In the year of our Lord 1856, my family and I started our second journey across the seas in May.

We had just arrived in New York, when we received news we had to go back to Europe because our grandmother had died and we had been summoned by the solicitor to get my late mother’s affairs in order. On our way there, I finally convinced my sister Charlotte, her husband and child Theodore to come along and join us. She was far too scared to come around on the first trip. The poor soul has no one else to attend to, now our dear mother is gone. So we took the opportunity to stock up on provisions and supplies before heading back to America.  

We, the Coopers, left with 11 people although we had to leave behind our 2 little sisters Virginia and Adriana as they were far too young for this kind of journey. Our aunt had to stay behind as well because she is sick with the flu.

This is how our story went. My name is James and I will document our expedition from England to the USA, West of Frontier, in this logbook, to the best of my habilites.

The first day

What a lucky day ! What are the odds ? We met a nice family, the Langmores : Lewis Langmore, the Head of the family proposes we meet at the port of New York in a month from now, so we can help each other out. What a relief ! On the first day everything was smooth and the sea was calm as a lake. We even saw dolphins and orcas ! The kids were thrilled ! God willing, the wind pushed us to the West.  

The second day, May 4th 1856

My big sister Maeve is very tedious given that she complains all the time as she is sea sick. She has always been such a pain. Our late mother would be furious, but I had no other choice but to lock her up in the lattice.

Ten days later, May 14th 1856

The sea is becoming rough. The waves were reaching two meters high. Conditions were deteriorating so we had less and less food and water rations were dwindling fast. Jacob, my sister’s husband, is very worried. The children on the contrary were quite excited !  

Twelve days after our departure, May 22nd 1856

When I woke up this morning, I heard someone shouting and I recognized Charlotte’s panicked voice. I ran to her and saw a rat on the floor. My pregnant sister was not even able to move because of the cramps. She was bending over and screaming for help. Fortunately, Alexander, my son, arrived with a wood stick and fought it and killed it. This child is very brave ! Nothing ever scares him. His uncle on the other hand, is a real coward !! This man is useless… What on earth does my sister sees in him, I wonder !

May 30th 1856  

8 days after the rat incident, I woke up at dawn and went right up on deck. I usually breath in the fresh salty air and have a chat with the sailors. That’s when I saw large seagulls flying around. I wondered… Seagulls ! So I started to look far in the distance… and, I finally saw land. I reckon we’ll land first thing next morning as I believe our captain needs to send a boat to the harbor first and get things in order to secure our ship a spot at the dock.

June 1st 1856

Before arriving on land, we were very anxious to meet the savages, as we had heard stories that they mutilated their opponents. My sisters and my wife have a horrible fear of being attacked. The children are just scared there might be a fight, but are looking forward to making new friends.

How peculiar it is ! The captain had a row with the Admiral over unpaid fees so we had to land a few miles north, by the beach  ! How we are all going to fare, I wonder. Although the children are really excited… my sisters sing a different tune  !

Dawn came, and the men took to the boats and set off for the beach. It was filled with shells. In the distance, on the edge of the beach, I saw a stream full of shellfish. Tonight’s feast will be plentiful. Thank heavens, we got trough this hell.  

June 2nd 1856

Today the women and the children went ashore with the men. The women and the children had a chance to stretch their legs on the beach and bathe in the nearby stream. The men went with shotguns into the woods to hunt. We are starving and quite fed up with dry biscuits, literally.  

June 3rd 1856

On our way back to the boat, we saw Lewis Langmore in the distance. He looked quite upset. The poor lad had to join us on the beach because of this lame Admiral !

The hunt was excellent. We managed to share our game. Afterwards, Maeve’s husband Marcus and Charlotte’s husband Jacob and I, cut wood to build tools we might need on our expedition West. The women fixed us something hot to eat. What a feast !

But on the way back from the hunt, Lewis was behaving strangely with my sister Charlotte. So I went off to talk to Lewis to find out what he was up to, because I could see Jacob starting to get annoyed. I asked Lewis why he was behaving this way with Charlotte. He simply said he liked her a lot. So I went over to Jacob and told him not to be jealous because we’d probably never see them again. Before leaving, Lewis gave Charlotte a deer. Charlotte flattered him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. She knows her way around men ! Jacob wasn’t so angry when he saw the size of the deer !  

June 10th 1856

After a short break, we rode to the city to purchase supplies and tools like a covered wagon, coking supplies, food supplies, construction tools and other tools essentiel for our survival. This expedition is going to be a real adventure !

June 24th 1856

This morning we got up early because our expedition is going to last a very long time and we had to find a place to sleep. A few hours later my pregnant sister and the children were already tired of walking. We landed near a beautiful little river. We’ll be spending the night.

June 31th 1856

Today, we woke up late, then we set off. What a dreadful night. It rained all through the night, it was terrible. We were wet and tired. We stopped in a clear, safe place to wait out the rain. I am happy because I found a cave. God willing, this too shall pass.

July 4th 1856

A few day later the storm passed. We’re off again, the sun on our side. God has heard our prayers. Lots of rabbits and wild bears enjoying the good weather too.

July 11th 1856

A week later we continued on our way, which was getting long as the sun was high up in the sky. The heat is becoming unbearable. This land is going to be hard to farm. We looked for water to cool off and a place to rest.  

July 13th 1856

Today we found a lake. The water is turquoise. We washed and hydrated. The women asked if the kids could play around in the water. I had to agree as I clearly didn’t want another row with my sisters ! There’s a big oak tree that provides plenty of shade, so we sat down under it. We’ll probably spend the night there. A little rest will do us some good.

July 14th 1856

The next morning, at dawn, everyone woke up to Theodore drowning. He was crying out for help, and Charlotte was the first to wake up and run to save him. By the time he got out of the water, he was cold and traumatized. Charlotte was screaming at the top of her lungs, calling us all names. Next night, I shall keep watch.

August 14th 1856

I realize I have not written in a long time. This expedition proves harder than expected. This being said, we made good progress and everything was going well. It seems as if God was sparing us from any misfortune that might have been falling upon us.  

Despite all the rest we had, our biggest wagon, which contained all the food, had an incident : its wheel came off, and we were stuck for a few hours until we found a way to repair it. Jacob, Marcus and I left with an axe each.

August 15th 1856

The next afternoon we met the Blue Coats who offered to help us in exchange for food. We agreed, as they seemed very friendly and above all, well-equipped with weapons for a battle if, God forbids, we came across an evil tribe. God is on our side !

August 17th 1856

Two days later, after our lucky encounter, a storm broke. The sky rumbled and the rain grew heavier. By a miracle, after a one-hour walk under the storm, we’ve found a small cave. We’re soaked. To keep warm we’ve built a huge campfire. We’ll spend the night there, it’s safer. The children were scared there might be any monsters that would come and devour them in the dead of night. We lit a campfire and told them stories. Not sure my brother-in-laws’ stories reassured them, but they fell asleep nonetheless.  

August 18th 1856

The next day everything calmed down and the sun rays warmed us, we were able to dry our clothes soaked by the storm. After that, we hit the road again.

August 25th 1856

A week passed without the slightest incident, but today my sister’s Maeve’s son twisted his ankle on a path full of holes and stones. Now he can’t walk at all or even put his foot on the ground. Even though he’d been told not to run as he could hurt himself, Pierre is very hot-headed he gets it from his mother Maeve. We made him a splint out of wood and rope. As he was in a lot of pain, we strapped in to the bed so he could rest.

August 28th 1856

3 days later, we met an Indian tribe on our way. We spent an afternoon together, they taught us how to fish and build a small wooden hut to spend a few night. I don’t know why everyone tried to warn us about these so-called savages. They were quite welcoming. I’m sure they have already met many white folks ! I wonder how the Langmore’s fare…

September 3rd 1856

5 days later, Jacob saw a weird wooden large tower with wings. Marcus laughed at him and told him it was a totem pole, so Jacob took offense and didn’t speak again all day. He came to tell me that he was fed up with people making fun of him all the time because he’s twisted. What a sensitive lad. Thank god we have not met any Indian warrior…

September 4th 1856

The next day Jacob was still upset, so we decided to go and see the totem pole tribe. Marcus and I went to meet them. The tribe is called the Mandan. They didn’t want us to settle here. Surprisingly they did not attack us right away : they actually warned us they would chase us away to protect their homeland. We thought of the Blue Coats and sent word to them. We did out best to hide the wagon and camp int the woods. The Blue Coats arrived and got into a fight with their artillery. The women tried to protect the kids but they were too preoccupied by who would win the fight so the were cheering on ! Thanks to the Blue Coats, we won. It was a bloodbath… The privates told us they would build a fort here. 

September 11th 1856

A week after the battle with the tribe, the trip was well underway. My sister was in more pain than ever, she could hardly move, and her husband, stressed as usual, had been on edge for a few days. Their son, on the other hand, is very relaxed and looking forward to being a big brother.

September 14th 1856

Today is a big day, it’s my son Liam’s 14th birthday. He’s very happy and smiling as usual. We gave him his first knife, and he was overjoyed all day, playing with it. For his birthday dinner, we’re serving him a huge rib of beef, just the way he likes it.

October 1st 1856

One month later. Winter was beginning to arrive. Food was getting scarcer, portions smaller. A blizzard is about to hit.

October 8th 1856

A week later, conditions have become extreme. Last night, my sister’s little one Maeve collapsed from the cold. He didn’t wake up until an hour later. Everyone was on the edge, we’ve taken precautions like trying to keep as much warmth as possible and covering up more.

October 15th 1856

Conditions are getting worse still, the cold is getting worse. My son fell ill, as did my sister Maeve. They came down with a nasty fever.  Unfortunately, we don’t have the medicine to treat them, so we have to wait. God forbids somethings happen to them ! I will pray upon this tonight.  

October 17th 1856

2 days later, Maeve, who was looking after the sick, also fell ill, which we believe was due to the persistent cold and lack of food. How are we going to fare ?

October 19th  1856

Today my sister Charlotte and I went mushroom hunting. Just like when we were little. All of a sudden, my sister started getting dizzy and her hands started shaking. She sat down for two minutes and we went back to where we left off the wagons. Her husband came running, panicking as usual. What a man ! They carried her to her bed and she fell asleep immediately.

October 20th 1856

The next morning, Charlotte was still not feeling well, coughing a lot. All women and children are seriously ill. Unfortunately, personally, I don’t think they’ll recover.

October 27th 1856

A week later, my sister Charlotte finally rallied a little. As night fell, she was having more and more contractions. As we tried to soothe the pain, she screamed more and more and ended up losing her bones. With the screaming and the pain, she went into labor, losing more and more blood. After a long period of labor and pain, she was giving birth in front out our bewildered eyes. Unfortunately, neither Charlotte nor the baby survived the excruciating pain. We had to explain it to the children. We are all mourning and grieving. I can’t go on anymore… she was our rock. It’s going to be so hard without her. 

October 31st 1856

Days in mourning we have decided to leave again despite my other sister and all the children are enormously ill since the beginning its getting worse and worse I am so devastated. Her man can’t cope any more, he’s withdrawn and doesn’t speak any more, sadness is tacking over. 

November 4th 1856

Lord have mercy… what a horrible day. All the children died because of the cold and their illness… We couldn’t save any. How everyone is copping I have no idea. We think of God, who has supported us from the start, has forsaken us. Can we manage without them ? Their mothers are devastated. I cannot say more, for lack of words. They were the life of this adventure. We buried them and said prayers. We left with a heavy heart.

November 14th 1856

About ten days later, Joanna and Maeve both sadly passed. We saw them go little by little, they have been very weak since our kids’ death and my sisters could not go on. There are 3 of us now. Trying not to sink deep into despair. We’re now windowed and childless. What is the point of all that ? 3 men on the road, going West to build a home and farm the land ? How I’d longed to see my sweet England again…

December 4th 1856

After more than 20 days of walking without them, with no children running around and no women taking turns in the covered wagon, we were feeling quite lonely and this whole expedition seemed pointless. 

We met a tribe. We were scared to go, but we had lost the will to live so it did not feel as dangerous as when I had 10 souls to protect. I took my courage in both hands and went. They welcomed us with guns pointed at us. For a minute there I hesitated and almost provoked them. What if I had died here on the sport ? I could have joined my sweet wife and both my sister. I could have seen my kids, nieces and nephews running around in a corn field… But I looked at Jacob and Kurt and decided I had to cling to life, for the sake of our loved ones. 

We moved further out onto the land. We fell asleep in the wagons, exhausted. 

