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May
1st,
Day 15: It is really dark and cold tonight. We are all sitting round a fire me
and John made. We collected sticks and paper from near where our tents
are pitched. I found this picture while I was picking up sticks: I just want to
keep it because it will be a souvenir of my journey. Billy and Jack
keep on trying to steal my diary, but Rosie and I just scare them away
by pretending to chase them, but they keep on coming back to annoy us so
later on me and Rosie are going to hide behind the bushes and then when
they walk past we are going to jump out on them and scare them so they
will never annoy us again, but I really doubt that. My brother John is been very helpful for father, he has fixed the wagon, pitched the tents nearly every night and collected wood for the fires we make. John always makes me laugh. I'm lucky to have funny, caring brother like John though sometimes he is a moan, but he makes up for it when we play games like tag because he lets me win. I really don't mind sleeping in the tents, it is not luxurious or first class but it is good enough for me. By the way, mission accomplished with Billy and Jack. May 8th, Day 22: It is been terrible today. We were attacked by Indians. What happened was we were travelling along in our wagon and I heard a funny squealing noise from outside. I looked and there were four Indians running towards our wagons. Their faces were all painted, they were shirtless and they had weird looking feathery hats on, they also had an axe each. I shouted on my father and he halted the wagon immediately. He grabbed his gun and shouted on Danny at the top of his voice. My father jumped out of the wagon and punched one of the Indians. Danny grabbed his rifle and went to shoot them, but he didn't know there was an Indian about to stab him from behind, but father came to the rescue - he shot at the Indian and he fell to the ground. Then Danny shot another one then the other two just ran away. I think they just chickened out and ran away because father and Danny had guns. We were all so petrified - even John was a bit scared. You should have seen Danny's, Jack's and Suzy's faces! They were all so shocked about what just happened.
An
exciting, but scary day for us. During
our journey I have noticed beautiful scenery like when the sun is
setting behind the mountains and the sky goes all red and lovely. I made
up a poem for that "Red sky at night gold is a delight". The
weather has been really great. There has been just sun all the way, the
only bad day we have had was a few days ago when it was dull and gloomy
and it was just raining lightly. Father said we should get to Fort
Laramie no less than a week all going well. I think Mama and Father are
getting a bit fed up of this lifestyle, but when we arrive at Fort
Laramie and them and Danny and Suzy have a drink or two they will be up
and ready for the Trail again. The Rockies are supposed to be the
hardest and dangerous part of the Trail. John keeps on teasing me, Billy
and Jack about getting chased by a bear. But Mama always buts in and
says "There are no bears in the Rockies", but I think she says
that because she doesn't want us scared out of our wits about it. Sorry
Diary I've got to go and help Jack get ready for bed. Fort Laramie May
15th, Day 29: Finally
we have arrived at Fort Laramie. Now we can all have a rest before we
cross the Rocky Mountains. It is 5.00 pm we have arrived in time because
they are away to open the saloon. Glad father made a profit from selling
one of our oxen, he made a profit of $22dollars so that money pays for
just our family staying here and more money goes towards buying more
food, clothes and maybe even staying in another Fort during our journey.
Fort Laramie is nice - not a five star hotel, but it is good enough for
my family. Danny and his family are staying here as well. I think
we are all staying here for five days. While all the parents are having
a drink, us kids are away to explore )maybe not John, he'll probably
scrounge a drink off father.) May 18th, Day 32: Enjoying staying at Fort Laramie. It is very peaceful and relaxing. There are a few more families also staying here at the moment. Fort Laramie is just a small village with a couple of houses in it and the place we are staying is just like a large but that is all nicely done up and it is sheltered. There are about 18 rooms. We're all just in the one room, but Danny and his family are in a different room. There are only 3 beds in our room so we take turns about to see who is sleeping on the floor. Outside Fort Laramie there is a massive playing field, nothing special just grass and mud and there are also a few barns we hide in when we are playing tag. Mama and father go into the saloon every evening. May
19th, Day 33: Last day at Fort Laramie. It has been
loads of fun staying here. All of us kids have got along great, there
has been no fighting or arguing. Every night the adults have been out at
the saloon and we've stayed up out late till 11.00 pm. During our
stay here we have learned to ride a horse, we would sit on it and
it would run round the field. I was the best at it, but I wouldn't say
anything to the others. It was a shame on Jack, he was getting
scared, but I went on with him and he said to me after that he
felt like a real cowboy. We also played a pretend game of cowboys.
It was me, Rosie and Jack on one team and on the other team there was
John and Billy. All we done was run around and catch each other and if
you caught someone you would pretend to put them in jail which was the
barn. We only played this game to please Jack and Billy. Also today, mama
and I went to get more food and water and she bought me a new
dress. It didn't cost much. This will be my last entry about Fort
Laramie because I'm having so much fun here and I better make the most
of it. A man who works at Fort Laramie gave me this map for my diary: |
