Heritage Gateways

Wendy Westergard Journals

July 9, 1997

Location: Fort Bridger - 96 miles left, Wyoming - (You cross four gushing creeks, within half a mile, before you reach the Fort, and by traveling half a mile beyond the Fort, you will cross three others, and then find a good place to camp.) - 917 miles from Winter Quarters.

Summary: I feel weak.

Journal entry: Today we travelled 12 miles to Fort Bridger. I tried to sleep in the back of the Winona. Libbie and Keith were in the back with me. I did snooze a little bit, though it was a little difficult with squirmy youngsters. It's amazing what I can sleep through now.

I seemed to have noticed in the past couple of days that my body is weaker and skinnier. When Libbie, a 9 year old, puts her head on my sternum to try and sleep, it hurts. It's like putting bone to bone. It never hurt before when kids used me as a pillow. I can feel my bottom hurts when I sit on chairs wether or not it has a cushion. It's hard to tell the difference. I don't look like skin and bones. I just feel like it.

My body is telling me that this adventure is time to end, but my mind wants it to go on forever. I know that my body can't go on forever, it can't take much more. I've been feeling weaker and weaker ever since I faked drowning for the Germans. I'm wondering what is wrong. I'm going to talk to Margaret tomorrow and see what she thinks. She is a nurse.

Yesterday I felt so tired, like I couldn't give much more. I will keep going. I love this too much to stop. I will be rejuvinated in the morning.

After we got into camp, which was sagebrush again... authentic camp was in a nice grassy field with some wagons in it. People were quite upset that they were not on the grass field. 2-3 hours later they, the leaders, made arrangements to have the rest of wagons move down to the fields. People were happy then. The grass was like sleeping in carpet. We felt truly pampered. It was like being in a really upper class place.