In 1844, two years before the Donner Party, the Stevens-Murphy company left Missouri to be the first wagons into California through the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Mostly Irish Catholics, the party sought religious freedom and education in the mission-dominated land and enjoyed a safe journey--until October, when a heavy snowstorm forced difficult decisions. The first of many for young Mary Sullivan, newlywed Sarah Montgomery, the widow Ellen Murphy, and her pregnant sister-in-law Maolisa. When the party separates in three directions, each risks losing those they loved and faces the prospect of learning that adversity can destroy or redefine. Two women and four men go overland around Lake Tahoe, three men stay to guard the heaviest wagons--and the rest of the party, including eight women and seventeen children, huddle in a makeshift cabin at the headwaters of the Yuba River waiting for rescue . . . or their deaths. Award-winning author Jane Kirkpatrick plunges you deep into a landscape of challenge where fear and courage go hand in hand for a story of friendship, family, and hope that will remind you of what truly matters in times of trial.
One More River to Cross by Jane Kirkpatrick
Paperback, 352 pages
Expected publication: September 3rd 2019 by Fleming H. Revell Company
Mrs. Jane Kirkpatrick has taken stories of true accounts and blended it with a little fiction and woven this amazing story of the Stephens-Murphy-Townsend wagon train and given us the accounts of this wagon train. They realize they aren't going to make it all the way to Sutter's Fort, as they had planned. They decide to split into several different groups, so everyone will survive the winter.
Wintering Women Camp, has all of their 17 children, including 2 babes that have been born on the trail. There is also 8 women and 3 men. They are pretty goon, but they run out of food. Two of the men leave, hoping to find game or help.
Wagon Guard Camp, a few of the men decide to leave their wagons, because they would be able to travel faster, with fewer wagons and the stock that they had brought with them. Game becomes scarce of them, also.
The Horseback Party consists of 1 woman and several of the men. They hope to travel swiftly and bring back help for the other two groups.
I enjoyed this book, it is nice to read of the hopes and dreams of those who came before us. There were struggles, families having to dump some of their belongings along side the trail, because it was too heavy or simply not worth the time to carry it here and there. Or, One More River To Cross, to get the entire wagon across.
My thanks to LibraryThing and Revell for the opportunity to read this book. I was not expected to leave a review, doing so, is my choice to leave one.
One More River to Cross by Jane Kirkpatrick
Paperback, 352 pages
Expected publication: September 3rd 2019 by Fleming H. Revell Company
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