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Journals from Stuhr Museum Field Trip

April 19, 2006

Journal #1

            On our magnificent journey west we saw new wonders to the human eye:  including a hairy animal recognized as a buffalo.  There was a stampede of them traveling south.  One ginormous plant had seeds like things on the tip top f them.  They were tall enough to disturb you when you first see them.  The grass was a marvelous wonder.  It was dry and crunchy when stepped on you can hear it crackle loud and clear.  Before we ate, we saw animals that had beaks, known as ducks.  They made a noise like “quack”.  Constantly the “quacked”.  They dug in the dirt for food, but it looked like they were eating the dirt.  As we made our food or getting prepared to eat, I sat by the fire and journaled while everyone worked so hard.  One thing really stuck out…it was a yellow plant just inches away from the ground.  Looking around I noticed they were everywhere, here and there, everywhere.  Come to figure they were weeds.  So, instead of a nice beautiful plant it was those nasty old weeds.  The wind was the worst part of the day.  It blew everywhere and made everything go every which direction, just like wind in a girls hair.  As we were venturing through the wilderness we tromped on many sticks which polluted the ground.  When many people walked on them, they doubled in size.  As we were in town we stopped at the outhouse where many people used it.  But as special as that memory was, we had to go back and eat the delicately made dinner.  I hope it’s good.  It was bacon and beans brother, bacon and beans!  Yummy!

Journal #2

            Today I saw an animal that amazed me!  It was called a duck!  I tried to touch it, but it was too quick for me.  I could almost feel the light feathers on the ducks!

Poem:

The wind blows badly,

So badly I cry.

The dirt is in my teeth,

I don’t know why.

But the sadness in my eyes,

Will never go away.

For my mother,

Will always be remembered.

My mother died from a disease,

I had feared she had a while,

But I had never thought of.

When my mother died,

It was so sad…

I miss her so much.

Journal #3

            “The wind is terrible,” said one of our men.  They also complained that their feet hurt.  I hope that the good dear Lord is with us.  Also, only two people so far have been wounded and six people have been killed.  It’s a sad thing to lose that many people early.  We just saw a buffalo herd.  We also lost a lot of water in our barrel.  We are loading our food now.  We looked and all we saw for miles was the open prairie.  We’re smuggling pots and pans.  We found a new animal referred to as a duck.  We are making dinner right now.  We have finally made it going through all this wind.  The good thing is that we made it!

Journal #4

            We’re having lunch just as we are getting back from the supplies store!  It has been windy all day and it hasn’t died down.  My feet hurt and I have sand in my eyes.  We’re getting very tired and cold.  The wind is blowing so hard it will mess up our camp.  We are pulling four full wagons that are loaded with food and supplies.  Captain Butch is walking ahead as our leader.  We see some stores but they are closed.  Rocks make a cross.  The wind blows are blankets around.  We got finished with the delicious beans, onions, and bacon.  We also had bread and butter.  We can’t wait to reach our destination.