An Oregon Trail Story

Jed didn't listen to the murmured comments either. He was still a little awestruck at it all, but not so awestruck he couldn't pledge his troth to the woman who stood beside him. Their first kiss wasn't long and drawn out, but then, there wasn't time. The Willamette Valley was spread out ahead, the place that held all their hopes and dreams. The wagon train had to keep moving so those hopes and dreams could be turned into reality.

When they camped that night, Elizabeth fixed a better supper than usual, and after they ate, smiled at Jed.

"Did you like your supper, husband."

"Yes, Ma'am. It was good just like it always is."

"When do you have to stand guard tonight?"

"I got the stint from eight to ten."

Elizabeth smiled.

"I'll be waiting for you in the wagon."

"Oh, you don't need to wait for me. You must be tired."

She smiled again.

"I'm not too tired for you to make me a proper wife. You go guard your cattle. I'll be getting ready for you."

When Jed climbed into the wagon a little after ten, most of the camp was asleep. He thought Elizabeth would probably be asleep as well, so he took off his boots and crept over the floor toward the bed on the right side of the wagon, the bed he knew Mr. Crocker always used. He had taken off his shirt when he felt a small hand touch his shoulder.

Elizabeth didn't say anything. She just let her hand stroke down over Jed's bare chest and then his belly. Jed felt that gentle caress stir his loins. He unbuckled his belt and let his trousers fall to the floor of the wagon. The hand stroked lower, then lower still until it touched his stiffening manhood. Only then did he hear the whisper from Elizabeth.

"Come up here with me, Jed."

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The journals both end after two more entries. Jed and Elizabeth recorded their claim of six hundred and forty acres of prime farm land with half registered to him and half registered to Elizabeth. His last written words were "Elizabeth and I are happy to be here together". Too few words, I thought, to describe his feelings after what had happened over the months on the trail, but after reading his journal, I knew Jed wasn't a man to use a lot of words when a few would do.

Elizabeth's last entry was about the land claim as well. She was thrilled that she'd achieved what Samuel had wanted so much, and hoped that somehow, he knew and was happy. She then wrote that she and Jed had made plans for the future that included a house large enough for the children they wanted. Her last written words were "God did have a plan for me. I understand it now."

After reading both journals, I wondered if they realized those plans. Some on-line research led me to some tantalizing facts. In the records of claims in 1850, there was a land claim awarded to Jedediah and Elizabeth Marshall, man and wife. While Marshall is a relatively common name as is Elizabeth, Jedediah is not, and I want to believe they are the same Jed and Elizabeth who wrote the two journals.

I searched for both names and found an entry in the record of the women's suffrage movement in Oregon several years later. A Mrs. Elizabeth Marshall, wrote an article for a weekly newspaper called "New Northwest". The newspaper was founded and published by Abigail Scott Duniway, and early proponent and activist for women's suffrage in Oregon.

In the article, Elizabeth stated many women had walked almost two thousand miles to Oregon while caring for their families, now held title to land in Oregon, and had helped to turn that land into productive farms. Most had done the same hard work as their men and some had done that hard work instead of men. Surely if women could do all that, they should be granted the privilege of voting for the men who determined their fate and future.

The last mention of an Elizabeth Marshall I've found so far is an obituary from 1901. She was eighty-seven when she passed away of old age. She left behind two children, Timothy Marshall and Chloe Marshal Wilson, along with five grandchildren and three great grand children. Two husbands, Jedediah and Samuel, and two other children, Mary and Martin, preceded her in death. She had made the trip from Missouri to Oregon in 1850, had been an advocate for women's suffrage, and was a prominent member of the Methodist Church in Slayton.

The building I designed is scheduled for completion in October, so I'll be back in Salem to do a final inspection. I'm going to schedule my trip to give me time to go to the cemetery where the obituary said Elizabeth and Jed are buried. If I can find her grave, I'll buy some roses and place them by the headstone. If Elizabeth was the woman I read her to be in her journal, she'd probably say roses were silly and not something she needed. I think any woman who endured all that she did and then lived on to start another life deserves more than just flowers that will quickly wilt and die, but it's about all I can do for her. I hope she appreciates the gesture.