Books with title Crossing the Plains, Days of '57

Sarah Raymond was an unmarried woman of twenty-four who in May 1865--barely a month after the end of the Civil War--mounted her beloved pony and headed west alongside the wagon carrying her mother and two younger brothers. They traveled by wagon train over the Great Plains toward the Rocky Mountains, with no certain idea of where they would settle themselves but a strong desire to leave war-torn Missouri behind and start a new life. Days on the Road is the story of this remarkable journey and of the young woman who made it. Written on the trail and originally published in 1902, it is a tribute to all of the emigrants who made their way west and the tale of a truly extraordinary woman.

Can you visualize today what it meant to cross America's Great Plains in the mid-19th century? It was a wondrous, perilous, often fatal journey without assurance of a successful life at the other end. Yet tens of thousands made the journey and lucky for us, many set aside modesty, often at the request of children or grandchildren, to put the account of their travels into words. Young Sarah Raymond Herndon was one of these pioneer women. Her classic story of days on the road are part of American history. She describes the beauty of the country and the wrenching heartbreak of losing loved ones. What she found along the way and at the end will thrill and inspire you. Every memoir of the American West provides us with another view of the movement that changed the country forever. Listen to a sample.

Sarah Raymond was an unmarried woman of twenty-four who in May 1865--barely a month after the end of the Civil War--mounted her beloved pony and headed west alongside the wagon carrying her mother and two younger brothers. They traveled by wagon train over the Great Plains toward the Rocky Mountains, with no certain idea of where they would settle themselves but a strong desire to leave war-torn Missouri behind and start a new life. Days on the Road is the story of this remarkable journey and of the young woman who made it. Written on the trail and originally published in 1902, it is a tribute to all of the emigrants who made their way west and the tale of a truly extraordinary woman.This book published in 1902 has been reformatted for the Kindle and may contain an occasional defect from the original publication or from the reformatting.

Can you visualize today what it meant to cross America's Great Plains in the mid-19th century? It was a wondrous, perilous, often fatal journey without assurance of a successful life at the other end. Yet tens of thousands made the journey and lucky for us, many set aside modesty, often at the request of children or grandchildren, to put the account of their travels into words. Young Sarah Raymond Herndon was one of these pioneer women. Her classic story of days on the road are part of American history. She describes the beauty of the country and the wrenching heartbreak of losing loved ones. What she found along the way and at the end will thrill and inspire you. Every memoir of the American West provides us with another view of the movement that changed the country forever.

“Why are we here? Why have we left home, friends, relatives, associates, and loved ones, who have made so large a part of our lives and added so much to our happiness?” On May 1, 1865, Sarah Raymond mounted her beloved pony and, riding alongside the wagon carrying her mother and two younger brothers, left war-torn Missouri and headed west. With the sole motive of bettering themselves, the Raymonds began their journey undecided as to whether California or Oregon would be their ultimate destination. By the middle of June, however, they had been persuaded that Montana was in fact the place to make for and the train altered path accordingly. As they passed through Iowa, Nebraska and Wyoming towards the Rocky Mountains, they faced all manner of perils in experiencing the harsh reality of life on the Great Plains. After four months and four days, the wagon train finally arrived in Virginia City, Montana in early September, and they set about beginning their new lives. Unvarnished and evocative, Days on the Road is an extraordinary journal of what it was really like on the trail for the many who emigrated west in a bid to start over. Sarah Raymond Herndon (1840-1914) arrived in Montana at the height of the Gold Rush in 1865. After teaching there for one school year, she married James M. Herndon in 1867. In addition to Days on the Road she also kept a diary of her experiences in Virginia City. Albion Press is an imprint of Endeavour Press, the UK's leading independent digital publisher. For more information on our titles please sign up to our newsletter at www.endeavourpress.com. Each week you will receive updates on free and discounted ebooks. Follow us on Twitter: @EndeavourPress and on Facebook via http://on.fb.me/1HweQV7. We are always interested in hearing from our readers. Endeavour Press believes that the future is now.

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Can you visualize today what it meant to cross America's Great Plains in the mid-19th century? It was a wondrous, perilous, often fatal journey without assurance of a successful life at the other end. Yet tens of thousands made the journey and lucky for us, many set aside modesty, often at the request of children or grandchildren, to put the account of their travels into words. Young Sarah Raymond Herndon was one of these pioneer women. Her classic story of days on the road are part of American history. She describes the beauty of the country and the wrenching heartbreak of losing loved ones. What she found along the way and at the end will thrill and inspire you. Every memoir of the American West provides us with another view of the movement that changed the country forever.

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We left the west bank of the Missouri River on May 17, 1857. Our objective point was Sonoma County, California. The company consisted of thirty-seven persons, including several families, and some others; the individuals ranging in years from middle age to babies: eleven men, ten women and sixteen minors; the eldest of the party forty-nine, the most youthful, a boy two months old the day we started. Most of these were persons who had resided for a time at least not far from the starting point, but not all were natives of that section, some having emigrated from Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia. We were outfitted with eight wagons, about thirty yoke of oxen, fifty head of extra steers and cows, and ten or twelve saddle ponies and mules. The vehicles were light, well-built farm wagons, arranged and fitted for economy of space and weight. Most of the wagons were without brakes, seats or springs. The axles were of wood, which, in case of their breaking, could be repaired en route. Chains were used for deadlocking the wheels while moving down steep places.

Excerpt from Days on the Road: Crossing the Plains in 1865At that time I was a busy wife, mother and housekeeper, and could only write when my baby boy was taking his daily nap, to supply the copy for each week. No one knows better than I how very imperfect it was, yet many seemed to enjoy it, and the press that noticed it at all spoke very kindly of it.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.