The Oregon Trail

10 year old Anna Dalcourt climbed onto the back of the wagon. Her family was about to leave Independence, Missouri. They were tired of farming and had heard of a trail that would lead to a better life. They packed Bacon, flour, coffee, dried fruit, dried beans, blankets and pillows, got their oxen ready, and began their journey to the west.

“Anna, your turn to walk,” said  Andrew. Andrew was 3 years older than Anna.  Anna and her older brother Andrew took turns riding in the wagon.

Then her mom called out, “Where is William?” The Dalcourts began searching frantically in their wagon and nearby.  They searched so long that by the time they were done, they were ready to go to bed.

“There’s only one explanation,” said Jean Baptiste Dalcourt(Andrew and Anna’s dad), “He ran away”. The next few days, their food mysteriously began disappearing. When Anna was going to get dried fruit for breakfast, she Who was taking their food?

The conditions were getting worse. The terrain was in the mountains and Andrew had dysentery. They had no medicine and their food was running out. Anna had to walk every day because Andrew was sick. Her family lived on porridge and little water. Sometimes, they’d walk ten miles without water. There was about 10 graves per mile. Andrew’s grave soon became one of the graves on the trail. Soon they came to a swamp and Anna climbed onto the wagon. The water was too deep for Jean. He drowned. Jean was the next Dalcourt to be buried on the trail.