December 6th 1856

We are here ! In spite of everything that happened, women and children dying in the winter, we still had a glimmer of hope. This has enabled us to get to where we are today. We thank God for our trials and tribulations. We’re already making plans for the houses and church we’ll try to build, and we’ll create a lovely space for our departed. We owe them so much.

December 26th 1856

20 days after the plans to build the buildings, we’ve made good progress on the houses. We’re still very sad and grieving, but we’re making progress. God has brought us this far. Some new settlers have arrived and we met a peculiar frontiersman and a pregnant Indian woman who had been chased by her tribe. They did not say much, but when we saw her condition, Jacob and I understood why. I met an Irish family who met almost the same fate we did. Only the men died on the way. Three brave women and a baby child were left on their own. We decided to care for them as they had nowhere else to go.

I’m finishing this story here, as I have much building to do. 

In the year of our Lord 1865, on March 27th, my family and I started our journey  across the sea. This is how our story went. My name is Sean and I will document our expedition west in this logbook.

We are the Hofmanns and we are Dutch, I am the head of the family. I have green eyes and red hair. My skin shows the passing of time as I have wrinkles because I am 41 years old. I am a hard worker and I usually don’t sleep for too long. I am calm but quite authoritarian. 

My wife is Arabella, she is 44 years old. She is very stunning, she has dark green eyes and long brown hair… although I have to say she si quite dim-witted and rather slow. She always reads children’s book and she is a little stupid, bless her. 

My daughter, Charlotte is 6 years old. She has got green eyes and long curly red hair. She has freckles and she is short for her age. She is also naïve, curious but she is a chatterbox.

I have two other children, Daisy and Darragh. Daisy is 9 years old and Darragh is 10 years old. But they are so disrespectful and boisterous so I will not describe them. 

My big sister is named Elizabeth, she is pregnant and she is 46 years old. She is a brown-haired woman and she has got brown eyes. She is calm but very impatient and she is scared of spiders and big dogs. 

Fergus is my step brother, Elizabeth’ husband. He is a builder, he’s gifted with his hands. He is 43 years old. He has blond hair and green eyes. He is brave and nice but he needs action. He can’t stand sitting around. He needs hands-on tasks. He will come very handy when it comes to building our house west ! 

My niece, Adriana is 8 years old and she has got my sister’s hair and green eyes. Adriana is like an angel but she has a lot of imagination and she is very brave unlike Elizabeth and Fergus, let me say that much ! 

My twin brother is named Dan, he is lazy and scared but friendly and fun-loving. He has brown hair and brown eyes. He is very strong.

Jane is Dan’s wife she is a healer, she is 39 years old. She is little and she has short black hair and dark brown eyes. She is cunning but discret. 

Walter is the son of Dan, he is 12 years old but he is the most mature of the family. I’m quite sure he will prove to be an asset into the wild. I know I can rely on him. He has curly black hair and green eyes. He is calm intelligent and generous. 

My father is named Hendrick, he is 76 years old. Just like me, his face shows the passing of time. Life did not spare him. He has white hair and green eyes. He grumbles every day but he likes telling funny stories to Daisy. 

Margaret, my mother is 73 years old, she has white hair too. She has brown eyes. She is optimistic but doesn’t like change. This expedition would have proven an ordeal to her, I know this much. 

So this my family. 

We left our country because we wanted to improve our living in America. We have heard so many stories. Like I said, Mother didn’t really want to leave Germany because she doesn’t like change so she decided to stay behind. It was a dreadful goodbye as I reckon we won’t see each other anymore… 

So, Arabella, Charlotte, Daisy, Darragh, Elizabeth, Fergus, Adriana, Dan, Jane, Walter and I set sail to America. 

27th March 1865 

We left for America on March 27th 1865.

The journey on board the ship named the Gerona lasted 49 days, it was a nightmare. It was rainy and I was very seasick like so many other passengers. One week later, my family and I started to talk with others. We were bellow deck and we only ate dry biscuits and drank water. Because of this, Arabella and Walter had scurvy but thank God, Mustard, the Captain of the Gerona had many lemons to cure scurvy. Hendrick grumbled all day long ! 

21st April 1865 

There was a violent storm. Every man went up on the ship’s deck to help the sailors, the Captain and the other families. But unfortunately, Hendrick fell into the water and drowned. We managed to get him out but he was already dead. We were all devastated especially Daisy. Hendrick liked telling funny stories to Daisy. We decided to bury Hendrick in America. We wrapped his corpse in a sheet but the corpse stank so bad that we had to throw him overboard. Men lost at sea they say. What a dreadful sight… We prayed God for our survival, as we were all so sick we thought we would die. 

15th May 1865 

When we arrived in America, we were so relieved. God kept us alive ! We ate in an inn in the harbor, a delicious meal ! Our first hot meal in ages ! I can tell you the much, I won’t have any more dry biscuits. In the afternoon, we rented a nice room for us all. 

20th May 1865 

Later, Jane saw an ad in the local newspaper to become homesteaders! The president offered a piece of land! So we decided to move West to build houses, and barns and farm the and to answer the call of Lincoln! It was a right given from God to expand and settle in new territories. We were going to meet the Ute in America to become landowners. The Ute is a tribe who hunt animals and who stole horses from the Spanish settlers to still alive. Good riddance ! I’ve never likes Spaniards ! Although I do hope the Ute are friendly… I have heard some nasty stories I can’t repeat t the children. Before we started our adventure, we let our room and purchased everything we needed. We now have everything to start with : clothing, an oil lamp, weapons, farming tools, carpeting tools, food and cooking supplies. 

22nd May 1865

We went on our expedition with covered wagons and cows, it was very slow. Dan is full of imagination. He would find an excuse to go in the covered wagon and sleep. We were admiring the landscape and skyline, it was all so beautiful. I’ve never seen such beautiful landscapes in my hometown ! I know things will be better here ! 

28th May 1865 

Six days later, we met an old man who gave us some remedies and cures because Jane healed his favorite cow. God willing, no horrible epidemic might fall upon us. We stayed one night in the old man’s farm. He was very friendly. We left on his farm the 29th May. 

7th June 1865

We went on with our trip even faster but unfortunately, it caused a severe wagon accident. We escaped a nasty fall but all is no lost. Although one cow was hurt and our oil lamp broke. So we need to stay at the edge of the road. The wagon wheel was broken in two and the canvas on the wagon was torn. Fergus repair the wheel when Arrabella sewed the canvas and Jane heeled the cow. 

13th June 1865

When we finished to repair the wagon, it was Jane’s birthday. We ate a delicious cake with blackberries Elizabeth found in a bush ! Those are so sweet ! Jane was over the moon ! Dan offered her a book on medicinal plants. This might come handy one day, I reckon. 

16th June 1865

Three days later, Fergus and I finished to fix the wheel on the wagon and Jane finished to heal the cow. But, the 14th June, Charlotte and Adriana found a little lake. Charlotte, Daisy, Darragh and Adriana swam all day. But when we can started to go, they wanted stay here longer. Arrabella went next to the lake but Darragh pushing her in the water. She was very angry. Fergus came to seek they in the lake. Arrabella punished the four children at the wagon. So now, we can be on our way ! At last !

24th June 1865 

Today, we ate in the woods but Adriana, the bravest of our children, ate a spider. It was not a poisonous spider but she coughed it the entire day, they were so very insufferable ! As if we don’t have enough on our minds ! Kids eating spiders now ! 

2nd July 1865

8 days later, when we ate fish and bread, Charlotte went a bit to far because she followed a bird and she saw an opossum. She thought it wad a big mouse. She wanted to pet it but the opossum attacked her and bit her finger !!! Now, my daughter has just four fingers on her left hand. We heard Charlotte yell. I had never heard anything like it ! Fergus immediately went to help her. Charlotte hit the opossum with all her might. I didn’t know she had it in her. Fergus arrived and he killed the opossum. Adriana proposed we cook it… That girl would really eat anything ! 

17th July 1865

Daisy and Darragh had an argument because Darragh put a spider in Daisy’s bed. Again with spiders ! They fought and pulled each other’s hair, Darragh fled away in the forest. When he wouldn’t come back we had to go look for him. We looked for Darragh for three days ! He had fallen into a hole and it took a whole day to get him out and heal him. He was hungry but, fortunately, in the hole, was a little stream. So, he could drink… 

These kids are slowing us down ! They are insufferable ! 

11th August 1865 

Our chief had a problem, he is unconscious because he got knocked over by a savage. So, I, Elizabeth will write in the diary now. Weeks later, we came upon a tribe named the Sioux after crossing a river. I had read about them ! The Sioux is a tribe who chase many animals animals and they are allied with the Arapahos and the Cheyennes. But they weren’t friendly, they tried to kill us ! Sean confronted the tribe chef, Fergus, Walter and Dan fought the other savages, Arrabella threw books at them, bless her, Darragh and Daisy threw stones with a stone thrower, Adriana and Charlotte were fighting with the tribe’s youngest kids and Elizabeth and Jane stayed in the wagon, Elizabeth because she is pregnant and Jane to heal the wounded. But the tribe’s chief knocked out Sean and wounded Dan. God forbids nothing worse happens !

Fortunately, the Carters, a fellow settlers family, was passing and saved us ! God have mercy on them ! Jane negotiated with them and Daniel, the Carters head sent us the Blue coat. In exchange, we had top give them our remedies and cures. So, we won in the end. We might help them next time, only heaven knows. 

25th August 1865 

That week, the most disrespectful of our kids, Daisy and Darragh got into a food fight. We are rationing our food and this is all they can think of to pass time. We were beside ourselves. Youth… They throw a big pumpkin on Sean’s face who was quick to join them. I think, he started to go crazy. Jane and Walter helped me to clean up this mess. The food shortage is becoming a real problem lately. We had to kill one of our cows. Of course a mer pumpkin would not have changed much… but the kids were good for a nice treat as we scolded them quite harshly. Daisy and Darragh are now punished and Dan yelled at Sean because of the food shortage. Sean yelled back at him… he was beside himself. Arrabella couldn’t read with the noise, so she slapped both Dan and Sean with her children’s book. What a sight ! She likes to read children’s books, Sean thinks Arabella is very smart and reads intellectual books when she’s really reading Charlotte’s books and she is a little dumb. Sean got so drunk because after all this miss and is now puking everywhere… 

31st August 1865 

Today, is Adriana’s birthday, she is 9 years old. We ate a delicious raspberry cake and Adriana was very happy but, later, she cried because she didn’t get a proper gift. She really would like a new doll but we didn’t cross any villages recently. But, Jane, bless her, made a makeshift a doll with branches and leaves but it’s was so ugly that Adriana cried again. Thank God, Fergus carved a little cat with a piece of wood. So, Adriana stopped crying and played with her wooden cat… and we could resume our travel, at last ! Those kids will be the end of us ! 

8th September 1865 

On September 7th, we slept in a wood around a campfire. For a change, Dan woke up first. He saw the fire was out, so, he went looking for wood to fix the fire but he went to far and decided it was wiser to sleep in the forest and find the camp in the morning. As soon as we woke up, we decided we should better leave early and catch up on our delay ; the kids would break fast on the road. At lunchtime, Walter asked : 

«But… where is my dad ? »

So, Fergus ran back to the campsite to look for Dan. We decided to keep going anyways. But Charlotte and Adriana found many blackberries so we ended up resting by a stream savoring the berries. An hour later, we saw Fergus with Dan on his back because he was so lazy for run. The poor lad slept through the rest of the day. Are we ever going to get there ? I do wonder ! God willing ! 

20th September 1865 

Today, we started to climb a mountain. It was very hard. The road was very narrow. At the top of the mountain, I saw that Jane was white as a sheet. She was quite dizzy and fainted. We all tended to her at once. For the love of God ! 

21th September 1865 

Today, Jane is still quite weak. After lunchtime, we we had to resume our climb. Later, Jane woke up and she got out of the wagon. She saw the height of the mountain, and fainted again and fell from the mountain, down a deep pit. We were very devastated, not to mention shocked ! Especially Dan and Walter, Jane was so kind… she will be greatly missed. We said a prayer and had to go on as the spot was way too dangerous to wander around. 

29th September 1865 

We kept climbing, still not over Jane’s death, when we met someone on the road. It was an Savage. We were still grieving but scare took over and we started to recite prayers out loud. Thank God this Indian was friendly and had kind eyes. Nothing like the stories we had heard ! And he could speak English too. His name is Delsin. After a chat with Sean he decided to tag along and provided his help on the way. His knowledge of the area will be very handy I reckon. He taught is all about farming the land and plating crops in such a dry place. God speaks in mysterious ways ! He took Jane away from us but put Delsin on our path. What a blessing in disguise. 

