Covered Wagon Women, Volume 6: Diaries and Letters from the Western Trails, 1853-1854

Book Overview

"We traveled this forenoon over the roughest and most desolate piece of ground that was ever made," wrote Amelia Knight during her 1853 wagon train journey to Oregon. Some of the parties who traveled with Knight were propelled by religious motives. Hannah King, an Englishwoman and Mormon convert, was headed for Salt Lake City. Her cultured, introspective diary touches on the feelings of sensitive people bound together in a stressful undertaking. Celinda Hines and Rachel Taylor were Methodists seeking their new Canaan in Oregon. Also Oregon-bound in 1853 were Sarah (Sally) Perkins, whose minimalist record cuts deep, and Eliza Butler Ground and Margaret Butler Smith, sisters who wrote revealing letters after arriving. Going to California in 1854 were Elizabeth Myrick, who wrote a no-nonsense diary, and the teenage Mary Burrell, whose wit and exuberance prevail.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0803272952
• ISBN13: 9780803272958
• Release Date: April 1998
• Publisher: Bison Books
• Length: 291 Pages
• Weight: 0.74 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.1" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Effective of overland travels

Lively, energetic accounts full of grit and substance from the women who migrated west in 1853 and 1854. To mention a few: Amelia Knight details river fordings; the vast numbers of dead cattle with their ensuing stench; wagons, chains, yokes, etc. strewn along the trail; the wind and sand ("them that eat the most breakfast, eat the most sand"). She gave birth to her eighth child towards journey's end. Writes with much clarity. Celinda Hines had the attributes of a young naturalist. Her descriptions of scenery, landforms, wildflowers, etc. are most touching. When her father drowned along the Boise River, her final entry for the day was a haunting "wolves howled". A very religious and optimistic Hannah Tapfield King began the journey "happy, blessed and content". By the time she reached the Fort Laramie area she was feeling dismayed, dejected and weary. Quite understandable. A deep thinker. This is another excellent book in the Covered Wagon Women series.