Mary Rockwood Powers

In a different focus of the effects of fear of Indians on the travelers on the Overland Trail, is the journal of Mary Rockwood Powers, whose husband's eccentric behavior was aggravated by the pressures of the journey.  Mary's journal and letters to her mother show her panic growing each day.

Americus Windsor Powers was a doctor who had been to California before.  In 1856 he decided to bring his wife and three children by wagon, along with a string of purebreed Canadian horses to sell on the west coast.  His mistake was in thinking he could use the horses to the pull the heavy wagons instead of purchasing oxen.

Mary and the children started from Wisconsin to Chicago by train.  "A few miles from Davenport the locomotive left us, we found the road completely drowned in mud.  We had to get out and walk in Iowa City and carry our own baggage.  The lady who came with us had a rifle and another had a carpet bag that weighed nearly 30 pounds.  I had the three children."  From Iowa City, the family traveled by wagon.

By early June, Mary had lost track of the days of the week, and even the month as her journal became an account of detailed incidents.  Americus, her husband, lent his rifle to a fellow traveler who did not return it, nor did Americus try to get it back.  He refused to care for a sick child when he was summoned.  Mary tried to calm her children by reading Pilgrim's Progress.

By the end of June, it was obvious the horses were not oxen.."Our wagon empty weighs 900 pounds and even that is too much for the horses to draw."  Americus would promise to buy or borrow and oxen team and then refuse to deal with the men to finalize the agreement.  He became more and more withdrawn and he would not pitch a tent so they all slept in the wagon.  Mary tells of one rainstorm that beat into the wagon where she lay for "2 1/2 hours with ice water running onto me and the hailstorms beating on my head."

Next time ...Part 2