1st October 

Elizabeth cannot write to the diary today, because she giving birth !!! So, I, Fergus, will take over as Sean is crazy, Dan is always sleepy and Arrabella can’t write at all.We were climbing when Elizabeth felt that she was in labour. Her water broke and we had to stop at once. Adriana followed her to a cave she spotted earlier and helped her through her travail. Unfortunately, the baby was stillborn. This voyage is decimating us all. I don’t have it in me to keep writing today. 

2nd October 1865 

Elizabeth died, she was too weak after giving birth and too sad because of the death of his baby. She must have died of a broken heart. We were all devastated. Fergus cried all day long. We buried Elizabeth and the baby in the cave. Delsin tried to ease our pain us as he talked of reincarnation. But I’m having none of it ! God help us ! 

10th October 1865 

I shall not remember this month with a kind heart… Daisy died because she had the flu. Without Jane to heal her, she died in a matter of days. We were so sad, but exhaustion took over grief. We were getting used to losing our loved ones. What an horrible thing to write. Darragh, Arrabella and Charlotte were unconsolable and Sean was losing his wit. All these deaths have taken a toll on Darragh the most. He loved making mischief with Daisy… She shall be greatly missed. 

18th October 1865 

Walter, Adriana, Charlotte and Arrabella went to collect some fruits. Walter found some fruits in the forest. He ate one fruit but they were poisonous. Jane would have told us what to eat and what to leave behind, but now she’s gone, we are quite lost. When he came back with Arrabella, Charlotte and Adriana, he laid next me and coughed blood. Delsin tried to heal him but hours after he unfortunately breathed his last… I hope he fares well in Heaven. I can’t say I’m sad. The feeling is too common now. I can’t feel anything really. Just fate. Now, it is just me, Arrabella, Sean, Dan, Darragh, Charlotte, and Adriana. 

20 October 1865 

The weather is getting colder. Like this night, it was very snowing because of the cold, the road was covered with snow and many lakes were frozen. The cows can’t walk pulling the wagon with the snow. I, Dan, Sean and Delsin had to shovel the snow out of the road.

Darragh was playing in the snow and when Arrabella finished cooking food he would not stop so he threw snow on Arrabella and she tried to catch him as they run, they fell. Later, they were coughing and sneezing so much and Darragh decided to sleep. In the middle of the night, Dan woke up and noticed Darragh was not breathing anymore. The child was dead. Although he was disrespectful, he was just a kid. We were hopeless. All these deaths have taken quite a toll on us… Dear Lord, shall you spare us now ? 

21st October 1865 

Arrabella first rallied but was suffering a lot. I knew at once she wouldn’t survive this. Not here in the wilderness and with no curse. She passed after dinner. At least she isn’t suffering anymore. After Sean witnessed his wife’s death, he drunk himself to sleep that night. We did not stop him. 

22nd October 1865 

Sean drunk so much to forget Arrabella’s death. But, unfortunately, he became crazier and was loosing his wit. He screamed everything turned bad when we met the savage up the mountain ! He said he had cursed us ! So he killed Delsin on whim he broke his bottle on the Delsin’s head. If Sean confronted Delsin in a duel, Delsin will won. So, he knocked Delsin and pushed him from the top of the mountain. But, now, we don’t know where to go. I hope God will guide us to our destination. 

27rd October 1865 

Today, we decided we shall rest. Adriana and Charlotte played in the snow. They had a snow fight and, after, they built a snowman. It was so beautiful. How can they have fun after our trials and tribulations I wonder ! Charlotte and Adriana used their furs to dress the snowman but I scolded them. I don’t want them to be sick. Enough is enough ! But Sean in a fit of drunken anger destroyed the snowman. Charlotte and Adriana did not even cry, as if they knew they can’t be happy anymore. 

31st October 1865 

Charlotte and Adriana both died. I am very sad. Now it’s just me, Dan and Sean.  We buried Adriana and Charlotte together. I miss them. I should have told them not to play in the snow. It was so cold. If them stayed in the wagon, Charlotte and Adriana was not died. Winter started to came and the travel was horrible. It was terribly cold and we started to get sick. We took more breaks to do a campfire so, it was very slow and we don’t have some food now. 

15th November 1865

When we arrived at our destination, we were not ready to fight the Sioux’s tribe, we were hungry, sad, tired and quite frankly, desperate. Fortunately, they turned out to be quite friendly thanks to God. I reckon they took pity on us. We talk a while with them and we ate together the traditional tribe’s dish. It was delicious but we had to attach Sean to his chair so he would not drink. 

With their precious help, we started to build farms, houses and other things. 

1st May 1875 

10 years after our travel in America, Dan, Fergus and I, Sean Hofmanns, have arrived in the Ute’s village. We built many houses and a lot of homesteaders joined in. As for me, I am not so taciturn and moody now because I quit drinking when I met a native woman, Kwakwa. She became my new wife. Together, we had three children : Chayton, Nahele and Chumany. They are our rays of lights.

Kwakwa is a beautiful woman, she is 30 years old. She is very short and she has ebony black hair, brown eyes and brown skin. She is very smart like Arrabella and she can draw and sing very well. We fell in love instantly and I love her culture.  

The eldest child is Chayton, he is 7 years old, his name means Hawk. He is very bossy, like me but when he gives orders, nobody listens ! He is so smart but very impatient. He has pale skin and red hair like me but has brown eyes like Kwakwa.

My second son is Nahele, he is 5 years old, his name means Forest. He always cooks many dishes, he is so gifted. He is so nervous and quiet but honest. He has brown skin, green eyes and black hair. 

Chumany is our youngest, she is 16 months old. Her name means Dewdrop. She cries and sleeps everyday. She is so cute, she has brown skin and brown eyes but she doesn’t have much hair yet so we don’t know what color it is.

Fergus never remarried because he never got over the loss of his beloved Elizabeth. But, for me, he is always my brother in law. 

Dan remarried though. With a native too, named Amadahy and they have two daughters, Migina and Asha. 

Amadahy is 42 years old she is blind but very pretty. She is the daughter of the Ute’s chief. She is generous, tender, serious and has a good sense of humour 

Dan has twin daughters, Migina and Asha who are 5 years old. 

Migina means Waning Moon. She is very sporty unlike Dan, she is a very gifted hunter and she loves running in the forest. She is so playful and energetic. Migina has brown skin, curly black hair and black eyes. 

Asha means hope. She is insufferable and grumpy everyday. She sulks and contradicts everyone at the drop of a hat. She is very little and looks very much like Migina. To tell them apart, one smiles and the other sulks.

We the Hofmanns, are now Americans. 

In the year of our Lord 1865, my folks and I started our journey across the U.S.A. on May 18th. This is how our story went. My name is Daniel Carter and I will document our expedition in this logbook. Let me introduce the family : my uncle Jacob is a very big man, but not very tall. he’s a former soldier who’s 51 years old. Jacob is a very violent man who likes to fight. His wife, Elizabeth, on the other hand, is very tall and gentle by nature. She’s 33. Their son, Liam, is a very quiet boy. My cousin Margaret is very clever, but she doesn’t do much. Walter, her husband, is a very manual man, very active. their only daughter is called Charlotte, and she is very boisterous, quite the opposite of her father. Finally, my beloved wife is Daisy, who is very kind, but strict when you get on her nerves.

Day I

We left our house in the state of New York with a stage coach and a covered wagon. We have oxen. We left because we saw an ad in the local newspaper to become homesteaders. The president, Abraham Lincoln, offered a piece of land.

With help from God, we hope to find a land where we can live. Our children don’t understand why we have to leave our home, and nobody knows how to explain this to them. We want to leave New York because that’s a corrupted city, a city of loose ways. It’s a city of alcoholism. We left because we don’t want this to affect children.

Three days after we took the decision to leave, Jacob and I went to purchase a covered wagon, while Walter went to buy all the tools we will need. Jacob got weapons and ammunitions. As for me, I went to buy food supplies.

Day V

Yesterday, we collected some seeds. But today, Liam got the flu. We’re going to stop the trip for a few days, while he recovers, we fear of losing him. Daisy made a pie with fruits we collected, and Jacob dried the rest for the road, to preserve them.

Day X

We have resumed our journey yesterday. Liam is feeling much better, but is still quite weak. Today, I found a very strange plant : it has a stem with four blue flowers. I need to document this new species.

Day XV

Today, we hunted two bisons with a hunting technique developed by Jacob : Walter and I frightened the animals, while Jacob killed them as they walk past him. Bisons were beautiful creatures, with immeasurable strength and power.  

Day XX   

Yesterday, we had stop because a wheel of the wagon broke. Today we left again on middle day because Walter and Margaret had a bit of trouble repairing it. Only one of the wheel spokes was broken, so all they had to do was change it with a roughly-cut tree branch. We can consider ourselves fortunate.  

Day XXV  

What a lucky day ! We came upon a battalion from the Blue Coats ! Their general was an ancient soldier of the regiment where Jacob served. His name was Henry. Henry proposed help : they are going to travel with us, to protect us from the Indians. We had heard stories from friends that the savages were cannibals, that they disemboweled their victims before devouring them… God willing we won’t come their way… Please Lord have Mercy !

Day XXX  

On this day of June 19th, Daisy, my wife who has a passion for nature and the wilderness found an

animal that reminded me of a groundhog. From her acute observations, this creature lives under the earth. How peculiar !!

Day XXXV  

We found yesterday an indigenous village. Henry’s fighters had leave to help another family on our orders, so we were forced to defend ourselves. The battle was terrible, the savages outnumbered us by far. We had to put a strategy in place quickly : we dug a hole after retreating, then covered it with leaves. it was strong enough to support the weight of a man, but no more. Thank God the trap worked, all the warriors fell into the hole and all we had to do was finish them off.  

Day XL

Nothing eventful happened in the last five days, except the children now have a terrible fear of savages. I reckon, so have the women ! I myself, found this little adventure quite rejuvenating !

Day VL  

Nothing has happened in the last five days. We were not attacked by savages or wild animals. God seems to be on our side.

Day L  

Today we saw, a black bear. A beautiful beast, an almighty creature. We were afraid he might attack us, but, thank God, it did nothing.

Day LV  

Nothing has happened in the last five days. We didn’t come across any strange animals, there wasn’t a soul in sight.

Day LX 

Last night, a piece of food disappeared from my bag. I suspected Liam, but a loaf of bread had also disappeared from his bag. Then a strange little animal with a pointed snout, grey in colour with black stripes came along and jumped on Walter’s bag, presumably to steal the food he was carrying. I grabbed it and threw it away. These lands are full of weird new species.

Day LXV  

We found today a group of mooses and, unluckily, they were attacked by a pack of wolves. Their defensive tactics were both ingenious and crude: the males massed around the younger ones, forming an impenetrable wall of spikes, and each charged straight ahead. After, we could observe them quietly. They were magnificent, gigantic, with antlers spanning more than a meter. We were stunned by the power they exuded, and amazed by their beauty. Although quite scared.

Day LXX

Today was a very foggy day. So Kyle and Charlotte got lost in the fog. We were very worried, but fortunately we found them after three hours when the fog lifted, and we were able to get back on the road without fear.  

Day LXXV 

Today we had to cross a torrent. The current was too strong to swim across, so we went looking for a ford, but we found a beaver dam, but it was abandoned. The dam crossed the torrent from one bank to the other, like a bridge. It was strong enough for us to go over it, but one at a time.

Day LXXX  

This morning, a vulture with an all-red head flew down on us and food inside our hands. Walter shot it directly in the stomach with a shotgun. This vulture doesn’t have any nostrils, but just a hole through the beak   

Day LXXXV 

Today, we found the first warm welcome from a tribe of savages. they welcomed us because we had brought them back a child who had got lost. these savages were very friendly, and even offered to let us stay overnight before resuming our journey tomorrow. 

Day XC 

Since the start of the week, we’ve been driving along a mountain range. Yesterday, we spotted a puma leaping gracefully from rock to rock. The animal looked like a huge cat, beige in colour and full of power. How peculiar ! 

Day VC 

Today, we observed an unusual hunt with our spotting scopes : we saw last week’s puma, accompanied by a few others, probably his pack. They attacked a small group of musk oxen. Their technique is quite similar to that of wild animals: one member of the group frightens the prey, and tries to make them pass into a gully. The other pumas were in ambush on the cliffs bordering the ravine. When the oxen passed, the pumas pounced on their prey, a young musk ox. It died instantly from the onslaught of claws and fangs. It was an impressive sight.

