trails of Westward migration, including all trails westward from the Missouri to the Pacific, but especially the route of the Oregon Trail (also known as the California Trail) during the mid-1800s. The journey of 2400 miles took from three to six months, sometimes longer as the wagon trains could only travel the speed of oxen and wagons, which was no more than 15 miles per day (Hine & Faragner, 2000). The wagon trail declined after the completion of the first transcontinental railroad in 1869, but from 1841 to 1867, the pioneers making the trip by wagon faced difficult terrain and arduous conditions. During that period, approximately 50,000 emigrants traveled the Overland Trail (Hine & Faragner, 2000). The rigors of the journey were recorded in the diaries of many of the women making the journey. One entry by young Sallie Hester read: "The weary, weary tramp of men and beasts, worn out with heat and famished for water, will never be erased from my memory" (The Overland Trail). Most women making the journey were either of childbearing age or married with children, and the trip was made more difficult by pregnancies and children to care for. The Overland experience was nerve-wracking for many women who constantly worried about diseases and accidents killing their children, while the men worried about possible Indian attacks. In fact, disease was the biggest killer on the Overland Trail, responsible for nine out of every ten deaths (The Overland Trail). As Schlissel (1992) observes, the diaries of women reveal concern with family and relational values while the diaries of the men record concerns with fighting, conflict, competition and hunting.
Although there is no one single reason why women were willing to transplant themselves and make the journey from East to West, the major reason was marriage; most women considered it their duty to go along with their husbands and honor their marriage contract, and bring up their children. This...