Final+project+for+Oregon+Trail

March 4, 1844. 6:02p.m. Dear Diary,

Hi. My name is Sarah and I'm 15 years old. I live in Mississippi. I am about to take off on the Oregon Trail with my friend, Charlotte, and her family, which includes her father, Michael, mother, Cindy, her older brother, Paul, her younger brother and sister, Ryan and Nanci, and her grandparents, Linda and Jim. We are all going on a trip to start a better life in California. Tomorrow morning I am leaving on a 2,000 mile trip to California. WE will be traveling on the Oregon Trail. I am excited about this trip because I get to spend a while with my friend who I haven't seen in a little over 2 years. We will be taking off on March 5, 1844 at 3 a.m. in morning. My have agreed to let me go not only because I grew up with Charlotte, until she moved a couple miles away from me, but, for the fact that my family will be meeting us in California when they arrive. My Whole family will be coming to meet me in California and my dog, Bruno. But, before I leave, I need to get together all my items I will be taking with me. I also need to harvest the crops of food that I will be taking with me also.

March 5, 1844. 2:06a.m.

It is 2 a.m. and I just got up. My friend, Charlotte, and her family just got to my house and we are loading all the materials into the wagon. The materials I need to pack are, 200lbs. of flour, 30 lbs. of bread, 75 lbs. of bacon, 10 lbs. of rice, 5 lbs. of coffee, 2 lbs. of tea, 4 wagon wheels, 25 lbs. of sugar, 1/2 bushel of dried beans, 1 bushel of dried fruit, 2 lbs. of baking soda, 10 lbs. of salt, 1/2 bushel of corn meal, and 3 oxen, oil lamp, and extra oil for the lamp. Now some things I am bringing for myself. I am packing, about 10 extra dresses for myself, a hay doll I made for myself when I was 5 that my mom helped me make, my dog, Bruno, a sun hat, and a pair of boots. Once we got all of our items in the wagon we started to take off.

March 5, 1844. 5:30p.m.

Right now I am sitting on a blanket, which will be my bed for the rest of the trip, writing in my diary about my trip so far. Everyone else I’m with is sleeping but, I decided to stay up a little later to write. I decided to stay up and write because I had a bad day today and by writing it lets me get rid of all my stress. Today we came across a teacher on the trail and while everyone was resting/ taking a break she decided to teach the children a lesson on writing. Once people started waking up and stopped resting we took off again on the trail and we started off towards Missouri along with everyone else on the trail. I need to get some sleep now I’ll talk to you later. I need to get some rest.

March 6, 1844. 11:26a.m.

On our journey when our food supply starts to run low my friend, her family, and I will hunt, for deer, moose, duck, and fish. We will also buy other food that we can't hunt. We'll also buy our dry products such as, flour, wheat, grain, and other products. Each day I walk 11 miles a day with my friend and her family. Along the way we stopped to take 3 minute breaks 4 times a day. We stopped each night to rest and in the morning we started back up again towards our destination. We stopped and went through the following 6 states: Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Idaho, and Oregon. We also traveled on a wagon train, along with almost 1 million other people, including doctors, farmers, merchants, teachers, and a lot of other people. The doctor was of help to us because he helped us when my friend's sister passed out. Also when I cut open my arm and needed to get it stched back together.

March 17, 1844. 6:39p.m.

Today we came across a Native American tribe. They treated us like a part of their own family and gave us supplies we ran out of, food to eat, and a place to sleep for the night. The natives also provided us with clean clothes because we walked through a rain storm. They could be of a danger to us because they could steal our supplies and wagon with our oxen while we are sleeping. Today we also came across a river and had to find a way to cross it. So my friend, Charlotte, and I came up with this way to cross it. We would cut down trees and make slabs of wood thick enough, wide enough, and long enough to fit our wagon and oxen, our supplies, and all of the people on our trip. Some of the difficulties like the weather, which included rain, heat waves, and cold temperatures at night. We didn't come across a lot of diseases but, every now and then each one of us would get a little cold and need to rest in the wagon. We had to stop a lot for those who were ill. We walked up and down mountains all day every day. The heat played a big factor in how far we traveled each day because the heat slowed us down. Some people also passed out, including my friend's sister. Charlotte’s younger sister ended up passing out because of the heat wave that we had for 2 weeks. It took her a week to recover and she is now healthy.

March 19,1844. 11:45p.m.

Some things I didn't mention about our journey before we begin. I'm leaving to start a better life over. Also in search for gold in California. We are going to California because that is where my friend's dad's grandparents live and her fathers dad just died and they need her family’s help. Since I’m going also my family is going to meet me in California and we are going to start our life over. I am leaving in the month of March and should arrive in California in late August. I am going with my friend, Charlotte, and her family, which includes her mother, father, older brother, younger brother and sister, and also her mother's parents. Our destination is California because we plan on finding gold. We are going to start our life over from the beginning for a fresh start at life.

June 24, 1844. 6:45p.m.

Sorry I haven't written in my journal in a while I was busy on my way to a better life. I have reached my destination of California. I was helping Charlotte with her grandma dealing with the lost of her husband. Charlotte and I helped in the field, harvesting crops for the winter that is on its way, helping clean the house, and making food. 6 months ago I thought I would have never made it to where I am now. 6 months I would have been back home, in Mississippi, running from the cops because my dad was robbing banks. Now we are having no trouble and we are living the life we always wanted to live and now have the life we dreamed of.

June 30,1844. 11:34a.m.

My family just arrived and we are settling into our new home we just puriushed. I have already made new friends in my town I moved to, San Francisco, and I helped my dad move the furniture we made together. This is all I am going to enjoy my new beginning I hope you have fun reading about my journey to California and my trip on the Oregon- California Trail.