The Long Haul West: Life on the Oregon Trail By ... - Lourdes College

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This was a great disappointment to the emigrants as they had not had fresh meat since they left home. After the emigrants had eaten dinner, the women went wandering off. <strong>The</strong>y decided to investigate the mounds that littered the plains they were travelling. Upon looking inside of the mounds, to their surprise, the women discovered that the remains of dead Indians had been shoved into the hollowed out mounds. This was the main factor in why there was such a foul odor on the plain, many of the mounds were crammed full with Indian remains. 30 Ahead on the trail the party would see many mass emigrant graves as well. <strong>The</strong> graves were marked and filled by the dreaded disease cholera. This factor would explain why there were no more Indians around this area, besides the obvious that they were all filled in the ground. 31 Soon it was obvious that something was terribly wrong with the Boatman-Scott party. It was soon all over camp that Deacon Turner had contracted cholera. <strong>The</strong> captain was sick. He was “sitting in his chair…moaning aloud.” 32 Every man and woman did what they could to help the Deacon get better. Alas, all of their efforts were for naught, because Deacon Turner was dead by nine the next morning. <strong>The</strong> camp decided that he deserved a coffin for a proper burial. <strong>The</strong> bottom to his wagon was torn out and crafted into a coffin and he was buried. 33 Death would become a common thing after this point on the trail. Several parties would experience great amounts of death. Three separate accounts stand out from Tricia Wagner’s book. <strong>The</strong> first was a party who while burying six deceased souls, lost another six members of their party. Another wagon train reported losing a family of seven in one night. <strong>The</strong> third, and most significant loss of life, came in a two day stretch when a wagon party lost forty members. <strong>The</strong>se may seem like drastic accounts but to the mid-nineteenth century pioneer this would have been the norm. 34 12
<strong>The</strong> Boatman party stayed at the grave of Deacon Turner until mid afternoon mourning the late Deacon Turner. It was decided that they would move away from the place of such sickness and sorrow. By that same evening, it was apparent that Mary Ann’s brother William Richardson was sick. Again they did what they could for him. <strong>The</strong>y laid hot clothes over him and surrounded him by hot stones. For all of their effort with William success was achieved. He began to feel better by the morning. William was young and healthy for the most part. For this reason, cholera did not have quite the same result as it had for Deacon Turner. Whether he was well enough to walk was of no matter because he was made to lay in the wagon when the train moved on for the day. By the end of the day when the Boatman-Scott party had come for a rest that night, William Richardson was feeling much better. However, that same night the youngest Turner youth was stricken with cholera and a huge storm moved in over the camp. <strong>The</strong> storm was so violent that trees were being ripped out of the ground and Mary Ann compared it to the force of a hurricane. By the next morning, the storm had subsided but the Turner boy was even worse for the wear. He would eventually die on that day. Again his coffin was constructed and he was laid to rest. Again the camp was moved away from the site where the tragedy had occurred. 35 On the same morning of the day the young Turner boy died, so too did an old woman die. <strong>The</strong> woman insisted she would be alright and that the camp should move on with her in a wagon. By the time the party stopped for noon she was dead. Now the floor of Mary Ann’s wagon was taken for the coffin and the old woman was buried. Once again the party moved on and camped somewhere else. By the time the midnight guard duty came in that night, the only remaining male Turner was too sick to go out for his shift of guard duty. By the morning he was dead and they buried 13
Page 1 and 2: Introduction The <
Page 3 and 4: the pass, the trail crossed the Gre
Page 5 and 6: problem until Astor went to Congres
Page 7 and 8: straight out of Mary Ann Richardson
Page 9 and 10: While on the trail, the emigrants f
Page 11: with the Indians would be typical o
Page 15 and 16: on the trail. 38 The</stron
Page 17 and 18: filled up every container they had
Page 19 and 20: Mary Ann said this of the river,
Page 21 and 22: families who travelled there for ma
Page 23 and 24: Endnotes 1 Robert Richmond, A Natio
Page 25: List of Sources Primary Sources A N

The Long Haul West: Life on the Oregon Trail By ... - Lourdes College

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