"Susan is better this evening."

Five generations ago, one hundred and fifty-nine years ago a journal was kept by pioneers headed west across the American south. The entry on April 21, 1852 was short: "Came 10 miles. Susan was sick today, taken unwell yesterday. Camped on an open prairie - 4 wagons together. Harris Rowland sold his odd steer to Benjamin Wills. He run off from the drove today and is lost, and no hope of regaining him." The next day the journal reads, "Came 15 miles. Camped on the Dry Fork of Elm Creek, a beautiful stream. Three miles back we passed the last house in Texas where whites live. We are past the lower Cross Timbers and near the upper ones. The part of Texas we have passed is very beautiful farming country, well calculated to be a rich country some time. We are now 47 miles from Ft. Preston. Susan is feeling better this evening." What made Susan ill? How did she manage being sick and riding in the back of the wagon for 25 miles? How did she feel when the last house was passed and hostile territory was ahead? She was only 16 years old and had already been married for almost two years to Harris Rowland, 24 years old. Earlier in the journal, on April 9th the writer noted: "The Indians on the route are generally poor and have nothing to sell. H. Rowland bought a cow from an Indian. She is quite wild and unruly, I hardly think he will get her there." Harris Rowland was part of a much larger wagon train heading west, but the writer of this journal used valuable space and ink to note Mr. Rowland's poor cattle choices between unruly cows and odd steers. Why did the writer care so much about this young man's cattle choices? That's an easy question to answer. Mr. Rowland was the son-in-law of John Boyd Hammond, the writer of the journal and my great-great-great grandfather. Susan was one of his children and he obviously was concerned for her welfare. Susan and Harris were only married 21 years before his death in California in 1871. They had five sons and three daughters. Their oldest son, Lloyd Hammond Rowland was my great-grandfather. Lloyd and Katharine (Morrissey) had two sons and three daughters. Their oldest son was was my grandfather, James Morrissey Rowland. Grandpa had three sons and one daughter. His oldest son was my Dad, George. This is where I stop tonight with our family tree. I'm just glad that 16 year old Susan, Mrs. Harris Rowland, recovered her health on the Texas prairie during the six-month wagon train from Arkansas to California. If she hadn't gotten better, well, I wouldn't be writing tonight in the spirit of my great-great-great grandfather, the wagon train scribe.