Levity

As bad as things could be on the overland trails, there were also rare moments of levity. Lucy always speaks warmly of her husband, and it’s clear from her letters that they shared a strong bond of friendship as well as marriage. I can just about picture him, decked out in her clothes, kicking up his heels.

[June 18, 1852]

The young men all amused themselves with dancing after supper in which Wm joined as hearty as any. the cook of the company we had camped with amused us all much as he had found the previous day a bundle of woman’s clothing which he had put on & had worn it all day, sun bonnet & all it caused considerable merriment all along the road & when dancing came off there was such a demand for this lady for a partner that Wm came for my saque dress & sun bonnet to wear Oh what guys the 2 did look but seemed well to enjoy themselves I sat looking at them till long after dark

Cooke, Lucy Rutledge, 1827-1915, Letter from Lucy Rutledge Cooke to Marianne Rutledge Willis, June 10, 1852, in Covered Wagon Women: Diaries & Letters from the Western Trails, vol. 4: 1952: The California Trail. Holmes, Kenneth L., ed. & comp. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1995.