The Journal Of Olive Swanson

March 17th, 1847

Hello! My name is Olive Swanson. And this is my new journal. My husband’s name is Albert. Ol’ Albert is a farmer. The best one I know. He is excited about going to Oregon. We have a farm just for him. It is right along the side of our little cottage. We are about to go on the good ol’ Oregon Trail with our children. We are packing our things into our wagon now. I have 14 and 10 year old sons, and a 6 year old girl. Our 14 year old son’s name is Peter. He is shy, but really smart. You can always rely on him when it comes to math. Our other son whom is ten, is John. He is really funny. He can really make your day when you need it the most. Our 6 year old girl ain't ever gonna listen to one word me or ol’ Albert would say. She is sassier than a llama. She is also a big trouble maker. Never not in trouble. Our nice little cottage is made of stone. Nice and sturdy. And it has moss growing all over it. We have 4 small bedrooms in it and one little kitchen. We are all really excited to go to our new home in Oregon.

April 2nd, 1847

I ain’t mad we're going, but I just wish I could still visit family. Albert is more than ready to go. We have everything reading and packed to go since we did it in March. Peter ain’t too happy to go to Oregon. He really ain’t wanna go because he ain't leaving his friend Sam behind. They are really great friends. Peter made a big fuss about it.

Keepsakes

~My Wedding dress

~My Ma’s old bible

~John’s white silk blanket

~Samantha’s teddy bear and red ribbon

~Peter’s baby books

We want to go to Oregon because we can really have a better life. Albert want;s land for farming, I want a place with less viruses so I can keep ol’ Betty outta my head after she died from Swamp Fever. I loved her dearly and truly still do. I ain’t ever forget about her. Also, I want some more room in our house so we wouldn’t be cramped. It would be really nice. We are now feeding our Oxen. We are feeding them a good amount because of the trip. Hopefully because we are feeding them a lot they will be stronger on our trip to Oregon. We ain’t want weak Oxen on our trip to Oregon. I hope they can support all of the weight of us and our things we packed.

April 4th, 1847

John was playing near the good ol’ river. He tripped on a rock and fell in. He went down the river because of the big tide there was then. Then a huge boat came by and went right over him. So he sadly got hurt very badly, and because he was hurt he couldn’t swim so he died drowning. It was horrifying to watch. I tried to help. But I guess my help did ain’t a thing. I wish he hadn’t died. Today we are going to have a funeral in honor of John. We sadly searched for his body the other day but couldn’t find it so we didn’t even have him there. I didn’t write that day because I was so sad. I couldn’t pick up a quill. At the funeral there were flowers. Many of them. Ain’t a flower ever smelled better than the ones I’ve smelt there. And let me tell you I’ve smelt a lot of flowers in my day. There were roses and daisies. I never smelt better. Poor John. We had to postpone our journey on the Oregon trail because of our sad loss of John.

April 15th, 1847

I found a leak in our cottage ceiling today. So far we are at three buckets full of water from it. Instead of selling our house before we go onto the trail we are going to lend it to our friend Sally’s Daughter. She is 19 and ready to move into her own home.

April 16th, 1847

It’s such a lovely day out here today. It's a bit breezy, perfectly sunny, and ain’t a cloud in the sky. The grass is starting to grow. It's almost time to start on the Oregon Trail. Sadly, our tree house tipped over. I was expecting that to happen soon because of how old it was. Sadly we can’t give it to Charlie Sally’s daughter. We were planning on giving it to her for her little boy Timmy. Oh well. That ain’t gonna ruin my day! I’m just happy nobody was in front of the treehouse when it fell down. So nowone got crushed. That I am super thankful for. And by the way we are at 9 buckets of water now. Well I guess more for us today. I wonder what that water is coming from. For dinner we had pork scraps bacon and eggs that came from Sally. She was and is so grateful that we are lending our cottage to Charlie.

