Covered-Wagon Train

Grandmother Sarah

One day when my son returned from school following his third grade class, he looked up at me very seriously and asked:  "Did you come to California in a covered wagon?"  Not knowing if I should give a resounding "No," I decided to tell him the story of my Great Grandparents traveling from Illinois to Idaho when my Grandmother was a young girl of nine.  That was a long time before I was born and wagon trains were a travel mode of the past.  Besides, I was born right here in California just like you were.
         
The story I was told years before by my Grandmother Sarah, had taken place in the 1870's when her parents decided to sell all they had and join a group of other families headed out west.  "The men and boys helped build their wagons and purchased the best team of horses they could afford to pull the Zehner family and their meager belongings. Of course, the men and boys would do a lot of walking along the way and even Grandmother's older daughter Carrie would join them in their walk if she wasn't needed in the wagon to help with her newborn sister, dubbed 'Little Doll.'"
          
"Our wagon train consisted of about 50 family wagons.  We left our home early Spring so we could arrive to Idaho, our chosen destination, before the bitter winter snows.  Half of the families had decided to go all the way to Oregon, but father was interested in logging, as he'd heard it was a booming business and land was being given to settlers who could do the job."
          
At the time I was relating this story to my son, I had inherited Great Grandmother Zehner's oak rocking chair, the only piece of furniture she carried with her in the wagon "so she could rock her baby whenever the wagons made camp for the night."  Sitting in that rocker made the wagon train story come alive for me.
         
"Our Wagon Master," noted Grandmother, "was a good friend of the Indians. So other than the bumpy, dusty trail being pretty uncomfortable, we often had these friendly Indians bringing us fresh venison to the camp for our dinner. So we didn't have to always rely on smoked jerky and hardtack. When the circled wagons' lanterns were doused for the night, we often laid our bedrolls out under the stars. We had played hard with the other kids and it was easy to fall asleep after a long day. The older boys were given the task of finding wood and Buffalo 'chips' to keep a fire burning all night, even after the supper was over.  We girls had the job of cleaning the dishes, forks and spoons, as well as kettles, with sand before wiping the dust away for the next meal."
          
Just before the wagon train was to split, with half of the wagons heading to Idaho and the other half to Oregon, there was a last circling of the entire wagon train. "Our Wagon Master would stay with us going to Idaho and father was very pleased to hear of  his decision.  Goodbye's were difficult for us children, knowing we would probably never meet again, and we had formed some very close friendships along the way."
         
Grandmother's blue eyes looked dewy as she related the next event. "The following night the split train had traveled quite a distance in two different directions. Just at twilight, as our wagons were circling, we could see the other group forming their circle down in the valley. As we began to settle down for the night, we could see in the distance that Indians, riding their horses, had set the Oregon wagon train on fire and we could hear the women and children screaming. Mother told us not to watch and to cover our ears, but I remember as if it were yesterday. It was like a horrible dream." The man who had agreed to take over as Wagon Master for the Oregon group apparently didn't have the same friendly way with the Indians.
          
As the story continued to unfold, Grandmother regained her composure and even began to smile.  "Another time when we approached the mesa where we would again circle the wagons, the Wagon Master rode his horse back to our wagon to talk to father. He said that some cowboys would be bringing us fresh venison that evening. This was good news in that we hadn't had fresh meat in several days. However, I was really scared thinking that these strange 'half-man, half-cow' creatures would be with us this night. I decided to stay hidden in the wagon and only peek out under the canvas when I heard them riding in on horseback. I was truly thankful to see they were regular men from the West and not half-cow creatures.  They sang songs and told stories as we sat around the fire that night." A fun memory.
          
The existing half of the wagon train did arrive in Idaho before the heavy snow, although winter had truly arrived.  Grandmother Sarah remembered walking down the main street of Boise, wrapping herself in the heavy, long black skirt her mother was wearing: "Sarah, how can I walk with you hanging on to my skirt?"  Grandmother said she told her, "Those men look scary, with their one long braid, and their slanted eyes when they look at me." was Sarah's honest reply.  During those early years, many Chinese were brought to Idaho to work on the railroad.  They also set up businesses such as doing laundry and shops that sold dry foods and household items shipped all the way from China by boat and train.  Grandmother said, "Once I got used to the fact these people were friendly, and there was no need for me to be afraid of them, I relaxed and even made friends with the shopkeepers."

Grandmother Sarah eventually met her husband-to-be right there in Idaho. But as you might suspect, that is yet another interesting story.