Days on the road

By Herndon, Sarah Raymond

Subjects: Biography, Overland journeys to the Pacific, Frontier and pioneer life, Frontier and pioneer life, great plains, West (u.s.), description and travel, Wagon trains, Great plains, biography, Pioneers, Overland journeys to the Pacific. [from old catalog], West (u.s.), history, Diaries, Great plains, description and travel, Description and travel, Women pioneers, Wagons, History

Description: On May 1, 1865, Sarah Raymond mounted her beloved pony and, riding alongside the wagon carrying her mother and two younger brothers, left war-torn Missouri and headed west. With the sole motive of bettering themselves, the Raymonds began their journey undecided as to whether California or Oregon would be their ultimate destination. By the middle of June, however, they had been persuaded that Montana was in fact the place to make for and the train altered path accordingly. As they passed through Iowa, Nebraska and Wyoming towards the Rocky Mountains, they faced all manner of perils in experiencing the harsh reality of life on the Great Plains. After four months and four days, the wagon train finally arrived in Virginia City, Montana in early September, and they set about beginning their new lives. Unvarnished and evocative, Days on the Road is an extraordinary journal of what it was really like on the trail for the many who emigrated west in a bid to start over.