Elizabeth Smith Geer | Oregon Trail Diary, 1847
Like thousands of other families, Elizabeth and Cornelius Smith and their seven children set out for the Oregon Territory in the spring of 1847. They fared well through the summer, but in the fall heavy rains made things difficult. In November Cornelius became sick, but the Smiths arrived in Portland, Oregon, by Thanksgiving. However, Cornelius died two months later, and in 1849 Elizabeth married Joseph Geer, the father of ten children whose wife also died after journeying across the Oregon Trail.
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How did weather affect the ability of families to travel on the Oregon Trail? How did children both assist and create problems for their parents? How did the roles of husbands and wives change during the journey? |
November 18. It rains and snows. We start around the falls this morning with our wagons. We have five miles to go. I carry my babe and lead, or rather carry another, through snow, mud, and water almost to my knees. It is the worst road a team could possibly travel. I went ahead with my children and I was afraid to look behind me for fear of seeing the wagons overturn into the mud and water with everything in them. My children gave out with cold and fatigue and could not travel, and the boys had to unhitch the oxen and bring them and carry the children on to camp. I was so cold and numb that I could not tell by the feeling that I had any feet. We started this morning at sunrise and did not camp until after dark, and there was not one dry thread on one of us—not even on the babe. I had carried my babe and I was so fatigued that I could scarcely speak or step. When I got here I found my husband lying in Welch’s wagon very sick. He had brought Mrs. Polk down the day before and was taken sick. We had to stay up all night for our wagons were left halfway back. I have not told half we suffered. I am not adequate to the task. Source: Theodore Thurston Geer, Fifty Years in Oregon (New York: Neale, 1912), 146. |
Put It in Context
Despite widespread fear of Indian attacks on the trail, what were the most serious dangers that men and women pioneers faced on the journey west?
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