Between 1850 and 1869, some 350,000 pioneers crossed the Great Plains, following the Platte River Road from the Missouri River to South Pass, Wyoming, and on to California and Oregon. Others made the trek to Utah, Colorado, or Montana. This book tells the story of the crossing of the Plains from the viewpoint of children - one fifth of the participants in the great overland journeys. Palmer lets their voices be heard

Werner, Emmy E

English

DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska

University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Great Plains Quarterly Great Plains Studies, Center for 2004 Book Review: Children's Voices from the Trail: Narratives of the Platte River Road Emmy E. Werner University of California Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsquarterly  Part of the Other International and Area Studies Commons Werner, Emmy E., "Book Review: Children's Voices from the Trail: Narratives of the Platte River Road" (2004). Great Plains Quarterly. 245. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsquarterly/245 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Great Plains Studies, Center for at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Great Plains Quarterly by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. BOOK REVIEWS 203 Children's Voices from the Trail: Narratives of the Platte River Road. By Rosemary Gudmund-son Palmer. Spokane, W A: Arthur H. Clark Company, 2002. 336 pp. Map, illustrations, appendix, bibliography, index. $39.50 Between 1850 and 1869, some 350,000 pio-neers crossed the Great Plains, following the Platte River Road from the Missouri River to South Pass, Wyoming, and on to California and Oregon. Others made the trek to Utah, Colorado, or Montana. This book tells the story of the crossing of the Plains from the viewpoint of children-one fifth of the par-ticipants in the great overland journeys. Palmer lets their voices be heard. The author analyzes the eye-witness ac-counts of 453 white children who traveled on the Platte River road's Oregon, California, and Mormon trails between 1841 and 1869. Her unique contribution to the literature on the overland trail is twofold: she provides a com-parison of the similarities and differences be-tween contemporary accounts of ten- to sixteen-year-old youngsters (in diaries, letters, and journals) with reminiscences of adults who made the journey when they were young, and she places these travelers' stories in the proper historical context. Her account focuses on the attitudes, expectations, and values that pre-vailed in mid-nineteenth-century society and that motivated the participants in the west-ward migration. Palmer examines the youngsters' vision of the journey from several perspectives: their descriptions of their travels on the overland trail; their relationships with parents and sib-lings; their interactions with other members of the wagon train; and their perceptions of friends or potential foes encountered along the way. Generally, children judged people they had not previously met (Mormons, Na-tive Americans) less harshly than their adult counterparts. Endowed with youthful resil-ience, most remained optimistic despite the hardships of the journey and the loss of family members . 204 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY, SUMMER 2004 In the future, Palmer suggests, we also need to examine the views of African American, Hispanic, Asian American, and Native Ameri-can children of the Westward Migration, a reminder that different travelers may see the same events in a different light. Her book is a valuable addition to our present knowledge of the world of children on the overland trail. EMMY E. WERNER Department of Human and Community Development, Emerita University of California, Davis 

Book Review: Children\u27s Voices from the Trail: Narratives of the Platte River Road

UNL | Libraries

University of Nebraska - Lincoln 
DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln 
Great Plains Quarterly Great Plains Studies, Center for 
2004 
Book Review: Children's Voices from the Trail: Narratives of the 
Platte River Road 
Emmy E. Werner 
University of California 
Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsquarterly 
 Part of the Other International and Area Studies Commons 
Werner, Emmy E., "Book Review: Children's Voices from the Trail: Narratives of the Platte River Road" 
(2004). Great Plains Quarterly. 245. 
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsquarterly/245 
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Great Plains Studies, Center for at 
DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Great Plains Quarterly by an 
authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. 
BOOK REVIEWS 203 
Children's Voices from the Trail: Narratives of 
the Platte River Road. By Rosemary Gudmund-
son Palmer. Spokane, W A: Arthur H. Clark 
Company, 2002. 336 pp. Map, illustrations, 
appendix, bibliography, index. $39.50 
Between 1850 and 1869, some 350,000 pio-
neers crossed the Great Plains, following the 
Platte River Road from the Missouri River to 
South Pass, Wyoming, and on to California 
and Oregon. Others made the trek to Utah, 
Colorado, or Montana. This book tells the 
story of the crossing of the Plains from the 
viewpoint of children-one fifth of the par-
ticipants in the great overland journeys. Palmer 
lets their voices be heard. 
The author analyzes the eye-witness ac-
counts of 453 white children who traveled on 
the Platte River road's Oregon, California, and 
Mormon trails between 1841 and 1869. Her 
unique contribution to the literature on the 
overland trail is twofold: she provides a com-
parison of the similarities and differences be-
tween contemporary accounts of ten- to 
sixteen-year-old youngsters (in diaries, letters, 
and journals) with reminiscences of adults who 
made the journey when they were young, and 
she places these travelers' stories in the proper 
historical context. Her account focuses on the 
attitudes, expectations, and values that pre-
vailed in mid-nineteenth-century society and 
that motivated the participants in the west-
ward migration. 
Palmer examines the youngsters' vision of 
the journey from several perspectives: their 
descriptions of their travels on the overland 
trail; their relationships with parents and sib-
lings; their interactions with other members 
of the wagon train; and their perceptions of 
friends or potential foes encountered along 
the way. Generally, children judged people 
they had not previously met (Mormons, Na-
tive Americans) less harshly than their adult 
counterparts. Endowed with youthful resil-
ience, most remained optimistic despite the 
hardships of the journey and the loss of family 
members . 
204 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY, SUMMER 2004 
In the future, Palmer suggests, we also need 
to examine the views of African American, 
Hispanic, Asian American, and Native Ameri-
can children of the Westward Migration, a 
reminder that different travelers may see the 
same events in a different light. Her book is a 
valuable addition to our present knowledge of 
the world of children on the overland trail. 
EMMY E. WERNER 
Department of Human and Community 
Development, Emerita 
University of California, Davis 


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Book Review: Children\u27s Voices from the Trail: Narratives of the Platte River Road

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