The Oregon Trail
By Rhett Curtis
April 25, 1854
Our journey across the country is off to a nice start. I, Abraham Woodley, am traveling with my pregnant wife Martha, and my two sons, Adam and John. After a week, we come to the Missouri river. Luckily, there is an Indian there who is offering a fairy for $25, which we take so our valuable wagon does not lose anything. About a week later, we have an unfortunate run-in with an indian. We gamble with him, and lose $25 and a delay in our trek.
May 16, 1854
Our trip has taken quite an unfortunate turn. A child in our wagon train had a wagon wheel fall on him and he broke his leg. He died within the next couple of days. We had a buriel for him, but we had to move on. Luckily, we met an Indian chief a week later and he gave us five boxes of ammunition. Nearly a week later, we come to the Sand Maps River. We use the fairy for $45, and cross safely.
Very happy news! Martha gave birth to a healthy baby girl. We named her Emma.
June 26, 1854
As we continue on the trail, my wagon falls over and I lose 100 Bulk weight units of my possessions. It does not get better from there, because we have to pay $50 dollars for another fairy, though our wagon does make it across safely. The journey gets even worse from there, when I get stung by a scorpion. A few days later my sting heals and we continue on.
A week later, we are starting to run out of water, so we stop the wagons and collect some water at a little river that is not flowing much. We boil the stagnant water after sifting the bad stuff out of it with a cloth.
When we stop next, we get ambushed by about 40 Indians, and two of the people in our wagon train got shot in the arm. Once they healed, we chose the shortest of three paths, Massacre Canyon. We could not afford to lose anymore time.
July 10, 1854
I have very sad news. My son, John, and some other children in our wagon train, have died of Cholera. They were buried on the side of the trail, and were given a peaceful memorial.
July 21, 1854
Our journey is finally looking up, after the very many trials we've had. I caught 5 pounds of gopher. My family is going to eat well tonight. We are very close to the end of our move, I can almost feel it.
July 27
We finally made it! I have never been happier in my whole entire life. My family and I are settling down in Oregon, and I plan to start my crops as soon as possible.
Pioneer Overland Trail
Website, Mormon. Pioneer Overland Travel. N.d. Salt Lake.
The Oregon Trail
Nerving, Richard. The Oregon Trail. N.d. Oregon Trail.
Trail Marker
Sintz, Jeremy. Trail Marker. N.d. Wyoming.