For over a month the Navigators and the Pioneers made the 2200 mile trek along the Oregon Trail. We forded rivers, climbed bluffs, traded with Indians, avoided buffalo stampedes, told fires around the campfire, ran low on food and water, danced and sang and learned how to work as a family. It became a matter of life and death!
The trekkers were divided into four wagon families and decided what role each person would play--mothers, fathers, sons, daughters and even a handyman. Each day the family had important decisions to make about the many trials and tribulations they faced.
Below you'll find a compilation of excerpts from their journal entries, written in first person as if they were really there. And sometimes it seemed like we really were!
This blog is a bit long, so hold on tight as you board a wagon with us and get a glimpse of our journey through the eyes (and the pen) of the first grade Navigators. I guarantee you'll be amazed.
My family went out to buy an emigrant wagon. We bought 5 oxen. We're taking 10 cows for milk and 5 chickens. We bought 7 horses.
May 1, 1850 Independence Missouri
My family is traveling west along the Oregon Trail! I'm so excited! Also a bit scared though. Anyways, it sounds fun!
May 2, 1850 Hot sun
I had to travel through the blazing hot sun all day. The worst part was when the water got filled with cholera and we had to dump it out.
May 2, 1850.
Today is so exhausting I almost fell asleep. I knocked over my ink. Our water is contaminated with cholera and I'm thirsty. I can run as fast as the wind. It is really hot.
May 2, 1850
I was so happy. Yesterday night we finally got to get a drink of water. I was so thirsty I drank ten tall barrels of water. I felt like the queen of water.
May 4, 1850
I chose to climb the bluff. It was an amazing view. It was so beautiful that it was too pretty to be real. Ahhh.
May 4, 1850 Wakarusa River
Today we had to walk through the thigh-high Wakarusa River. I almost drowned! I was glad I made it and that's all that matters now.
May 14, 1850 Independence Crossing
Brrrr. Dear Diary, We are in a storm. Boom. I pray my ink won't spill. I'm glad my diary isn't broken. I hope the storm ends soon.
May 14, 1850 Independence Crossing
About three days ago I read my dimer for the eighteenth time!
May 20, 1850 The Narrows
I was so sad for my father. He was bitten by a rattlesnake We did everything to help him. Finally I found the cure. It was a rare flower. I was so happy.
May 20, 1850 The Narrows
We're on the Narrows. Mr. Dickenson got bit by a rattlesnake! I'm worried he will die. Hopefully somebody has brought a remedy. He is wailing now and Ma's getting all the medicines. I'd better help Ma or I'll be in trouble!
Later
It's night again. But only evening. I can hear the crickets chirping. The wagon's oil lamp is glowing. I'll write tomorrow.
May 20, 1850 The Narrows
Now I'm feeling mad about that rattlesnake. I'm doomed.
May 29, 1850 Ladd Canyon
Today we reached the Ladd Canyon and there was a really, really steep road. I was so scared that water was coming.
May 30, 1850 Fort Cerny
Today we hit Fort Cerny or however you spell it. There's dust everywhere. The oxen are running fast.
May 30, 1850 Fort Kearny
Today we reached Fort Kearny and now we can buy more food. Yay! Now I can write a letter to mother. Here it is:
Oh, my mother. I am having an amazing journey so far. And I really miss you and I cannot wait until I come back to Missouri. I love you and I really miss you.
May?, 1850 Platte River
Ok, the Platte River we're crossing has quicksand!!
May ?, 1850 Platte River
My life flashed when the wagon stopped in the sand. We quickly realized that it was quicksand. I thought my life was over!
June 10, 1850 Midway Station
I am so happy. We found a station. I'm drawing to relax. I will get some new shoes for the oxen then take a bath then sew some clothes. Stretch and go to sleep.
June 10, 1850 Midway Station
My day a Midway Station was comfortable. It was a nice place to rest.
July 12, 1850 Register Cliff
John's heart was jumping one million times per nano-second because he was really fast.
June 13, Cottonwood Springs
We went on. It was a bad idea because we got tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiired! And I actually almost died. Really. The truth.
July 20, 1859 Alkali Spring
The water is poisonous. I am freaking out. We already lost 2 animals but I think that I should calm down a little bit. Two is not that much but let's hope they do not go into the water. I will be so so so bummed with the ox because we already are running low on oxen. I wish we did not have to go on this trip. I wish we had the food we wanted and we could just say Kaboom and it would be there.
June 23, 1850 California Crossing
We almost sank. The back wheels sank half way down and Nick and me got soaked. A Frenchman asked for a tin of flour and sugar and the lightness lifted us up again. It took an extra hour.
June 23, 1850 California Crossing
Today we had to cross California Crossing which I didn't feel good about crossing when I saw it. I felt like a thousand bugs crawled into my stomach.
June 25, 1850 Windlass Hill
We're at Windlass Hill. We crashed. But luckily nothing fell and nobody was hurt especially our dog.
