2023/2024
Collection 19

A Chilling Story

early 1840s; on the Oregon Trail in territory that is now Kansas and Nebraska, USA

On a cold winter night in the early 1840s my nine-year-old great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather and his parents were traveling the Oregon Trail.(1) With the mix of the frigid air rushing through their ears, the bumpiness of the trail, and the oxen’s stomping hooves, no one noticed when my sixth-great-grandfather fell off the wagon.

My great-grandfather snapped awake to the freezing blanket of snow beneath him as panic and dread washed through his bones. Too weak to run and too parched to scream, his only option was to crawl into a bush and try to warm up — but to no avail.

Right as he was beginning to lose touch with reality, he saw another wagon on the trail, and he had a rush of adrenaline. Using the last of his newfound energy, he rushed in front of the wagon’s path, forcing the oxen pulling the wagon to stop. After my great-grandfather explained to the father of the family what had just happened to him, the family pitied him, so they let him on the wagon and tried to warm him up with some wool blankets.

After a few weeks, the family finally reached Fort Kearny,(2) where my great-grandfather decided that he wanted to look for his parents. After looking around for a few days, he was about to give up, but right as he was walking back to the other family’s wagon, he saw two familiar faces: his mom and dad! My great-grandfather, now flooded with relief, sprinted over to them and gave them a huge hug. He then explained the whole story to them, and his extremely grateful parents went over to the family and thanked them countlessly for saving their only son. The family said that they were happy to help.

After more thank yous and you’re welcomes, my great-granddad and his family went back to their wagon. As they were walking there, my great-grandfather knew that this would be a story that would never be forgotten throughout generations upon generations.

Charles Enke; Missouri, USA

1. The Oregon Trail was a 2,000-mile route from Independence, Missouri, to the Columbia River in Oregon. Thousands of settlers traveled this trail in wagon trains in the mid-1800s.

2. Fort Kearny, named after Col. Stephen Watts Kearny, is near Kearney, Nebraska, which took its name from the name of the fort. The second “e” was apparently added to “Kearny” by postmen who often misspelled the name of the town.

This copyrighted story may be copied and/or printed for limited classroom or personal use. To reprint this story in an article about The Grannie Annie, please contact The Grannie Annie Family Story Celebration for permission.

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