Heritage Gateways

Wendy Westergard Journals

June 10, 1997

Location: Douglas, Wyoming - Location: 42:45:35N 105:22:54W

Summary: Another LONG hard day.

Journal entry: We had a 28 mile day today. We were on asphalt most of the day. In the beginning we were next to a beautiful overflowed lake. This lake was so high the trees had about 2-5 feet covering the roots. The shrubs were almost covered. The countryside was beautiful.

We traveled close to the rail road tracks most of the morning. No trains went by though. Emily and I were riding on the back of the Dicken's wagon. We were sitting on a buffalo robe. We arranged ourselves so that we could play cards. Luckily it wasn't extremely windy. We didn't have any problem with having our cards fly away. Since we were on asphalt it was easy to play cards, otherwise it would have been too bumpy. We played speed. (They were number cards. All you do is count up and down and see who can get rid of their cards first.)

After lunch Matthew came and joined us. We just talked and took care of Sara, a young girl. We laughed and teased each other. After our first break after lunch the weather started to get a little nasty. Soon Matthew went back to his wagon and Emily and I tried to save the things from getting wet by pulling them inside the wagon.

We soon got things settled and we made a bed with the buffalo robe. We slept. I'd never slept under a buffalo robe before. It was very nice and warm. The hide kept us warm dry and comfortable. They are heavy but wonderful. The next thing we knew was the wagon was going everywhere. Things were falling off their hooks and we were going over huge bumps. Joe Vogel who was driving the wagon had taken us off the road.

We then heard Shauna telling us to get ready to jump off the wagon something was wrong with Dan our horse. We hurried and jumped off the wagon. We wondered what to do and then we thought we'd get on the Anderson's wagon because we didn't know what else to do. Shauna said that would be fine. As we were driving off the horse faltered. He didn't fall down, but we definitely knew something was wrong. Outriders were racing back to help. The train continued on.

State Troopers came and helped the horse. They were transported to our next campsite. The horses are alright. The veterinarians are taking good care of him. They will be getting a break for a while until they feel better.