June 25, 1850 Windlass Hill
"Our brakes! Our brakes!" I shout. Pa is bleeding on his palms and Ma is ripping her petticoat to wrap around Pa's hands. Our brakes are not working and we barely have enough rope and chain to hold us.
June 25, 1850 Windlass Hill
Then, I saw it. The evil Windlass Hill! I felt so scared. I didn't know what to do to go down this steep, steep hill. We decided to use a chain we brought from home.But still, we did not know what to do with it.
June 26, 1850 Ash Hollow Spring
Time at Ash Hollow Spring. I love it here. I drew a butterfly in my butterfly sketchbook. Plus I got a drink of water.
June 30, 1850 Courthouse Rock
It is so fun here. So I got to look for buffalo chips. We were so lucky. It just took a minute because we parked where there were plenty of buffalo chips.
July 1, 1850 Chimney Rock
Today we carved our name into Chimney Rock. It was very hard to carve into. Although it is soft, there was a harder layer under the soft layer and our wrists hurt. I have to go now.
July 4, 1850 Scott's Bluff
I got to carve my name. I've got to wash the clothes.
July 6, 1850. Horsecreek Crossing
We had to cross Horse Creek Crossing. The bad thing was that this was the Indian's territory. We were all worried, even Dad!
July 17, 1850. Reshaw's Bridge
The wagons flew like a bird.
July 21, 1850 Saleratus Lake
We're at Saleratus Lake. Bicarbonate soda was found there. We baked bread out of it. It was greenish so we didn't eat it. It also took a long time to argue if it was fresh or poison.
October 8, 1850. Dead Man's Pass
We're almost there! That's what it says in the guide book. The guide book is sometimes wrong but I believe it this time.
July 20, 1850 Alkali Springs
We hit Alkali Springs. I'm tired because it took a long time to tell a bunch of people to not drink the water.
July 22, 1850. Independence Rock
We got to carve our names into the rock.
July ?, 1850 Devil's Gate
Devil's Gate was a really hard place. I got separated from the wagon train and got injured. Boy, I had a hard time there. After two days of walking I found the wagon train and I had to stay in the wagon for 3 weeks.
July 30, 1850 South Pass
We found a way to go through the mountains and it's easy.
July 30, 1850 South Pass
We found something so weird about the river. It heads west instead of east.
July 30, 1850 South Pass
Today we crossed the South Pass.
July 30, 1850 South Pass
We're in Oregon Territory now. Something weird happened there too. We crossed the Continental Divide. I was just getting used to how we were crossing rivers and then I had to start all over again. I changed all my maps of rivers I was keeping and drew another blue river map because it fell out and got all wrinkled by the wagon wheels.
August 14, 1850 Thomas Fork Crossing
We rejoined the trails today. I barely had enough water to drink an inch. We sang lots of songs. I taught another wagon to sing Turkey in the Straw.
September 6, 1850 ?
Our new baby's name is Hopeful. I love that name so much. She is like the cutest baby ever.
September 8 1850 Massacre Rocks
Next state and we're in Oregon! We've been pretty weary, especially Ma with the new baby and all. We have to sleep separate because Hopeful cries almost three times a night.
September 30, 1850 Farewell Bend
The Snake River is beyond us now. Two of the wagons left. One was heading to California, one to a different destination in Oregon Territory.
September 30, 1850 Farewell Bend
Although it was fun traveling together, we must say farewell. We had good times and bad times. Oh, I can even remember when I got bitten by a rattlesnake!
October 5, 1850 Ladd Canyon
I'm very very glad that we weren't the wagon that was going down the hill so fast that they catched some air.
October 12, 1850 Whitman Mission
Today we had to cross Whitman Mission. MacDonald spotted a sign that said:
1. Barlow Toll Road
2. Canoe Down Columbia Gorge
3. Winter Over at Whitman Mission
We chose 2: "Canoe down Columbia Gorge."
Oregon!
Now that I am at Oregon I decided to help MacDonald make an apple orchard. I have no other thing to do, besides, he's a really good friend to have around.
It is time to end. My family is going to California. Indeed, now that the journey is over I must say bye. So bye!
I am going to Port Angeles to run a general store. I will have such a successful business that I will get rich!
In California I think I'm gonna get some GOLD. The Oregon Trail changed my life because I was scared of the dark before....Now I'm not!
Over the course of our study of the Oregon Trail and our month long journey, we learned:
- how to make group decisions
- how to wisely spend money and to keep a ledger of our expenditures
- how to write first person (and our writing skills vastly improved!)
- how to use similes and metaphors
- about the geography of the west
- lots of new vocabulary
- how to cure a rattlesnake bite (those who did the homework were rewarded with saving their wagon-mates' lives! Fortunately, each group had someone who did their homework!)
- some old fashioned songs
- how to square dance
- how to push through hardships
- how to work hard and have fun!
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