Driven by the promise of prosperity and opportunity on the frontier, thousands of men and women traveled west in the mid-1800s to forge a new life. Accompanying them were their children, wide-eyed and excited about the adventures that awaited them as they headed toward the setting sun. Little did they know how treacherous and grueling the trip would be. The toil and danger of overland travel forced parents to depend on their children to assist in their ultimate survival. Girls were called upon to help cook, set up and break camp, and mind younger siblings. Boys were called upon to help drive the wagons, herd the oxen and horses, assist with wagon repairs, and guard the camp at night. Even with their endless chores, many pioneer boys and girls found time to record the details of their journeys in letters and diaries. This collection of short episodes from the lives of these children on the trail offers fresh perspectives on the experience.

An adventurous single woman who knew how to cook, twenty-three-year-old May Arkwright moved -- alone -- to the remote valleys of northern Idaho in 1883. She opened a one-table restaurant for the silver prospectors near Wallace, serving her homemade berry pies and hot dishes. Before long, she was a well-known part of the fledgling mining district.
May, a large, outspoken woman who favored low-cut, brightly colored dresses, scandalized the "proper" women of town. But her self-confidence and ease with people helped her make important friends among the miners, merchants, and railroad men who ate at her table. After she met and married local train engineer Al Hutton, the two invested in a mine upstream from Wallace. After several long years they struck it rich and moved to Spokane, where May spent the rest of her life working on philanthropic projects that still affect residents of the Pacific Northwest to this day. As related through the skilled storytelling of Mary Barmeyer O'Brien, this larger-than-life woman's story adds a compelling new element to the history of the West.

In May 1865, just as the battles of the Civil War had finally come to an end, twenty-four-year-old Sarah Raymond mounted her beloved pony and headed west with her mother and two younger brothers. Traveling by wagon train over the Great Plains toward the Rocky Mountains, the Raymonds had no certain idea of where they would settle, but they were determined to leave war-torn Missouri behind them and to start a new life.
Sarah's diary, written beside campfires and in spare moments on the long journey, provides a unique first-person account of life on the trail. Here detailed recording of each day's activities and adventures provides a rare glimpse into the private lives and hardships endured by the many pioneer women who traveled west with their families, but whose names and experiences have been lost to time.
Originally published in 1902, Days on the Road: Crossing the Plains in 1865 is an inspiring tale of a truly remarkable young woman and a tribute to all the emigrants who made their way west.

Updated and expanded for its twentieth anniversary-the beloved book that tells the stories of the women who traveled West. In Heart of the Trail Mary Barmeyer O'Brien beautifully captures the triumphs and tribulations of women who crossed the American frontier by wagon during the great Western migration of the mid nineteenth century. While their stories are widely different, each of these remarkable women was inspiring, courageous, and resourceful. From the successes of mountaineer Julia Anna Archibald to the grueling trials of Mary Powers, these stories reflect the adventure and hardship experienced by the thousands of women who took to the trails. The legacy of their letters and diaries, most written on the trail, is a fascinating addition to understanding the history of the West. Mary Barmeyer O'Brien's books on the pioneer experience include The Promise of the West; Jeannette Rankin: Bright Star in the Big Sky; Outlasting the Trail: The Story of a Woman's Journey West; May: The Hard-Rock Life of Pioneer May Arkwright Hutton; and Across Death Valley. She lives in Polson, Montana.

Based on the dramatic events of a real family's overland crossing
Mary Rockwood Powers reluctantly left her comfortable life as a doctor's wife in Wisconsin in 1856, one of the many women whose destiny as a settler of the West was determined by her husband's wishes. Trading in her home for canvas roof and wheels, Mary, her husband, and their three children set out on the arduous trek westward to California.
When Dr. Powers' increasingly unstable mental state threatens the family's safety, Mary is forced to leave her ideals of femininity behind. She takes fate into her own hands-stepping in as head of the household to help her family outlast the trail.
In Outlasting the Trail author Mary Barmeyer O'Brien uses Mary Rockwood Powers' letters as a starting point to further illuminate this remarkable woman's story. It is a story full of dangers, misfortunes, and an appreciation for the smallest of blessings. By constructing a rich inner life for her characters, O'Brien seeks greater truths about what it meant to be a woman, a girl, or a husband facing the obstacles and trials of the trail to California. Based on the heartrending struggle of a real family, this novel brings to life a fascinating slice of American history.