Page 68 and the end of the Wagon Train storysees the settlers on their way out west:
Finally, let us say that it wasn’t all danger and hardship. When the wagon trains halted for the night and the camp-fires were lighted and, at last, a hot meal was eaten by hungry men, women and children, then would men with musical instruments of all kinds, from the fiddle to the hunble jew’s harp, strike up a song of the West or, maybe, some old tune that reminded the emigrants of the homes they had left for ever.
Then the canvas flaps of the great wagons would be laced securely and the emigrants would wrap themselves in their blankets for the night. Yet not all would sleep away the hours of darkness. Shadowy figures, each with a gun in the crook of his arm, would keep guard, ready to give the alarm the moment that danger threatened. Thus did men and women and carefree children of all ages pioneer their way across a great continent in the covered wagon trains of the days of the Golden West.
Here’s another western themed eBay find - a vintage cowgirl playing card. I’m guessing it’s 1940s or 50s era as the artwork is in the style of the old WWII bomber nose art.
The card, the king of diamonds, features a happy, smiling blonde wearing only a cowboy hat, boots and underwear. It must have been considered the perfect cowgirl costume for some late night poker with your cowboy pals!
The card is advertising one ‘Atlas Mineral Products Co.’ of Mertztown, PA. A quick Google and I find that Atlas Minerals & Chemicals was founded in 1892 and the company still exists today. The corporate website states:
The year 2007 marked 115 years of service for Atlas Minerals & Chemicals. And as we look back on our history with pride, we also look forward to the future with a spirit of enthusiasm. Today, Atlas is regarded as a leader in the field of corrosion-resistant mortars and grouts, and floorings and linings.
So went the wagon trains, braving dangers from redskins, sudden storms, deadly snakes, shortage of water, dust storms that could bury a whole train in an hour, blizzards that often came out of season to take men unawares, and a whole host of other perils. Bandits were there, too, waiting to pounce upon the last wagons if they happened to have lagged behind a little. Sometimes bad men formed themselves into companies, lived in tent-towns and raided the wagon trains that they thought were the least protected by the guards.
People died on the trail, babies were born, couples were married by travelling clergymen on their way to serve some small mining village or cattle town away out West. Deeds of heroism were performed that would have earned a whole stack of George Crosses. Yes, and all the time the wagon train, large or small, would go steadily on, nearing its goal with every turn of the great wagon wheels.
Artist Matthew Harrison today unveiled his latest project simply entitled ‘Hummer’ at the fifth Zoo Art Fair in London. The Hummer H3, complete with wooden wagon wheels, will be parked opposite the Royal Academy of Arts for the duration of the fair.
You must check out the pictures - I don’t know much about art but the idea of putting a military inspired people carrier on wagon wheels looks amazing!
A short bike ride with Ewan McGregor in the Times is a good insight into the motorbike adventurer/actor as he sets off with journalist Jon Swain:
…the short trip I proposed we should make risked, I feared, being seen by the 37-year-old Scottish-born actor as dull and artificial. The plan was to ride into the Santa Monica mountains behind LA, then wind down onto the Pacific Coast Highway for a bit – one of the best riding roads in the US. To reach it we would ride the Topanga Canyon loop, with its steep side roads, which I was told were a blast to explore by motorbike…
Meanwhile historian Simon Schama describes how he fell in love with America at 19 whilst listening to the blues in a Washington piano bar in 1964: “In the red-lit shadows, I took pulls at my Lucky Strike, put my mouth to the open-necked beer bottle and fancied that with each drag I was closer to becoming the Hoochie Coochie Man myself”
Page 65 of the Wagon Train annual continues the story:
But the Indian menace was not the worst of all; it was the terrible storms that rage over the West that were the greatest danger. They’d come roaring up from the west, sweep down upon the wagon train and, like as not, drown several oxen-drivers and pony riders before it was past. Terrible blizzards, too, took their toll of lives, as did the crossings of the many raging torrents that were encountered.
And the route itself? The main one was the Oregon and California trail that had been first carved out by the early traders and trappers. It led across the great Humbolt Desert that had to be travelled as quickly as possible before its terrors struck down and wiped out a whole wagon train. Then it wandered across the vast South Pass and clear to the Sierra, and beyond to Oregon and California and gold.
