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    Jenny's Oregon Trail
    Jenny's Oregon Trail
    Jenny's Oregon Trail
    Ebook117 pages1 hour

    Jenny's Oregon Trail

    By Lydiah Young and Richard Oswald

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Jenny Jacobson woke up on a spring morning in 1850 thinking her family had forgotten that day was her birthday.

    Later that morning, she would find herself in a mule-drawn wagon containing all their worldly possessions, leaving their known world behind.

    They would be part of a wagon train that would hear their wagon master, Jake Buckhorn, start each day on the trail with a blast on his bugle and the shout of "Westward ho!"

    Jenny and her best friend, Alice, would have to cover over two thousand miles before winter storms closed what would become known as the Oregon Trail. They would cross raging rivers, meet friendly and hostile Indians, endure weeks of parched prairie, and traverse mountains buried in snow.

    They depended on self-reliance, their fellow pioneers, and a deep-seated faith that supplied a most vital asset in their search for a new home. That asset was hope.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCovenant Books, Inc.
    Release dateSep 25, 2024
    ISBN9798891120075
    Jenny's Oregon Trail

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      Book preview

      Jenny's Oregon Trail - Lydiah Young

      Table of Contents

      Title

      Copyright

      Dedication

      Author's Notes

      Prologue

      Chapter 1

      Chapter 2

      Chapter 3

      Chapter 4

      Chapter 5

      Chapter 6

      Chapter 7

      Chapter 8

      Chapter 9

      Chapter 10

      Chapter 11

      Chapter 12

      Chapter 13

      Chapter 14

      Chapter 15

      Chapter 16

      Chapter 17

      Chapter 18

      Chapter 19

      Chapter 20

      Chapter 21

      Acknowledgments

      About the Authors

      cover.jpg

      Jenny's Oregon Trail

      Lydiah Young and Richard Oswald

      ISBN 979-8-89112-006-8 (Paperback)

      ISBN 979-8-89112-007-5 (Digital)

      Copyright © 2024 Lydiah Young & Richard Oswald

      All rights reserved

      First Edition

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

      Covenant Books

      11661 Hwy 707

      Murrells Inlet, SC 29576

      www.covenantbooks.com

      Dedication

      To our families, who supported us the whole way

      Author's Notes

      The trail: In the years between 1846 and 1847, the Oregon Trail was used by three hundred thousand to four hundred thousand settlers to cross approximately two thousand miles of American soil. Pioneers generally started in either Independence or St. Louis, Missouri, and ended in the Willamette River Valley near present-day Portland, Oregon.

      As access to water was a major factor in setting a course, the trail itself was not a single well-defined route but rather a set of trails following the course of rivers or landmarks. Landmarks such as Chimney Rock, Fort Kearney, Fort Laramie, and the South Pass served as nodes or focal points along the way. Many freshwater springs also served as landmarks and critical sources of freshwater for the pioneers and livestock.

      Seasons/weather: Before beginning their journey, settlers had to wait until spring for the snow to melt and the swollen rivers to recede. Near the other end of their travels, they faced many mountain passes in the Blue and Cascade Mountain ranges. These passes needed to be crossed before they were closed by snow. The famous Donner Party in the winter of 1846–1847 set a grim example of what failing to clear those passes could mean.

      Threats: Contrary to popular belief, the greatest threats to settlers were not hostile Indians¹, weather, starvation, or dehydration, but rather diseases. The medical science of the era was still based on the ancient concept of four humors. The four humors—namely water, fire, air, and earth—needed to be in balance, and disease was due to an imbalance of one or more humors. To treat diseases, pioneers used bleeding, inducing diarrhea, or vomiting, and creating blisters.

      Wagons: Instead of horses, mules or oxen were better suited to serve as teams for the canvas-covered prairie schooners. As seen in many depictions of covered wagons, the heavier Conestoga wagons were commonly used in the East to haul belongings.