Day C 

Today, we found a grizzli bear, he was very beautiful creature and had long, shiny claws. 

Day CV 

Nothing happened in the last five days, except that Walter and I practiced shooting at live targets: they were birds, but we couldn’t eat them because the birds exploded. But a sermon from Daisy forced us to stop. According to her, it was a waste. She also said that we would need ammunition in case the savages attacked us. 

Day CX  

Today, Kyle found and wanted to adopt a curious animal. This animal looks like a rat, but bigger, and with strange large scales superimposed on its back. these scales are long, and run the whole width of its back. Jacob, always strict, didn’t want to keep him, so Walter suggested that the children should look after him. I therefore agreed to keep it, especially when Charlotte and Liam came to support my son and this animal only ate fruit. Kyle wants to call it Armour.

Day CXV  

Today, we stopped so the oxen can rest. We’ve been walking for several months without stopping, except to sleep for a few hours each night. We all need some rest.

Day CXX 

We left today the camp with very strange stones. Liam found yesterday, at morning, a stone with a snail sculpted the size of my fist. Charlotte found two, and Kyle found seven. The children were delighted with this gift from our Lord, but also very intrigued by the strange shape of the sculptures: they were perfect ! 

Day CXXV 

Today, nothing happened, but tomorrow, we will arrive at our destination: a Kootenay village !! O the joy !

Day CXXVI 

Today, we arrived in the Kootenay tribe territory, but, as soon as we got around the village I heard a cavalcade of horses. Fortunately, we had been warned and we had weapons charged with ammunitions. We didn’t know they were going to be violent, but after our misadventure with the last village, we were wary. I said to Walter and Jacob : « Take the women and children to safety, and lead the savages on, then join me at the eastern rock  !  »

They followed my orders, and I went to the wagon. And I took, in a chest, explosives given by Henry. I took also all the ammunitions he gave us, and an axe. I went find Walter and Jacob to explain them my idea. I cut three trees and we attached the explosives in their branches. And we straightened them out with ropes. After, when the savages passed nearby, Jacob shoot one to lure them into the trap. When all the tribe arrived, we cut the ropes that were attached to stones. The whole army exploded and died, but the chief attacked Walter from behind and shot an arrow into his right leg. Jacob took the axe and beheaded the savage. 

Day CXXVII  

After the battle and a good night’s sleep, we decided to have a feast. We needed food. Walter and I went chamois hunting. We found a whole group and killed five of them. Walter stayed behind with the women and children to help set the table, as we were afraid his wound would reopen. So we returned to the camp we’d set up a few hundred meters from the village. The party went on all afternoon. Jacob drank a lot and started talking nonsense. He said that his enemies were not far away, that they were coming to kill him… He even started hitting Elizabeth. I told him to stop, but he wouldn’t listen. Walter hobbled off, grabbed a bucket of water and threw it in Jacob’s face to knock some sense into him.

Day CXXXV 

Jacob and I started building the houses, using plans that we brought with us from New York. Fortunately, Walter has begun to recover from his injury, but we feared we would lose Walter, as the wound was deep and likely to become infected. 

It’s been a hectic journey, but we’ve managed to do it without losing anyone. 

Liam is Charlotte’s husband. He is small and he has blond hair and brown eyes. He is a careful and attentive explorer but he is sometimes a dreamer and can be quite forgetful…

Charlotte is Liam’s wife. She is medium-sized and she has blond hair and brown eyes. She is determined, confident and she is a very good musician.

Anabella is my wife. She is discreet and a little absent-mined. She loves reading and animals. She has black hair and green eyes. Together we are the parents of Jane our little daughter and soon a baby boy !

I’m Anabella’s husband. I am the head of our expedition. I’m tall, I have blond hair and light brown eyes. I am brave, valiant and strong but I have to confess I can sometimes be hot-headed…

Jacob is Cornelia’s husband. He’s a dad of three : Dan, Briana and Maeve. He is tall, he has light brown hair and blue eyes. He is very brave and manual so he’s the one who will build our homes when we are in the West. He will be a real asset to this expedition. God willing we will settle nicely. 

Cornelia is Jacob’s wife. She is quite a pain, quite haughty and standoffish but she’s a very good cook and we love her all the same ! She has blond hair and brown eyes. She is very nice with the children of our expedition so she would take care of them throughout our journey. And God knows we’ll need to keep them busy as they can be quite a lot to handle. 

We are the Leisters. We lived in Virginia and we saw an add in the newspaper to became homesteaders. Thanks to President Lincoln, we knew we can get our hands on free land in the West of the U.S.A. to settle and farm the land. America will never cease to amaze me ! This would never have happened to my ancestors in Europe. 

Back in Virginia, the conditions were not unbearable but we decided to move west because through the president Lincoln, we have the opportunity to improve our conditions ! And anyways Anabella was sick of the city and really needed to be in the wild. She was withering like a cut flower… So I convinced everyone to come with.

We decided to explore the West of the U.S.A. to create a settlement next to a native tribe. I am afraid I have missed out this information to the rest of the folks. I didn’t share what I knew of our trials and tribulations or none of them would have followed me. The ladies are quite scared of the Indians… They’ve heard so many gruesome stories down town. I know the kids on the other hand, would be excited and impatients !

Once we get settled, we have to build homes, a barn, farm the land and plant crops to feed our colony. The plan of the president Lincoln is “Granted Americans160-acre plots of public land for a small price. It led to Western Expansion and allowed all citizens – including former slaves, women and immigrants – to become landowners : they will be called homesteader.” How amazed we all were.

We are from America because our ancestors were British who left the old continent back in 1620 to go to America. Grand pa would always say his grand parents had been persecuted in England. I am direct descendant of the Pilgrim Fathers. This land is mine to take.

Today, we have pack our stuff for our long trip through the U.S.A.

In our covered wagon, we took :

Bedding

Clothing

Furniture

Oil lamp

Water

Ale

Stove

Sauce pans

Cutlery 

Seeds for corn

Wheat

Crops and vegetables

Shot gun and munition

In the year of our lord 1865, my folks and I started our journey across the U.S.A. This is how our story went. My name is Jeremiah and I will document our expedition West in the logbook.

We said good by to my grandparents and off we went to the  West ! Of course, we are quite sad to leave my grandparents behind because they have always been nice and loving to me. May God be with them. But I must confess, we are full of hopes and expectations as to what the Lord has in stores for us all. God willing it will be a change for the better. When we settle in the West, they might join us. They are far too old and crippled to endure such a journey into the wild.

Today, is the second day of our expedition. We met a trader on our way. He sold us a remedy in the event of an epidemic, so we traded 7$ with the remedy. It is quite expensive but it will be worth it ! Of this can be quite sure. We have heard stories of homesteaders falling sick and dying before they have reached their land ! Better safe than sorry. Besides this, nothing eventful happened so far. It’s quite a lonely road… And thank God we haven’t met any savages ! We are very lucky because I know other expeditions who were not so fortunate… For example, we have heard the men of the Bolton expedition were scalped and burnt, the women were raped, ripped appart and burnt alive, and the children were drowned in a river… These savages have no limits ! God forbids… 

Today a terrible flu descended upon our expedition and Jeremiah, our head, got seriously sick, so today, I took the reins to write in our logbook. Fortunately God put this highway seller on our path and we were able to have a remedy in time ! We gave the remedy to Cornelia, Maeve and Jeremiah but the remedy did not do much yet… We hope they will recover son.

God willing this was not a charlatan !

Today, unfortunately, Jeremiah, Maeve and Cornelia are not yet cured… Maeve is very pale an feverish, Cornelia can’t stop coughing even at night ! And Jeremiah, poor soul, he is the weakest of them all… It is too difficult to move because they are really weak…

God forbids anything happens to them !!

Today, we finally rallied ! Cornelia stopped coughing, Maeve has taken on new colours and I am at the top of my form ! We continue our way to the West but this time with a more intense rhythm. We need to catch up ! For some times, Anabella has been experiencing morning sickness. Her breast is swollen and she craves fish ! We are not sure but Charlotte and Cornelia both think she is pregnant ! I hope she is because it would be the most beautiful thing that could happen to us during this trip !! We have been trying to extend our family for quite some times, but life was too dreadful… This shows how much we needed a change. What a blessing ! A healthy child to crown our new land ! 

Today, poor Timothy, the son of Cornelia and Jacob, got bitten by a snake… His parents are very worried because their son is in terrible pain ! Thank God, we found bee wax ointment, which is an ancient remedy against deep cuts, so we were able to save the boy before he lost too much blood. It’s a chance I read some botanical books before leaving.

Today, we are not moving very fast due to the intense fatigue, but I know we are nevertheless most advanced the other expeditions. I have heard the O’Connors are running behind and went through hell ! How will they fare, I don’t know. God forbids something like that happens to us ! The bad weather does not help us at all and the children are tired of walking and most of us are exhausted and wasted. If I hear one single complaint I might scream ! What did they expect ? We are into the wild, so of course the heat is unbearable. Although I can’t blame them as we have barely enough food not to starve… Most of the time, we do not have anything to eat until we find a place to spend the night. Cornelia can’t stop complaining and cursing me for taking her on this journey with us. We are all exhausted but we must continue to find a place to the night. We hope tomorrow the weather will be better. Ô God let us a good night’s rest !!

Today, the mood was good. Our children ran everywhere and sang rimes. For once, even Cornelia was cheerful and smiling (which is quite rare in this woman). Everything was going well when suddenly we heard someone shout. We ran and the kids hid behind us. In fact they had simply been afraid of a snake that was hidden under the leaves. They were not used to this back in Virginia. 

This morning, when we woke up, we couldn’t find Maeve. We looked for her everywhere but no trace of her… All of us were panicked. We imagined the worst. We were all quite anxious. I hope the baby is fine… Cornelia and Jacob are inconsolable and his little brothers keep crying… They don’t understand what is going on. We pray the Lord with all our might so nothing evil happens to her, God willing, we will find her safe and sound.

Our Father, Who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy Will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

It has now been almost two weeks since I wrote in this diary. Since Maeve disappeared I had not had the strength… We now believe she has been abducted by savages. She would never have left.

However, tonight, we have all the same shared an evening all together. It was nice, Charlotte played us a little guitar tune around the camp fire, accompanied by Anabella who sang. Meanwhile, the children played among themselves. For dinner, we grilled rabbit Liam and I had hunted earlier in the afternoon. We had to go there both because since his daughter was kidnapped by Indians, Jacob is scared to death…

Today, as we strolled along a small river, Walter, the most boisterous child I know on this earth was jumping around us. It was then that the drama (which was obvious) happened. He slipped on the edge and fell into the water. The only problem was that he could not swim. Thank God, Jacob who is a good swimmer jumped into the water in order to save him. These kids will be the death of us…

Today is October 28th and we celebrate Dan’s 8th birthday. Liam, Dan’s godfather wanted to go hunting with him but Jacob, his father, did not want to because of the Indians eversince the disappearance of his eldest daughter. Finally, Jacob agreed but only if he comes with. So here are all three parties hunting. A few hours later, they came back with a deer and a few rabbits. Cornelia cooked them with a delicious broth and we enjoyed it all as a family. Dan was still a little sad because he was celebrating his first birthday today without his sister Maeve… I believe we should consider ourselves lucky though… I heard stories far worse when we stopped last.

Today, Walter is sick. He must have caught a cold yesterday when he fell in the water… Since this incident, he doesn’t even dare to approach the basin in which we wash our laundry. He is afraid of everything that contains water ! How silly that child is ! 

Today is Christmas Day. Both children and grown-ups are excited to spend Christmas Eve together and wake up the next day with the presents at the foot of the tree that Liam kindly chopped off yesterday. The women are busy in the make-shift kitchen baking little Christmas cookies that are like a tradition in our family. We hope that no savage will ruin this. When the festive meal was finally ready, we all gathered around a big bonfire and recited the Christmas prayer.

Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth to those whom he love. May Christmas bring love, peace, joy and hope to the people of this time. Peace to men of good will, said the angel on Christmas night. This peace is still so fragile on our land !

Today is the big day, we finally reached our destination. After four months of travel, we arrived in the West. The children are all happy and the women are finally relieved to be able to rest for good knowing that they will be safe. On the other hand, it is for us men still a great trial because we must now build our houses. Luckily Jacob is a carpenter !

