UPDATED: Life on the Oregon Trail from the Journal of 17 year old Abigail Scott

Ever wondered what it was like to cross the Great American Desert? Ever wanted to know the experiences and hardships faced by pioneering families? 

During the Summer of 2012 I live tweeted the experiences of one emigrant family, from the diary of future women's rights activist, 17 year old Abigail Jane Scott, as they would have happened 160 years ago in 1852. Don't worry if you missed it because all the details are still here. 

​You can now access Abigail's full diary mapped onto the journey route here: https://goo.gl/Eg2Gkx 
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​I have also included a downloadable Google Maps version at the bottom of the page too.

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Abigail Scott was used to moving around. Since she was born, her family had moved all over North America, and her father, Tucker Scott had long wanted to take the final plunge and emigrate on the trails to Oregon. In April 1852, Tucker’s dream became a reality and the whole family, mother (Ann), father, and nine children, set out for distant Oregon. They would not all live to see the end of the journey.

Abigail was seventeen years old when she left Illinois with her family. Like many young women, she kept a diary of her life on the trails as a new world opened up before her, and an old one faded away.

You can read the full diary here: http://cateweb.uoregon.edu/duniway/notes/DiaryProof1.html Many thanks to the Univeristy of Oregon for providing this document online.

The Party:
There were five Scott family wagons including one for William Gowdy, nephew, and his family, and one for the Levi Caffee family. 
Scott Family:

• John Tucker Scott, 43, or "Tucker", father, shared driving the "mother wagon,'
• Ann Roelofson Scott, 40, the mother, and wife of Tucker. 
• Mary Frances, 19, or "Fanny", the oldest daughter, assigned to cook
• Abigail Jane, 17, or "Jenny", principal author of the "Journal".
• Margaret, Ann, 15 or "Meg", assigned to help with the cooking
• Harvey Whitefield, 14, or "Harve", shared in driving the "mother wagon"
• Catherine Amanda, 13, or "Kit", responsible for the care of the two youngest children.
• Harriet Louise, 11, or "Duck" or "Etty", drove the loose stock
• John Henry, 9, or "Henry", "Jerry", or "Sonny" helped drive ''mother's wagon."
• Sarah Maria, 5, or "Maria" or "Chat".
• William Neill, 3, or "Willie".

The Aftermath

• In 1853 Abigail married Benjamin Charles Duniway, "a sober and provident husband" as Abigail called him. More here goo.gl/QrGXk
• From 1871, after working as a school teacher and boarding house mistress, Abigail edited the "New Northwest" newspaper in which she campaigned for women's rights http://goo.gl/b4lc4 http://goo.gl/LNsGB . Her husband was also injured in 1862 and could no longer work so she was the major bread winner.
• Abigail Scott received her first voter registration card in 1913 after a long suffrage campaign http://goo.gl/fqvXl
• Of course one of the sadder results of the Scott emigration was the growing tensions in Oregon itself. Both Tucker and Harvey Scott ended up fighting in the Yakama Indian War in 1855 http://goo.gl/EhBBR By 1858, the Yakama had lost 90 percent of their traditional lands and were confined to a reservation. 24 chiefs were hanged or shot. According to accounts, some of those who had surrendered were summarily executed by the US Army. The Yakama Indian guerilla Qualchan turned himself in and was promptly put to death http://goo.gl/2Mk5x

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abigail_scott.kmz
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abigail_scott_duniway.xlsx
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