The Pioneers’ Story

Chapter 1

Opportunity

On Thursday morning, I went outside to do my chores on the farm when the man who delivers mail came. I ran down the hill to get the mail from him. I told him, "Thank you, sir." The man nodded and rode away on his horse. While I was going back to the farm, I read some of the newspapers he delivered to my family. There was an advertisement saying that the west had cheap land that anyone could buy.

I went straight to my dad and showed him the advertisement encouraging us Americans to move west. "This could be a great opportunity for us," said Dad. Dad’s face was in deep consideration while reading the advertisement over in his hands. "Pack up your things, Marcus; I’ll talk with the others about this."

Soon after, Dad calls for a family meeting. These meetings usually resulted in the children—Josh, Brooke, and I—working harder at something we were lacking at, which is why we all despised them. But this time it was completely different. Dad sat down on the couch and gave our family some important information. He said, "Guys, how would you feel if we moved West?" My brother Josh was looking confused, probably because he didn’t know anything about the west or even the land we lived on then. Then Dad told us all about all the financial issues our family was dealing with and said how it was like a golden ticket for us to give our lives a "reset" and move on.

As time passed and we began to plan for this trip, I realized there were a ton of things that needed to be addressed before we started our journey. The most significant change was the sale of all of our chickens, pigs, and three cats in exchange for two oxen. We ended up selling the majority of our belongings, although we did leave a few family heirlooms with my grandparents. Our parents told us to only bring the items that were essential to us, like food and medicine. However, I brought an ink pen and a journal as I wanted to document our journey to the west even though it was not necessarily essential. I also brought my yellow overalls along with me.

When my little brother Josh asked, "How long will it take for us to reach the west?" I was smirking since I knew he would be surprised at my dad’s answer.

"Close to 4 or 5 months," Dad said, replying to Josh’s question. Josh’s jaw dropped as he heard Dad’s answer.

Chapter 2

Beginning of the Trail

As we started our journey on the trails leading to the west, we ran into some of my parents’ friends who were also taking the opportunity to restart their lives by moving west. The food we ate on the trail was mediocre at best. We ate some cold beans, biscuits, and johnnycakes. For the most part, we drank coffee with our meals. In the evening, when we stopped to rest before the next day, we gathered buffalo chips to use for fuel on the campfire.

Now that we were some miles away from where we came from, we saw much more wildlife. I described several animals, like buffaloes and rabbits. I would say, "That’s a buffalo over there on the left! Look at its shaggy fur and long beard! " Or I would say, "Look at that little pika! It has such large ears for its size! " I think Josh and my parents were annoyed, but I didn’t care. I just wanted to show them how much I know about wildlife.

Over the course of our journey, I would share my great ideas with my family about what to do during our journey, but after a while, I became tired. My sister, Brooke, was usually a chatterbox, but on our journey, she was actually quiet for once and didn’t talk much. On the other hand, Josh would always blabber on and on about how perfect life would be once we got to the West. I also realized that we were around halfway through the journey. Then suddenly, I remembered the bright yellow overalls I had brought. I made sure they were still there on the wagon. Those items are the last connection I have to my past life.

Despite all the optimism my family had, there were some challenges on our journey. I got sick while riding in the wagon, and so I would walk beside my family’s wagon while they rode. Soon enough, I was back to full health after getting some of the medicine we brought and wearing my yellow overalls.

I felt that my parents were focused on all the opportunities and didn’t let the hardships wear them down. My parents just wanted to push through the challenges, get to the finish line, and reap the rewards.

Chapter 3

Life on the Trail

Along the trail, we played games such as hide and seek and jump rope. Hide and seek was especially hard because of all the wildlife around on the trail. My parents would often say, "Come out, children! We don’t know where you all are! " They were worried that we would all get lost, but that never happened.

One time, when we had to cross a river, we were all worried. We didn’t know how to get our wagon across. We tried to ford our wagon across, but that just didn’t work as the river was not shallow. We were just getting our wagon back to where we started when an Indian came by. He said, "I’ll take your wagon across the river. But you've got to get me some of your money." I turned to my father. Newspapers told us that Indians have a tendency of taking your money and never coming back to help you. Dad thought for a bit about whether to trust him or not before finally deciding to give him some bucks we had brought on our journey.

My dad handed the Indian the money, and he said, "I will be right back with your ferry." We were all worried when he didn’t come back after 20 minutes. But soon after, he came back with some of his friends and helped to ferry our wagon across.

We thanked them before going across the river on the ferry. My family was all relieved that our river crossing was successful. If the Indian didn’t help us, then who knows when we would have gotten across the river.

Chapter 4

The Gunshots

When we met others on the trip, we often went the other way, hoping to send a message

that we had no intent to harm. But today is different. As we travel along the Oregon trail, we hear gunshots. We all duck, and Brooke starts to cry, and the oxen were unfazed.

"Everybody get down and stay calm," said Dad.

"What are they going to do to us?" whispered Brooke to my mother.

My father stopped the oxen from moving. Once we stopped, my father

slowly raised his hands up and very calmly asked, "Greetings, we don’t want to fight."

Then there are 3 more gunshots fired. "Are you okay?" everyone simultaneously asked. There was no answer. Now there was gunpowder everywhere and we started moving. My father was trying to make our oxen run faster while my mother was trying to keep my siblings from panicking. I realized there was a fight going on between some pioneers getting into an argument. They were now fighting to the death.

It wasn’t until we were far away did my father stop the oxen and let us all rest ourselves and stop panicking. We all ate some cold beans and drank some old coffee. "We were lucky that we all made it out of that fight alive," said Dad. "We could have died had one of the bullets hit us."

Then, a day later, we resumed our journey on the Oregon Trail, but we will all never forget what happened that day.

Chapter 5

The End of the Trail

Around 5 months after leaving home, we arrived in Oregon City. The first thing we did was to eat a healthy meal of beef, potatoes, and slaw. Then, after that, my parents bought land and started farming.

Several years after the fact, we are all well and healthy. My little sister and brother both go to the same high school. I am still working on my dad’s farm, growing crops still. The difference between the new farm and the old farm is like night and day. The land is much more fertile and much larger than our old farm. The climate also suits the crops we’re growing, like lettuce, carrots, and onions.

The last objects that I have now that I brought with me are my old ink pen and journal and my yellow overalls from many years ago. Every now and then I find these objects and reflect on my family’s journey to the west. The overalls helped to keep me warm during the time when I was sick, and the journal helped me to document my journey.

My family's financial issues have all gone away now, and my family doesn’t have to worry about the expenses we have to pay. My family is making good money selling all the crops we’re growing. I think part of my family’s success is the optimism they had and how they let nothing stop them from reaching Oregon. In the end, I think we were all content with the journey, no matter the hardships we faced.