Hope's Imperfection

Chapter 8: Westward

Sarah and I did not even attempt breakfast.

However, in the moments between rising in the morning and waiting for Father Nash to open the library, Sarah provided an accurate recount of our quest to this point, as a way to determine our next course of action.

“George Stanhope comes to the new world from Britain just after the revolutionary war and becomes a successful executive in the fur trade on the east coast. In 1808 he uproots his family and travels across the continent from Montreal to Oregon. Richard Stanhope, his son, keeps a diary to chronicle the adventure but as yet has not specifically named his father’s purpose for the journey. He alludes to important documents of his father’s that he has been asked to keep safe and further valuables that his father stored in Chicago. Tragically, George’s wife passes away before they reach Chicago, but he moves on and continues his journey to Oregon.  Lizzy McIntosh, from New York City, believes that George and her forefather were shareholders in the newly formed American Fur Trading Company, but there are no documents linking those men to John Astor, who began making his fortune with the same company,” she recapped.

“That sounds about right,” I replied. “I could just bring the diaries back home right now. But if there is a trail leading to more valuable documents or more information about my family’s early history I would like to pursue it to its conclusion.”

We met Father Nash in the library at 8 am. He proceeded to take a book, bound in the identical leather casing that protected the first volume, from one of the highest shelves in the room. I am not sure if we showed appropriate gratitude before we opened the book and began to read.

July 15th 1808

We are in Nebraska. If I thought Missouri was windy it was because I had never seen Omaha before. The wind has lost its whistle and now is a constant potent force. The morning is our only relief. Father consults his map hourly. He told me that we must reach a position called the “three forks of the Missouri”. Once we reach this position we must choose the right path which will take us through the mountains and to an enormous river called the Columbia that will flow to the fur trading routes in Oregon. In Oregon we will meet men that are Father’s partners and we will settle in the new city.  So far we have hit every important site on the map. However, Father is still concerned about our timetable. He feels that we must reach the Columbia River no later than September 15th or the winter snow will impede our progress. We march on!

The children on the trip have fun whenever we stop; there is always a game to play and friends to enjoy. Sarah and I enjoy fishing; we find a river or a lake and sit and fish— if only for a few minutes – to escape the endless trail.

Sarah tells me that she will not be travelling with us to Oregon. Her family has a five-hundred-acre claim in Montana and they will be settling the first farm on this new trail to the west at the foot of the three forks. I have no doubt they will be very successful. Her mother and father are both doctors and they will be building the first hospital west of the Mississippi. Only three families will be continuing on to Oregon. Our family including my Father, Cecelia and my sisters, the Smith family with their two boys Roger and Hamish and the MacDonald brothers from St. Louis will all continue on the journey.  Joining us will be three guides from the Cheyenne tribe to help us navigate the journey.