Days on the Road: Crossing The Plains In 1865, The Diary Of Sarah Raymond Herndon

by Sarah Raymond Herndon, Mary Barmeyer O'Brien (Foreword by)

Overview

Sarah Raymond was an unmarried woman of twenty-four who in May 1865—barely a month after the end of the Civil War—mounted her beloved pony and headed west alongside the wagon carrying her mother and two younger brothers. They traveled by wagon train over the Great Plains toward the Rocky Mountains, with no certain idea of where they would settle themselves but a strong desire to leave war-torn Missouri behind and start a new life.
Days on the Road is the story of this remarkable journey and of the young woman who made it. Written on the trail and originally published in 1902, it is a tribute to all of the emigrants who made their way west and the tale of a truly extraordinary woman.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780762725816
Publisher:	Globe Pequot Publishing
Publication date:	04/01/2003
Edition description:	1st Edition
Pages:	128
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.36(d)

About the Author

Sarah Raymond Herndon left her home in Missouri in May 1865 and traveled west in the company of her mother, younger brothers, and fellow emigrants, finally arriving in Virginia City, Montana Territory, at the height of the Gold Rush boom in that rough frontier town. She spent the rest of her life in Montana, and published the story of her western journey in 1900.

Mary Barmeyer O'Brien is the author of Heart of the Trail, Into the Western Winds, Toward the Setting Sun, and Bright Star in the Big Sky, a biography of Montana's Jeannette Rankin. She lives in Polson, Montana.

Read an Excerpt

Our First Camp
As we were provided with fresh bread, cake, cold chicken, boiled ham, pickles, preserves, etc., supper was quickly prepared for our small family of four, and we enjoyed it immensely. Then comes my time to write, as I have promised friends that I will keep a journal on this trip. Mr. Kerfoot thinks the Government is going to smash and greenbacks will not be worth one cent on the dollar, so he has turned all his money into gold coin, and stowed it into a small leather satchel—it seems quite heavy to lift or carry.
As Mrs. Kerfoot was sitting on a camp-chair near our wagons, Mr. Kerfoot came toward her, saying, "Here, mother, I want you to take care of this satchel, it is all we will ask you to do, the girls will cook and wash dishes, the boys take care of the stock, and I will oversee things generally, and we will do nicely." She accepted the responsibility without a word, and as he walked away she turned to me, and said, "I wish it was in some good bank, I expect nothing else but that it will be stolen, and then what will become of us?"
While I have been writing Neelie (Cornelia) and Sittie (Henrietta) have been getting supper for a family of twelve, no small undertaking for them, as they have been used to servants and know very little about cooking.
When everything was ready, Neelie came to her mother exclaiming, "Come, mamma, to supper, the first ever prepared by your own little girl, but not the last I hope, see how nicely the table looks, Emma and Delia picked those wild flowers for you, how brightly the new tinware shines, let its imagine it is silver and it will answer the same purpose as if it were."
Her mother smiles cheerfully, as she takes her arm, Cash sneers at Neelie's nonsense—as she calls it. Mr. Kerfoot nods approval, as Neelie escorts her mother to the table. When all are seated Mr. Kerfoot bows his head and asks God's blessing on the meal.
Every one seems to enjoy this picnic style of taking supper out of doors and linger so long at the table, that Neelie has to hint that other work will have to be done before dark.
When at last the table is cleared, she says to Emma and Delia, "Don't you want to help me wash these nice, bright dishes and put them away?"
They are always ready to help Neelie, and the work is soon done. Amid laughter and fun they hardly realize they have been at work. Mr. Kerfoot insists that we women and the children must sleep in houses as long as there are houses to sleep in. Mother and I would greatly prefer sleeping in our spring-wagon, to making a bed on the floor in a room with so many, but as he has hired the room we do not want to seem contrary, so have offered no objection. The boys have carried the mattresses and bedding into the house, and Neelie has come for me to go with her to arrange our sleeping-room. So good-night.

Table of Contents

	Foreword	vii
	Preface to the 1902 Edition	xviii
	We Start	1
	Our First Camp	2
	Through Memphis	4
	I Meet an Acquaintance	4
	An Addition to Our Party	6
	Bloomfield, Iowa	8
	Beautiful Apples	9
	Miss Milburn's Love Story	11
	A Letter to Brother Mac	13
	The Icarian Community	15
	A Swing among the Trees	16
	A Fatal Accident	18
	Bereavement	19
	A Funeral	21
	On the Banks of the Big Muddy	23
	Our Last Day with Miss Milburn	24
	We Have Our Pictures Taken	25
	A Yankee Homestead	27
	We Meet a Friend	29
	On the Banks of the Platte	30
	The Order of Our Going	32
	Fort Kearney	34
	Eleven Graves	35
	A Narrow Escape	36
	Beaux	38
	We Decide to Go to Montana	40
	Prairie Dogs	42
	Preaching Services	44
	Music in Camp	45
	The Mountains in Sight	48
	A Town of Tents and Wagons	50
	We Worship in the Wilderness	51
	We Celebrate the Fourth	53
	The Black Hills	54
	We Visit a Beautiful Spring	55
	We Cut Our Names in Stone	57
	Laramie Plains	59
	In the Rain	60
	Indians	62
	We Climb Elk Mountain	64
	We Cross the North Platte	65
	Neelie Is Sick	67
	The Summit of the Rocky Mountains	68
	Sim Buford Sick	70
	Our Train Divided	71
	We Overtake the California Train	73
	On Bitter Creek	75
	Delayed Another Day	77
	A Fatal Shooting	78
	Tried for Murder	80
	We Leave the Train	82
	Wild Currants Galore	84
	Mr. Curry's Horses Stolen	86
	Anxiously Waiting at Ham's Fork	87
	The Wanderers' Return	89
	Sim's Story of Their Wanderings	90
	Bear River Mountain	92
	We Meet Captain Hardinbrooke's Brother	94
	Mormon Towns in Idaho	96
	We Meet Men Returning to the States	98
	Mother and I Save Joe's Life	99
	Dick Is Sold. Oh, Dear	101
	Mother's Birthday	103
	Sweet Water Canon	104
	The End of Our Journey	106