by Jesse Wiley
Then one of the men loses his grip, and releases the rope. Pa and the last man pull with all their might. But the wagon starts to drag them down the hill. Faster and faster it rolls, until finally they have to let go, too. The wagon continues to speed down the hill until . . . CRASH!
It lands in a wrecked heap.
You rush down the hill. The wagon has broken into pieces, and two of the wheels have fallen off. Supplies lie all over, and a big flour sack has torn apart. White powder covers everything.
“Our wagon!” Pa cries.
Feeling anxious and scared, you look at all your family’s possessions lying in piles on the ground. Your heart sinks. But then you can’t help but notice your surroundings. Ash Hollow is breathtaking, vibrant, and bright green. A flowing spring is circled by tall cedar trees, and there are flowers and fruit bushes everywhere. It’s so peaceful that suddenly even your crashed wagon looks a little better.
Maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad thing to be stuck in this beautiful spot for a while, you think.
Ma, Hannah, and Samuel are staring around Ash Hollow in amazement. You can tell they feel the same way as you. But Pa is too upset to notice anything but the wagon.
Do you quietly help him fix up the wagon, so you can get back on the Trail? Or do you try to convince him that you should stay where you are for a while?
If you work to fix the wagon, turn to page 87
If you convince Pa to stay, turn to page 43
Return to page 46
I don’t feel well, Ma,” you say.
Ma looks at you with concern and puts a hand on your forehead.
“You’re burning up,” she says. “Go lie down.”
As you drift back to sleep, you see Ma and Pa talking with Caleb outside your tent. Caleb looks at you, and then gently nods his head.
When you wake up, you throw up over and over again. You don’t stop until, finally, nothing is left to come out.
“Ughhh.” You moan and roll over.
Pa brings you some murky water to drink. Bleh! It’s salty and bitter, and it makes you gag again. But Pa stands sternly over you until you drink it all. Then you fall back asleep. He wakes you after a few hours and gives you more of the nasty water.
When you wake up again, you’re still sweating, but not as much as before.
“Do you feel better?” Hannah asks, peeking into the tent.
“Yeah, a little,” you say, weakly. Ma comes in, smiling with relief. She says your fever has broken. Pa brings you a cup of soup flavored with buffalo bones that has potatoes in it. It tastes really good, and you’re able to keep it inside you.
The next morning you hit the Trail again. You’re still too weak to walk, so you ride in the wagon. The sway of the oxen rocks you to sleep, but every now and again, you go over a big bump that jolts you awake. Ouch!
After a few days, you finally arrive at a military outpost called Fort Kearny. It’s pretty basic, but it’s a good place to rest after the last three weeks. There are dozens of wagons parked around the buildings, and you see lots of soldiers.
At the fort, you visit a doctor, who confirms you have dysentery.
“It was wise to rest and drink lots of liquids,” he says. “Many people on the Trail don’t survive dysentery, because if they can’t keep anything down, they get dehydrated. We suspect it comes from unclean food and water.”
By the next day, you feel a lot better. You walk over to Eliza’s tent with Samuel and Hannah.
“I’ve been waiting for you,” Eliza says with a grin. “I want to show you something.” She leads you and the other kids around the side of the main building. There are a bunch of chickens running around. Eliza crouches down and cups something in her hands. Cheep! Resting in her palms is the tiniest, fuzziest chick you’ve ever seen.
“It’s so cute!” Hannah coos, stroking the chick.
Just then, a soldier with a stubbly beard walks up. He smiles and asks where your wagon captain is. You notice he is filthy and smells bad, and you step back. But you introduce him to Caleb.
After supper that night, you hear a lot of arguing around the campfire.
“What’s going on?” you whisper to Joseph. He shrugs and shakes his head.
Later, Caleb explains to Ma and Pa that the soldier is working as a guide. He wants to lead your wagon train to Oregon. He says he knows a special path that can get you there a month early. But to do so, he’s asking for a lot of money as payment.
“I don’t think it’s wise to stray off the Oregon Trail,” Caleb says, shaking his head. “But a month is really tempting. Some families are planning to leave our wagon train, to follow the guide. It’s up to you to stick with us or go with them.”
You look at Pa nervously. You don’t want to leave Joseph and Eliza. But it would be great to get to Oregon sooner. You see Ma’s forehead wrinkle. She is thinking hard, too.
What does your family decide to do?
If you follow the guide, turn to page 119
If you stick with the wagon train, turn to page 27
Return to page 141
I think we can get rid of some things,” you say quickly. You look down, not wanting to see if you’ve disappointed Pa.
“It’s okay. We overpacked,” Pa says. “Let’s see what we don’t need.”
You feel a flood of relief that Pa isn’t upset with you for wanting to rest.
“Let’s start with the heaviest things we can think of,” Ma says. “I can do without this extra cast-iron skillet. I don’t need two.”
“I don’t need all of these farming tools,” Pa adds.
“We can throw away my doll,” Hannah offers. She grips the raggedy cloth doll tightly.