April 22nd, 1847

We just started on the Oregon trail. We made it to a river. It is surely a lovely river. It has good cool water and it is really refreshing. We are letting our Oxen drink from it so they can go longer onto the trail. Albert ain’t wanna go. But we really need to. We don't want to end up like the Donner family after all. Before we left we filled up our cantines to the brim with that lovely fresh water there was in that river. I wish John could see this beautiful view of the river here. We are now getting onto our wagon and heading to the trail. Albert ain’t too happy about it though. I really had to talk him into it. I told him about the Donner's and everything. He now finally agrees with me. We are about to cross the river. Sadly two minutes ago my beloved wedding dress fell off the wagon right when one of our Oxen took a wrong turn. It is soaked and not worth trying to fix so I just tossed it off the wagon and tried to forget about it. Then the Oxen took another really, really sharp turn and I tried to save things from falling off but Peter baby books fell off! At least I saved the flour. I can’t believe it! I just splashed water. Thankfully our flour barrel’s lid was on so it didn’t get soaked too. I’m going to go get dried off so I can write more. I’m back and dryer. At least my Ma’s bible, Samantha's teddy bear and John's blanket are okay. I still ain’t happy about the dress and the baby books though. OH MAN! We just hit another bump! And John's blanket, Samantha's teddy bear and my Ma’s ol’ bible fell off! OH NO! All of our keepsakes! They're gone. I ain’t happy about this! This is horrible! UUUGGG! At least we just passed Alcove springs.

May 20th, 1847

I believe it is May 20th but I'm unsure. It's hard to tell what time it is these days. Today I met this lovely lady. Her name is Matilda. She broke her arm in a tragic accident. I better not write how though. She is also traveling to Oregon. Maybe we can live close. She is now a great friend of mine. She is also known as Mrs. Wright. We make a joke about how she is always right. I also met another woman last night who is very ill. Her name is Susian Hean. And she is very sick. She ain’t going to get better anytime soon. It would be a miracle if she survived. I hope she will. I’m praying about it. She has this wonderful son Wilber and he is only four years old. Since she is extremely ill I’ll be taking care of him for her for a while until she gets better. If she gets better that is. He is really nice too. So I’m really happy about it. He’s a sweet ol’ boy. Tonight is the first day we nanny him. He reminds me a lot of John. He used to be a lot like how Wilber is now. Wilber’s a cute ol’ fella for sure. Oh and by the way we just reached Ash Hollow. It’s a whole lot like Alcove Springs. There's a lot of water there and really good water too. We stopped there really quickly to let our Oxen have a drink and fill up our cantines too. The water is super clear, cold and refreshing. I just made Peter, Samantha, and Wilber pick up the buffalo chips. Instead of using teamwork, they just now started to throw the chips at each other! Oh man. They ain’t ever learn will they. They threw them like they were cake pan tins! I told them to stop so they did thankfully. Now they are quietly bringing them in for the fire. For supper we cooked beans over the fire. What a tiring day. I’m definitely heading for bed.

June something

I have no clue what day it is. All I know is it’s somewhere in June. We just came by chimney rock! It’s really a wondrous find! We're even thinking about shooting a piece of it off to keep for a souvenir! Someone was shooting a piece of chimney rock off and they accidently shot olive in her left hand! Which is bad because she writes with her left hand. This ain’t good. She can’t write no more until she heals. But don't worry we're taking care of her. She should get better soon. Today we just passed another rock. I forgot what it was called. By the way i’m peter the one who is writing for my ma.

Don’t worry, I’m better now so I can write. It's still a bit sore but it’s good enough for writing with. Albert is super tired. I ain’t blamin’ him. I think it's early July or late June. But I ain’t never know what day it is anymore. We're almost halfway done with the trail. I just heard screaming of sadness. I'm not too sure what it's from but I know it ain’t good. That scared the pisswadens outta me! I’ll go check it out. I just heard Susan Bean died of cholera. Oh No! Peter drank the same water as her! I’m praying for Peter to be okay. I hope he won’t die! We shoved charcoal down his throat to soak up the poison. Hopefully that will help. He should get better soon. Our wagon just hit a bump and Albert cant move the wagon anymore so I’m going to go check it out. We just ran over a big rock. It’s now broke oh well.

July 5th, 1847

I think its July 5th but I’m unsure. We have been trying to fix our wagon but we just can't do it. So we were trying to find someone who can fix it the past few days. We were really busy doing that so I couldn’t write. But today someone finally said they could fix it but it’ll cost us. 20$ is very expensive but we have no time to waste so we just paid him and he fixed it in a few hours. It was a tragedy.

July 8th,

We are expecting a baby any day now! We’re heading for Fort Laramie. It will take us seven days extra if we go there. But it’s worth it because we don’t want to end up like the Donner’s but just in the desert instead of a snow storm.

