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Surviving the Oregon Trail, 1852: As Told by Mary Ann and Willis Boatman and Augmented With Accounts by Other Overland Travelers
Surviving the Oregon Trail 1852 As Told by Mary Ann and Willis Boatman and Augmented With Accounts by Other Overland Travelers Author:Weldon W. Rau, Mary Ann Boatman, Willis Boatman The 1852 overland migration was the largest on record, with numbers swelled by Oregon-bound settlers, as well as hordes of gold-seekers destined for California. It also was a year in which deadly cholera took a terrible toll in lives. Included here are firsthand accounts of this fateful year, including the words and thoughts of a young married c... more »ouple, Mary Ann and Willis Boatman, released for the first time in book-length form. In its immediacy, Surviving the Oregon Trail, 1852 opens a window to the travails of the overland journeyers--their stark camps, treacherous river fordings, and dishonest countrymen; the shimmering plains and mountain vastnesses; their trepidations at crossing ancient Indian lands; and the dark angel of death hovering over the wagon columns. But also found here are acts of valor, compassion, and kindness, and the hope for a new life in a new land at the end of the trail.« less