HISTORY IMAGINED | ONE MORE RIVER TO CROSS BY JANE KIRKPATRICK

ONE MORE RIVER TO CROSS

In 1844, two years before the Donner Party, the Stevens-Murphy company left Missouri to be the first wagons into California through the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Mostly Irish Catholics, the party sought religious freedom and education in the mission-dominated land and enjoyed a safe journey--until October, when a heavy snowstorm forced difficult decisions. The first of many for young Mary Sullivan, newlywed Sarah Montgomery, the widow Ellen Murphy, and her pregnant sister-in-law Maolisa.

When the party separates in three directions, each risks losing those they loved and faces the prospect of learning that adversity can destroy or redefine. Two women and four men go overland around Lake Tahoe, three men stay to guard the heaviest wagons--and the rest of the party, including eight women and seventeen children, huddle in a makeshift cabin at the headwaters of the Yuba River waiting for rescue . . . or their deaths.

Award-winning author Jane Kirkpatrick plunges you deep into a landscape of challenge where fear and courage go hand in hand for a story of friendship, family, and hope that will remind you of what truly matters in times of trial.

★★★1/2

The year is 1844, two years before the tragic, fateful trip of the Donner Party. The Stephens-Murphy-Townsend wagon party, made up mostly of Canadian and Irish Catholic immigrants, travels from Missouri to California. Come October, they are trapped in a season of fierce snowstorms in the Sierra Nevada mountains. 

After much discussion, the choice is made to split the party up into three groups (which later turns into four). One small group travels on horseback around Lake Tahoe; one group of men stays to guard left behind wagons and valuables; the rest of the party (mostly women and children, this group dubbed "The Wintering Women") settle into a cabin near the Yuba River to wait for a rescue team to come back for them. Many of the women in the party seem to have doubts (some have premonitions) about the mens' choice to travel west rather than south as it was previously recommended they do. 

"When I have vague doubts," Maolisa said, "I make myself pay attention to little things right before me. A sound, something I see, scents. If a frightening thought enters in, I just say 'intrusion,' then concentrate on my feet, like how they feel against the ground or how the wind scrapes my cheeks, the scent of lavender in the soap. Of course, I pray my beads. That helps too."

The story of this wagon party is primarily told through the experiences of the women. The main women we get to know:

* Seventeen year old Mary Sullivan

* Sarah Armstrong

* The flirt of the party, Ellen Murphy

* Pregnant Maolisa (pronounced Mail-issa) and her sister-in-law, Ailbe (All-bay), Irish immigrants

* Sarah Montgomery

* Beth Townsend, asthmatic wife of the group's doctor

Plaque located at 49645 Hampshire Rocks Rd, Emigrant Gap, CA 95715
Near South Yuba River
GPS: 39°18'23.9"N 120°31'03.9"W

"Courage was trying again tomorrow."

Mary is one to express some of her concerns about the changed travel plans. Her older brother, already something of a pill (in personality) to be around, gives her the name "Contrary Mary". 

"Why is it that what's best for us is always what someone else wants, whether we women want it or not?" Mary said. 

"It's the way of things, dear." Dr. Townsend's words were like being patted on the head. For the first time in her life, Mary wanted to slug someone --- namely the good doctor. But she didn't. It was her 'strength of spirit' she imagined that must have kept her clenched fists at her side.

The doctor's wife, Beth -- because of her health condition -- is sent on with the Lake Tahoe horseback group after he decides he wants to stay behind "with the valuables". Ellen Montgomery and two of her brothers are also in this group. From this point we really begin to see just how many of the women are viewed / treated as property by husbands, fathers, or brothers. Several of the husbands act as though their marital unions are disposable. 

The real Dr. Townsend

Beth Townsend

In the case of Allen Montgomery, when he suggests he and wife Sarah go in different groups and she asks "What am I supposed to do if something happens to you?", there doesn't seem to be a moment's hesitation in his reply, "Just find another husband." It's even given in a rather "DUH" sort of way (though he later explains that he IS looking out for her, he maybe just doesn't express it very well). Looks like he still forgot their anniversary though! While this is a theme among several of the men, that's not to say all men in this story are disappointing. Maolisa seems to have nabbed herself a gem of a spouse, a man truly kind and considerate. Speaking of Allen, we later see that maybe, in fact, he did do his wife a favor by sending her on with a different party, as his group seemed to fare pretty badly. The ladies together at least found strength in numbers, building a sisterhood to help them get through the bleakest days.