Today, two month after our settlement, our children play with the children of the Navajo tribe. They laugh together. Everyone is pleased but Maeve is still missing… We have learnt to live without her but is quite an ordeal… Her parents hope to see her again and keep staring in the horizon. I may be wrong but I suppose she is dead… Let us all rejoice and praise the living !

In the year of our Lord 1856, my family and I started our journey across the seas. We left Ireland on a cold foggy morning. This is how our story went. My name is Jacob O’Connors, I’m 20, and I will document our expedition West in this logbook.

3 families, 11 of us, ready to discover America ! 

We needed to leave Ireland, where nothing good hold us back. We all left together. I have 2 brothers, William the eldest – 21 yo – and Lewis the youngest – 19 yo. I’m tall with brown hair and brown eyes, I’m intelligent, shy and I love adventure. I convinced my brother William to come with. I don’t know how I manage that ! To be fair, life back in Ireland was quite dreadful. William is short, has got blond hair and blue eyes. He’s very, very, very stubborn and never stops complaining, but he’s by far the bravest of the three of us. Lewis is a very short man. He is dark-haired with blue eyes. He’s kind, a good sleeper – he would sleep anywhere – and he loves animals, even rats ! One day he even fed a family of rats. Hopefully his knowledge of animals will be handy !

DAY 1

Today is a great day, because a year ago, William saw in a local newspaper that President Lincoln was offering land in the West of the United States. Free land !! God had answered our prayers ! Nothing grows here ! This land is rotten and we can’t farm anything !

After 1 years of preparation we are finally leaving our parents behind. We left at 11am on a foggy morning. I shall not miss this dreadful weather. Our parents promised to come and see us one day. But I doubt that. Wishful thinking ! They are quite old and frail. Mother was crying a lot as she was afraid we’d all die before we got there. To reassure her and ease her pain, my brothers and I gave her a hug and told her we’d all make it.

We’re not leaving as a party of 3, our wives and children are coming with us, as is the boat captain, of course, Admiral Stuart. It’s time for the boat to set sail and leave the port and little by little we see our parents disappearing in the distance.
Admiral Stuart tried to cheer us up and organized a feast up on deck : he had brought along potatoes and red wine from France. How fancy !

DAY 2

This morning when we woke up we noticed that everyone had an extreme stomach ache. We all went to see the captain to ask him if yesterday’s potatoes weren’t moldy and when we opened the door we saw him lying on his desk with a bucket full of vomit. He cursed the French with all his might… I reckoned here was my answer. We looked at the captain with eyes full of rage and started shouting at him.
Lewis threw up on William… It was disgusting. William hit Lewis on the head and he went and threw up overboard. We all laid there all day and every minute or so, we threw up. It was ghastly. But the captain said it would not last more than a day. God willing, because it’s horrible and I hate feeling so sick ! What an awful start.

DAY 6

This mildiou potato disease) lasted more than a day. It lasted 4 days ! We were all eleven of us bedridden for 10 full days.

DAY 8

What a sight !!!! this morning when I woke up I saw a whale it was wonderful. I called everyone out. It was the first time we saw a whale it was so close too. It’s a sight no one will forget. It jumped in and out of the water with such a might. It was incredibly magic. I have no words to express my joy.

DAY 10

Today I went to get some things from the boat’s storage room when I saw William, who had gone back and wasted water and food. I looked at William and I jumped on him. I asked him why he did that and he didn’t want to answer me. We started to fight and made a lot of noise that is when Lewis came and separated us. I explained to him what William had done wrong and he asked William why he did that. William stubborn as a mule, didn’t want to answer. So I took my shoe and threw it in his face. I was beside myself. Mother would be so ashamed of us 3.
Full of rage, William pushed Lewis and run after me. I got out of his way and William fell into a barrel. We stopped at once and we started laughing. It was so fun… until a mouse came out and then I screamed and ran up deck. How are we gonna fare into the wild, I do wonder…

DAY 13

William wanted his revenge, so he put a spider next to my bed and God knows how scared I am of spiders. So I jumped out of bed and took a broom and crushed the spider. All of a sudden Lewis came out of the toilet and I run at lewis and hit him with the broom. Lewis didn’t understand and asked me why I’m hitting him. I told him he shouldn’t put a spider in my bed and he told me it was not him and that it was probably William ! William came in laughing and Lewis and I jumped on him and tapped him. Now he is on lattice duty ! That’ll serve him right. 

DAY 16

In the morning captain Stuart came to tell us that we will be hit by heavy rain and a mighty storm soon. He asked us to stay in our cabins bellow deck to avoid falling overboard like William’s wife, Olivia had.

DAY 17

The storm hit us during the night. Captain Stuart predicted high winds and huge waves. I went outside to have a peek and what was my surprise when I saw that the ocean was calm as a lake. There was a little breeze, nothing more. What an arse ! 

DAY 18

It is taking so long… We had to ration our food.

DAY 19

This morning we spoke with captain Stuart to find out what we would do when we arrived. He told us that once we’d arrived we’d have to buy covered wagons and supplies as well as equipment.

DAY 20

We’re almost there ! Thank God ! Well, Stuart told us that the trip would last one month but if he’s as good with forecasting a storm as he is with predicting the length of our journey, I’m not surprised we’d land in a totally different part of the world.
Either way, I’m so excited but I’m also very scared. I’m afraid of running into aggressive tribes of savages or even horrible weather conditions… or catching a virus. We have heard so many horrible stories. Or being attacked by wild animals. I’m starting to wonder if this expedition was the right idea. 

DAY 23

Stuart was right after all. We have a few days worth of food. We might even be able to bring some for the road.
 

LAND IN SIGHT !!!
Thank god we made it. The trip lasted a little under a month. We all went up on deck to admire the view. We were all relieved to arrive at last. A new horizon for new opportunities. Let’s hope Lincoln’s plan will take us safe West.

DAY 26 

We are getting closer. It is quite satisfying. 

DAY 27
We have finally arrived.
We stopped a mile from the port. 
We’ll leave for the shore tomorrow morning.
To celebrate our arrival we drank all evening and partied all night. But no more potatoes !

DAY 28 

As we arrived early there was no room left at the port, so we boarded a tiny boat and landed on the beach. That bloody Stuart didn’t plan on staying at the harbor ! Good riddance.
First we went to purchase wagons for the trip. We had 2 choices available : either a covered wagon or an uncovered wagon. We took 2 covered wagons and a simple cart and of course William got the cart ! That should serve him right. 

We then went to buy food at the market : we brought wine from the boat but we also had to take water, small ale, and food. My wife picked vegetables and beef, she also took fish even though she knows I don’t like it ! We then went to buy some equipment: lamps, blankets, rifles, saucepans and other things.

In the evening, a gentleman invited us to stay inn his house as it was getting late and he didn’t want us to leave at night. As soon as he opened his mouth we knew ! We had a chat with him and he told us that he was also from Ireland and that he had travelled West for the same reasons. He came back here, on the East coat. He told us that a bear had eaten his cousin and his family and that we had to be careful at night because wild beasts could eat us alive. It sent shivers down our spines. God willing we shall be luckier than this poor lad. 

He showed us the rooms and we went to sleep. That night I did not sleep well.

DAY 29 

It’s time for the big departure : we left early in the morning. The gentleman we slept at gave us extra provisions. Irish solidarity he said ! 

We started our journey West. The road was quiet, appart from the children’s laughters.
The landscapes were magnificent. Nothing like we had ever seen before.  We stopped next to the path to spend the night. We made a camp fire so we wouldn’t get cold. 

DAY 30

This morning the sun woke us up. We were all so exhausted we slept late. We quickly left.
The weather was nice and warm. Nothing like Ireland.  

DAY 31

It’s been 3 days since we left and the sky is looking quite dark. I’m no Stuart but I know a storm is coming our way. 

DAY 32 

Today we’ve arrived in an area with lots of animals. Lewis was so ecstatic ! 

The man from the town we passed warned us off : beautiful beasts are still quite dangerous. We didn’t c one to close and observed them from afar.
My wife, a plant enthusiast, asked us to stop and observe an unknown plant. She asked me to draw it. 

DAY 33

Days go by and nothing happens really.
The further we go the longer time goes by. 
We took a break despite the weather to rest and bathe in the stream we were walking along. Of course we took turns as we had to keep watch of the wagons. There’s bond to be savages in the area. 

DAY 34

Rain has calmed down.
Lewis wanted to stop and admire the horizon, but I told him we didn’t have time, we had to get going as soon as possible. Lewis started shouting at me saying that I had no soul and that I’d rather walk till my feet are sore than enjoy what God gave us to see. I told him that our goal was to get West before winter. We will have plenty of time to gaze at the horizon from there !
My brother is stubborn and doesn’t like to be bossed around. I told him that if he wanted to stay he could, but Wiliam and I would go. Our wives and children all agreed, they were anxious t get off the road in the open.
We went ahead and Lewis who stayed behind, shouted to wait for him. Wiliam laughed like a donkey. Lewis was embarrassed and sorry. Our dynamic is really something. Mother would be smiling I know.
We stopped further on to spend the night. 

DAY 35

This morning when I woke up I went to see Lewis to apologize for my behavior yesterday. But as I walked towards his carriage I felt something was odd, I called my brother and he looked into the carriage.
William was shocked and his face was frozen. I went over to look and saw the bloody bodies of my brother and his family. I asked William what had happened and he replied that he didn’t know and that it was probably a lynx that had attacked them. Their bodies were torn appart and we could see claws marks everywhere. I know he put up a good fight. 

I fell to the ground and burst into tears. William came to comfort me but he was pale a sheet all the same. We had lost our brother… What would mother say ! I promised we would be safe. Yesterday when he was gazing at the stars I wanted to apologize but I’m too proud and eventually didn’t. Now I feel sorry and humbled. He had stars in his eyes I didn’t want to disturb him. 

We buried the bodies next to a river and said a prayer. We found flowers and put them on the graves. We all cried that day. We burned their clothes and left the wagon by the side of the road, hoping it would be of use to someone else.

DAY 36 

This morning we set off leaving Lewis and his family behind.
The happy atmosphere of the early days has left and we all feel sad and desperate. What if this was all but a mistake ?

DAY 40
it’s been over a month since we left and unfortunately we’ve lost Lewis. I can’t quite get my head around this loss.
This morning when I woke up I saw a rat in our wagon. God knows how I hate rats, so I screamed in fear and woke up my wife. Annabelle gave me a look full of rage. She took the shovel and crushed the rat in an instant. What a woman… !
She looked at me mockingly and hit me with the stick of the shovel.

DAY 46

The last 10 days have been so slow. 
But today we arrived at the first big city of our journey. We stopped for the day and met a lot of people who wanted to set up camp there. It was nice to see people like us. Future homesteaders we called ourselves !
We spoke with an Irish family like us and told them about the terrible lynx accident that killed Lewis. They all felt sorry and started telling stories far more atrocious. I considered myself lucky after all. Savages are much more gruesome than wild beasts…

DAY 37
This morning as we were leaving we came across a battalion of Blue coats who offered to accompany us. Our children were so excited and kept asking questions. We had to scold them.
We accept their offer ad we knew they could save us from another accident should something bad happen, God forbids.

DAY 46
This morning I went for a walk and I saw something moving in the grass. I went forward and I saw a small animal that looked like a mix between a rabbit and a small piglet. I asked the blue coat the name of this animal and they told me it was a «  chinchilla  ». What a peculiar name for a peculiar beast ! I would have called it a ‘rappig’. I suggested the alternative name to the Blue coat lads and they looked at me strangely and laughed. I didn’t really see what was so funny knowing that « rappig » is a much better name than « chinchilla .»
But Americans just don’t get it. I miss the Irish sense of humour. Boy, do they look stupid, mother was right.

DAY 58

Thank god the Blue Coats were there ! Last night while we were asleep, the blue coats were keeping watch and they protected us from to a lynx who was lurking by to get into my wagon.  According to them they heard movement in the tall grass and a lynx came out of it and went towards my wagon. But just before the animal crept into the wagon, a blue coat killed it. How lucky ! I take back what I said yesterday : how brave they are ! The sound of the gun shot woke us all up. At first we thought it was an Indian attack. 

Later that day they told us they had to leave as they were called on a mission South. To thank them we offered them a bottle of wine from France we had brought along to drink when we arrived. Better alive than drunk !

DAY 63

William came to see me and said that his son was very sick and asked if we could stop at the next town to see a doctor. I agreed of course and William told me that he would stay with his family in their carriage until we saw a doctor in case William’s son had a virus.

