As I’m reading through the pioneer women’s journals, I’m finding myself wishing I could follow along behind them, to see with my own eyes the things they’re describing. Whether it’s natural landforms, like Chimney Rock, or unnamed mountain springs and wildflowers, I’m drawn to them. Which is strange, because I’ve never wanted to travel out west.
This is an especially lovely passage.
[June] 30 [1851]
A coquettish little stream darts along among the green grass dividing & uniting & then parting again Its clear cold sparkling water as it comes rushing from the mountains over the rocky bed is grateful to the taste
Clarke, Harriet Talcott Buckingham, 1832-1890, Diary of Harriet Talcott Buckingham Clarke, June, 1851, in Covered Wagon Women: Diaries & Letters from the Western Trails, vol. 3: 1851. Holmes, Kenneth L., ed. & comp. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1995.
red paper boat 