The Search for Snake River Read online

  “Faster!” Pa shouts.

  As you climb, you feel the fire gaining on you. The air grows thick with smoke and it gets harder to breathe. You feel your legs start to burn with the exertion, and you cough from the smoke.

  “Put this over your nose and mouth,” Ma says, handing you a damp cloth. You try to breathe through it, and it helps. But as you scramble over a rock, the cloth falls from your hand.

  You climb for what seems like forever. But it’s working! You look behind you and see the forest ablaze, but you seem to be high enough that the flames won’t reach you.

  Pa finds a cave and you take shelter in it, huddled together, staring at each other in silence. Everyone is too exhausted and shocked to even speak. Your faces are covered with black soot and all you can make out is each other’s eyes. If the situation weren’t so scary, you would think it was funny.

  Only one ox and your cow have survived the escape. Tears start to roll down your soot-covered face, dripping onto your lap. You are lucky to have survived, but you realize that the rest of your oxen and probably some people from your wagon train have perished in the fire. Your family decides to stay for a few days in the cave while Pa hunts for food. But then you’ll have to figure out how to go on without your wagon or any supplies.

   THE END

  Return to page 95

  No one is excited by the idea of going back to Fort Bridger. It was bad enough the first time around.

  “I can’t go back to that horrid place,” Ma says.

  “I still have nightmares about that rattler,” Hannah adds.

  Everyone agrees that the trip back isn’t worth it, especially since you don’t know what kind of animals they will have available for sale. Plus, everything you are forced to buy on the Trail is extremely expensive, so you might not even be able to afford a new set of oxen.

  Instead, you make camp at the base of the Big Hill and wait for the animals to heal. The grazing conditions aren’t great, but every day Pa scouts for the best place to let them eat and regain their strength.

  After a few days, the oxen look better. Ma takes care of their dressing and thinks that the injuries are healing nicely. But the bad news is that while they improve, you are not feeling well at all. You start to have severe stomach pain and after a day or two you have diarrhea. By the time the oxen are ready to go, you are ready to move on, too . . . only not to Oregon Territory. You die of dysentery.

   THE END

  Return to page 25

  Steamboat Spring sounds more exciting to you, so you head there. Unlike other springs that hiss, this one spits out a stream of water, as tall as you, every fifteen seconds. The water whistles as it shoots up.

  Being at the spring feels refreshing. One woman in your wagon train bakes bread with the soda water. It’s the fluffiest bread you’ve had on the Trail. You camp and then trek four days to Fort Hall.

  “Welcome,” a tall man says as you arrive at the fort, a small stone building popular with fur traders and mountain men. The man, a fur trader named Henry, invites your group to supper. You’re glad Ma and Pa accept, because you can smell something cooking that makes your mouth water.

  A little while later, you sit at a table and poke at a pinkish steak on your plate. You wonder if it might still need to be cooked.

  “What is this?” you whisper to Pa.

  Henry just laughs.

  “This is the finest of fish: Pacific salmon. Enjoy!”

  You bite into the fish, which is unlike anything you’ve ever tasted. It’s delicious! But then Henry says stuff that makes your stomach twist into knots.

  “You know the most difficult part of the Trail is ahead of you—the mountains and the Columbia Valley. It’s rough, with snow and dangerous rivers. I think it’s crazy to take heavy wagons through it.”

  “Are you suggesting we stay here?” Pa asks.

  “You could. But even better, you could go southwest, along the California Trail.”

  “Why that way?” Ma asks.

  “It’s easier, with greater rewards. Haven’t you heard the stories of all the gold there?” Henry asks.

  Pa is silent, but you can see that he is thinking about what Henry said. Ma looks worried and you know she is contemplating the dangers ahead.

  Later, a few of the people in your wagon train start to talk about taking the California Trail. They don’t want to deal with the harsh conditions on the Oregon Trail anymore, and they’re tempted by the idea of gold.

  Others want to continue to Oregon and fulfill their long-held dreams of free land promised to each family. They don’t trust the fur trappers, who they think just want the territory to themselves. Others have made it, they argue. Why can’t you?

  It looks as if the train is going to split apart. What does your family decide to do?

  If you take the California Trail, turn to page 122

  If you continue on the Oregon Trail, turn to page 139

  Return to page 85

  You pick at some of your food. Even though you’re grateful for the gesture, you just can’t bring yourself to eat any of it. While everyone else seems to enjoy the meal and conversation, you try to ignore the growling in your stomach.

  “I noticed you didn’t eat anything,” Ma says as you walk back to camp. “You must be starving.”

  “I am,” you admit, a little embarrassed.

  “I’ll make you some beans,” Ma says, with an understanding look. “Fetch me some water from the wagon while I start a fire.”

  You hurry to the wagon, but in your haste, you accidentally grab the container of oily water that Pa uses to clean the wagon wheels when there is mud stuck on them. You hand it to Ma, who pours it into the pot and adds the beans.

  You’re so hungry you start eating right out of the pot, even though the beans haven’t cooked all the way. They taste a little funny, but you eagerly eat them anyway.

