Evening star., 1945-12-16
Saga of the West--
MinusSudden Death
And Hostile Indians
TRAIL TO CALIFORNIA

1
By Vincent Geiger and Wake.
man Bryarly. Edited 1Dith az
Introduction By DaDid M. Pot.
ter. yale University Press,
$780,
Thanks to several generations o.
writer's, helped out by at least on,
generation of motion picture entire.
preneurs. the popular idea of tht
covered-wagon trip from the Mis-.
souri, River to the West Coast i.
that the journey involved constant
and variegated peril. Hostile In.
dians, starvation, thirst, wild beasts
and robbers-such are the hazards
which historians and writer's have
generally attached to the passage
1t is interesting to learn, therefore
that 1t actually was possible to
make the journey with high degree
of safety.
That is the point which this edit
ing of an old overland journal
brings out. Vincent Geiger and
Wakeman Bryarly were members OF
group of rs Virginia gold hunters
Both men were veterans of the
Mexican War and citizens of Charles
Town, in what is now West Virginia
In l848, they and their neighbors
heard the great tales of the gold
strike on the coast They banded
together, formed company and a
constitution, elected officers and
set out. By strictly adhering to the
principles of their organizat ton
they made what was nearly rec
ord crossing both for speed and
safety.
They left st. Joseph on May IA
and reached the gold diggings on
September /. Their supplies lasted
exactly to the date of arrival their
draft animals were intact and they
had suffered only two fatal acci-
dents, both of which were attribut-
able to carelessness. BY a careful
comparison of their record with
those of other ArgonautS, David M
Potter concludes that it was their
self-imposed discipline which car
ried them through in such extra
ordinary fashion.
He points out that the Virgin
lans made careful study of the
conditions of the journey and acted
accordingly. The chief reasons for
failure, were slowness and overload
ing. To avoid the first, the Vir-
glnians used mules instead Of oxen;
and when, short distance on their
way, they realized that, even with
precaution, they had sinned in the
second respect, they lightened thei,
wagons on the spot instead of wait
ing until tightening became obliga-
tory-a point at which it was usual,
too late to be of use anyway. They
added to their food supplies BY
hunting, and they avoided the
arueling labor of midday travel b,
starting early and stopping late
with a long rest at noon. TheiI
journal reports that they constantly
passed other companies on the roac
and saw less intelligent groups ir
Distress
1t is the moral which the editor
draws which makes the report inter
esting, rather than the actual ma
terial reported, for that is very much
a routine account-brief notes on
scenery, the state of the road. the
miles covered and so on. Mr.. Geiger
lawyer. kept the first rs days OF
the diary and DR.. Bryarly, a physi-
clan, carried on from that point to
the end. Neither man was much
given to description or comment
Their journal therefore becomes ma
terlal for a study more interesting
than itself
AS well as emphasizing the su-
perlorlty of planned trip to hap
hazard one, Mr.. Potter brings out
the fact that the celebrated danger
from Indian assault was largely ro.
nance; that by 1849 there were more
casualties from accidental shooting
among the pioneers themselves thar
from hostile attacks. On the whole
the study supports the school oi
thought of H. L. Mencken and Ber.
nard De Voto. which holds the pio.
neers were often less daring thar
dumb.
AS far as the actual editing of the
journal goes, however, Mr.. Potter is
somewhat overnice. To make the
plain entries of the two authors con-
form to the very best grammar, he
has frequently interpolated brack-
eted words and phrases which are
in no way necessary and constitute
an irritation to the reader rather
than help.
lllGH III