Covered Wagon Women, Volume 5: Diaries and Letters from the Western Trails, 1852: The Oregon Trail

Covered Wagon Women #5

by Kenneth L. Holmes (Compiler), Ruth Barnes Moynihan (Editor), David C. Duniway (Editor)

Abigail Jane Scott was seventeen when she left Illinois with her family in the spring of 1852. Her record of the journey west is full of expressive detail: breakfasting in a snowstorm, walking behind the wagons to keep warm, tasting buffalo meat, trying to climb Independence Rock. She meets her future husband, Benjamin Duniway, at the end of the Oregon Trail and, in the years to come, finds fame as a writer and a leader of the suffrage movement in the Northwest. Her grandson, David Duniway, edited her trail diary for Covered Wagon Women. This volume includes the equally vivid diaries of other women who rode the wagons in 1852. Polly Coon of Wisconsin recalls trading with the Indians. Martha Read, starting from Illinois, is particularly alert to the suffering of the animals, noting hundreds of dead cows and horses along the way. Cecilia Adams and Parthenia Blank, twin sisters from Illinois, jointly chronicle their once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, American History, Historical

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1985

Reviews

[aPriL does feral sometimes · Rating 5 out of 5]

In book 5 of the ‘Covered Wagon Women’ series we are privileged to read more diaries by women who traveled across the country in covered wagons, this time in the year 1852. Instead of settling in California, these women settled in Oregon.

While those who traveled to California suffered many of the same difficulties as those who went farther north, from my reading it appears that the Oregon settlers may have lost a lot more cattle, particularly in the last few miles. They also all described personal starvation in the last two weeks of travel to Oregon that I did not see in the California-bound diaries. All of these diaries describe running out of food as they crossed into Oregon territory.

One of the other interesting things I have seen in these diaries, or perhaps I should say I have not seen, is a single organized Indian attack on a wagon train, at least from 1849 to 1852.

(I should mention that my mother was an Alaskan native. I am very aware of the historical record of the attempted genocide of American aboriginals by The United States. The following observations are my synopsis of the diaries, but are not my opinions, naturally, but I thought I should mention what may be obvious for clarity.)

The settlers easily distinguish between the different Indian tribes as they travel. In the five books I have finished reading, each of which provide 5 diaries to read, everyone mentions how the Pawnees are disgusting and filthy, and that the Souix are handsome and clean. Most of them describe observing a fight between the Souix and the Pawnee, or the aftermath of a fight, whose territories must have been next to each other. There doesn’t appear to have been much affection between those Plains tribes.

Later, as the trains came near to their final destinations, each diary mentions meeting the same tribes as they get close to their respective new homes, whether in California or Oregon, as well. While the comments differ in opinions about the behavior of the tribal members, they all express the same opinions on the same tribes as either handsome and civilized, or disgusting and dirty! Since very few details are given otherwise, I do not have any idea of why these women uniformly write the same opinions on the appearance of tribes. However, one guess is that many felt better about the Indians they met if they were wearing clothes, especially pants and shirts which they had traded for from previous trains. (The Souix seem to be a special case of attractive people, though, whether nude or dressed, since ALL of the women were enchanted by their looks!)

The scholars who have created this series point out in reading between the lines of the different diaries, not only was there almost never an actual Indian attack recorded, but the so-called begging noted by the women was probably tribute, or a toll, for the privilege of passing across the lands actually ‘owned’ by the various tribes. Although not once in any of these included diaries, so far, do any of the emigrants describe a train ever being attacked, some make mention of hearing a rumor of an attack. That said, all describe the stealing of cattle and horses, or of Indians coming to the trains to ‘beg’ for food, guns, ammunition, or household items. When the settlers gave to or traded with the Indians, they rarely lost cattle or horses to ‘thievin’. However, if settlers were rude and abusive, they frequently lost their stock in the night.

These books are fascinating to read, and I recommend this series. However, the reader will find the same comments regularly expressed in the different diaries as the women pass by the same landmarks, as well as about the various Indian tribes, while traveling along the same roads. As a result, I spent some time thinking about the human condition and the cultural shaping of perceptions, gentle reader!

[Chiara · Rating 3 out of 5]

can't remember because I started pre baby and finished post baby and therefore retained nothing from the beginning of the book.

[David Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting. The day to day detail gets a little old. They were some hardy people in the face of all the graves they passed.

[crayolaab · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, it was really interesting to read about the oregon trail again.