The Bend in the River

Jacob and Sarah Rawlings had a dream. Their hearts' desire was to travel across the open prairie lands and settle in the Willamette Valley in Oregon. Sarah struggled during her pregnancy but kept it to herself, not wanting Jacob to postpone their travelling west, endangering her and the baby's life. They set off in early April, leaving Independence, Missouri, in 1843, headed for their new home in the valley. The trip is wrought with death along the trail joined with the struggles of those i...