Young Emigrants on the Oregon, California, and Mormon Trails, 1841-1866
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University of Nebraska at Omaha DigitalCommons@UNO Student Work 5-1-2000 Young emigrants on the Oregon, California, and Mormon trails, 1841-1866 Molly Kizer University of Nebraska at Omaha Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/studentwork Recommended Citation Kizer, Molly, "Young emigrants on the Oregon, California, and Mormon trails, 1841-1866" (2000). Student Work. 518. https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/studentwork/518 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@UNO. It has been accepted for inclusion in Student Work by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@UNO. For more information, please contact [email protected]. YOUNG EMIGRANTS ON THE OREGON, CALIFORNIA, AND MORMON TRAILS: 1841-1866 A Thesis Presented to the Department of History and the Faculty of the Graduate College University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts University of Nebraska at Omaha by Molly Kizer May 2000 UMI Number: EP73156 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI EP73156 Published by ProQuest LLC (2015). Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 THESIS ACCEPTANCE Acceptance for the faculty of the Graduate College, University of Nebraska, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Arts Degree, University of Nebraska at Omaha. Committee Name Department/School Chairperson Date / / , ^ OOP ABSTRACT Between 1841 and 1866, the years of heaviest traffic on the overland trails, approximately 500,000 people uprooted their families, departed their homes in the East and began the search for a new life in Oregon, California or Utah. During these three decades, eager pioneers pushed their way across half a continent and participated in one of the greatest of modem pilgrimages. The westward movement has been studied from the viewpoints of men, and, especially in recent years, from the viewpoints of women, but few historians have looked at the massive migration from the perspectives of younger emigrants. In the preface to his book Growing up with the Country, historian Elliott West has written that the study of western children, including those who made the journey west, is at best “embryonic.” With the exception of the peak California gold rush years of 1849 and 1850, the movement was comprised mostly of families, which meant that a substantial number of overlanders were children and teenagers. Many of these young emigrants were the sons and daughters of risk-takers whose ancestors had continually pushed the borders of America westward, and their stories contribute significantly to the overall history of the westward experience. Importantly, the perceptions of young pioneers often differed from their older counterparts. In general, younger children felt fortunate to be a member of a family who had chosen to travel west, but they often had no cpi^ept of where they were going. They were less attached to their homes in the East than were older children and adults who sensed that they were leaving relatives and friends forever. Young emigrants of all ages, unlike adults, were less concerned about the future than the present. Leave-taking was less emotional for them and they approached their journeys with a heightened sense of adventure, often lacking awareness of the vast scale of such an undertaking. Even under the best of circumstances, the trip was demanding, and a successful journey hinged on the contributions of all family members. Many young emigrants were unaware of the immense amount of work that would be required of them or the emotional crosses they would have to bear. Each phase of the journey meant additional pressures for traveling families. Some families became closer, while others were tom apart. Still, most children adapted to their lives on the trail and arrived at their destinations in good spirits. These young pioneers were not mere observers, but rather were participants in a journey of over two thousand miles in which they endured incredible hardships with their families. The lives of those young emigrants, who were a vital part of the American westering process, deserves greater attention from historians and the public at large. TABLE OF CONTENTS Map of the California, Oregon and Mormon Trails............................................... vi Illustrations................................................................................................................... vii Introduction................................................................................................................. 1 1. Motivations, Preparations and Perceptions: Young Emigrants Embark on the Journey of a Lifetime........................................................ 10 2. Travels and Travails: Young Emigrants Endure Exceptional Burdens on the Overland Trails ................................................................ 55 3. Cultures in Conflict: Indian and Emigrant Contact on the Overland Trails ......................................................................................... I l l 4. Disease and Death: Sickness and Treatments on the Overland Trails ........................... 168 5. Work, Pets, Pleasures and Prayer: Young Emigrants as Participants in the Overland Experience................................................. 211 Conclusion..................................................................................................................... 261 Bibliography................................................................................................................... 269 v I « - -'J & lsi& 'Z a m vi ILLUSTRATIONS Photos: Frederick Hawkins Piercy: Route from Liverpool to Great Salt Lake Ed. by Fawn M. Brodie (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1962; reprinted from the original 1855 edition by Franklin D. Richards of London. Figure 1 Entrance to Kanesville/Council Bluffs, Iowa in 1853................................. 46 Figure 2 Kanesville Ferry and Group of Cottonwood Trees on Missouri River..................... .............................................................................. 47 Figure 3 Elkhom River Crossing, Northwest of present-day Omaha, Nebraska 101 Figure 4 Loup Fork Crossing......................................................................................... 156 Figure 5 Fort Laramie...................................................................................................... 157 Figure 6 Laramie Peak ........................................................................................................ 158 Figure 7 Chimney Rock.................................................................................................... 248 Figure 8 Independence Rock ............................................................................................249 Figure 9 Devil’s Gate ........................................................................................................ 250 Figure 10 Buffalo Hunt at Scott’s B luff........................................................................... 251 INTRODUCTION “Off They Go,” wrote Omaha World-Herald staff-writers, Julia McCord and Mary McGrath, referring to the wagons and travelers who left the Iowa School for the Deaf in Glen wood, Iowa on Saturday April 19, 1997. Headed for Miller Park in Omaha, Nebraska, near where the first Mormon pioneers wintered after they had fled their homes in Nauvoo in 1846, these modern-day pioneers planned to meet a second larger train and then depart on Monday, April 21st to retrace the steps of their Mormon ancestors. Joining the wagon train that served as a rolling commemoration of the 150 anniversary of the Mormon Trail was Shauna Dicken, great-great-granddaughter of emigrant Perrigrine Sessions. Sessions traveled to Utah with the “Pioneer Band” of Mormons under the guidance of Brigham Young who subsequently oversaw the journey of over 70,000 pioneers to the Salt Lake Valley. At Independence Rock in Wyoming, he chiseled his name on the granite rock referred to by nineteenth-century emigrants as the “register of the desert,” and in June 1997, Shauna Dicken and her four daughters ran their fingers across the name of their ancestor. The emotion of the moment transcended the 150 years that separated the generations of this family. As the nineteenth century began, the United States found itself in competition with European nations for much of the western lands of North America. European fur companies, especially the British Hudson’s Bay Company, had already infiltrated the mountains of the northwest and had established Indian trading alliances. Alarmed that 2 Spain had ceded the Louisiana Territory to France, President Thomas Jefferson entered into negotiations with Napoleon to purchase the vast territory which gave the United States control of the Mississippi River Valley and encouraged settlement along the western frontier. In the fall of 1806, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark returned to St. Louis after completing