Surviving the Oregon Trail, 1852
By: by Weldon Willis Rau ; as told by Mary Ann and Willis Boatman and augmented with accounts by other overland travelers.
Contributors: Boatman, Mary Ann.; Boatman, Willis.
Publisher: Washington State University Press
Published: 2001
Place of publication: Pullman
Language: eng
Number of pages: 244
Subjects: Boatman, Mary Ann -- Diaries.; Boatman, Willis -- Diaries.; Overland journeys to the Pacific.; Frontier and pioneer life -- West (U.S.); Pioneers -- West (U.S.) -- Biography.; Oregon National Historic Trail -- History.; West (U.S.) -- Description and travel.; West (U.S.) -- History -- 1848-1860.; West (U.S.) -- Biography.
Genres: Diaries.; Biography.
Description: "With numbers swelled by Oregon-bound settlers and gold-seekers destined for California, the 1852 overland migration was the largest on record in a year when deadly cholera took a terrible toll in lives. Included here are firsthand accounts of this fateful year, including the words and thoughts of a young married couple, Mary Ann and Willis Boatman, released for the first time in book-length form.".

"In its immediacy, Surviving the Oregon Trail, 1852 opens a window to the travails of the emigrants - their stark camps, treacherous river crossings, and dishonest countrymen; the shimmering plains and mountain vastnesses; their trepidation at crossing ancient Indian lands; and the dark angel of death hovering over the wagon columns. But also found here are acts of valor, compassion, and kindness, and the hope for a new life in a new land at the end of the trail."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [227]-233) and index.