Mary Barmeyer OBrien - Heart of the Trail: Stories of Covered Wagon Women

Mary Barmeyer OBrien was born and raised in Missoula, Montana, and received a BA in sociology from Linfield College in McMinnville, Oregon. She is the author of eight previous books about womens history and pioneers on the overland trails, including The Promise of the West: Young Pioneers on the Overland Trails, Jeannette Rankin: Bright Star in the Big Sky, Across Death Valley: The Pioneer Journey of Juliet Wells Brier, Outlasting the Trail: The Story of a Womans Journey West, and May: The Hard-Rock Life of Pioneer May Arkwright Hutton (all by TwoDot/Globe Pequot). Mary writes from her home in Polson, Montana, and enjoys hiking, camping, and reading. She and her husband, Dan, have three grown children and two grandchildren.

Heartfelt thanks to those who have contributed to the successful completion of this book, especially:

Erin Turner and rest of the staff at Rowman & Littlefield, for their support and fine work;

fellow writer Maggie Plummer, for her expert help and faithful encouragement;

our son, Kevin D. OBrien, for his drawing of a covered wagon, which is used on the title page and at the beginning of each chapter throughout this book;

library director Marilyn Trosper at North Lake County Public Library in Polson, Montana, for her meticulous and conscientious research assistance;

Melissa Guyles, for helping me visit those faraway research places;

my family and friends for their good wishes; and

the ten pioneer women who inspired this book by sharing their stories with us.

Many archivists, curators, and librarians along the way offered their expertise and assistance, including:

Rachel Smith at the University of Wisconsin-Madison & Wisconsin State Historical Society Memorial Library;

Laurie Klein of the Yale University Beinecke Library;

Eleanor M. Gehres, manager of the Western History/Genealogy Department of the Denver Public Library;

Karyl Winn, curator of manuscripts, University of Washington Libraries, Seattle;

Richard T. Read, university archivist/museum curator at Pacific University, Forest Grove, Oregon;

the staff and volunteers at Californias Huntington and Bancroft Libraries;

Connie Geiger, archival technician at the Montana Historical Society; and

the staff and volunteers at the End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center in Oregon City, Oregon; at the Replica of Old Fort Hall in Pocatello, Idaho; at the Clark County Historical Museum in Vancouver, Washington; and at the National Historic Trails Interpretive Center in Casper, Wyoming.

Many thanks also to the following archival sources for their kind assistance in providing materials:

University of Washington Libraries for information on Amelia Stewart Knight.

The Denver Public Library for information on Julia Anna Archibald.

Pacific University Archives for information on Tabitha Moffatt Brown.

The Yale University Beinecke Library for information on Martha Missouri Bishop Moore.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison & Wisconsin State Historical Society Memorial Library for information on Martha Missouri Bishop Moore.

Specific Sources for Sarah Eleanor Bayliss Royces Story

Editors of Time-Life Books with text by Joan Swallow Reiter. The Old West Books. The Women. New York: Time-Life Books, 1979.

Levy, Joann. They Saw the Elephant: Women in the California Gold Rush. Hamden, CT: Archon Books, an imprint of Shoe String Press, 1990.

National Geographic Society. Trails West. Washington, DC: National Geographic Society, Special Publications Division, 1979.

Royce, Sarah. A Frontier Lady: Recollections of the Gold Rush and Early California. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1977. (Reprint of the 1932 edition by Yale University Press.)

Specific Sources forTabitha Moffatt Browns Story

Brown, Tabitha Moffatt. The Brimfield Heroine letter, August 1854, as published in Covered Wagon Women: Diaries and Letters from the Western Trails, 18401849, edited and compiled by Kenneth L. Holmes, vol. 1. Glendale, CA: Arthur H. Clark, 1983.

Pringle, Virgil K. Journal of Virgil K. Pringle: Crossing the Plains in 1846. Manuscript copy. Pacific University Archives, Harvey W. Scott Memorial Library, Forest Grove, Oregon.

Read, Richard T. The Early Days of Pacific University. Pacific University Forest Grove, Oregon.

Spooner, Ella Brown. Tabitha Browns Western Adventures. New York: Exposition Press, 1958.

Specific Sources for Amelia Stewart Knights Story

Clark County Pioneers: A Centennial Salute. Vancouver, WA: Clark County Genealogical Society, 1989, pp. 406409.

Eide, Ingvard Henry, ed. and photog. Oregon Trail. Chicago: Rand McNally 1972.

Knight, Amelia. Pioneer diary as published in Covered Wagon Women: Diaries and Letters from the Western Trails, 18531854, edited and compiled by Kenneth L. Holmes, vol. 6. Glendale, CA: Arthur H. Clark, 1986.

Specific Sources for Mary Rockwood Powerss Story

Malone, Michael P., ed. Historians and the American West. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1983.

Powers, Mary Rockwood. A Womans Overland Journey to California. Fairfield, WA: Ye Galleon Press, 1985.

Powers, W. P., comp. Some Annals of the Powers Family. Los Angeles, CA, 1924.

Specific Sources for Julia Anna Archibalds Story

Archibald (Holmes), Julia Anna. Pioneer letters as published in Covered Wagon Women: Diaries and Letters from the Western Trails, 18541860, edited and compiled by Kenneth L. Holmes, vol. 7. Glendale, CA: Arthur H. Clark, 1988.

Grant, Bruce. Famous American Trails. Chicago: Rand McNally, 1973.

Lavender, David. Bents Fort. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1954.

Spring, Agnes Wright. A Bloomer Girl on Pikes Peak 1858. Denver: Western History Department, Denver Public Library, 1949.

Specific sources for Clara Browns Story

Bruyn, Kathleen. Aunt Clara Brown: Story of a Black Pioneer. Boulder, CO: Pruett, 1970.

Katz, William Loren. Black Women of the Old West. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 1995.

Pelz, Ruth. Black Heroes of the Wild West. Seattle, WA: Open Hand, 1990.

Specific Sources for Martha Missouri Bishop Moores Story

Butterfield, Ira H., Jr. Michigan to California in 1861. Michigan History Magazinejuly 1927: pp. 392423.

Hitchcock, Ruth Hughes. Leaves of the fast, 18281880: a pioneer register, including an overview of the history and events of early Tehama County. Chico, CA: Association for Northern California Records and Research, 1980.

Moore, Martha Missouri Bishop. Journal of a trip to California, 1860. Yale University Beinecke Library, Frontier Women microfilm set WA MSS-S1438, vol. 1 partial.

Moore, Martha Missouri Bishop. Pioneer diary (Journal of a trip to California, 1860) as published in Covered Wagon Women: Diaries and Letters from the Western Trails, 18541860, edited and compiled by Kenneth L. Holmes, vol. 7. Glendale, CA: Arthur H. Clark, 1988.

Nobles Trail, Trails West: Marking the Emigrant Trails to California, 2010. http://emigranttrailswest.org/virtual-tour/nobles-trail/. Accessed April 2016.

Trail Facts, Oregon-California Trails Association, 2016. www.octa-trails.org/learn/trail-facts. Accessed March 2016.

Wentworth, Edward N orris. Americas Sheep Trails: History, Personalities. Ames: Iowa State College Press, 1948.

Specific Sources for Mary Peters Ringos Story

Central Overland Trail, Family Search Research Wiki, 2016 Intellectual Reserve. https://familysearch.org/wiki/en/Central_Overland_Trail. Accessed May 2016.