Surviving the Oregon Trail, 1852: As Told by Mary Ann and Willis Boatman and Augmented With Accounts by Other Overland Travelers

by RAU WELDON WILLIS

• ISBN13: 9780874222371
• ISBN10: 0874222370
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-04-01
• Publisher: Washington State Univ Pr

Summary

The 1852 overland migration was the largest on record, with numbers swelled by Oregon-bound settlers as well as hordes of gold-seekers destined for California. It also was a year in which cholera took a terrible toll in lives. Presented here are firsthand accounts of this fateful year, including the words and thoughts of a young married couple, Mary Ann and Willis Boatman.

Author Biography

Weldon Willis Rau of Olympia, Washington, is a retired research geologist for the U.S. Geological Survey and the State of Washington. He is a great grandson of Puyallup pioneers Mary Ann and Willis Boatman

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
Introduction	1	(8)
Leaving Home	9	(14)
Across the Wide Missouri	23	(16)
Cholera	39	(22)
Platte River Valley	61	(12)
On to Fort Laramie	73	(14)
Child's Cutoff	87	(14)
Sweetwater Valley	101	(18)
Sublette Cutoff	119	(18)
Bear River to Fort Hall	137	(10)
Along the Snake	147	(22)
Blue Mountains	169	(18)
At Last The Dalles	187	(12)
Final Effort	199	(12)
Pioneering	211	(16)
Bibliography	227	(8)
Index	235