Covered Wagon Women, Volume 2: Diaries and Letters from the Western Trails, 1850

Covered Wagon Women #2

by Kenneth L. Holmes (Editor), Lillian Schlissel (Introduction)

The women who traveled west in covered wagons during the 1840s speak through these letters and diaries. Here are the voices of Tamsen Donner and young Virginia Reed, members of the ill-fated Donner party; Patty Sessions, the Mormon midwife who delivered five babies on the trail between Omaha and Salt Lake City; Rachel Fisher, who buried both her husband and her little girl before reaching Oregon. Still others make themselves heard, starting out from different places and recording details along the way, from the mundane to the soul-shattering and spirit-lifting.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Historical, Westerns

310 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1996

Reviews

[aPriL does feral sometimes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Volume 2 in the 'Covered Wagon Women' series is similar in form to Volume 1: pictures of the diarists, if they exist; a scholarly introduction for each set of letters and/or diaries, which alone are worthy of the price in the book; and the written documents penned by the women themselves, with minimal editing.

This volume includes 6 diaries from 1850 which are even more interesting than those of the previous book. The diaries from 1849 were fascinating, too, since they are of a period where the covered wagon emigration was beginning and women were rarely seen along the old game trails from the eastern parts of the United States to California and Oregon territories. Apparently 1850 was a year that saw a huge increase in families making the trek to the western regions. They went for a variety of reasons, but the two top ones were the lure of gold panning in California, and cheap land to begin a farm or business.

I'm sure a lot of women in those days must have gone with their husbands reluctantly, since they knew they might never see their families of origin again, but that is not the impression I get from these diarists. They had game!

Included is a diary from a Mormon, which is a good thing. She definitely impressed me as a human being, even if she seems a proper, stiff-necked, controlled individual. She offsets the numerous diaries of other wagon women included in the book who are very shocked and horrified whenever they come into contact with the Mormon wagon trains or their settlements. One diarist lived among the Mormons for a winter. She apparently learned far more of the Mormon lifestyle than she wanted, and her diary is quite expressive of her distaste. She relates that she saw a ten-year-old girl married to an old man, as well as what we would call wife swapping or swinging or open marriages (depending on how old you are, gentle reader). She also found them to be people who overcharged non-Mormons for goods and services.

Since I am not particularly a hater of the Mormon faith, but I am a hater of organized religion, I guess you will have to take these filtered observations in my review with a grain of skepticism; however, I want to remind readers that these are not my observations, but those of other diarists of varying educational levels who observed these early Mormons as contemporaries to their time.

Whatever.

In my opinion, this book is a wonderful read. I suspect some will find the pages of travel dull after awhile (I strongly suggest skimming or picking up another book briefly - ultimately, you will not want to miss a comment or sentence) since the days on the trails become distressingly alike, diary after diary (looking for water and grass, an epidemic of cholera, daily sightings of dozens of graves and the recording of the deaths of babies and children and animals, the crossing of numberless rivers) but, after days of regularly recording what obviously have become normal to these hardy women, a startling gem of an occurrence or an apparent tossed off casual sentence about a happening will send chills throughout the reader's body. The unthinking bravery, courage and drama of these diarists' adventures will eventually floor you. I think also the professional introductions of the researchers who fact-checked the names, births, deaths, real estate purchases and interviews (many of the pioneer families had been later interviewed by newspaper reporters, as well as had passed down their journals to children and grandchildren) add significantly to these writings.

I strongly recommend this series!

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read volume 1 years ago. These are authentic and unedited diaries of women of who crossed the plains to Oregon, California and Nevada is 1850. This particular year there was a catastrophic outbreak of cholera amongst the covered wagon trains, so death and burial were an almost daily happening. Smallpox was wiping out Indian tribes at the same time. Yet these diaries are descriptive of people and places and often cheerful, in the midst of hardship and lack of provisions. I was most intrigued with Margaret Frink...an industrious, practical woman whose husband was the same. They reached California and created a good, successful and long life together.

[Chiara · Rating 4 out of 5]

fascinating.

[LuAnn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Each woman faced many of the same challenges, but you can see the various personalities come through in the diaries. The book is a great way to learn about the settlement of the west.

[M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read to understand how women handled and dealt with hard, rough life on the pioneer trails to California and Oregon.

[Jennifer Healey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Recommended reading. Stories from women living through the Oregon Trail journey.

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was very interesting to read, but it is sometimes frustrating to read journals & letters because they are so incomplete. Things that are a given to the writer aren't necessarily so obvious to me. I recommend reading this with the National Parks Service maps/brochures for the trails open next to you. Most of the entries are about location, being able to follow along on a map is very helpful.

[Derinda Babcock · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book I read for information, not for pleasure, and it accomplished it's purpose. By reading not only this volume, but the rest of the volumes in the series, I was able to look for similarities and differences in what the women experienced and saw over the years on the Overland Trail. Sometimes the differences in literacy skills of the women who wrote letters made it challenging to understand portions, but overall, I'm glad I read this book.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once in a while I have to remind myself of how brave this women were and how easy I have it.

[Holly Weiss · Rating 4 out of 5]

The editors of this series feel compelled to recap each woman's writings in a preface. I'd much prefer they allow the letters and journals to stand on their own.

[Vicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. Very interesting to see how these women lived through this time of history!

[Kathleen Neigum · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a wonderful book. Amazing what the pioneers went through on their way to California, Oregon or Salt Lake City. Strong, practical women.