Page:Route Across the Rocky Mountains with a Description of Oregon and California.djvu/13



''The Great Immigration of 1843 was supposed to have brought one thousand persons to Oregon and numerous books proudly present this information, actually misinformation, as there were only 265 men in this rather large wagon train. There were women and children along. It is a matter of regret that their names were not recorded. We know that the total number of souls was more than 400 and less than 500. This one great wagon train did more than double the population of U.S. citizens in Oregon, however the roster that is known is of those who started for Oregon. At least seventeen men left the train at a point west of Fort Hall and went on to California. A few men died along the way and a few turned back. An alphabetzied list of the men will be appended to this book and also information will be given on those persons who for one reason or another did not reach the Oregon for which they so enthusiastically began their journey. And of those who did make that two thousand mile journey and so did reach their goal of Oregon, not all remained and became citizens of that territory and state. Among those who did reach Oregon and who did not remain there are two names, Overton Johnson and William Winter, the authors of one of the rarest books pertaining to travel out on the Oregon Trail.''

''These two young men were intelligent, adventurous, and not without literary ability. Their curiosity impelled them to write of what they saw and what was of interest to them at the moment. They commented on the route of travel, the grass available for their animals, the ability of the land to support settlers, and of course the Indians...the native Americans they distrusted. Their prudent, factual sentences are enlivened at times with enthusiastic paragraphs approaching what is fanciful as they describe the wonders of Oregon, and they were young enough to appreciate the dances and the damsels of California.''

''William H. Winter is said to have been born in Vigo County, Indiana, in 1819. At age 22 he moved to Missouri where he lived for two years before making his adventurous trip west on the Oregon Trail in 1843, traveling on to California and returning to Indiana in 1845. His wandering''