Surviving The Oregon Trail 1852

With numbers swelled by Oregon-bound settlers as well as hordes of gold-seekers destined for California, the 1852 overland migration was the largest on record in a year taking a terrible toll in lives mainly due to deadly cholera. Included here are firsthand accounts of this fateful year, including the words and thoughts of a young married couple, Mary Ann and Willis Boatman, released for the first time in book-length form. In its immediacy, Surviving the Oregon Trail, 1852 opens a window to the travails of the overland journeyers--their stark camps, treacherous river fordings, and dishonest countrymen; the shimmering plains and mountain vastnesses; trepidation at crossing ancient Indian lands; and the dark angel of death hovering over the wagon columns. But also found here are acts of valor, compassion, and kindness, and the hope for a new life in a new land at the end of the trail.

The 1852 overland migration was the largest on record, with numbers swelled by Oregon-bound settlers as well as hordes of gold-seekers destined for California. It also was a year in which cholera took a terrible toll in lives. Included here are firsthand accounts of this fateful year, including the words and thoughts of a young married couple, Mary Ann and Willis Boatman.

There were two families Richey, as well as an Akin and an Ingram, who had been neighbors and friends for years. The families intermarried. A fourth family appears when Alice Booth married a Richey in 1843 in Henry Co., Iowa. In 1852 the families decided to move to Oregon in wagons on the emigrant trail. This is a diary recorded by 19-year- old James Akin, Jr., the eldest of the children.

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This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

An ailing Edward Jay Allen joined a wagon train en route to Oregon in 1852. Despite exhaustion from weeks of strenuous travel, he guided a raft down the Snake River. A foot injury compelled him to risk a harrowing "float" over falls and rapids. Lucky to be alive, he reached Fort Boise and operated a ferry before returning to the trail. Walking with difficulty and short of food and water, he struggled on to Portland. Based on newly discovered diaries and letters replete with keen observations, poetry, and humor, Allen's delightfully literate, entertaining accounts bring the emigrant trail experience to life.

This Is A New Release Of The Original 1906 Edition.