Letter to Family from the West

     letter to family from the west

Dear Family,
               
               It brings tears to my eyes knowing we are never going to see each other again but I think it was a good decision for me to leave home. I just arrived in California.The reason I moved to the West is because I have a better chance for a good life.The gold in California can make me rich.
              My journey was very rocky.The journey was so long that some families ran out of food.24,000 have died on this journey. I heard that George's family ate each other. They took a wrong turn thinking it was a shorter way to get to where they wanted but they were in for a treat. Five feet of snow fell on them the night their wagon broke down. They could not continue the journey with this snow so they camped and very soon they were out of food. The only way to survive was so eat each other. The wagons carried everything we all needed to start this new life.This is unbelievable but 1 in 5 women were pregnant.
                 The spirit of America has been shown in some people I heard that Smith was attacked by a glizly bear but he survived and continued with the expedition. Native American were not friendly. They kidnapped Boone's son James and tortured him to death. The beaver was traded for weapons like guns. I heard that Mexicans invited Americans to Texas but they soon out numbered the Mexicans. when I got here I was told that the population of California has gone from 15,000 to 100,000 in two years. There are more people still coming.

native Americans

                   
                                                                sincerely
          Mercy Njogu

trails

beaver

wagons