There Were Many Dangers On The Trail

 Sarah was only eleven years old and her whole life had been turned upside down. Her father was gone, she had a new stepfather and now she had to leave her home and go over two hundred miles away to her new home. She knew she would never like this new place. She was sure it was going to be cold and ugly. Yes she had her brothers going too. She had a set of younger twin brothers and four older ones. They were such a bother. Always teasing her, scolding her and especially telling her what to do and what not to do. Then her mother kept saying, "It will be an adventure. Look on the bright side of things. You will meet new people, make new friends." Nothing will be the same. Oh her throat hurt and her feet were sore from going barefoot for so long. It was springtime, but the rains hadn't come yet. She could taste the dirt in her mouth and her eyes hurt too. Her mother called, "Sarah, get your bonnet on. Protect your face or you will get freckles and dirt in your hair."

Sarah thought, "Who cares about freckles there's no one to look at me, and the bonnet makes me hot. At least the breeze feels good in my hair. Finally I see some trees. There sure aren't many out here for shade. We had some pretty ones at home. I think I'll walk over here a little bit, it's so much cooler. Maybe I will find some flowers. Oh there is a pretty rock. I'll put that in my apron pocket for a keepsake."

Just as Sarah was going to stoop over she heard her new stepfather yell, "Sarah, stop! Don't move! There is a rattlesnake just a few feet away from you. She stood still as a statue. She could hear the rattle of the angry snake. She knew that they were poisonous and could be very very dangerous. She just couldn't see it. It was the same color as the dead grass and twigs in the timber. Then she heard a boom and felt herself being lifted in her new father's arms. The snake was dead and she had escaped a rattlesnake bite. 

Sarah's heart felt like it was pounding so hard it would jump right out of her chest. She could hardly breathe, but there were two strong arms that were holding her and soft reassuring words comforting her. Her new stepfather told his new family that they would rest for a spell and have something to drink. Sarah's mom, Catherine, hurried and told the boys to get out some cheese, bread, and some water. The water had been put in glass jars with burlap wrapped around them. The burlap had been soaked in cold stream water from their last stop. That kept the water a nice cool temperature. Her new stepfather's name was Nathan. He came from a large family too, but had never had any children of his own. This being a father business was all new to him. But he knew he had to explain some of the hazards of the woods to this little girl.

While they all sat down on a quilt and ate their snack he explained the habits of snakes. He said, "In the spring when the sun comes out the snakes crawl out from under rocks and logs to soak up the sunshine just like we do. They get cold and can't warm up like we do though. They warn you that you are too close by rattling their tails and that's what happened, Sarah. You got too close and scared that snake, didn't you?"

The tears were still easy to come from being scared, but she smiled a tiny smile at her new father and said, "I guess I kinda did. I was going to pick up a rock to keep as a remembrance of our trip."

Nathan chuckled, gave her a squeeze and said, "I understand, but from now on we will make sure that we watch very carefully and always tell one of us when you need to go off the trail, okay?"

Sarah assured him that she would do as he asked. Then Nathan said, "Okay, now do we have something along in the wagons that in case one of us do get a snake bite that we can use in a hurry?" It was Sarah's mother's turn to look worried. She said, "I never gave it a thought. What can we gather out here in the wilderness for a poultice? I did bring some whiskey in case of any kind of accident, would that work?" He nodded his head and smiled. He was a very religious man and did not partake of spirits, but did know the value of whiskey for injuries and a sedative if needed.

Nathan had owned his eighty acres for quite some time. He had built himself a sod house covered with weeds and grass so he was well acquainted with all the good that nature provided for him and  his neighbors, both white as well as the natives they called Indians. He said, "We need to find a special plant called plantain. We can let some dry and grind it up and it can also be chewed and bandaged on a sore or bite. It draws out the poison. There should be all kinds of it even this early in the spring. Hopefully we will never have to worry about it, but it's always good to be prepared."

He did not go on to describe what really needed to be done in case of a bad snake bite, but he would talk to the older boys to keep an eye out for their sister as well as rattle snakes, and other poisonous snakes that might be waking up for the spring and summer sunshine.

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It is a good thing that Sarah wasn't aware of the sod house. It is now long gone, but in it's place was a log cabin. It would not be to Sarah's liking, but indeed better than sod. We shall follow these pioneers from Grand Mound, Iowa to Cherokee, Iowa which had been settled by G.W. Banister and his nine friends along with their families and others. The population although scattered was about two hundred fifty people in the 1850's. The Hayes group would settle about six miles south of Cherokee.

The burlap wrapped glass jars were used on farms for many years for the field hands and farmers to carry with them. I can remember them being packed in a basket and hauled to the field by my mother in a small wagon along with a huge lunch of sandwiches, rolls, cakes, cookies. She always told me that the men worked so hard they needed all that food. This was done twice a day morning and afternoon. The lunches were called dinner and the evening meal supper. They also were heavy meals loaded with real butter my mother churned from the milk my father milked three times a day. The mashed potatoes were made with whipping cream as well as the gravy from the meat she fried in lard. We did not know about cholesterol in those days.