A Sorry Time Indeed - History Blog By Ava MacKinney
Sickness, sickness, sickness. We are living through a global pandemic. Our news, conversations, and thoughts are filled with corona-virus. Some of us are frightened, some are certain it won’t touch them. Most of us are somewhere in between, depending largely on where we live. But whatever our situation, the vast majority of us are surrounded by comfort.
I don’t know about you, but when I get sick, I long for the comforts of home; heat and air conditioning, a roof over my head, running water, a comfortable bed, someone close by to take care of me, a toilet I can run to when necessary.
Let me introduce you to Lydia, who traveled by wagon train across this country in 1852, 100 years before I was born. She traveled with her husband, Harry, both of them hoping to take advantage of the Donation Land Act which allowed a man to claim 320 free acres in Oregon Territory and another 320 for his wife. Lydia was one of those women who was thrilled to have acreage in her name and was determined to make it happen.
Unfortunately, they traveled during the cholera epidemic that swept along the Oregon Trail that year. Cholera is a bacteria from tainted water or food. Healthy people could contract the disease and be dead within hours. For others, the disease could linger for days, almost always ending in death. Other diseases also struck the trail that year, including measles, smallpox, flu, typhoid, and dysentery.
Three days into their journey, on May 9th, they saw a freshly dug grave of a man and another man returning east because his wife had just died of measles. Two days later they passed a new grave with writing on the marker telling of death by cholera. Soon the men traveling with Lydia got sick.
May 14th entry: “Just after we started this morning we passed four men digging a grave.”
“The man that had died was taken sick yesterday noon and died last night. They called it cholera morbus. The corpse lay on the ground a few feet from where they were digging the grave. It was a sad sight.”
“We passed 3 more graves this afternoon.”
Off and on throughout the entire trip Lydia, her husband, and the friends they traveled with (Henry and Mary) battled sickness of one kind or another.
May 16th: “We have not traveled but 6 miles today for Henry and myself are not able. I am trying to sit up a few minutes to keep up my memorandum.”
June 7th: “We passed 3 persons this morning that their company said was dying. Also passed a new grave. Traveled 15 miles. Encamped on the Platte. The sick man in our company not any better.”
June 8th: “Left our sick man and his wagon and company behind this morning.”
June 12th: “Passed 5 graves this morning and a camp where one other man was dying. The sickness is quite mortal…”
June 14th: “Passed 2 graves today. Death caused from the cholera…”
June 15th: “Traveled about 3 miles today and encamped on the account of our sick ones. Henry is not any better and there are 3 more of our train that are sick.”
June 16th: “We have not moved today. Our sick ones not able to go. I went a few rods to a train this evening to see the sick. There was two that were very sick. The sickness on the road is alarming —- most all proves fatal”
June 17th: “I went out to that train again this morning. One young lady died last night and the other cannot live but a few hours longer. Both sisters. Their father, an old, feeble, gray-headed man, told me that within 2 weeks he had buried his wife, 1 brother, 1 sister, 2 sons-in-law, and his daughter died last night. And another that cannot live the day out. He was so weak and feeble that he could scarcely walk. Our sick ones have not been able to move today. Not much better tonight.”
Are you getting the picture? Lydia’s journals went on and on telling about sickness and traveling only a few miles a day. Can you imagine struggling with sickness while taking care of those sicker than you while on the trail? They managed to get through the Rockies and along the Snake River. Lydia traded many times with Indians along the way, most of whom helped rather than hindered them in their trek. At one point she traded an apron for a pair of moccasins. Another time she traded an old shirt, bread, and a sewing needle for a salmon.
September 5th: “I am almost dead tonight. I have been sick two or three days with the bowel complaint and am much worse tonight.”
More sickness made it impossible for them to travel through the Blue Mountains in Oregon. On October 2nd they were told by a man coming from the mountains that it was too late to cross over because of the snow. So they hired Indians to take them by canoe downriver; a freezing, treacherous journey.
October 7th: “It was now getting dark and the wind increasing and ran so high the waves crashed over the canoe and as high as my head, completely drenching us with water. Our dark companions then tried to make for the shore but were unable to manage the canoe. But fortunately, there was more oars on the boat and our men assisted all they could. And after a long time, we safely made the shore which is more than we expected. Glad to lay down on the sand in our wet clothes and on our wet bed. One lady was very much alarmed; screaming every breath as loud as she possibly could. A sorry time.”
I almost had to laugh! A sorry time indeed!
Finally, on October 22nd they made it to the village of Burlington, where they met a man they knew; the owner of the mercantile. They decided to find jobs and winter there. Whether they were ever able to complete their trip and claim their land, I do not know. There were no more diary entries after October 27th.
I hate to be sick. I usually want to crawl into my bed and beg for time to pass. But these poor people had no choice. They moved on. Their fortitude and resilience put me to shame. But I suspect most of us would be amazed at what measures we would go to for our survival and the well-being of our friends and family. Remember “God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” (2 Timothy 1:7)
Who knows what trials we can withstand or to what heights we can rise if we only draw from the strength within us; the very Presence and power of the Holy Spirit. “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13)
Even when we’re sick…
