Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1908-11-20
OUR PIONEER WOMEN
SOME OF THE HARDSHiPS UN-
COMPARATIVELY BORNE
Mrs Martha f Ills Sapp's Narrative Of her Trip
the Plains Across in 1852-How Her First
House was Built She Carried Gun in
the Indian War

House was Built She Carried Gun in
the Indian War
y trip from Independence or St
Joe. the usual jumping oif-placcs on
the Missouri river. burning of
! bridges rs is were. for invasion OF ter
," incrgnitr. ending with some slight
knowledge of Oregon City. Milwaukee
or Astoria, in Oregon. or Tumwater.
on Puget Sound. (thcn also ir Ore
gorD then requiring six months to
traverse a launt that can now he made
in less than that number of days in
safety and comfort in place of danger
and innWmcrablc hal'dships.
In the early Spring of 1872, begins
the narrator, We left the town of Al
ba, Iowa for the Territory of Oregon,
rs this country "aS then called Our
train of four wagons consisted of Da-
vid l.. Phillips, son and two daugh
tcrS, two families whose names do
not remember, but they went to Cali
fornia SO it does not matter. and my
father. Joseph II. Connor, brother
Milton, sister Jane and myself.
Perhaps description of our private
car would be interesting To those who
have never seen the kind the cmi-
grants used 1t had heavy wheels,
broad anG deep bed. divided into two
floors, the lower used for provisions
and things not needed for every day
use, and the upper for clothing in
constant use. and was Il general lonn-
ging place during the day and family
bedroom at night. 1t had high,
archcd aS-covcrtd roof. In the
right hand corner in front, was our
water can and cup Attached tn the
wagon bed at the back WAS the cup
board for victualS. dishes and cook
ing utensils. and what it lacked in
height it made up in width and
depth. 1t generally took four yokcs
of oxen to draw these heavily loaded
wagons.
There was a great deal Of sickness
among the emigrantS this year. as
the cholera was bad. | remember
one day of counting eight new graves
where the dirt was not dry. Our
train was very fortunate, only one
teamstcr was sick for Il little while
and Hulda Phillips and myself had
the mountain fever and lost our hair
but saved our scalps. by being in
such small party, ourselves as well
as cattle Jared much better. When
passing through the country where
Indians were not friendly. We would
keep near a large train for protcc-
ton.
There are many pleasant scenes and
things to remember of that long Jour
ncy as we'll as many annoyances and
inconvenience, but all things come
to an end sometime. So after months
of constant travelling we arrived at
The Dallcs. There father sold the
oxen and wagon, and went down the
Columbia to the Cascades in a canoe.
where we got a pack horse for our
traps and walked to where we made
connection with Il boat for Portland
There we stayed week, then crossed
the Columbia to St. IIclcns where
we spent another week. Then hiring
a team We started for Olympia, or,
more correctly speaking, for Tum-
water. where We again took u canoe,
with which we finished our journey.
Here we stayed another week, while
Mr. Phillips and father were looking
around the country for good loca
ton for farm. That being decided,
we again packed in a wagon, with
Captain Terrill for Il driver, thinking
this would be our last move. but it
was not to be. for when we got to
the place we found tent up and
Captain Hale in possession of the
claim (Which he afterward aban-
dOned), SO we went on to what is now
known as the Hawk place. where a
bachelor by the name of Fowler,
lived. There we stayed until father
could look for another location and
build a log cabin. Then we started
on our last move this time on Il
handsled. 1t being a short time be-
fore Christmas. we had plenty of
snow. You probably can imagine
the extent of our worldly possessions
when all we had was moved in one
load In our cabin there was neith-
er fire place. window nor door. and
the last row of shakes of the roof was
not on, but we were ST. glad to stop
moving and to be by ourselves that
we did not mind such trifles as these.
but made fire in the middle of the
room. proppcd clap-boards against
the opening for the door, ate our sup
per. made our beds on the ground
and went to bed, glad to think we
did not have to move any more
When we awoke next morning. our
beds were covered with snow, but
father went right to work and fin
ished the roof the first thing. The
shakes were held in place with long
poles instead of nails. He made the
door the hinges and the latch and