Oregon Trail Project

We've been working on Joseph's Oregon Trail project for school.  It was turned in this morning.  Yeah! Sigh of Relief!  We(me suggesting and Joseph agreeing) decided to trace which of our ancestors traveled over the Oregon/Overland Trail.  In the beginning, we thought there might be a few.  It turns out that between my family and Matt's, we have 40 ancestors that traveled on the Overland Trail!  There were several others who came to the West later (after 1869 when the railroad went to Salt Lake), but 40 of them came across in wagons or handcarts.  It was amazing to do this research (more fun and interesting for me than Joseph, but he enjoyed making the powerpoint).  Here are a few highlights.  I am working on compiling the stories, pictures and info for my brothers and sisters.  There was so much info that we didn't use all of it for the powerpoint.

• Three families came in handcart companies (all on the London side).  John Toone, who had previously crossed the plains in 1852 and was returning from a mission to England, and Jemima Cook came in the Martin Handcart Company who suffered horribly due to a late departure, early snow and freezing weather.  Can't wait to see the new movie, Ephraim's Rescue about the rescue of the handcart companies.
• Caroline Domgaard (Mecham side) came across the plains when she was 7 years old with her parents from Denmark.  They buried her little brother in England while waiting to board the ship.  Her future husband, Fritz Emanuel Nielsen, sailed on the same ship as her family and crossed the plains in the same wagon company.
• Amelia Lacey Slade (Rich side) came from England with three daughters to meet her husband, William, who had been working in the US for three years to pay their passage. They had two more sons before William died and a third son was born after his death.  Amelia traveled across the plains with six children ages 12 to infant and buried two of the boys along the trail in Green River, Wyoming. She had no coffin for them, she tore a shawl in half and wrapped each boy in half of it and left him by the trail.
• William Champlin (Mecham side) is a direct descendant of Mayflower pilgrims.  He and his family were at Haun's Mill during the massacre and he survived in the blacksmith shop by playing dead and pulling a dead body over him.  His wife, daughter, Margaret (our ancestor), and other children survived by hiding in the woods.

So many more amazing stories of faith and perseverance were discovered as we researched.  It was a great project and exciting for find out more about our ancestors.   We found so much information on the Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel Database. If you wonder about your ancestors crossing the plains, type them in the search and see what you can find.  Beware researching family history is addictive!