DAY 70

We arrived at the nearest town and when we went in, what a miracle, we saw an apothecary selling remedies. There was a huge crowd and when it was our turn there were none left. God have mercy !
We asked when it would be restocked and they told us not for 2 months.
But 2 months is too late. We looked everywhere for a healer and found one in a large manor far from town.
They put weird-looking linen masks on us and separated my brother and I into 2 different rooms.  The rooms were separated by see-through sheets so we could see each other. The healer went into the room where my brother was and as he was being examined he came to see me and did the same thing to me. He told me that my brother had a virus that would kill him in a couple of days.
We were spared but he won’t. I begged the doctor for a way to save my brother. I couldn’t lose him too. He tells me that only one remedy can cure him but it’s out of stock everywhere in the country. 

I remembered this couple who had bought a remedy down town, so I rushed out and looked everywhere for them and when I found them I tried to negotiate but I didn’t even have time to finish my negotiation when they told me that they had already used the remedy.
I went back to the manor house and the doctor suggested that I spend the night with my family to say our goodbyes properly. How is this even possible ? How can one do that ? 
I stayed the night talking with my brother and we reminisced and laughed and when it was time to say goodbye I just turned my back and left. I dinde’t want him to see the tears running down my cheeks. Mother would be so sad. Two dead sons now…

DAY 77

It’s been 1 week since we left my brother at the manor house. He must have joined Lewis by now.
It’s only down to us now. Annabelle and our kids now. I’ve sworn to myself that I’ll make our journey a success right to the end. We’re way behind schedule so we need to hurry if we want to get there before winter.

DAY 89

Today we came across a tribe of natives. But luckily we had weapons. These savages had death in their eyes. We arrived in their village and tried and make friends and exchange supplies and tokens but they were not friendly at all. We protected the children with all our might. My wife and I took the guns and started firing into the air because we didn’t want to hurt anyone but it had no effect.
All of a sudden a native came at us and I had no choice but to shoot him in the neck. The native fell to the ground and others came at us. My wife and I killed so many of them, I don’t know how we managed. It was a bloodbath. Most of them ran away. I regret what we did but we had no choice : it was either kill them or die.

DAY 100

Day 100. It’s been 100 days since we left Ireland, promising our poor mother we’d stay alive… It’s been a long time since I’ve written, I thought about writing more days but being alone really took a toll on us. I miss my brothers and all I want to do is turn back but I mustn’t give up, I’m almost there and I must honor my brothers. Off we go. 

DAY 107

What a sight !!!! today I saw a group of bison they were magnificent and huge ! Lewis would have loved these beasts  as he loves… loved animals. But unfortunately he is no longer with us. How I miss him. 

We’re at the end of autumn and the more time goes by, the greater the chance of an icy winter.

DAY 114

I’m trying to write as much as I can, even if I can’t think of anything to say. My spirits are low and the days appear longer eversince my brothers died, my children, my wife and I are very scared. There doesn’t seem to be any happy time any more. 

DAY 122

OH NO! We have just entered winter and the temperatures are very low. We stopped in a small town and we bought warm clothes for the children. I spoke with an old man who told me that this winter is going to be the coldest in many years.
We hope to make it to the end before the temperatures drop too much.

DAY 126

It’s horrible. it’s very cold, colder than an Irish winter, and we’re trying to keep as warm as possible but it’s not working and… unfortunately our youngest child has died. He was too weak. I have no more tears left to cry. Annabelle is starting into the emptiness. What will happen of us ? 

DAY 130

Today Annabelle left this earth. This morning when I woke up I saw the cold lifeless body of the love of my life. All I’ve got left is my child. I’m thinking of killing myself. God would surely understand. I’ve lost everything. But I have to go on ! For my brothers and for my parents. And my sweet wife.

DAY 136

This is the day I find myself alone.

My son has just left. In my arms. Bless him. He’s gone to find his mother, his brother, his cousins and his uncles. I, Jacob, am the last O’Connor still standing and I’ve lost the will to live.

DAY 144

I feel weaker by the day. I think my time has come. I’m terribly cold I haven’t been able to keep my promise. I think my end is near. It’s the end of the O’Connors.

DAY 145

Sorry mo…

Day 0: May 7th 1864:

In the year of our Lord 1864, we have decided to depart from our country and fulfill our destiny. 

A few weeks ago saw an article in a journal about a law the president of the United States installed. The law in the article stated anyone, women, slaves, men could participate. The president would give us free land as long as we are 21 at least, live 5 years on the land we want to acquire, farm and improve said land and build a home. We also had to have never caused any harm to the American government and have 2 witnesses who can attest to those 5 requirements. The Homestead Act is what God has sent us for our new lives. We thank and pray for the Lord and ask that he watches over us when we live to accomplish the mission he gave us.  

It is the eve of an departure to the New World. At last we are finally ready to set sail in the early morning.

We will leave Ireland because in our country it is always raining. It put our clan in a big predicament because we have been cider makers for generation passed on from fathers to sons. The constant flooding and rain made our apples rot on the trees. We couldn’t make a living anymore. So we decided to sell the house and set sail to America.

Day 1: May 8th 1864:

We went to Dublin’s harbor and we were ready to leave by 8 a.m. The Captain was named Gollum Fredon and the boat, we saw families on the coast waving good bye to their loved ones.

We barely managed to see our parents waving at us. I saw Róisín cry silently. Out of all of us she was the one who apprehended this voyage the most. Mainly for two reasons, the first reason is that she is terrified at the idea of meeting the Indians. I mean I understand how she fells. Almost everyone here is scared of them, everything we’ve heard about the Indians as of late is that they are cruel savages. We are terrified of meeting them but I know when the time comes God will be on our side.

The second reason was our parents. They are not getting younger and we fear we could be enable to be there when the time comes or that something happens to them. We are also sad that our parents aren’t going to be able to see their grand children grow up. We all have joined about this adventure but we know it must be done and that we must accomplish our destiny. 

After finding our quarters below deck, we realized how hard the next two weeks were going to be. We couldn’t get rooms because we had to spare every penny we could to have enough money when we land in America.

Day 7: May 15th 1864:

After getting far away from the coast we all felt incredibly seasick. I got so sick that I couldn’t write. Today, I am able to write so I shall tell you about the conditions below deck. The living conditions weren’t the best because the wood had mold on it and although there was enough food, it wasn’t the best. Everyone’s back was hurting because of our beds, especially Fergus because he fell off his bed on his spine during a stormy night. I can’t imagine what the pilgrims had to go through when going to America, I respect their bravery. We’ll land in around 8 days.

Day 15: May 23rd 1864:

Finally ! We see land from afar. We can finally get off from this wretched boat. Once we set foot in the city we will finally be able to go claim our promised land. After getting in the place where we would stay until our departure, we explored around town to look for stores where we would buy the supplies needed for our journey. Suddenly, I saw something from the corner of my eye. It was an animal gnawing at the tree, I learned later that it was a rodent called a beaver. It was a strange creature. How peculiar ! 

After a few hours we found a store with a kind old man who sold tools to us for a little price. We managed to buy: a plow, a shovel and a rake to farm and a saw, an axe and a hammer to build our house. We also managed to get cooking supplies like: a stove, a sauce pans, frying pans and cutlery. We settled down and relaxed the last part of the day.

Day 16: May 24th 1864:

After waking up we went to the stores we found the day before. We had a list of supplies to find or we would have way more troubles during our journey West. We had to get weapons like a shotgun, a rifle, knives and munitions; we also had to buy farming supplies like seeds or vegetables, things like wheat, corn and other crops. The last things on our list were bedding, clothing, trunks, oil lamps and as much furniture that we could bring with us. Everything cost us a lot of money but we also managed to buy things like food, water and beer while keeping a bit of money on the side. We plan on leaving tomorrow. May the Lord be with us. 

Day 17: May 25th 1864:

We are finally leaving New York and are heading to accomplish our destiny and conquer our new land. After walking for hours we were shocked to see how many things there was to discover in this land. We walked for hours straight while the children stayed in the covered wagons. We didn’t do much since it was our first day and we still don’t have a routine but we did discover many things.

Day 24: June 1st 1864:

It is a week later and we are still walking. I have the feeling that we are going slow but it should be alright because I know we have God on our side and I know he will protect us from harm’s way. We have yet to develop a routine but I know we will soon get used to the constant moving around.

Day 31: June 8th 1864:

On Monday we continued as usual but had to slow down because we were worried about Fergus, after all he hasn’t slept for 3 days. He passed out from exhaustion and we wanted him to gain the most energy he could. We have always been worried about Fergus when it comes to sleep. As a child Fergus would sleep normally but in his late teens he began to have trouble falling asleep and nowadays he doesn’t get much trouble sleeping. All we can do is help him. Since we slowed down we had even more time to look at our surroundings. How marvelous !

Suddenly, we saw an oxen from afar, we found it strange at first because it was alone but we guessed its herd mustn’t be far. And thank Lord we guessed right ! The Lord must have been watching us and decided to gift us for our Faith ! After following the oxen to its herd we managed to have quite a good hunt. We now have extra food which could be useful in case an emergency happens. After Fergus woke up we sped up and spent the rest of our time this week sorting our supplies or playing games.

Day 38: June 15th 1864:

This week was quite calm. We discovered a new species but had no idea what it could possibly be, when we saw it, it was eating some kind of bug. It was disgusting, it scared the hell out of me !

After that, not much happened except on Friday.

We were walking at around sundown when I suddenly tripped on something. It was a small box with a pistol drawn at the top. The box must have been lost by another group of frontiersmen because it was filled to the brim with ammunitions, even though it was a small box, it was still a lot. It will be useful in case of an attack or some thing of the kind.

Day 45: June 22nd 1864:

Good God ! Something horrible happened on Wednesday !

We were all sleeping, enjoying a good rest. When all of a sudden, we heard a blood curdling scream followed by multiple gun shots. It shook us awake and we all headed towards the scream. When I got there I saw a pool of blood. I was terrified. I turned around and saw Fergus and Áine were badly injured, she was covered in blood ! I ran to her and when I reached her I managed to catch her in my arms as she fainted. I rushed her to one of the  wagons and called Eabha.

Eabha is the expert in medicine of our group, she studied all about the cures she could before we left, she even learnt how to treats all kinds of wounds. She is determined to keep us in good health. Maybe, because of guilt. When she was young her and Róisín were always sick. She always felt bad because of this.

When she got there, Áine was in horrible shape. She was sweating bullets, she had a bad fever and she was still bleeding out. Eabha looked at the wounds and said they were extremely deep. I stayed in the wagon while she was treating and mending the wounds. We couldn’t let Róisín enter yet. To see her daughter in such a state would have only worsened things for her, she needed to wait outside. Eabha spent hours carefully sewing her wounds, bandaging her and caring for her until she was out of danger. 

In the meantime her husband Fergus, stayed with Elizabeth to take care of the children.

Throughout the hours we spent inside I could hear Róisín cry and pray in her husbands arms. My heart, no… All of our hearts were aching. We all prayed for Áine’s recovery.

After hours of waiting we could finally let the rest of the clan see her, Áine no longer had fever and she was sleeping calmly. 

When she entered the wagon Róisín ran to hug her daughter, she cried silently not to wake her up. We all left except Eabha, to let Róisín and her husband have same alone time with their daughter. We didn’t move for two days, we all needed rest. On Friday we resumed our trip but we have been going slowly to not shake Áine.

Heaven knows how grateful we are for her recovery. If it was not for the ammunition I found last week, Fergus would have had much more trouble killing the lynx and Áine would probably have died. This little box was a blessing in disguise. We will wait a little more time before going faster and continue our journey. 

Day 52: June 29th 1864:

After the tragedy from last week we are still holding on, event though we aren’t advancing as fast as we could, we can’t afford to move Áine too much. She is on the way to full recovery. Slowly, day by day she gets better.

Yesterday, I was going to steep when I heard while sleeping. I felt so bad, I heard one of the children call out for their grand-mother while sleeping. I felt so bad, I too miss her but I know we can’t really do anything about it. I feel bad for separating them from their grand- parents but I believe it was the right choice for us to get a better life. I hope that one day we see them again.

Day 59: July 6th 1864:

Everything has now calmed down and we are going steadily. We progressed a lot from when we started, thanks to the daily routine we installed we are going much faster and we are much more efficient with our resources.

Yesterday we celebrated Áine’s birthday. We are so thankful that our prayers were answered and that she made it out alive.

