[Front Matter][Synopsis]“You’re taking ox wagons over the mountains to the Columbia valley?"The British factor at Fort Hall on the Snake River could not believe his ears.“What’s got into you men? Don’t you know anything? Haven’t you any idea of the kind of wilderness you’ll land up in there? ... On the other hand, if you go to California, to the south-west, the route’s considerably shorter. And easier.”Dispirited after their long weary trek in the summer of 1844 the American settlers turned off the Oregon trail. All except the Sager children whose parents’ dying wish it had been that they should reach the Columbia valley. One night, John, aged 14, Louise (12), Francis (11), Catherine (9), Matilda (5), Lizzy (3) and the baby Indepentia slipped quietly away with Anna the cow, Walter the ox, and Oscar the dog, and set out for Oregon on their own.How they struggled on through incredible hardships is the subject of this remarkable story, which is based on facts gathered by the author from o...