“You keep that, Hannah,” Ma says kindly. “It doesn’t weigh much.” Everyone had been allowed one toy or special thing from home, and Ma insists you keep those. But you do find plenty of other things you agree you can live without.
You start throwing some extra things off the side of the wagon. Other families in your wagon train do the same. Soon the Trail is littered with objects.
“Maybe someone will come by and find these things useful,” Pa says, shaking his head at all the discarded items.
When you’re finished, the wagon is lighter. The oxen seem happier, too. Caleb sends someone ahead to scout for a nice spot to camp. Everyone parks their wagons in a circle, called a “corral.” He says it will keep the animals safe and prevent a stampede.
You think the oxen look too tired to stampede anyway. It’s your turn to give them feed while everyone else sets up camp. You pet an ox, and he looks at you with big, brown eyes.
“Every time you have dinner, you’ll have less feed to carry,” you tell him.
At night, when you’re sound asleep in your tent, you hear a loud noise. It’s the guard Caleb assigned to watch over the camp! He yells and sounds the alarm. Pa scrambles to get out of the tent.
Bandits!
A group of rough-looking men has ridden into the corral. Your heart pounds as they tie up all the grown-ups. And then they rob you. It looks like the trail of stuff you left led them right to you! Luckily, no one gets hurt. But now you’re left with nothing.
No one has any supplies, and there is no sign of water or food in sight. Things are looking pretty bleak. It’s every wagon for itself as you go your separate ways and abandon the Trail.
THE END
Return to page 49
You help Pa empty the supplies out of the wagon. Then he surveys the damage.
“We’ll need to replace all these broken boards,” he says, sounding glum. “And fix the wheels.”
Luckily, you brought extra wagon parts with you when you left Independence, which come in handy now. And Pa is a skilled carpenter. He cuts down several of the cedar trees that fill Ash Hollow. Then he is able to make smooth planks out of them to fix the wagon.
Finally, after three days of working around the clock, your wagon is back in order, and looks almost as good as new. Pa watches proudly as you
all admire it. You load your stuff back on the wagon, and you’re ready to hit the Trail again.
You’re sad to leave Ash Hollow, but you’re looking forward to seeing Courthouse Rock and Jail Rock. Ma has told you all about the incredible rock formations. She’s heard they are hundreds of feet tall!
But after a week of travel, you start to get the feeling something is wrong. You’re sure you’ve seen this part of the Trail already.
“Pa, I think we have already been through here,” you say.
“No, it’s all starting to look the same to you,” Pa laughs. “We’ve been on this Trail a long time!”
You stay quiet, but start to pay closer attention. You’re certain that tree with the giant branch on the ground was there yesterday. Caleb has led you in a giant circle!
“Caleb?” you ask him.
“Yes,” he says.
“Um . . . I think we’ve been going in a circle for the past two days.”
“What? How?”
“I’m seeing the same landmarks,” you explain.
“Listen,” Caleb says, patting you on the shoulder. “I’ve got my compass and it’s never failed me. It’s impossible that it’s wrong. We’re fine.”
You try to tell yourself that Caleb’s the one who knows best. But then, you see wagon ruts that are leading in a different direction. You’re pretty sure they are from a wagon train that was going the right way!
Do you try again to convince Caleb that he’s lost? Or do you tell the others and show them the ruts?
If you try to convince Caleb, turn to page 53
If you tell the others, turn to page 59
Return to page 75
You decide to continue on the Trail after two brief days of rest. No one wants the wagon train to leave without you, but you worry about your oxen. Healthy livestock mean the difference between success and failure on the Oregon Trail. You just hope you’ll find green grass soon.
“Now that the wagon is lighter, it’ll be easier for the oxen to pull,” Pa says.
But neither the lighter load nor the rest seems to help. Once you’re back on the Trail, everyone is grumpy and Pa’s optimism fades. Hannah and Samuel complain constantly about how tired they are. They take turns sitting on the bumpy wagon, but that doesn’t help much.
The team of oxen grows weaker. Frustrated, Pa even tries driving them with a whip, which he hates doing. But the animals just get more exhausted and move even slower. The wagon train has to take lots of breaks so the animals can rest. And Pa gives your team so much extra feed, you’re starting to run out.
After a couple days, the oxen refuse to move at all. Pa pushes and tugs them. He pets them and talks to them. He promises them green grass if they’ll just keep going. But they won’t budge.
You’ve never seen Pa so worried.
The oxen eventually die. They’re so thin they’re not even useful as food. Now your wagon train is stranded on the prairie. Ma and Pa decide that going on isn’t possible. Your best bet is to start walking back to Independence to set up a new life there. At least you tried.
THE END
Return to page 112
You decide to wait for the rain to stop. Your family huddles under the wagon cover, with Archie curled in a ball at your feet. The rain continues to relentlessly pelt the top of your wagon.
By the time night falls, it’s too muddy to camp. You all squeeze into the wagon, but it’s hard to fall asleep with Samuel’s elbow stuck in your back, and with tin cups clanging every time you move.
“Hannah! Move your feet!” Her toes are pressed into your forehead. Yuck!