Áine is such a clever girl. When we are lost and don’t know where to go after looking at a map and her surroundings. She is the best out of all of us when it comes to directions. 

As we are always on the move we couldn’t really give her the ideal birthday but we did the best we could. We cooked more and Elizabeth even made her a flower crown. We know it’s not much but she was raised right and she trusts that the Lord will reward us for our Faith, this alone is enough for her.

After a good night sleep we are heading towards a river. It has been around two months now and we have advanced greatly, we continue our journey to our promised land.

Day 66: July 13th 1864:

At this point of the journey we had built a stable routine.

We did find ourselves bored from time to time but I believe it is better than trouble.

We were walking along a river at the border of a forest when suddenly Róisín said she saw a structure from the corner of her eye. We went in the forest to investigate and found an abandoned wagon rolled over and destroyed. We searched around and a family picture, it was a couple and their son… These poor people, from what I could see they were attacked by a bear probably, and they had no way to defend themselves.

After investigating a little more, we found a box with remedies and a few cures. We took them in case a disease fell upon us.

Before leaving we took the time to give them a proper burial as I believe they deserved it for their faith and their attempt to accomplish their destiny by the Lord’s will.

After saying our prayers we quickly got back to walking. If these people were attacked by a bear or anything like that, It could still be around and we didn’t have the right ammunitions to kill it because of the lynx attack.

If we didn’t want to die we had to hurry out of there. We gathered what we could take on our journey. We are now climbing towards the West.

Day 73: July 20th 1864:

We are all extremely disturbed, we do not know how this happened, but it did. It should be impossible at this time of the year, but believe it or not we are now stranded in a cave in the middle of a blizzard.

I am aware that we had gained altitude and the temperature started to lower, which was already strange but never could I have imagined that it was a blizzard awaiting us !

It is so cold, I feel as if my hands are going to fall off. We must stay strong and survive. We must ration everything, especially food and firewood. Because of the snowstorm we are enable to gather more food in case we run out. We have neither the strength nor the capacity to go outside the cave.

For now we have enough food for at least three to four weeks thanks to the food we kept beforehand and the herd of oxen we hunted down not too long after leaving the city.

We need to look out for Áine, after all it has only been around a month since she almost died. She can walk now but she is still fragile. We keep her wrapped in cloth and a blanket at all times to be sure she doesn’t get sick.

I am also getting worried about Eoghan, Róisín’s husband. I noticed that he started to get thiner. Recently it seems like he hast been eating much. I believe that he started to eat less so he could give bigger portions to Áine and Róisín. I also think that he has been doing it without them knowing otherwise they would already have given him an earful about not eating enough. It won’t be long before they notice, I shall let them sort this out on their own. I won’t meddle. Eoghan needs to take more care of himself and I believe he will soon come to realize that.

To think that someone who always tries to be healthy would do this because of love. I am glad that someone like that married my sister but if he ever dares to die and leave her alone with the children, I would never forgive him. 

While waiting for the blizzard to end, we organize our ressources and do our best to stay as warm as possible. We are unable to get out of the cave so we busy ourselves as best as we can. We do things like playing cards or playing games. I hope this ends soon, God willing. 

Day 80: July 27th 1864:

I fear we are barely holding on. It seems like each day is just get longer and longer than the last. We got bored of card games and started to draw on the walls.

We still have enough food for three weeks without moving to hunt. It’s incredible we managed to last this long but the cold is starting to get to us. I believe we won’t die from it but we are starting to feel numb in places all over our bodies.

I do my best to document everything but I have some trouble writing right now so I will make this short.

It is the second week after we had to stay in this cave to avoid the snowstorm. We came in, in a hurry but thank God we did. If we had stayed outside we would have all died from hypothermia.

Since we can’t really do anything, we found ourselves bored all day long. Donald had a brilliant idea a few days ago. He found out that we can crush a few types of rocks present in the cave to make some kind of paint. I swear to God this boy is an idiot most of the time but here and there he picks up some genius ideas from this peanut head of his. I must say that if not for him we probably would all have died out of boredom. These days we either make « rock painting » or we paint with it on the walls of the cave. We already covered a good part of the walls but if we ever run out of space we can always paint on already existing drawings. In the meantime we will probably do this until we get out of the cave. It distracts us from the cold, but we are still praying this ends soon.

Day 87: August 3rd 1864:

It’s been about three weeks since the start of the blizzard and it has not ended yet, but each day it feels as if it gets just a little bit warmer and the storm is not as loud as it used to be. I trust this will finally be over soon and we are going to get out of this damned cave the moment it ends  !

Do not get me wrong, this cave saved us and shielded us from the snow but after three weeks stuck in the same place without being able to do anything, it gets to you. I feel like I have so much hatred towards this cave but at the same time I feel like it is a gift from God, to save us from our demise. We believed in our Lord and Savior and he decided to reward us for our Faith  !

Day 94: August 10th:

Finally ! The storm ended this Monday morning !

Getting out of the cave and breathing fresh air was one of the best feelings I ever felt on this journey. Of course there was still a lot of snow but all we had to do right now was get down fast so that we could gather more food since we were unable to before and leave the mountain before we got stuck in another storm.

We continued our journey after our little set back but we had to do multiple stops to gather food. After all we had used three weeks worth of food without replenishing our stocks. If we had another emergency like that it would be the end of us.

We made sure to avoid anything that could cause us trouble, we were still frail because of the cold so we were extremely careful.

Apart from this, we didn’t have much happening this week the only thing worth mentioning would be that we can finally say that Áine is fully recovered ! 

We are all so grateful that she got through this horrible event. Of course we will still watch out for her but she can now do things herself. Just a few weeks ago we all thought she would die but now she is running with the other children again. I just hope this won’t affect her for too long. 

Day 101: August 17th 1864:

Yesterday we climbed a hill to get a more global view of the area. When we arrived at the top, there was this kind of tall, colored , wood sculpture. When we realised to late that it was a savages tribe totem. When suddenly we saw a village with houses made of dirt, there were bison and stag skins on the ground with fish scales and bones scattered everywhere. Behind the village there were fields where we had to go through to continue our destiny. This meant that we either had to talk or fight our way through the village.

When we got closer to the village we heard savages shouting in some kind of cursed langage along with arrows coming our way. It scared the hell out of us ! At first the fight was extremely hard, but after what seemed like hours we managed to overpower them. They were strong warriors, after all, they were savages. The fight lasted around three hours. What an ordeal. God speaks in mysterious ways.

Before heading towards the fields we decided to take anything that was useful from the village, after all they were all dead, what would they do with it  ?

Day 108: August 24th 1864:

While we were on our way, walking steadily through the plains we encountered another family. It was the Langmores. Even from afar we could tell something was wrong. When they finally got closer we noticed how pale they were and decided to send the kids and their mothers in the wagons to make sure nothing happened to them. We also made sure to keep enough distance from them. 

They told us that they were all sick and on the verge of death and they asked us if we had remedies and cures that could help them. Their eyes seemed brighter the second I told them we did have some with us and they asked if we needed anything they could trade for it. Sadly for them we weren’t in the need for anything. They desperately begged us to help them, I felt bad for them and wanted to do something but Fergus didn’t agree. He said that we never know when we would need those and that it was not worth it. May the Lord be merciful. 

After a lot of arguing with my brother we made a compromise. We would give them the remedies and cures under the condition that if we ever met them again and needed their help, they would help no matter what. To make sure both clans remembered that we decided to write it on paper. It was me and their leader, Lewis who signed the papers with the other men as witnesses.

They also asked that we take their youngest child with us for they couldn’t take care of him because everyone in their family was sick and they didn’t want to hurt him. His name is William and he is a newborn. It was the most tearful scene. William’s mother couldn’t even hug him goodbye because she didn’t want to make him sick. 

We said our Goodbyes and wished them luck on their journey.

Day 115: August 31st 1864:

After our encounter with another family I realized that they were the only people trying to accomplish their destiny. It felt strange but it wasn’t really a bad sign because I fear that not everyone are like the Langmores and that other people could try to rob and attack us. I believe that it is for the best that we didn’t encounter many people.

Unsurprisingly nothing happened. We calmly made our way through grass plains, it felt nice for once, we enjoyed the view and the fresh wind along with the beautiful scene of mountains far away and a river following the border of the Spruce forest.

There were some beautiful flowers and Lillith spent so much time looking through the flower bushes that she found a four-leaf clover. We decided to dry it and keep it in the journal, we hope it brings luck to our clan.

Lillith is the little ray of sunshine of the clan. She is always bright and cheerful. The only time I saw her cry was when we left Ireland and when her sister almost died to a lynx. 

Her favorite things are flowers, she absolutely adores them. Each morning you can see her making a new flower crown after breakfast. She is so sweet you can’t possibly scold such a child, she reminds me of a little puppy.

Day 122: September 7th 1864:

It is calm… way too calm. It feels strange, I don’t know how to describe this, the best I can say is that it feels like calm before a storm. I feel like I should prepare for something ominous but I do not know what. I pray nothing bad happens anytime soon. I will have to wait and see, I will be even more careful than usual. I hope my guts are wrong and that everything stays nice and calm.

Day 123: September 8th 1864:

I try to ignore it, but my gut feeling just gets stronger and stronger. I hide it the best I can to not worry the others. This week I will write day by day so that in case something happens to us, so that I can at least write what I thought in my last moments if my bad feeling turns out to be true and that luck is not on our side.

Day 124: September 9th 1864:

Today I got into an argument with Fergus. I hate arguments but I’ve been so anxious because of this damned bad feeling ! We argued because he didn’t want to take care of William so I ended up taking him in. It’s not like I don’t understand him but couldn’t he be even just a little more comprehensive ? 

Day 125: September 10th 1864:

My dear God ! Never again do I not trust gut feelings ! It unfortunately proved to be right. I feel horrible, if only I trusted it I could have warned everyone and prepared. I must repent, to think I didn’t believe a sign sent from God ! 

This morning I woke up feeling worst than ever. When noon came we suddenly got attacked by a band of highway men ! We didn’t even have the time to react when they attacked us and kidnapped my wife ! We didn’t know what to do, we prepared weapons and tried to chase after them but we could no longer see them… I was devastated, my poor Elizabeth, how could I let this happen ! I was supposed to protect her.

We felt helpless, when suddenly we saw a battalion of Blue Coats ! We rushed towards them and begged for their help, we showed them the direction the highway men took. They took the lead and we followed them. 

We spent at least two hours before we found their camp ! But we finally found them and I swore that I would kill every single one of them ! I was not going to stand by and lose my wife.

We got rid of them as fast as possible thanks to the Blue Coats. Those men were mere thieves and drunkards. Those people will rot in the deepest dungeons of hell.

I searched every tent for my wife, when I found her she was in a dreadful state, sitting, shaking in the corner. When I saw her like that I wanted to break down and cry. I rushed to her  hugged her tight and just repeated  : « I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry » over and over again.

We cried silently in each others’ arms until she fell asleep. I carried her over to one of the wagons and covered her with a blanket. 

After that I talked to the Blue Coats and thanked them for their help. We offered them food and talked with them for a while.

Day 126: September 11th 1864:

I still feel horrible. I don’t know what to do, she hasn’t said a word since yesterday and she stays curled up in the wagon all day. At this rate I’m scared that I’ll lose her. We need to talk but I think now is not the time. I’ll give her time to think and recover.

Day 127: September 12th 1864:

This morning I managed to talk to her. I think I’m going to lose my mind. She told me what those bastards did to her, I can’t even describe how I feel right now, it’s a mixture of hatred, revenge and guilt. If only I had stayed with her, if only I had been faster, if only I had protected her correctly… 

Day 128: September 13th 1864:

I feel like this is all a nightmare. I can’t stand to see her like that, she did go out for a little bit but she still spends most of her time in the wagon. I feel she is terrified every time she has to go outside. I know healing will take time but it still hurts me to see her so scared and lifeless. I will do my best to help her and stay by her side. Let’s hope the road to her normal self isn’t too difficult.

From today on I will begin to write week by week again.

Day 136: September 21st 1864:

I know it might be strange but I feel it was the best time to do a feast. We were really in need of a moral boost after everything that happened. So a little party with all of us was a pretty nice idea. We stayed up almost all night drinking and laughing. I even saw Elizabeth laugh and smile a little. It made me so happy I couldn’t even stop smiling. 

This party was one of the best things we ever did. Well we did have a little problem. The thing is that I guess one of the children woke up and found the beer barrel… When we found Brian we didn’t even know how much he drunk but I saw him grab a cup and drink it like water. We all panicked, we immediately stopped him and put him right back to bed. Elizabeth decided to go with him since she was going to sleep too.

