Dear
Journal,
March 18, 1858
We are planning for our trip out
west. We told the leader we
would give him free doctor services and bought him a hatchet instead of paying
him $25.00. He said yes.
We only had to pay the leader $2.00.
The leaders name is Daniel Robbins.
My name is John Honeyman. A
prairie schooner would be a better choice for my family because Conestoga wagons
are bigger and often too heavy and kill even the sturdiest oxen.
We wouldn’t want our oxen to die.
Dear
Journal, March
20, 1858
My family earned $50.00.
Dear
Journal,
May 1, 1858
I think we should go because we will
have more land and a better life. We
are getting nervous. We are going
to get water now just in case our oxen get thirsty.
Dear
Journal,
We got water but it was contaminated!
We had to find new water. We are
going to dump some of the water and boil the rest.
Dear
Journal,
We are not going up Register Cliff
because someone might get left behind, fall off or get hurt.
Dear
Journal,
July 13, 1858
We are at Douglas Wyoming.
We are not going because an Indian might attack us.
Dear
Journal, July
17, 1858
We are at Reshaw Bridge.
We decided to pay the toll. If
we did not pay the toll when the rainstorm came and the water rose, we would
have lost two days of traveling.
Dear
Journal, July
23, 1858
We stopped at Fort Lavamie. I
took a bath. It was refreshing, nice and hot. We bought ten pounds of flour and ten pounds of sugar.
We lost three oxen so we bought three more at the fort. It was expensive,
and totaled $150.00.
We had to buy the ten pounds of flour because bugs got into our flour so
we had to dump it. We bought some
smoked bacon. There are 38 animals
on the trail total.
Dear
Journal,
July 20, 1858
We put the wagons in a circle and put
the oxen and cows inside. We have
a guard to make sure the cows and oxen don’t get out.
If the black mud gets stirred up and mixed with the water it would be
poisonous. If animals drink the water they will die in less than a day. Louise had a baby. Her
name is Madison America Smith. She
is very healthy.
Dear
Journal,
The trip is going well.
We lost four oxen. I am
concerned about the oxen dying. If they all die we won’t be able to
continue.
Dear
Journal,
July 28, 1858
Buffalo were stampeding close to the
wagons so we shot some of the buffalo. Mr.
Whitman was scared and fell. He ended up spraining his left leg.
He will make it. We
lost one day of traveling trying to gather all the oxen that ran away.
We got all of the oxen back.
Dear
Journal, July
29, 1858
Some men will dig for ice for a few
hours. One or two of the women and men will watch the oxen.
Daniel, Robert, and Daniel are going to dig.
They found a lot of pure clean ice.
Dear
Journal,
July 31, 1858
We are at South Pass! We are
half way there. We are in the Rocky
Mountains. Water is rushing fast.
Someone might slip and fall in and drown.
We might have to cross the river. The
McMillen’s wagon wheel has broken and fell off the mountain.
Their water casks fell out too. We
sang Oh Susanna. We were in luck.
We were given two cattle and two oxen.
Dear
Journal, August
1, 1858
A rattlesnake bit Mr. Whitman.
Pa had some liquor and it helped him.
He didn’t get much venom in his leg.
We had a decision to make. We
will go to Fort Bridger. We found
fresh water. Lavina noticed that
two blankets were missing.
Dear
Journal, August 8,
1858
We made it to Fort Bridger!
We decided to buy two new oxen and trade four oxen for two rested ones.
We received $15.00 for mending a fence. Sugar
per pint at the fort was $.25. Flour is $.25 per pint, Rice is $.30 per pint,
coffee is $.50 per pint, fox and beaver coats are $160.00, pack mule is $65.00,
and horse is $100.00.
Dear
Journal, September 8, 1858
Indians might attack at Massacre
Rocks. We have been on the trail
for four months and seven days. The men are going to have a meeting. We are yelling at each other and the captain left.
We are going to send two men to see if any Indians are around.
We will have armed men and women around the wagons.
We are in Crow territory. We
made it past the Indians.
Dear
Journal, September
9, 1858
I got burned because I went too close
to the hot springs.
Dear
Journal, September
10, 1858
We got $5.00 for writing a poem.
Dear
Journal, September
30, 1858
We lost all of our cornmeal because
it fell out on Snake River. I
don’t think we will make it. If
we cross another river more food might fall out.
I am nervous, tired, and
weak. I am glad to leave the cold,
wet, dark blue Snake River and go on to the big, blue, beautiful mountains.
Dear
Journal, October
5, 1858
Our family made it down the mountain
safely. Some families’ wagons
went down too fast and their items scattered. They managed to get all the items
back, but they lost two oxen total. We
are at Ladd Canyon. The wagons are
able to be fixed. We are all safe. I thought it would be a lot harder to get down.
Dear
Journal,
Dead
Man’s Pass was called that because there were a lot of skeletons from Indian attacks.
Dear
Journal, October
12,1858
We
are at mile 1,709. We are almost
out of food. We have not bought
food in a long time. We are going
to go on the canoes. We are going to rent two canoes for $80.00.
We had two Indians guide us down the river and it was $90.00.
It was $170.00 for both. Another
wagon train came by and one was beaten up so I told them that we didn't need
our wagon any more. I’d sell it
to them for $50.00. They said yes! A big river lies before us.
Will the Indians guide us safely down the river?
I don’t think I’ll make it. We
have to put food on our backs. I
hope the food stays on our backs because if it falls out, we won’t have
anything to eat. We may die! The
two scouts are Samuel Mcmillen and me. I
am happy to go scout for the wagon train.
Dear
Journal,
RIP Footnote:
Samuel McMillen and Jon Honeyman stayed behind after the canoes broke apart. They waited by a river bank until the Indian guides could come back to bring them up the river. When the Indian guides got to their campsite, the embers were still warm but the men had disappeared. Bear tracks were found all around the campsite……… The men were brave. They were never seen again.
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Last Updated: 08/28/04