You climb out of the wagon. Getting wet is better than being cramped any longer or sleeping, you decide. You shiver all night.
Finally, the clouds break the next day. You take a nap, then help Ma spread out wet clothes to dry.
Pa finds the least muddy spot to set up camp. He manages to start a fire with dried buffalo poop, called “buffalo chips,” and you enjoy a hot meal for the first time in a while.
Over the next few days, the ground slowly dries up. The following morning, Caleb says it’s time to head out again.
Pa touches the oxen gently with his whip. They start to pull, and suddenly you hear a terrible grinding sound. POP! The back of the wagon drops. You know what’s happened before anyone says anything. The mud around the wheels dried, trapping the wagon in place. The rear axle bent. And the wheels snapped off.
Three other wagons break apart, too. That’s way too much to fix on the prairie. So you load as much as you can onto the remaining three wagons. This gets you to the next trading post, but you won’t get to Oregon without a wagon of your own.
THE END
Return to page 27
All stocked up with the extra wagon parts, you begin your trip. Your wagon train has eleven wagons, and the captain is a man named Caleb. He’s really nice, so you’ve all voted for him to be in charge. He decides when the wagons start and stop each day, where to camp, and what order the wagons travel in. He also assigns the guards each night.
The only problem with Caleb is that his oldest son, Joseph, acts like he knows everything. He brags all the time, so you avoid him as much as you can. Caleb’s daughter, Eliza, is close to your age and easier to be around.
As your wagon train rolls out of town, you can’t believe you’re really on the Oregon Trail! That feeling of excitement carries you through the first day of walking. But over the miles, your feet and legs start to ache. The thrill of walking fifteen miles a day fades quickly.
By the end of the first week, you are wishing for your house back in Kentucky. Sleeping in the tent is uncomfortable, not like your bed back home. But no one else complains, so you stay quiet. At least your family has a tent. Some families sleep outside under the stars.
The next couple of weeks are filled with long days. Most of the time, you walk beside the wagon. Six strong oxen are pulling the load, but it’s heavy even for them. Riding in the wagon is bumpy and there’s hardly any room. But sometimes, when you feel like you can’t take another step, you jump aboard for a break and dangle your tired feet off the edge.
“My stomach aches,” says Samuel, as he trudges along beside you. Your little brother hasn’t been eating much the past few days, and looks like he’s lost weight. Every day it’s the same kind of food. Breakfast is johnnycakes or cornmeal mush and bacon. Supper is trail beans, more bacon, and soda biscuits. Samuel says the biscuits are too heavy, not like the fluffy ones Ma made back home when you had lots of milk and eggs.
You wonder what Ma might have bought if you and Pa hadn’t wanted to bring wagon parts instead. Some molasses pudding would really hit the spot.
You’ve seen Archie, your dog, chasing a few jackrabbits along the Trail. Maybe what Samuel needs is a nice, hot rabbit stew for supper. You could try to catch a rabbit with his slingshot.
Joseph has already caught rabbits for his family. You’ve seen him walk by carrying the rabbits, and looking pleased with himself. But you don’t want to ask him for help. He might act like even more of a show-off than he is already.
You look at your wagon. You’d probably get a good view, and a better shot at the rabbits, if you stood up on its side. But with all the bumping, it’s hard to stay balanced.
Do you swallow your pride and ask Joseph to help you catch a rabbit? Or do you try to catch your own rabbit?
If you ask Joseph to help you catch a rabbit, turn to page 103
If you try to catch a rabbit on your own, turn to page 23
Return to page 62
A guide sounds like the right choice. He knows the Trail better than any of you, and he can help to catch food and keep you safe. The Osage man’s name is Black Bear. He hands the molasses and syrup to a small boy. Pa has also given Black Bear some bacon and a quilt Ma sewed.
You head back on the Trail and walk with Black Bear. He knows a lot about nature, and shows you different birds and plants along the way.
“This one is good to eat,�
�� he says, breaking off a leaf and chewing it. “But don’t touch that one.” He points to a plant with red berries. “It’s bad for you.”
Then, suddenly, your wagon goes over a big bump. You hear a grinding CRUNCH.
“Halt!” Pa yells to the oxen. He runs to the back of the wagon, and bends down to look under it.
“It’s one of the axles,” he says. His face grows pale. “This is terrible! We didn’t get extra ones.”
You and Ma exchange a glance. Pa was right about spare parts. An axle has snapped and can’t be fixed.
Black Bear helps you empty out your wagon. Luckily, Pa is a carpenter and is able to turn the wagon into a two-wheeled cart. It won’t get you to the end of the Trail. But you can take just what you need to get back to Independence. Black Bear agrees to lead you there in exchange for an ox.
Pa walks like a man who has been broken, and it makes your heart ache to look at him. You hope your family can figure out a way to get to Oregon later.
THE END
Return to page 19
You decide to wait before you say anything to the captain of your new wagon train. Maybe if you keep an eye on him, you’ll get a better idea of what the mysterious man is up to. The experience with the soldier stealing money is making you more nervous than usual. You don’t know who to trust anymore.