A couple days later

Fort Laramie is such a disappointment. It is really underwhelming. We expected more from it. It ain’t nothing like we expected. Oh well. Our Oxen are getting super tired on this trip. It's crazy that they are keeping up. Thankfully they are though.

July 10th, 1847

Today is Peter’s birthday! He is turning 15 this year! I’m so excited! He is going to get married on the 14th! He will be married to this nice girl named Dianna. I’m making him a sharp blazer, suit and a tie to go with it. I’m making him wondrous ones. We are now setting up a wagon for his wedding. We also have some chocolate cake to celebrate this lovely day with! Today we went along South Pass. It was a lovely sighting. The flowers were beautiful.

July 14, 1847

Today is the big day! It’s the 14th! Peter is getting married today! We set up a big arch with flowers and moss on it for their wedding. We stayed in their wagon for a while. We had some steak and rice with beans for dinner. It was a big dinner for sure! It’s a sweet day! Sadly, our Oxen are getting weary. They are getting weather and wearyer each and every day. They are also super skinny. We have made it so far onto this journey! I’m so grateful for Dianne. She really cheers Peter up. There's something about her that ain’t none of us have. We took a stop to fill our cantines with water for the rest of the trip. Were starting to leave Fort Laramie to get to our next destination. Today is such a lovely day. Peter and Dianne choose a great day for marriage. It’s wonderful out there.

July 15th, 1847

Today we arrived at soda springs. I love the taste of the bubbling water! We are going to rest here for a day. We just gave our Oxen some of the water. It should help their weariness. I think today it July 15th. Even though we warned Sam to not drink too much of the water, she did therefore she ain’t feeling well.

July 16th, 1847

This lovely morning we are at Fort Hall and I found a lovely bonett. But it was out of our budget sadly. It was 20$ for one bonett Today Alvery shot an antelope. So that's what we're going to have for dinner tonight. especially because we are low on food so it’s really good he shot it.

July 17th, 1847

Tonight I traded a pair of boots for some fresh meat. We will eat it for lunch later. I’m still unsure what we will have for dinner. But I’ll figure it out. Several hours later. I just found a barrel of pork someone left behind! It's lovely! Now we really have a plan for dinner. The pork was surprisingly good. July 18th, 1847

I just found an abandoned wagon with perfectly healthy Oxen inside! I can’t believe it! It’s a miracle!

August 3rd, 1847

It’s almost Wilber’s birthday! His birthday it September 6th! We are crossing a river right now. Matilda fell into the river. I tried to help her but just couldn't because her twins fell in at the same time! Thankfully her husband saved her and her children. But sadly she is in a coma right now and she ain’t getting better any time soon. I just had my baby!!! I named her Wave! Peter just fell into the river! I tried to help him and so did the rest of us. I managed to get a grip of his hand but he just slipped off. I dived into the water but it was too late. He’s gone. I’m so sad. I’m going to go dry off. I’m back and I just met this nice lady named rose. She desperately needed somewhere to ride so I let her stay in our wagon. She lost her. She’s a lovely lady that's for sure! She even helps me take care of Wave! Were soaked because of a river crossing! We're going to go dry off and head for bed.

September 5th, 1847

We just arrived at the Blue Mountains! I love this wondrous sight! I wish John was here to see it. It's great!

Today is the first day of October. And Rose and I just adopted a child! Seven hours later. Samantha accidentally fell off the wagon and broke her arm! It’s crazy! But don’t worry she’s okay now. Were taking care of her.

Me and Rose just found nine children wandering off on the road. We're going to keep them!!!!! We've decided to not waste our time and go to Walla Walla now! It’ll be worth it! I just found out Rose writes in a journal too! Isn’t that just lovely!

October 2nd

We are super excited to get to Oregon! And by the way Samantha is getting better! We traded with the Indians fresh meat and some wild berries. Our life is going great! That's what we're having for dinner tonight! Wave loves Rose. It's so cute!

October 7th, 1847

We're almost to Oregon! One hour later. We're in Oregon!!!! Me and Rose are great friends and are thinking of living together! We are going to throw a big party once we build our home! Oh and by the way Rose and I are planning on living together after all with our children too! We are doing that because on are way out Albert fell out of the wagon, got lost and got eaten by coyotes! I never really liked him anyways! Rose, my childhood friend and me now are going to build a big house for us and all of our children.

December 25th, 1847

We are finished cutting down trees and building our home. We are celebrating with a Christmas feast!