Ancestors and Author's Notes by Zina Abbott

One reason I love writing for the Prairie Roses Collection series is that it is about wagon trains, and I have ancestors who crossed the country on wagon trains. All of my ancestors who came to the United States did so from northern Europe. All arrived between 1850 and the mid-1880s. Not all were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when they journeyed in covered wagons along the Mormon Trail or came partway by rail. However, all of them had the Great Salt Lake Valley and surrounding regions as their destinations.

 

Although I do not write about my ancestors or focus on Mormons in my books, they were on the Great Plains from 1847 on, and many others came across them. I did throw in a few tidbits in some of my covered wagon books, and the latest was no exception. It started with my dedication:

 

This book is dedicated to my great-great grandparents, William England and Eliza Seamons England, two of my pioneer ancestors, both of whom were raised in England. They left Florence, Nebraska on July 1, 1861 and arrived in the Great Salt Lake Valley on September 13, 1861 in the Joseph Horne and Homer Duncan wagon train company.

None of the written histories of this couple indicate they traveled on a down-and-back church train—one of the first operated under the direction of the president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. However, from a recent lesson book made available by the International Society Daughters of Utah Pioneers, I learned that the first down-and-back church trains left Florence, Nebraska, on July 1, 1861. The last of twelve left on July 17, 1861, four days before the first major battle of the American Civil War. These trains were mostly filled by church members who were recent immigrants from many nations in Europe who arrived on three ships that sailed from England in the spring of 1861. Others, like my England ancestors, who had been in the United States longer (William four years, Eliza one year), or who traveled to Florence from the East that year, also joined these first trains.

Both Joseph Horne and Homer Duncan were among the first men called by the church to organize, outfit, and captain a down-and-back wagon train from Florence, Nebraska, to Great Salt Lake City, Utah Territory in 1861.

 What prompted me to choose this particular couple for the dedication in Sue?

As a member of International Society Daughters of Utah Pioneers, I taught a lesson last year about down-and-back wagon trains. In all my years of learning about the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to the best of my recollection, I had never heard of them. I decided to check the histories I have on file of my ancestors to see if any traveled in such a wagon train. None of them specifically stated they did. However, there were enough clues in the histories of William and Eliza Seamons to indicate they crossed the Great Plains in a down-and-back wagon train.

 

Laramie Plains in late June

For Sue, which is set in 1867-68, the group she travels with are able to journey part of the way on the Union Pacific Railroad. I set the story so they arrived in Laramie City in June 1868, which made it an end-of-track station. From there, they must travel the Overland Stage Route to Fort Bridger. Since there were seven people and four freight wagons, for safety, the leader wanted to travel with another wagon train. The only one the Laramie City station manager knew of was the Mormon Train—wagons and drivers from the Salt Lake Valley area who arrived several days earlier and waited for the new immigrants from Europe to arrive on the train. They had a head start over the group with which Sue traveled by almost two days.

And thus, the plot moves forward from there.

This from my author’s notes at the back of my book (Keep in mind, because of the way Amazon works Kindle Unlimited, many readers never see a book dedication unless they scroll back from the opening page to find it):

Between 1861 to 1866, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints operated down-and-back wagon trains, which included food, to help church members complete the journey from eastern Nebraska to Great Salt Lake City, especially those who arrived impoverished because they had sold everything in Europe to migrate to the United States. Members from all over Utah Territory were called and tasked with driving church-owned wagons and livestock, along with necessary supplies, east along the Mormon Trail. Once these immigrants reached Florence, Nebraska—now a suburb of Omaha—they were connected with a church-operated wagon train for the balance of their journey. Not long after the Union Pacific Railroad laid its first forty miles of track from Omaha, Nebraska, west by the end of 1865, the down-and-back wagon trains ended. The church continued to assist immigrants who had joined the church to travel from the end-of-track stations to where they were requested to settle.

I extended the years the down-and-back church wagon trains were in operation for the purpose of my story.

 

 

Sue, Book 55 in the Prairie Roses Collection, is now available for sale as an ebook and with a Kindle Unlimited subscription. To find the book description and purchase options,

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Westward Ho! Quiz

by Lyn Horner

Howdy all you western romance lovers. Today I'm going to test your knowledge about overland travel across the plains and mountains in the wagon train era. First, here are a few facts about the covered wagons pioneers called home during their long journey.

 

The term "covered wagon" applies to any horse, mule or ox-drawn wagon. A Conestoga wagon was a specific type of heavy covered wagon used extensively during the late 18th and 19th centuries in the U.S. and Canada. It was large enough to transport loads up to 6 tons. It was long, big-wheeled and curved in a boat-shaped design, perhaps suggesting the name "Prairie Schooner."

 

Conestoga wagon Photo by Ad Meskens of painting by Newbold Hough Trotter (1827-1898)



However, the wagons used by most pioneers were smaller and lighter with straight lines. They were shaped like ordinary farm wagons fitted with covers, but were much stronger. About ten feet long, with two-foot high sides, the wagon had to be built of well-seasoned hardwood to withstand the trip's extremes of temperature and moisture, as well as rough terrain. Such a wagon could carry 2,000 to 2,500 pounds of goods. Emigrants were advised not overload their wagons to avoid wearing out and killing their draft animals. Those who didn't heed this advice often paid a heavy price.

 



Covered wagon at the High Desert Museum Outside Author: B.D.'s world from Monroe, Washington, United State

Covered wagon at the High Desert Museum Outside Author: B.D.'s world from Monroe, Washington, United State 

A tar bucket hung from the side of each wagon, and the slats were calked with tar for river crossings. Wagons were covered with double layers of linen, muslin or sailcloth, oiled to make them somewhat rainproof. Spare wagon tongues, spokes, axles and wheels were usually slung under the wagon bed. Grease buckets, water barrels and heavy rope were also essential items.

