Life on The Oregon trail
By: London Padgett
Day one- April 25,1844
So far everything had been going smoothly and we have been having an okay time traveling. Then a river was in our path and my brother and I had to figure out what to do since we were the men. We were pretty stumped on what to do . Luckily an Indian offered us a fairy ride across the river for 25 dollars. We crossed safety across the river. My wife Sarah was getting very worried about our food supply's I went hunting. I caught 50lbs of buffalo. Then that night my wife made some good buffalo stew from stuff we brought and some potatoes we found growing on the side of the road. It was so good that, for once my children ate their vegetables.
yours truly,
Peter Greene
Day Two- April 26, 1844
My wagon group has been getting along very well but, the Indian has been getting annoyed with our loudness. This morning he said that he wouldn't help us anymore if we didn't keep quite during the night. This was a problem for us because without the Indian we would most likely get lost. So, when we finally figured out what to do it was 12:30 and we had been delayed by 1,000miles which was our goal distance for today. He also required us to each pay him 50 dollars because he needed a new part for his fairy. I thought this was pointless to pay him because he left his fairy at the river and wasn't going back to fix it till the journey was over. Again, today there was another opportunity to hunt and of course I took it. I caught the 70lbs of buffalo. I dried half of it . The Sarah and my sister-in-law Jane made pot roast and biscuits. They were very good and my daughter Dahlia loved the biscuits. So besides the delay, today was a pretty good day.
yours truly,
Peter Greene
Day Three- April 27,1844
Today everyone was getting excited because we were almost there. Then there was some conflict with some of the other wagon leaders and they threatened to take some of our supplies but , luckily our wagon leader settled things and we moved 300 miles ahead of the other wagon groups. Today we ran out of wood so we had to use buffalo chips to cook our food but, I didn't really mind because I liked the flavor they gave our food. Today we only went 700miles even though we could've went 3,200miles. our wagon leader delayed us simply because he was tired and wouldn't let us leave until he was fully rested. This made me made because my daughter Dalia was very sick with Cholera and I really wanted to get to Oregon save her but, sadly she died later in the evening. She was only three and I will miss her so much. So after she died we had small funeral for her. Then to make it even worse for me my family we had to cross another river. So of course to make sure my family was safe I paid the Indian 50 dollars to take us on his fairy. We got across safely but 60lbs of our fresh meat fell of the fairy. So, today was a pretty rough day and I'm hoping tomorrow will be better.
yours truly,
Peter Greene
Day Four - April 28, 1844
Today we really had to hurry because today was our last day to get to the Oregon trail safely before the Indians go to suspicious of us and attack us. After Yesterday, we were all a little down but we still went 1700 miles. Then we saw a desert up ahead and had crossed it safely but had less water because we drank a lot of it due to thirst. The Indian gave me 25dollars of the 50 I gave him two days ago; because he wanted to learn what Cholera was and how he prevent his family from getting it so I told him and I turn he gave me th25 dollars. I figured that I could help prevent him from going through the pain I went through. Some of the Indians last night came and invaded our wagon and took 400lbs worth of stuff. This caused my wife to worry even more than she was and So, again I went hunting. I caught 40lbs of buffalo meat which, was good because we really needed the food. Then an obstacle came for my wagon group; we had to decide if we wanted to go the dangerous path or a short cut w knew nothing about and if was even safe. We decided to cross the dangerous path and luckily we made it out alive. Then a few short ours later we were in Oregon!!! I'm so glad we all made it.
yours truly,
Peter Greene