Daily Life in a Covered Wagon (2024)

I love reading books about the wagon trains heading out west. This period of our history fascinates me, and I wonder if I was around then, would I have had what it took to make that long and dangerous journey? You gamble your life , possessions, your future – and that of your loved ones for the hope of a better life.

This book didn’t romanticize the wagon train. It was factual and gave a high level sense of how people coped with the basics. The facts were generic, but the author picked a particular family to illustrate the facts and used their diaries to make it more personal.

The Larkins sold their farm in Indiana in 1853 and headed followed the Oregon trail with 4 children. They were very fortunate in making it to the end with no fatalities.

Most people picture the Indians of the movies and old TV shows as the biggest threat to the pioneers, but in actuality it was disease, specifically cholera. One reason the Larkins may have survived when others didn’t was that they were big coffee drinkers – thus forcing them to boil water and unwittingly kill the cholera germs. So many died of cholera that the Indians would follow behind and raid the graves. In this particular wagon train, they learned to bury the body and then build a fire over it to disguise the site. In the morning, the ‘captain’ would lead the wagons over the gravesite to further disguise it.

This is a quick read with a lot of interesting information

This book is easy to read. It followed Larkin family as they emigrated to Oregon. In my opinion, each chapter is well organized with interesting information and great illustrations. Because I am curious about mundane details of bygone era, I love this book very much.
Here are list of the chapters: going west, the family, the wagon, Inside the wagon, daybreak, hitching up the wagon, rolling the train, on the trail, landmarks on the trail, tribe of the west, indian country, hunting, children's activities, nooning, mishap, stopping at fort, a special day, sickness and death, setting up camp, entertainment, oregon at last.

Good information about the trip west. Nothing was overly romanticized. The Larkin's seemed to have as good a trip as could be expected, but there was still mention of all the dangers faced by the "overlanders". Every page has multiple photographs of the time or reenactments, paintings, implements, or sketches.

My favorite part of the book are the actual quotes from the Larkin families diaries. My least favorite part about the book was how the text was broken up - it was not always easy to figure out where you should look next to keep reading. Overall though, a good book on an important part of American history.

So excited to read this with my girls to teach them about pioneers and daily life on the trail, Westward expansion.

This book is wordy, but very informative. There are different activities that can be done with the sections. Because there are so many subheadings, multiple topics can be covered.

This book was pretty awesome. I got it to share with my three youngest grandchildren. There were many pictures so that they could identify each item that was being read about. The book was simple enough for a child and sophisticated enough for an adult; and, the best part was that even I learned a great deal!
I was amazed at all of the furnishings that were packed in the wagon, now I believe my mother must have lived during that time period because boy, could she pack things! I also can't imagine how it was to travel, walking 2000 miles next to a wagon going from one to two mph.

This book focuses on one family's journey, but it was amazing.

I picked up this book on a trip to the Northwest. It provided information what it was like for pioneers on a trip from Indiana to Oregon City on the Oregon Trail. A short but interesting read.

Fabulous children's level book on the trail west. With lots of clear, relevant pictures, explains how the family lived on the trail.