Dear Aunt Bertha,

I have finally made it to Oregon. I never stopped thinking about you and I miss you very much. The journey was long and hard, but I am ready to settle here. I would love to tell you about my journey to Oregon, as it is quite a tale.

As you know, I started out at Independence Missouri, May 1, 1849 where I bid you good-bye. As soon as we started, I already missed you all. After awhile of traveling, we came to the Big Blue River. We needed to pay $15 for our trail group to cross the river. Our farmer was very picky about money and said we should ask the guide for another way to cross the river. I didn’t want to pick a fight, but the guide was getting impatient. We traveled 240 more miles so we didn’t have to pay! Then, we were behind all the other wagon groups. On the bright side, we passed Alcos Springs, one of the most romantic places along the trail. Next up, we passed the Platte River. Crossing the Platte River was no problem. When we were all sitting around the campfire that night, another wagon passed by. They told us about another wagon company up trail that had a rattle snake come in and bite them all during the night. The wagon company said that they were resting and all very sick. I felt so bad for them. They also said that the same wagon was low on food and was barley making it! I was just shocked. I wish I could help them somehow. Our scout said they’ll be gone before the month is done. I gave him a piece of my mind. You should always have faith. I do wish we could help them, maybe spare some food if we had enough. When our hunter hunted last, he only brought back 50 pounds of meat! He brought back some buffalo meat.

Buffalo is not the only animal we’ve seen so far. When we passed the Big Blue River, it was teeming with salmon. My mouth was watering. We also passed a barking squirrel city! If we came with in their boundaries, we got a big loud bark. By the end of their “city”, my ears were still buzzing. We have also seen a ton of plants. There is so much prairie grass and it’s so tall I’m afraid I’ll get lost. When we were crossing them rivers, I saw pine trees so tall I thought they’d poke a hole in the heavens!
Finally, we got to a fort to rest up. We stopped at Fort Kearny. When we got to the fort for supplies, we saw a man selling a magic elixir that could cure snake bites, cholera and the common cold. I didn’t think he was right so I turned him down but our money saver farmer bought it! Later, we found it was a fake and the man was a snake oil salesman. I hope we don’t come across him or anyone else like that along the trail.

We traveled another 74 days and were all very tired and hungry. The only reason we are still alive is our hunters wonderful hunting skills. He hunted and brought back buffalo meat, birds, fish and more! I was amazed at him as we had enough for a feast. Sadly, our joy didn’t last. We came to a big river and had to float it down. I was scared so badly I started shakin’. Many died from floating wagons and I was worried about us all. Thank the Lord we all made it across safely along with the animals and our wagon! Well, almost everyone made it across. Timothee slipped off the side and our doctor had to save him. He is now safe but he is not as healthy. I am so thankful still for all of us. Lately, I heard that others were not so fortunate.

As we traveled on, we passed Jail House Rock, Chimney Rock and yet another barking squirrel city. It was helpful to see the wagon ruts to know that other people passed the same landmarks. Then, out of the blue came a monstrous storm. We saw it just before it started destroying everything in it’s path. We found shelter, tied the wagon and animals down and all of us were safe. I later found that another group didn’t notice and their oxen ran away. I even heard one wagon was hailed on! I wondered how these animals survive in these harsh conditions. I kept seeing more and more animals each day. So far we have seen buffalo, rattlers, rabbits, beavers at the lakes and Proghorns. Proghorns are these odd “bison antelope” animals. We didn’t seen much plants but prairie grass and pines. We finally came up on a fort, Fort Laramie, after the storm. Captain said we’d finished 1/3 of our journey.

After a quick stop at Fort Laramie, tragedy payed a visit to us. We passed through the poisonous Alkai Springs to reach the mountains. At the mountain pass, we had to unloading any extra weight that we didn’t need such as mirrors, tables and other furniture. We came upon a man up there collecting things that other people had left. After we headed into the mountains, we discovered he had cholera! We stopped immediately and did a health check to see if any of us caught the horrible disease. Our farmer, scout and doctor had it. Thankfully, our scout survived. But sadly in the next 24 hours, our farmer and doctor passed. Later that night, we grieved around our camp fire about their passing. Somehow the flicker of the flames in the campfire were comforting. I heard names from other wagon groups – Maggie, Stephanie, Sam, Jack, Yean and Caroline – all passed also. We all understood each others’ pain with their passing. From what I know, our scout is the only survivor from the clutches of cholera.

