Patty
Reed’s Doll
Chapter
Seven, Eight, Nine
I was
sorry Grandma passed. I had hoped she would make it to
the end of the journey. At least she died doing what she wanted, and
not at
home alone.
wow--they built the coffin from a big cottonwood tree. How? It
seems to
me that would be a nearly impossible task out there in the middle of
nowhere. I
guess they could cut down the tree, but in order to cut it into planks
of any
sort, they would have had to have a crosscut saw and it seems like more
time
than a day.....Why didn't they just get some wood from the boat
builders?
it was cute when the boys wanted to catch the Prairie Dogs!
The 'Post Office' was cool! What trust. You would never know if
your
letter got delivered or destroyed!
Scott's Bluff was sad--and a foretaste of their own calamities yet to
come. It's not all picnics and flowers.
This
story sure
is a tough one, and to think it is based on a true life adventure..
I can't imagine the hardships they faced..
I
look out
across our property and see land that is hilly and over grown.. There
is an old
path/road in there, but has mostly grown up with time.. Well, I was
thinking of
the Donner party, and just how rugged their route was..I know all about
the
property here, from many years of living nearby and owning some of this
land..
But
to be going
across country into land that looks soooo wild.. Wow.. I think I would
of
rather to stay home..
I
did
have a good chuckle at the boys trying to catch the prairie dogs..
Wonder what
they would of done had they caught one?
Things
that brought
happy times back then.. Wonder what kids today would be like on a
trip
like this.. I can imagine the crying and whining.. heheh..
I am
sure they had axes and a double handled saw. A group
could not leave without a few survival tools. She was one tough
cookie to
even try at her age. I am amazed much survived.
Grandma's
death made me sad too but she was spared some of the
later hardships. You really picked up on that coffin i had wondered
about that
my self.
well,
it just seemed sort of, I don't know....not feasible!
cottonwood
is a hard wood out here...I cant imagine trying to work
with it without a mill or mill tools
well,
they did have the boat builders, and they would have had
tools. but still.....
It
sounds like it would have been Yellow Cottonwood,
From:
'Important Timber Trees of the United
States' by Simon B. Eliot', published in 1912
“along
the valleys of the Mississippi and Missouri
rivers the character of the wood is quite different from that grown
elsewhere,
and
it is there known as Yellow Cottonwood.
Lumber
cut from trees grown there is reported easy to
work,
can
be dressed smooth,
serves
a fair purpose for work that is not exposed,
will
take on a good finish,
and
is adapted to many purposes for which Yellow Poplar
is used. “
<http://www.nativetreesociety.org/species/sp_threads/cottonwood_uses.htm>
More
info on using cottonwood:
http://www.woodmagazine.com/materials-guide/lumber/wood-species-1/cottonwood/
Extremely
information, Susan!!!! Thanks for
sharing.