  Finally, with a full stomach, you go to bed. But you wake up in the middle of the night with stomach cramps. In the morning your cramps are much worse.

  The next couple of days are terrible. You have chills and diarrhea. You even vomit! Ma and Pa are so concerned about you that they tell the wagon train to go ahead while they try to nurse you back to health. But soon they have to leave you behind. You die of dysentery.

   THE END

  Return to page 108

  Let’s go soak our feet first,” you say, and Eliza leads the way. Archie runs along with you, barking excitedly. As you walk, a geyser suddenly erupts near you, and it startles everyone. You all laugh, but Archie takes off running in the other direction, scared.

  “It’s okay, boy, it’s just water,” you shout. But Archie continues to run farther away. You call for him a few times, but he doesn’t listen to you.

  “You guys stay and soak,” you tell Joseph and Eliza. “I’m going to get Archie.”

  You run toward Archie and call him again. “Come on, boy, let’s go.” But now it’s turned into a game. Archie wags his tail. He must want you to chase him.

  “Here I come,” you laugh, jumping over a few of the tiny springs that separate you. You are almost next to him, when one of the springs shoots off as you are jumping over it.

  YOW! The water is scalding, and it feels like you are on fire. You fall to the ground in pain, screaming for help. Your arms and legs are severely burned.

  Joseph comes rushing over to you. “What happened?” he says in a panic. And then his eyes grow wide as he sees your burns.

  “Get help!” Joseph shouts to Eliza.

  You lie there in a tremendous amount of pain. After a few moments you see that Ma, Pa, and Caleb are by your side. Your burns are so severe that they hesitate to move you. Ma gives you some cool water to drink and wraps you in the cleanest cloth she can find.

  You won’t be able to walk anytime soon. Even worse, you are at risk of terrible infection on the dirty Trail. You had no idea that some of the springs were hot enough to cook a steak. But as the water hisses and steams, your i
nsides burn, and you realize that your dreams of getting to Oregon have just evaporated into thin air.

   THE END

  Return to page 85

  Wait for me,” you call out to Joseph, and run after him. You don’t want him to snoop around by himself. And if he does find the animals, you want to be part of it. You imagine the looks on everyone’s faces as you tell them where the missing animals are!

  “Thanks for coming with me,” Joseph says.

  “What if we get caught?” you ask again, feeling your stomach flip over with nervousness.

  “We can always say that we are lost,” Joseph says. “No one is going to do anything to two kids.”

  Joseph speaks with confidence, so you try to push your fear away and scramble to keep up with his long strides.

  As you approach the wagon train, you hide behind a big rock so you can observe. There are a bunch of families going about their morning chores and making breakfast. Your stomach growls as you smell eggs frying. Yum! Your mouth starts to water.

  “Look! They have chickens,” you whisper to Joseph.

  “Yeah,” he mutters, counting their animals. “But it doesn’t look like they have what we’re looking for.”

  “What now?” you ask.

  “Let’s go to the Shoshone settlement.”

  “Okay,” you say, although now you just want to go back to camp and have breakfast. You hope no one has noticed that you’re missing yet. Ma gets worried really quickly.

  As you approach the settlement, you can see Native American people, dressed in breechcloths and leggings, walking around. Several cooking fires are burning as the community prepares its own morning meal.

  Joseph points to a tree. “Let’s hide over there, and watch to see where they keep their animals,” he says.

  Your heart pounds as you get closer. Suddenly, a young boy spots you and starts to stare.

  “Duck!” Joseph orders, pointing to a bush. You hide, but moments later a group of men, holding what look like spears, bows, and arrows, heads toward you.

  “Look!” You grab on to Joseph’s shirt. “What is happening?”

  “It’s okay,” Joseph says. “Just let me do the talking.”

  “What are you going to say?” you ask, trying not to panic.

  “I told you, I’ll just tell them that we’re lost,” Joseph says.

  “Let’s just make a run for it,” you say. “We can still get away.”

  You see Joseph deciding what to do. Do you stay still or start to run?

  If you stay still, turn to page 77

  If you run back to camp, turn to page 18

  Return to page 126

  Let’s look for higher ground,” Ma encourages, while you and your siblings groan.

  Pa nods. “I’m sorry we’ll have to walk a bit more,” he says, “but this way we won’t have to worry about the river. It looks like it could flood.”

  You try to ignore the ache in your feet as you continue walking. Finally you find a spot which satisfies everyone, and at last you all stop.

  Ma uses dried buffalo chips, dung that you’ve collected along the Trail, that she’s saved for damp conditions to build your campfire. You help Pa make camp. It’s too wet to set up tents, so you’ll sleep in the wagon, as crowded as that is with all your stuff in it.

  Once you sit down in front of the fire with a plate of hot food, everything seems better. But after you eat, you notice your throat is sore.

  “Ma, my throat hurts,” you say.

  “Mine, too,” Samuel adds.

  Ma looks at you both and frowns.

