The Westward Movement of America (1841-1880) is one of the eras of history that fascinates me. I plan to write a novel about a couple on a wagon train, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. In the meantime, I've begun to collect books with diaries, letters and essays on women who made the arduous journey.
Recently, I came to possess a new book (okay, new to me) WOMEN'S DIARIES OF THE WESTWARD JOURNEY by Lillian Schlissel. One story in it caught my attention, because 1) a TV movie was made based on it and I watched it (way back in the 1970's, I believe) and 2) the woman, Catherine Sager Pringle, shares my maiden name, Sager. Catherine's story reflects many of the dangers the pioneers faced on their journeys.
In 1844, Catherine's father, Henry decided to move his family from Missouri to Oregon. Catherine reports that the unfamiliar motion of the of the wagon “made us all sick, and the uncomfortableness of the situation was increased from the fact that it had set to rain, which made it impossible to roll back the cover and let in the fresh air. It also caused a damp and musty smell that was very nauseating.” (Some the family is pictured left, prior to their leaving for Oregon.)
Not long into the journey, Catherine's mother, Naomi, gave birth to a daughter, her seventh
child. The rain continued, soaking everything inside the wagon as it “ran through the tent.” Then the wagon overturned, nearly killing her Naomi. By the tme the wagon was up-righted and everything returned to it, her mother had recovered enough from the accident to continue on the road.
However, the family's troubles were far from over. The children would jump from the wagon by way of the tongue, thus saving their father from having to stop to let them out. On one such try Catherine's dress hem “caught on an axe-handle, precipitating me under the wheels both of which passed over me, badly crushing the left leg.” Amazingly, she survived this injury without much harm. Her father set the leg and did such a good job, she hardly had a limp from it.
Her father, however, wasn't as lucky. Henry Sager was caught in buffalo stampede as he tried to turn the beasts away from his wagon. He soon died from his injuries. Catherine's mother roused herself from her own sick bed to continue with their journey to Oregon. She hired a man to drive their wagon, but he soon took off, with their gun, to hook up with a train ahead of them, where his lady love was traveling.
Weakened by her recent childbirth, heartsick over the death of her husband, Naomi soon became ill with “camp fever.” She became delirious and her infant child was cared for by other women in the train. “When she died, a grave was dug by the side of the road. In just twenty-six days, the seven Sager children were orphans; the eldest was fourteen and the youngest just a few weeks old.”
The children continued on the with the wagon train until it reached the home of Marcus and Narcissa Whitman, missionaries for the Presbyterian church.. The Whitman's had lost their only child to a drowning and the couple took in all seven of the Sager children in October 1844. For the next three years, life was good and settled for them all. Then the mission was attacked by Cayuse Indians. The Whitmans and twelve others, including both Sager boys, were killed in the attack. (The Whitman Compound - Missionary Life by W.H. Jackson)
Catherine overcame the odds and survived to adulthood. She married Clark Spencer Pringle, a circuit Methodist minister and raised eight children during her long marriage. She also wrote about her family's crossing, leaving for future generations a detailed record of tragedy and triumph.
Images:
What do you think about those who gave up all they knew to travel to the promise of new land, new opportunities? Would you join a wagon train?
Recently, I came to possess a new book (okay, new to me) WOMEN'S DIARIES OF THE WESTWARD JOURNEY by Lillian Schlissel. One story in it caught my attention, because 1) a TV movie was made based on it and I watched it (way back in the 1970's, I believe) and 2) the woman, Catherine Sager Pringle, shares my maiden name, Sager. Catherine's story reflects many of the dangers the pioneers faced on their journeys.
In 1844, Catherine's father, Henry decided to move his family from Missouri to Oregon. Catherine reports that the unfamiliar motion of the of the wagon “made us all sick, and the uncomfortableness of the situation was increased from the fact that it had set to rain, which made it impossible to roll back the cover and let in the fresh air. It also caused a damp and musty smell that was very nauseating.” (Some the family is pictured left, prior to their leaving for Oregon.)
Not long into the journey, Catherine's mother, Naomi, gave birth to a daughter, her seventh
child. The rain continued, soaking everything inside the wagon as it “ran through the tent.” Then the wagon overturned, nearly killing her Naomi. By the tme the wagon was up-righted and everything returned to it, her mother had recovered enough from the accident to continue on the road.However, the family's troubles were far from over. The children would jump from the wagon by way of the tongue, thus saving their father from having to stop to let them out. On one such try Catherine's dress hem “caught on an axe-handle, precipitating me under the wheels both of which passed over me, badly crushing the left leg.” Amazingly, she survived this injury without much harm. Her father set the leg and did such a good job, she hardly had a limp from it.
Her father, however, wasn't as lucky. Henry Sager was caught in buffalo stampede as he tried to turn the beasts away from his wagon. He soon died from his injuries. Catherine's mother roused herself from her own sick bed to continue with their journey to Oregon. She hired a man to drive their wagon, but he soon took off, with their gun, to hook up with a train ahead of them, where his lady love was traveling.
Weakened by her recent childbirth, heartsick over the death of her husband, Naomi soon became ill with “camp fever.” She became delirious and her infant child was cared for by other women in the train. “When she died, a grave was dug by the side of the road. In just twenty-six days, the seven Sager children were orphans; the eldest was fourteen and the youngest just a few weeks old.”
The children continued on the with the wagon train until it reached the home of Marcus and Narcissa Whitman, missionaries for the Presbyterian church.. The Whitman's had lost their only child to a drowning and the couple took in all seven of the Sager children in October 1844. For the next three years, life was good and settled for them all. Then the mission was attacked by Cayuse Indians. The Whitmans and twelve others, including both Sager boys, were killed in the attack. (The Whitman Compound - Missionary Life by W.H. Jackson)
Catherine overcame the odds and survived to adulthood. She married Clark Spencer Pringle, a circuit Methodist minister and raised eight children during her long marriage. She also wrote about her family's crossing, leaving for future generations a detailed record of tragedy and triumph.Images:
Catherine Sager Pringle, Image courtesy of the Oregon State Library
Catherine Sager Pringle, Elizabeth Sager Helm, and Matilda Sager Delaney - below
Web sites to visit:
ACROSS THE PLAINS IN 1844 BY CATHERINE SAGER PRINGLE
The True Story of the Sagers
Catherine Sager's Account of Mission Life
Catherine Sager Pringle, Elizabeth Sager Helm, and Matilda Sager Delaney - below
Web sites to visit:ACROSS THE PLAINS IN 1844 BY CATHERINE SAGER PRINGLE
The True Story of the Sagers
Catherine Sager's Account of Mission Life
What do you think about those who gave up all they knew to travel to the promise of new land, new opportunities? Would you join a wagon train?
Leave a comment and you could win a copy of my e-book SALVATION BRIDE: She rode into town for her own deliverance, but will Doctor Laura Ashton heal Sheriff David Slade's pain before the dark secret of her past turns up to steal his SALVATION BRIDE?
Anna Kathryn Lanier
Anna Kathryn Lanier