The morning after we laughed about it but still had to give him a good scolding.

Day 143: September 28th 1864:

This week has been what we needed, we do nothing except continue our journey. I take my time sitting next to Elizabeth watching the surroundings, everything is so peaceful, the mountains, the plains, the trees. It feels nice to feel the fresh breeze on my face while listening to the birds. I won’t write much because I have been spending most of my time with Elizabeth and the children. Everyone has been waiting for this calm season to come and just walk while looking around. We are all tired the only things we really do are gathering food.

Day 150: October 4th 1864:

We had quite the good laugh on Wednesday. William said his first word and it was «papa.» Things like this make me enjoy life. Yesterday we were walking when suddenly Róisín goes headfirst into a tree. I knew she couldn’t see well but I didn’t know it was this bad. Fergus was rolling on the ground laughing. He even started to have trouble breathing because of how much he laughed. We have almost arrived, it’s good that nothing bad happened right before we arrive.

Day 157: October 11th 1864:

We arrived  ! We can now accomplish our Destiny farming this fertile land, when I think about everything we had to go through to get here. It all feels unreal. We walked through the entire country and finally got here. Here we will be able to live and farm crops without them being destroyed by rain. It’s a dream come true. 

After a little walking around the area we discovered that there was a tribe living near us. We were ready to fight, we approached them with weapons in our hands but they welcomed us with open arms. It felt strange after all the only other tribe we met attacked. Maybe not all Indians are as bad as they are said to be.

The Blackfoot tribe was very welcoming. We didn’t want to fight so we decided to be on friendly terms with that. We decided to hold a party for them. Of course there was the possibility of miscommunication with them but I believe it wasn’t the case with them. We all did the Sun Dance with them and everyone had a good night.

We built a little cabin where we could stay while building our house but I believe it should take around 2 months to build it. We already started plowing the land and planting seeds we now need to live here enough time and we can then claim our land.

I never would have imagined in my life that I would live such an adventure. I thank God for giving us this opportunity to accomplish our Destiny according to his desires and we will continue to believe in him . 

THE LANGMORES

In the years of our lord 1865 my family and I started our journey across to sea on June 16th. This is how our story went. My name is Lewis and I will document our expedition West in this logbook .

We are originally from the South of England, in the countryside next to the sea. Life there used to be so dreadful. We were quite poor and persecuted by this half protestant King who did not fully understand how to worship God the proper way. In the good old days, you were either Catholic or Protestant ! This middle way was insufferable. We had to hide in our closet to pray in peace. One sad day, we received the testament of my late father. Seeing my father go was a real ordeal but we had eventually access to a lot of money… enough to leave this terrible country… But where should we go ? Two days later I came upon a newspaper clipping, nailed to a wooden door :

MANIFEST DESTINY

land supply in America

by President Lincoln

in three month

GET YOUR FREE LAND

It was a gift from the Heavens. We set sail and left the country easily, months later, as expected with the money of my dad. Before going any further, I believe now is time to introduce my little family : 

I’m Lewis Langmore, I am the Head of this family. I must lead this expedition and my folks because I’m the most hard working. I really must confess I am not the most smart of the lot : I am not the brains of our little party. I am the oldest of my two brothers even if I prefer to consider that Jacob is not really part of the family. The lad is such a pain !

Anyways, I’m 36 years old, I am 1,85 meters tall and I am a brave, courageous and strong-headed. This is mainly the reason why I wanted to accompany my family in the hard travel that awaited us. I’m tall, I have brown hair and I have bright blue eyes. 

I have two brothers ; I’ll start with Jacob ! He’s the cadet of the family, he’s 35 years old and is 1’71 meters tall. Let me tell you this… He is full of flaws: he is lazy, stubborn, impatient, selfish, silly. He agreed to come along because he found an opportunity to quit his job.

I reckon one might think Jacob is not a great asset nor a great addition to our family. Although, sometimes he can be funny, clever and attentive. He has short auburn hair and bright light blue eyes. He’s a looker, that’s pretty much all !

My second brother is called Charly. He is the youngest of the family and is 33 years old. He is 1’45 meters tall. He is skillful, shy, serious, curious and clumsy. He likes sport and drawing. He left the country to discover a new world and start a new life. He has curly long caramel hair and small blue eyes.

We are all married.

My wife is Arabella, she is younger than me, as she is 27 years old. She 1,66 meters tall. She has long blond smooth hair and brown eyes. I fell in love instantly ! Although, she is talkative and bossy without being mean. I guess I know where I fall in this couple of ours ! We have a son whose name is Clark and who is very curious. It was therefore impossible not to take him with us. He was adamant : he wanted to discover the American frontier ! Anyway, he is the spitting portrait of his mother : he is 12 years old and 1,49 meters tall.

It was our late father who chose our wives for us and poor Jane fell on my brother Jacob… we hesitated to take her on our trip because she is, for the delight of all except Jacob, with child ! Her husband thinks that « this child is not his ». This lad is so grumpy ! He’s never satisfied. She’s a looker : she has long blond curly hair and green eyes. She is 1’63 meters tall and 30 years old. Perhaps he thinks she is too good-looking for him ? God only knows ! Poor Jane, such a sweet soul. My father chose Jane because she is patient, kind, clean, trustworthy, clever. Basically, the opposite of my brother. Such an unhappy match.

Charly’s wife’s name is Elisabeth. She is curious, patient and a real fighter, like me ; that is why we get on so well. She is very close to my age : 35 years old and she is 1,57 meters tall. She has red hair and green eyes. They have two children : a newborn and a girl. We only brought the girl along because the baby is too young. Her parents are taking care of him back home, and will join us later, once our settlement is safe enough. Their daughter is Katherine but she prefers to be called Kate. She’s very particular about that. She is 13 years old and 1,38 meters tall but has a mind of her own ! She’s has a tendency to boss people around. She has green eyes and long curly auburn hair. One look at her and boys are falling like flies ! But as soon as you hear her talk back at you, and they’re fleeing like frail butterflies !

Now let me get back to our travel

AT SEA

We boarded on June 16th in Southampton and set sail to America. The journey across the seas was dreadful. We landed on August 20th. During the travel we were raided by Spanish pirates ! The kids were so scared but the captain locked us up bellow deck to protect us. The attack was terrible and killed 51 sailors. We were all safe down there but we thought we would die. It was quite terrible t hear everything but not be able to help out. Although I was too much of a coward to do anything, so I just took care of my family.  Jacob on the other hand couldn’t stay put ! He wanted to fight, we had to restrain him. After that, the feeling was bad and nobody dared speak. The kids were shacking. Arabella was shaken. What a start ! 

OUR JOURNEY WEST

When the sun was up I was on the beach. We spent the night here after hunting with the Coopers, Jacob woke up before I did. I didn’t even have time to enjoy the fresh air when Jacob screamed « LEWISS !!!!  Why did you give the deer to the Coopers ! » I have to confess… I couldn’t resist the charms of one of the Coopers girls… That Charlotte was looking damn fine !! So I told him ! « Sorry mate, but she was so lovely, and when she looked at me with those sweet eyes… I couldn’t resist, and don’t tell me you preferred to take the deer ??? »

« No I didn’t prefer to take the deer ! And it’s not because you are the head of the family and the oldest that you should not ask us before making a decision of such magnitude ! » he replied.

« On top of that, may I reminded you’re married to ME, » she shouted.

« Is it because she looked at you with sweet eyes that you thought she has something to do with you ? Well, you poor thing !! » Jacob added !

« And if you prefer her to me you only have to go and join your Charlotte but please know my dear husband that, she too is married and that she will not leave her young and beautiful husband to commit adultery with the likes of you ! You are 10 years older than her and all you can do is grumble and hit everyone ! » shouted Arabella, quite beside herself.

I didn‘t want to argue anymore because I was sleepy. I got what I wanted so I am satisfied now. I know it is wrong and she is still mad because I have wandering eyes. This is my burden now…

After the long sermon of Arabella we continued the road to the west. 

I decided to take the reins and studied the map at the same time. This one road here indicates that later in the day, we would meet an Indian tribe. I suddenly had an idea : why not steal from the Indians ? I shared my idea with Charly who got angry saying that the idea of stealing from a Langmore’s mouth was unacceptable. I questioned myself and found a much better idea : it would be better to challenge the Indians or even to walk with the Indians although they are not much trustworthy. Charlie approved of my idea. In the evening we decided to announce the news to the whole family…. Arabella argued it was a silly idea, so we went on with our journey. Women…! 

The day after Charlie and I, met the Indian tribe called the Navajos. I felt surprised because they could speak English quite well. First, we met the chief of the tribe who was happy to offer his help. He offered ammunitions and organized a feast in our honor. He also invited the rest of the family for dinner. We stayed with them until the the morning. 

Later we saw a cloud of smoke who rushed toward us. Around noon, Charlie had taken all of the weapons of the tribe and hid them in our wagon! He decided to act against our will ! Arabella was furious, and now we have to bear the consequences of his actions ! What a crazy move !

The Indian realized most of their weapons had disappeared. We had perhaps a chance to flee but the cloud of smoke was getting closer to our wagon ! We found a forrest and hid our tracks best we could. What a lucky escape. 

Today, David chose to be born. Jane began to have cramps three days before birth. Being the only nurse of our party to help Jane, Elizabeth rushed on to attend to the future mother. She cast us all outside the wagon. What a bad idea… I know it was not to stress Jane out, but once out, Jacob started to walk like a lion in a cage. I was beside myself. It was only safer to attach Jacob to the biggest nearby tree to keep him calm. Elizabeth came out with a baby in her arms who screamed louder than Charlie ! I didn’t know that was possible !

I was full of joy and went to release Jacob while Charlie lit a fire to warm the baby up. Although I hastened to put it out.Did he want our death ? Lighting a fire though the Indians are looking for us !? This lad is bonkers ! 

I woke up the next day sick and sleepy. I had been very hot although it was 10 degrees in the tent. Jane checked on me and delivered the bad news. I had a fever and the sweating sickness. Dear Lord ! Keep me alive ! Have mercy on my soul.

As soon as I rallied I had to suffer a good scold from Arabella who stormed into the tent and shouted at me for being so reckless ! As if it was my doing ! After an endless sermon from Arabella I slept for about ten hours. I woke up even more tired than before.

When I woke up the next morning, Charlie cautiously entered in the tent and decided to start reciting what had happened while I was bedridden  :

  « We stayed up and kept watch, we were so worried Lewis ! Most of the time we looked for a remedy for you in the forest… So while we were away a horse escaped and we could not get track of it ! We later found the corpse further down the stream, with claws marks and huge bites to its neck. »

While I was fighting my illness between two fits of coughing, although Charly advised against it, we continued our journey. Jane noticed a pathway between the tall trees and… Jacob automatically began to complain that Jane was not thinking of him because « it was quite impossible for him to pass through the trees ». Jane responded, explaining that the original path was dangerous anyways, but he continued the journey for 2 hours anyways. We stopped because the stony road gave us all a stomachache. Arabella, Elizabeth, and Jane set up camp, and Jacob, surprised us all when he offered to fetch wood. We spent the night without any problem until the next morning after a one hour ride… The four wheels broke at the same time, the wagon fell, the floor of the wagon broke under impact. Fortunately, the wheels were small and the trolley was light. Nobody was in the trolley, and the food supplies were well protected, only the water reserve was damaged. It is the work of God… He speaks in mysterious ways does he not ? 

Jane was very angry at Jacob and he had to sleep alone under the stars. It took them five long days before they spoke again. It took us a fews days to repair the wheels. 

Fortunately, my ailment is not deadly, but I’m still very weak and suffering. There are people I would never forget… like this family we met. I could not get out of the wagon and walk but Charlie was happy to tell me the whole story:

  «  Lewis, this family is The Mac Court : they are poor but they lack nothing. We met only the head of there family. He first declined our offer and then finally reluctantly accepted. Long story short, we have a remedy for  you ! »

Thank God !

Back on the road, about a month later, we come across an Indian tribe. In an instant we were surrounded by this band of savages. Fortunately, for once Jacob had an excellent idea, he took the weapons out of their hiding place. We shot in the air, the noise made the horses and their riders flee, but those on foot stayed on. They started shooting arrows so we aimed at them and killed most of them, under the bewildered eyes of Jane.

We’ve finally arrived ! Everyone was relieved. We first built a church and houses. Winter was coming and we needed shelter.