Western Narratives
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~steelquist/GeoBushnell.html
The diary of George Edwin Bushnell dates from May 5, 1864 to September 23, 1864. It consists of Bushnell's day by day journey from Missouri to California. He began with 2 wagons, 1 hack, 28 heard of mules, 4 mares, and 1 stable horse. They, I'm assuming his family, traded and bought supplies along the way and camped mostly near a source of water and in parks, or other campsites. He says he had friends along the way that helped them from time to time when the weather (rain/snow) got bad during the days. There is mention of how some days or even weeks, their mare, mules, or wagon would get hurt or break delaying their journey. They had to let many mules/mare go from broken ankles or infections that they couldn't afford to help. He sort of kept a log of how many wagons they passed or had passed him, as if a competition, they averaged a solid passing of 200 wagons on a good day and going about 20 miles a day. Bushnell also mentioned the Indians and how, on some mornings, they would gather around and sell fish in trade for biscuits, crackers, tobacco, etc. Sometimes asking for too much and selling for too little. He describes every canyon, mountain, prairie, valley, waterfall, forest, town, lake, and the wild animals, in such a way that he seems proud to be traveling through seeing all the wonderful views. He keeps track of the miles passed through every one of them. They mostly ate what was given, traded, or around them and no diseases were caught by Bushnell and his family, which was surprising. I would say that traveling to the West was definitely a force to be reckoned with, but was such an experience/adventure to have.
The diary of George Edwin Bushnell dates from May 5, 1864 to September 23, 1864. It consists of Bushnell's day by day journey from Missouri to California. He began with 2 wagons, 1 hack, 28 heard of mules, 4 mares, and 1 stable horse. They, I'm assuming his family, traded and bought supplies along the way and camped mostly near a source of water and in parks, or other campsites. He says he had friends along the way that helped them from time to time when the weather (rain/snow) got bad during the days. There is mention of how some days or even weeks, their mare, mules, or wagon would get hurt or break delaying their journey. They had to let many mules/mare go from broken ankles or infections that they couldn't afford to help. He sort of kept a log of how many wagons they passed or had passed him, as if a competition, they averaged a solid passing of 200 wagons on a good day and going about 20 miles a day. Bushnell also mentioned the Indians and how, on some mornings, they would gather around and sell fish in trade for biscuits, crackers, tobacco, etc. Sometimes asking for too much and selling for too little. He describes every canyon, mountain, prairie, valley, waterfall, forest, town, lake, and the wild animals, in such a way that he seems proud to be traveling through seeing all the wonderful views. He keeps track of the miles passed through every one of them. They mostly ate what was given, traded, or around them and no diseases were caught by Bushnell and his family, which was surprising. I would say that traveling to the West was definitely a force to be reckoned with, but was such an experience/adventure to have.
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