Covered Wagon Women 3: Diaries and Letters from the Western Trails 1851 (Covered Wagon Women Vol. 3) [Paperback]

Kenneth L. Holmes (Editor), Susan Armitage (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 1996

The wagon trains to California greatly decreased in 1851 as reports of deadly cholera on the trail the year before and strikeouts in gold prospecting became known. Those who did go west—about 2,160 men and 1,440 women—tended toward Oregon's rich Willamette Valley because of a new federal land law that awarded a husband and wife a full section.

Volume 3 of Covered Wagon Women contains the diaries and letters of six Oregon-bound women, as well as the journal of an English Mormon woman who described her experience all the way from Liverpool to Salt Lake City. The words of these pioneer women convey their exhilaration, courage, exhaustion, and terror in traveling so far into the unknown.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A portrait of the kind of person who would venture on and could succeed at such a dangerous enterprise. -- Kliatt Magazine

Also highly recommended is Beverly's, Ltd. audiobook production Covered Wagon Women: Diaries and Letters from the Western Trails, 1850. -- The Midwest Book Review

Excellent - thoroughly enjoyable - great for history - great for general reading - my kind of book. -- Publishers Marketing Association Ben Franklin awards

I like all of your tapes because of the historical interest and also to hear how women struggled and survived. -- Ruth Langley, California --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

About the Author

Kenneth L. Holmes was a professor of history at Western Oregon State College. He edited and compiled Covered Wagon Women, drawing on archives and private sources.

Lillian Schlissel is the author of Women’s Diaries of the Westward Journey. She is a professor of English and director of the American Studies program at Brooklyn College.

Product Details

• Paperback: 291 pages
• Publisher: Bison Books; Reprint edition (August 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0803272871
• ISBN-13: 978-0803272873
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #307,672 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Honorable, virtuous, January 15, 2004

By 

William J Higgins III (Laramie, Wyoming United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Covered Wagon Women 3: Diaries and Letters from the Western Trails 1851 (Covered Wagon Women Vol. 3) (Paperback)

More heartfelt, lively accounts from the Oregon Trail during the year 1851.
Harriet Talcott Buckingham's diary is both poetic and colorful, describing prairies, mountain passes, river crossings, flora, Indians and other travelers met along the way.
Amelia Hadley's writing style is very sincere. She not only visually describes streams, buffalo, landforms and Indians, but along with counting the number of graves they encounter, she also puts names to these graves (very historical).
Susan Amelia Cranston talks much about the availability, or lack of, water, fuel and grass.
Lucia Loraine Williams's party had quite an exciting but also quite dispirited journey. She lost her ten year old son due to a runaway wagon; had an Indian offer to swap her child for Lucia's three year old; thievery surrounding Fort Hall; etc. Her letter is just, truthful and illustrative of life on the trail.
Esther Lockhart was also in Lucia's wagon train and her reminisces are both vivid and picturesque of the trek.
The diaries of Elizabeth Wood and Eugenia Zieber are a delight to read.
The jewel of the book lies in Jean Rio Baker's diary. A Mormon widow with seven children, she leaves England to make the pilgrimage to Salt Lake City. A fascinating read of courage, tenacity and nerve.
Excellent book.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Librarians say one of the best, June 25, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Covered Wagon Women: Diaries and Letters from the Western Trails, 1851 (Living Voices of the Past) (Audio Cassette)

This is a treat to listen to in the car on the way to work. An extraordinary story - women, migration, inner strength. I shared this with four other librarians who all enjoyed the tapes and proclaimed this one of the best audio books they had ever listened to.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars the trek of a lifetime, January 31, 2003

By 

Rebecca Brown "rebeccasreads" (Clallam Bay, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Covered Wagon Women: Diaries and Letters from the Western Trails, 1851 (Living Voices of the Past) (Audio Cassette)

In COVERED WAGON WOMEN, the diaries & letters of three mature women on the journeys of their lifetime, record their trek west into the sun; across oceans, towns, rivers, farms, forests, prairies & deserts; friendly & hostile Indian territories until, at last they reach their journeys' ends.

As you listen to actors Georgia Goodwin & Jane Merrifield-Beecher read the thoughts, observations & feelings of these three mother ancestors, you catch glimpses of how we used to live. They take us through springs of ground-level thunderstorms & sudden floods, summers of dust, mosquitos & enervating heat, & autumns of mild beauty & the biggest harvests they've ever seen. We learn of broken wagons, dying companions, days of endless trudging & nights of immense beauty. Over mountains, through rivers & down defiles, these intrepid women take us there with their simple, evocative words.

COVERED WAGON WOMEN is truly a record of an adventure that shaped our nation & our psyche. The only thing missing are sound effects!