 

Quiz

 

Okay, are you ready? Lets see how much you know about wagon trains. (Answers are at the bottom, but no cheating!)

1.  In the spring of what year did the first large wagon train head west to Oregon?

 
2.   Approximately how long was the Oregon Trail?
 
3.   What river did wagon trains follow across Nebraska?

4.   On average, how long did it take a wagon train to reach Oregon or California?

5.   What did geography books call the Great Plains during the westward migration?

6.   Why did the westbound travelers call themselves emigrants?

7.   What were the two most common reasons for emigrants to head west?

8.   Why did most emigrants choose oxen to pull their wagons rather than mules or horses?

9.   What did women gather along the trail to burn when there was no wood?

10.  How did women bake bread and pies on the overland journey?

11.  How many pounds of flour were emigrants advised to take with them on the journey?

12.  How many pounds of bacon were they advised to take with them?

13.  Name some other staple foods they would have taken along.

14.  What is saleratus?

15.  How much did a covered wagon and team of oxen cost circa 1850?

 

 

Answers


 

1.    In 1843

2.    2,000 miles or more depending on the starting point
3.    The Platte River
4.    The average travel time was 4 months but could be 6 months or longer.
5.    The Great American Desert
6.    They were traveling into foreign territory.
7.    They were lured by the promise of free land in Oregon, and later by gold in California.
8.    Oxen were stronger and cheaper than mules or horses.
9.    Buffalo chips or cow chips
10.  In a Dutch oven
11.  200 pounds according to an emigrant guide published in 1845
12.  150 pounds
13.  Flour, hard tack or crackers, bacon, sugar, coffee and tea, beans, rice, dried fruit, salt, pepper
14.  A leavening agent made of potassium or sodium bicarbonate; a precursor to baking soda
15.  Around $400, equals close to $11,000 now

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Wagons Ho!

www.laurirobinson.blogspot.com

When a family decided--come spring--they would head west, there was a lot to be done. If the husband was an ‘established business man’, the wife may have had a life of leisure up to this point. Meaning, she may have had help with the household chores, which might have provided her with time to tend to a rose garden or have tea with her lady friends. If the husband was a laborer or farmer, the wife most likely not only worked the fields with him, she managed her household single-handedly as well.

Either way, it would have been the wife’s job to pack the necessities for the long trip while her husband secured their passage. Conestoga wagons were actually far and few when it came to wagon trains. The original Conestoga’s were freight hauling wagons. It took six to eight horses or up to a dozen oxen to pull one wagon. The floors of a Conestoga wagon were curved upward to keep the cargo from tipping or slipping, and these wagons could haul up to 12,000 pounds.

Some Conestoga wagons were used to for the California Gold Rush, but by the time the migration wagon trains were happening, most wagons were Prairie Schooners. The name came about because some thought the white canvas tops crossing the prairies looked like sail boats crossing the ocean. Schooners were average farm wagon with arched, wooden bows holding the canvas stretched from side to side. Conestoga wagons had suspension, Schooners did not. The ride was usually so rough, people chose to walk. Schooners were pulled by mules or oxen. (Horses weren’t sturdy enough to make the trip.) If oxen pulled the wagon, a drover or teamster walked on the left side of the oxen, shouting commands or cracking a whip. If mules were used, they were harnessed and driven by someone sitting on the wagon seat.

The woman would have had to decide what to take west. She may have created a list of things to sell or giveaway before the trip, and to begin with she may have insisted on frivolous things, such as furniture. As space began to dwindle, she’d realize the importance of the basics—food. Dried meat, beans, coffee, flour, salt, a cow to be milked, and the necessities needed to prepare the foods, feed the animals, and aid their travels. 

The trails west were littered with furniture…the family rocking chair, or generations old desk, things that at one time had been treasured, became dead weight that needed to be discarded. Crosses decorated the trails as well. Friends, family members, children, wives , husbands and animals. At one time it was said there were so many dead and decaying oxen carcasses one simply had to follow the smell all the way west. For years, the bleached white bones did serve as trail markers.

The trail was long and full of hardships, but men, women and families prevailed, and arrived at their destination intact.

Yet, their work was far from over. Many of the trains arrived west in late summer or fall, which meant winter arrived before many of the homes did. Dugouts and/or hand dug basement were often utilized that first winter. Come spring, there was also land to clear and gardens to plant. Farmers and miners were the most common occupations of wagon train travelers.
If the husband was a farmer, it was most likely the wife was out clearing the fields along with him. If he was a miner, she probably would have cleared the ground for her garden herself, and begin setting down roots of their new life.

On January 27^th Harlequin will release the first chapter of The Stolen Kiss, a free read on their website.   Each day for the next twenty days, another chapter will be released. The heroine is Cassandra Halverson, although she didn’t go by wagon train, she did pack up her belongings and move to Oklahoma Indian Territory to start a new life, where she encounters Micah Bollinger.

The Stolen Kiss is related to my February 1^st release, The Major’s Wife.

WILL THE TRUTH SET THEM FREE?

Major Seth Parker knows his wife, and the woman standing before him isn't her. The manipulative vixen who tricked his hand in marriage could never possess such innocence—nor get his heart racing like this!

Millie St. Clair has traveled halfway across the country to pull off one of the greatest deceptions ever. But with everything at stake it soon becomes clear that the hardest part might be walking away from the Major when it's all over….