Covered Wagon Women - Volume 2

edited and compiled by Kenneth L. Holmes
302 pages, Paperback, 1983
 
Expectations of gold, rich farmland, and healthful climate propelled some fifty thousand overlanders. Among the women making the trip west to California and Oregon in 1850 were six whose diaries and letters give distinction to the second volume of Covered Wagon Women.
 
Margaret A. Fink notes the scarcity of women in the army of grizzled fortune seekers, along with preparations for the journey, lodging and camping along the way, landmarks, encounters with Indians, the problem of finding grass and water for the livestock, and early days in Sacramento. 
A courageous young mother, Sarah Davis, counts the graves along the way. Mary M. Colby's record is a reminder of how women contributed to the family prosperity when they reached bountiful Oregon. Lucena Parsons, a bride, provides details about washing and cooking in the open air. Sophia Goodridge, the youngest daughter in a large Mormon family, charts the trip to Salt Lake. Anna Maria Morris travels to Santa Fe with the military unit commanded by her husband.