Love through life and death Essay -- Article Analysis, Stephen Lowe

For Time Magazine, by Stephen Lowe You’ve probably heard of the Indian vs. emigrants shootings, the drowning of the Applegate family, and starvation on the Oregon Trail, but do you honestly know to what extent how hard the journey was for the emigrants to make this 2,000 mile journey (McGill; Wagner, 10-15, 109-110; Life and Death on the Oregon Trail). The emigrants had to go through endless hardship, varying from walking the entire journey to deadly unknown diseases (Boettcher and Trinklein; Life and Death on the Oregon Trail). According to the Oregon-California Trails Association, expected mothers were common emigrants to travel on the trail, meaning that majority of the wagons on the trail had at least one expectant mother (Life and Death on the Oregon Trail). Thousands of babies were on the Oregon Trail. When the food was limited, babies would cry, not understanding why they weren’t getting fed (Life and Death on the Oregon Trail). They would become malnourished and desperately thin (McGill; Boettcher and Trinklein). When the need for food became urgent, babies were passed from mother to mother in order to be fed milk that they desperately needed to keep them alive (Life and Death on the Oregon Trail). Those babies, thin and helpless, often had their lives taken by the trail. The Oregon Trail was a hostile and deadly route, though many don’t know the severity of the conditions on the trail. There are many stories gone unknown that show a family’s amazing perseverance through the trail. This article covers the eventful but unknown journey of the True family’s trek over the Oregon Trail, providing parts of Charley True’s journal to show what the Oregon Trail was like through the eyes of an emigrant. Having to deal... ...r disasters, and a bout of cholera within their wagon party. The last few stretches of the trail were the most difficult, though (Wagner, 109-110). A supposed shortcut turned out to be a dangerous and deadly trail that could have killed us all. After crossing a river, going through mountains, and pushing through desert, we faced all the fears of nature. We saw other families go down in the raging rivers and drown (Life and Death on the Oregon Trail). Frostbite and cold were associated with the mountains. Rattlesnake bites and dehydration were apparent in the desert (Life and Death on the Oregon Trail). In these last days, each day became harder and harder. More people were getting buried under the ground in shallow graves, and even more things had to be thrown out. The feet of the oxen split, and their shoes fell off (Life and Death on the Oregon Trail).