as the Boatman boys were on duty that night. Chatting the evening away up to a seasonable bedtime we retired. My bed was in the wagon; brother and Mr. Warner occupied the tent. Long after we retired I could hear Mr. Warner talking of how easy it was to make money by trapping the fur animals in the winter season and trade them off at some trading post, as there were men buying furs to ship to England. Also, how easy it would be to trade off what we could raise on our farms to the Indians for horses and cattle. . . . That is not all, just think of the fish so plentiful one could almost pick them up on dry land after a raise of high water in the spring.

 

Agnes Stewart. Still traveling over the plains. The bluffs about a mile to the left of us and the Platte about the same to the right. Yesterday saw two wagons going back. On what account, I do not know. Stewart's folks sixty miles behind us. They will never catch up, and we cannot wait for them for fear of endangering ourselves.

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20th Day-

 

Medorem Crawford Large herds of Buffalo in plain sight around the camp. Started in good season. Saw thousands of Buffalo traviled 15 miles, little feed for horses.

 

Joel Palmer- We find in our sixteen miles travel today that the grass is very poor in the Platte bottoms, hav­ing been devoured by the buffalo herds. These bottoms are from two to four miles in width, and are intersected, at every variety of interval, by paths made by the buf­faloes, from the bluffs to the river. These paths are remarkable in their appearance, being about fifteen inches wide, and four inches deep, and worn into the soil as smoothly as they could be cut with a spade.

     We formed our encampment on the bank of the river, with three emigrating companies within as many miles of us; two above and one below; one of fifty-two wagons, one of thirteen, and one of forty-three — ours having thirty-seven. We find our cattle grow­ing lame, and most of the company are occupied in attempting to remedy the lameness. The prairie hav­ing been burnt, dry, sharp stubs of clotted grass remain, which are very hard, and wear and irritate the feet of the cattle. The foot becomes dry and feverish, and cracks in the opening of the hoof. In this opening the rough blades of grass and dirt collect, and the foot generally festers, and swells very much. Our mode of treating it was, to wash the foot with strong soap suds, scrape or cut away all the diseased flesh, and then pour boiling pitch or tar upon the sore. If applied early this remedy will cure. Should the heel become worn out, apply tar or pitch, and singe with a hot iron. At our encampment tonight we have abundance of wood for fuel.

 

Mary Ann Boatman- Now dear reader, pause for one moment and think. Do you wonder that our child-like minds were carried beyond all else by the thought of reaching a promise land like this elderly gentleman had described to us on that last happy evening . . . we all spent together?

     At midnight the boys came in and Mr. Warner went out alone. Nothing disturbed our rest that night. Early in the morning all was on the stir as we wanted to make a long drive with the hope of overtaking our train. Brother Will was, as all thought, out of danger, and for the rest of us, we had no thoughts of being sick. He wanted to walk and take his turn driving but the boys said, no, he must ride with me. Oh, what a pleasant forenoon we spent in talk­ing over our plans for the future. He said that we would all take our claims adjoining and build one long house on the line of each claim so he and John could be with us and live as one family. As soon as we got everything going nicely we would send father and mother word what a paradise we had found in the far west. In like conversation we two spent the forenoon with child like gabble. We called a halt for noon; all ate a hearty dinner.

     The cattle were much fatigued, because the road was cut with deep sand holes and we were traveling at a pretty good speed to try and overtake our train. That was more than brother Will could bare to think; the other men having all the work to do and he apparently well, and too, the road was so sandy it made hard for the oxen to haul the heavy wagon with its heavy load. In spite of all our entreaty he would walk. For quite a distance I walked by his side with our arms locked, I thinking, probably that I could be of some help to him and maybe he would consent to get in the wagon, but no, he walked on in advance of the wagon until he came to a spring of cold water. He being thirsty and tired drank a good quantity of the cold beverage, then gathered up some wood for camp fires and sat down to wait our arrival. On coming up we were greeted with "Hello boys, I have found an ideal camping place; the grass knee high, wood and water plentiful."

 

Agnes Stewart- Camped beside a beautiful lake. I do not know the name of it. Such a beautiful hill behind it. The trees hang over it like weeds. If the Giver of all good things intended rest and peace for the weary traveler, and no doubt, he foreseen that such a resting place would be needed after traveling over hundreds of miles and scarcely seeing aught but sandy hills and plains. How pleas­ant to stop at such a place as this. Turned out the wagons today, and found our flour spoiled a little.

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