  “I’ll make you some hot tea,” she says. “And then you should get to bed early tonight.”

  The next morning, when you wake up, your throat is a little less sore. But you have a cough instead. Samuel is doing better and is running along the wagon as usual, kicking up dirt. The ground has dried out and the area you are walking through is dusty and bleak. There is nothing but sage bushes, and after a few miles of hiking, poor Archie is covered in what looks like ashes.

  “I can hardly see anything but Archie’s eyes,” Hannah says, pointing at him. “Look!”

  Your throat is tickling again so you take a swig from the water-skin and try not to cough from all the dust in the air. But at night, once you’ve settled on your soft feather bed, you start to cough a lot. After a while, you grow hoarse and your stomach hurts from all the coughing, but you still can’t stop.

  “Can you stop that, please?” Hannah complains. “I can’t sleep! Can’t you take some medicine?”

  Samuel is snoring, but Hannah is a light sleeper. You try to stifle your coughs, but it doesn’t help.

  Caleb keeps a medicine chest, including tonics, that help with coughs. Maybe you should take some. Caleb always says yes when anyone asks for medicine, but you don’t want to wake him. Maybe you should just go get the medicine yourself. What do you do?

  If you take some of the tonic, turn to page 113

  If you just try to sleep without it, turn to page 117

  Return to page 139

  You slowly sip on water that is mixed with generous amounts of salt and sugar. Even though it makes you gag, it helps you to feel a little stronger. But over the next few days, the pain in your legs gets worse. Your legs tingle and throb all day long and keep you awake at night. Eventually you are so wobbly, it feels like you’ve forgotten how to walk. Pa spreads out your feather bed and lays you down in the wagon. The bumpy ride mixed with the smell of the oxen makes you feel nauseous, and you have to keep a bucket next to you.

  As the days go by you start to feel more and more terrible. Then your gums start to bleed and the next day you are horrified to find your teeth have actually become loose. Only they’re not your baby teeth. As you get sicker and sicker, everyone else in your family starts to feel ill, too. Hannah and Samuel cry because their legs hurt, and because they are scared to end up looking and feeling like you. They’re right to be scared, because you will eventually die of scurvy.

   THE END

  Return to page 21

  We’ll just make camp here,” Ma tells you, much to your relief. It’s been a long day of hiking and the last thing you want to do is traipse through more mud to find another spot.

  Ma tries to light the few buffalo chips she’s saved for an emergency, but it’s too damp to get a fire started. So instead you eat a cold supper of buffalo jerky and prairie biscuits, then go to bed. Even though there’s food in your stomach, you’re not fully satisfied. You fall asleep imagining a sizzling steak with mashed potatoes and green beans, complete with a nice slice of chocolate cake for dessert.

  BOOM! CRASH!

  “What’s that?” Hannah’s wide eyes peer at you from under her blanket. You’ve all been startled awake by a violent thunderstorm.

  “It’s just thunder,” you say, trying to sound brave. Archie whimpers and nestles his body against yours. “Everything will be okay. Try to go back to sleep.”

  But it’s impossible for any of you to fall asleep as long as the storm lasts. Each time the thunder claps, you jump, and the sound of the wind howling is worse than coyotes. The rain pours down with such force that it bends the tent. Finally, after what seems like hours, the rain starts to slow down. You drift back to sleep.

  You wake to a different scary sound: shouting, from outside your tent. You poke your head outside and gaze in horror at what you see. Half the camp seems to have vanished, including heavy stuff like boxes of dishes and the animals’ yokes. Some of the wagons are filled with water, their contents floating under the canopies.

  “What happened?” you ask Ma. “Is this just from the thunderstorm?”

  “It looks like flash floods,” she replies grimly. “It was a mistake to camp here. We should have known that the water level was too high, and the ground was too wet.”

  “The storm just did us in,” Pa adds, shaking his head. “It would have been safer to keep moving to higher ground to camp.”

  Your family didn’t l
ose as much as everyone else, but you’ve lost enough to keep you from going farther. Entire sacks of flour have been torn open and filled with water. Without your food supply, the risks of starving on the Trail are too great to continue. In a flash, your dreams of Oregon are over.

   THE END

  Return to page 139

  You are going to try to make it back to Fort Bridger to get more oxen. Pa suggests that Ma stay camped with Hannah and Samuel at Big Hill while the two of you hike to Fort Bridger. It’s nice to have some time alone with Pa. Along the way, he tells you stories of his childhood in Kentucky.

  When you arrive at Fort Bridger, traders approach you with an offer to sell you oxen.

  “That’s four times what I paid back in Missouri!” Pa cries. “I don’t have that kind of money.”

  “I’ll tell you what,” one man says. “I can give you these two mules for the price of one ox.”

  Pa looks unsatisfied but knows he doesn’t have many options. He hands over the money and you head back to Big Hill. The mules are a little difficult to guide along the way, but Pa thinks they just have to get used to their new owners. He suggests tying the animals to a tree and making camp. You loosen the ropes that have been holding the mule you’ve been leading.