Watch the following video about woman moving to the west. Begin watching at the three minute mark and stop viewing at the nine minute mark.
|
|
Elizabeth Dixon Smith Greer, Journal (1847-1850)
Dear Friends--By your request I have endeavored to keep a record of our
journey from "the States" to Oregon, though it is poorly done, owing to my
having a young babe and besides a large family to do for; and, worst of all, my
education is very limited.
April 21, 1847--Commenced our journey from La Porte, Indiana, to
Oregon; made fourteen miles. . . .
November 18--My husband is sick. It rains and snows. We start this
morning around the falls with our wagons. We have 5 miles to go. I carry my
babe and lead, or rather carry, another through snow, mud and water, almost to
my knees. It is the worst road that a team could possibly travel. I went ahead
with my children, and I was afraid to look behind me for fear of seeing the
wagons turn over into the mud and water with everything in them. My children
gave out with cold and fatigue and could not travel, and the boys had to
unhitch the oxen and bring them and carry the children on to camp. I was so
cold and numb that I could not tell by the feeling that I had any feet at all.
We started this morning at sunrise and did not get to camp until after dark,
and there was not one dry thread on one of us-not even my babe. I had carried
my babe and I was so fatigued that I could scarcely speak or step. When I got
here I found my husband lying in Welch's wagon, very sick. He had brought Mrs.
Polk down the day before and was taken sick here. We had to stay up all night,
for our wagons are left halfway back. I have not told half we suffered. I am
not adequate to the task. Here were some hundreds camped, waiting for boats to
come and take them down the Columbia to Vancouver or Portland or Oregon City.
November 19--My husband is sick and can have but little care. Rain all
day.
November 20--Rain all day. It is almost an impossibility to cook, and
quite so to keep warm or dry. I froze or chilled my feet so that I cannot wear
a shoe, so I have to go around in the cold water barefooted.
November 21--Rain all day. The whole care of everything falls upon my
shoulders. I cannot write any more at present.
November 30--Raining. This morning I ran about trying to get a house
to get into with my sick husband. At last I found a small, leaky concern, with
two families already in it. Mrs. Polk had got down before us. She and another
widow was in this house. My family and Welch's went in with them, and you could
have stirred us with a stick. Welch and my oldest boy was driving the cattle
around. My children and I carried up a bed. The distance was nearly a quarter
of a mile. Made it down on the floor in the mud. I got some men to carry my
husband up through the rain and lay him on it, and he never was out of that
shed until he was carried out in his coffin. Here lay five of us bedfast at one
time . . . and we had no money, and what few things we had left that would
bring money, I had to sell. I had to give 10 cents a pound for fresh pork, 75
cents per bushel for potatoes, 4 cents a pound for fish. There are so many of
us sick that I cannot write any more at present. I have not time to write much,
but I thought it would be interesting to know what kind of weather we have in
the winter.
1848-January 14--Rain this morning. Warm weather. We suppose it
has rained half of the time that I have neglected writing.
January 15--My husband is still alive, but very sick. There is no
medicine here except at Fort Vancouver, and the people there will not sell one
bit-not even a bottle of wine.
February 1--Rain all day. This day my dear husband, my last remaining
friend, died.
February 2--Today we buried my earthly companion. Now I know what none
but widows know; that is, how comfortless is a widow's life, especially when
left in a strange land, without money or friends, and the care of seven
children. Cloudy. . . .
Women's Suffrage (voting rights) Timeline
Please go to the National Women's History Museum's website and look over their timeline regarding women's rights.
Questions
1. Name two states that granted women the right to vote before 1911.
2. Describe two hardships that women faced as they moved into west. Do you think that facing and overcoming these hardships made these women feel different than women living in cities on the east coast?
3. In your opinion, why do you think that women living in the west had more freedoms and opportunites than women who lived on the east coast?
2. Describe two hardships that women faced as they moved into west. Do you think that facing and overcoming these hardships made these women feel different than women living in cities on the east coast?
3. In your opinion, why do you think that women living in the west had more freedoms and opportunites than women who lived on the east coast?