As we traveled into Wyoming, we saw Independence Rock! It was quite a sight and very comforting to know that others share our hardships and pain. I was sorry our farmer and doctor could not share this amazing sight. As we got closer, I can see all the names of everybody who dared to adventure out this far just like us. Later, our hunter went hunting and brought back 50 pounds of bird meat. After dinner, our crew decided to become part of history by carving our names on Independence Rock. Next thing we know, Shoshone Indians were ready to attack us! Our crew didn’t have the strength nor the spirit to fight so we decided to see if we could possibly talk this one out. Their leader allowed us to speak and we were allowed to pass through his land but we had to give him a gun or items that equal $40 or food. We gave the Indians our farming tools that equal to $40 since our farmer had passed. As we start up the next day, I take one last look at the great landmark and noticed the surrounding grassland which was made of shrubs and dried up prairie grass. Later that night around the campfire, we shared more stories again. The same wagon group with the rattle snake bites and no food chose to fight the indians! They only lost one man in the battle. I pray we could all live another day and make it to Oregon. Captain said we’d finished 3/5 of our journey!

As we traveled on, we came to Fort Bridger, but we decided to passed it. We had no need for food, water or anything. We kept traveling into the Sublette cutoff. Sadly, the pass wasn’t the easiest route. Our first challenge was poisonous water. All the animals wanted to drink it. We also needed to find more food in that barren wasteland. We had to navigate around the maze of mountains and routes that looked exactly the same day after day.

Finally, we reached Fort Hall. At Fort Hall, we purchased food because we were all worried about hunting. We purchased 100 pounds of food! I was amazed we had that much money. Once everything was purchased, we traveled on and soon passed Snake River and started into the Blue Mountains. Just as we entered the Blue Mountains, our yolk snapped! I had to repair it, as I was the blacksmith on the trail. Thankfully, we only lost one day. Secretively, I was happy ‘cause I haven’t done very much and I was getting worried I was just dead weight. Lately, we were have more problems as we have been running out of food and I don’t know how long we’ll make it. That afternoon our hunter went out and brought back 300 pounds of bird meat! We were all so joyous. I was surprised he even found anything ‘cause it’s nothing but dried up shrubs, dead prairie grass and animal bones out here. I shudder at the thought. I am also very worried that we won’t get out of the mountains and it is November! I prayed every night that we won’t end up like the Donner Party becoming cannibals and starving to death in the Sierra Nevada mountains.

We kept traveling for what seemed like forever. Then, just as I had feared, we entered the mountains in December! Thankfully our hunter hunted a lot before we started into the mountains. In total, we had 450 pounds of meat! Our hunter came back with buffalo, birds and prairie dog meat! I prayed it would last us.

As we entered the mountains, we got caught in a white out snow storm. Thankfully, we were able to keep going, but only at 5 miles per hour. The whole time I was so worried that one of us would die.

Thank the Lord we made it out and kept traveling to Fort Wallawalla! At the Fort, we killed our oxen for meat and tore apart out wagon to build a raft to float down the Columbia River. We decided to build two rafts and it took us twenty days. We were only allowed 2, 000 pounds for both rafts – 1, 000 per raft!

When we finished building our raft, we pushed it into the river and started our “float” down the river. When we first started, things were going smoothly until we smashed up against big rocks. I was shakin’ so bad I felt numb. We made it out safe and were fine until we were smashed up against more rocks in the middle of the river! Again, I went numb with fear. Again, we made it out safely. Our safety through the rocks was met with disaster as we continued to float down the river. We were caught into a raging whirlpool! I was struck with such fear I was clinging to the raft for my very life as my knuckles turned white! We lost 100 pounds of food, but were all thankfully safe, but still disappointed about the food. I heard that a team lost a person ‘cause she went over board. After that, it was smooth sailing.

We finally landed our raft in Oregon! Only our farmer and doctor died along the journey. It has been a while, but I still miss them both a lot. I was so thankful that I survived the treacherous journey with our scout, hunter and banker. In Oregon, I bought a shop in town to sell what I make with my blacksmith tools. I also bought a house in the fields near town. I have a very nice neighbor named Joy. We each share the same pain and happiness of our journeys. We were also very close when an air borne disease swept through the town by some dying newcomers. Thankfully we both survived. Now again, there is a new disease sweeping through our little town. No one knows what it is yet, everyone had a suspicion it is cholera ‘cause it had killed many in the last 24 hours. As far as I know, the hunter and banker from my wagon company have died. Our scout and I are the only ones living!

I miss you and the family terribly, Aunt Bertha. Please pass this information to the family.

Love, Faith

March 29, 1850
Dear Aunt Bertha,

I am Joy Jackson, Faith’s neighbor, and I am very sorry to inform you that your niece Faith has passed. Cholera swept thought the town and she was one of it’s victims. You have my full condolences for your loss.