Covered Wagon Women, Volume 9: Diaries and Letters from the Western Trails, 1864-1868

Perseverance and hope once again take the form of westbound emigrants. Some turned back but many made it to their destinations. We taste the dust, thirst for the next water hole, anticipate grass availability for livestock, put up with wagon breakdowns and river crossings, fear Indian insurrections and above all lament the deaths of fellow travelers. A few of these diaries contain basic day to day routine occurrences across the now well traveled road to the west, but nonetheless still admirable journals of endurance. Others like Ruth Shackleford and Mary Louisa Black are much detailed and articulate in what they observed and how they felt while crossing the plains. Signs of Indian depredations, horrendous Platte River storms, sickness and death amongst companion emigrants, stampedes, geographical descriptions, conditions of roads, encounters with the `Buffalo Soldiers' and others along the trail all make for colorful and regarded reading. Another fine volume in this series.