      Prologue

      The fire crackled, bright and red, dancing in Jennifer Jacobson's wide eyes. She lay alone, on her bed, listening intently as her parents heatedly conversed in the family's sturdy rocking chairs. Their anxious whispers brought back memories of the past two years, unwantedly repeating themselves in her mind's eye.

      It seemed just yesterday she and her best friend, Alice Timmons, had been playing in the tall grasses of Kentucky, using their straw dolls to act as themselves—young farm girls growing up with the carefree yet hardworking spirit of any who live on a farm. Their fathers were both farmers, working the fields with Jenny's older twin brothers, Albert and Chad. She and Alice had spent their entire childhood outside, never losing interest in their games and few toys, always excited for another day of play. She and Alice had been through thick and thin—the changing of interests, the fleeting worries of living on a farm. But never had the tension been this great. Oh, if only she could go back! Now everything seemed to be on edge. Her mother hardly smiled anymore. Her father never laughed his big, hearty laugh when he was pleased. He wasn't himself anymore. Well, neither was anybody—including Alice's family.

      It was all because of the drought, Jenny thought bitterly. Two springs ago, the air was unusually hot. The birds hardly sang, the wildlife became scarce, the streams were mere trickles by mid-May. The summer was dreadfully parched—putting stress on all the farmers and their crops in the area. Jenny remembered with disdain the pain of her headaches and cracked lips. They all thirst for water. The crops had brought next to nothing, leaving the family hardly anything to get by the expensive loss. The heat continued through mid-November, right before the snow came. Her mother and father had been like this since, the wrinkles of worry leaving a permanent mark on their faces.

      Jenny shivered. Her family's hopes of a fresh, new start in the spring had been crushed when the heat began again in April. That was when her mother had started to beg Jenny's father to give up farming to start a new life in the west—a new idea that had begun to show itself in the conversations in eastern America. There was talk of open spaces and lands, abundant wildlife, stretching plains for crops and fields, high mountains, endless rivers, deep valleys. Why, the possibilities were numerous, Mrs. Jacobson reasoned.

      Her father hadn't made up his mind just yet. Jenny was tired of these constant talks her parents had every other night, weighing the costs, unsure of the right choice. They both wanted to escape the worries the current times brought, but what about the risks of simply letting go of everything they had worked on for years?

      Jenny hoped this wouldn't last for long. She ached to see the world beyond the visible horizon. To see the mountains travelers told of, to be a part of the wagons passing through almost every day! To breathe the fresh air of the forests of Oregon! To wade in the cool rivers that wound through canyons of deep curves and towering walls! To call herself an American pioneer and explore her country! To leave the restraints of her home and go beyond her small farm in Kentucky!

      Once upon a time…

      Chapter 1

      The bright sunlight peeked through Jenny's partially closed eyelids. Blinking, she slowly got up, her bones wishing for a few more hours of sleep. It was barely dawn in the spring of 1850, almost a year later, and finally, Jenny's wish to see the Oregon mountains was coming true—or so she dearly hoped.

      It wasn't long after the second drought that her father decided firmly, though warily, he'd seen enough. Finances were too low for comfort, and promises of the West won them over. For a few months, they waited, getting ready by selling unnecessary items and buying essentials. Once the house was sold, it became a blur to Jenny. With spring on its way, Jenny's father bought mules and a wagon, sealed the deal on the Jacobson household, and the family headed west, to Independence, Missouri, where the journey would begin.

      Jenny, her mother called softly from the doorway. Seeing her daughter awake, she smiled. Ah, you're already up. Now, dear, we need to prepare for the day. Time is of the essence. Aunt Millie is already preparing breakfast. Come outside as quickly as possible. With that, she hurried out the door.

      Jenny knew her mother meant well—it was her mother's personality to urge quickness and efficiency, especially in stressful situations as it was this morning. The young girl knew her mother liked to have a hand on things, yet sometimes she wished her mother would delight in the little things instead of always being preoccupied with pressing matters. After all, it was Jenny's tenth birthday that day—how could her mother forget? Pushing growing doubts away, Jenny hurried to get ready, her pulse quickening with every passing minute. Today was the day she'd been waiting

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