"You men and your confidence in women when it suits you. It can be a strain."
"I've not confidence in all these women, but I have it in you. You'll get this place organized and in ship-deck shape, everything battened down. They'll need you." He'd whispered that last as though even a final intimacy couldn't be heard by everyone else in the vicinity. 
"I need you." But her words fell on shoulders already lifting his pack, tugging on the reins of his horse, then one last fleeting kiss to her and Yuba, Mimi, BD, James, Martin III, and Patrick before he turned his back on her. On them.
She would forgive him. She always did. 

*Maolisa and her husband

One of the commonalities all these women find they share is --- even in some small part --- a boldness in spirit. Their bond comes largely from a similar need to have their voices heard and prove themselves just as useful and resourceful as any man. I liked the sharing exercise the women use one night to pass the evening, asking "Where have your boots taken you?" It gives a much more poetic flavor to the standard "Where ya from?"

The Stephens-Murphy-Townsend Party memorial at the California Trail Interpretive Center

Kirkpatrick writes a detail-heavy environment, and she gives her readers some impressive character growth to enjoy. I'll give her that. The plot, while engaging enough to keep a steady amount of interest flowing, is a little slow-going at times with lots of stops and starts. One could argue that it mimics the rhythm of an actual wagon train in that sense.... but it can be frustrating for a reader. This reader anyway.

They had gotten on a craft called faith and pushed out onto a river. Sometimes the stream flowed calm and restful and sometimes it meandered and swirled  the craft about. But it always took them where they needed to go. Sometimes they'd end up at a ferry landing they hadn't known they were meant to reach. She couldn't organize everything. The future held surprises. She was almost excited about what was next in store. 

Some bursts of action do come in with the Lake Tahoe party, mostly with Ellen and her brothers: Ellen being thrown into a crevasse by a spooked horse, her brothers having to devise a way to rescue her; Ellen's brother, John, getting caught up in a dangerous river crossing. This portion of the story turns out to be a major turning point for one of the more sour characters, Ellen's younger brother, Daniel. When we first meet Daniel, he has a bit of a prickly temperment --- even downright rude at times --- but as the story progresses, we learn that he has his own inner demons he's trying to battle, the result being that he's not always the nicest guy to hang around. But after nearly losing his siblings in these two moments, there is a noticeable shift to him. From then on, there begins to be a more caring, remorseful side peeking through his overall behavior. 

"We never know another's demons," Ellen said. She cast a tentative smile to him. "But maybe sharing them is a way of smashing up their powers."

A couple general things for readers to note:

1) This novel jumps around between the parties quite often. Something to be aware of if you generally don't like too much movement in the POV. That said, Kirkpatrick is pretty good about denoting where / when we (the readers) check in with what party. 

2) For those sensitive to violent animal scenes, there are some passages describing the killing and butchering of horses and oxen for food. It's done in the name of "desperate times call for desperate measures" but again, something to note if you are sensitive to that kind of reading material.

For book clubs, this book offers supplemental materials, such as a lengthy list of discussion questions and a detailed, pages-long historical afterword about the real people who inspired these characters. As often happens with history, the true stories are sometimes even more impressive than anything fictional! 

Schallenberger Cabin plaque

A few notables: 

* The party as a whole became the first people to bring covered wagons into California via the Sierra Nevada range. 

* John Sullivan became the first person to build a home in newly established San Francisco.

* John Townsend (the doctor, Beth's husband) became the first American doctor to set up practice in California and the fourth mayor of San Francisco. 

Moses Schallenberger

Much of this novel was inspired by the memoir of Moses Schallenberger (Beth's brother in the novel), Overland in 1844, as well as a few other footnotes about the party in other historical texts. 

Moses reading the works of Lord Chesterfield in the cabin one night stumbles upon the passage: "Without purity of character you can have no dignity of character; and without dignity of character it is impossible to rise in the world. You must be respectable if you are to be respected.... In purity of character, and in politeness of manners, labour to excel all, if you wish to equal many."


He then thinks on something his own sister, Beth, said once: "Poor choices don't have to define a man's character, Moses. Unless he fails to gain wisdom from that poor decision. Failure to learn taints character more than the original choice itself. Adversity can destroy or redefine. That option always belongs to us."

"Moses Schallenberger's Cabin at the Truckee Lake Camp" by Jennie Ryder Polhemus

So what's the link to the Donner Party, other than this being two years prior to that trip? Kirkpatrick explains:

"In 1994, Mount Stephens, north of Donner Pass, was named for the leader. The lake the travelers called "Stephens Lake" is known today as "Donner Lake," as the 1846-47 Donner Party faced their challenges at that lake and summit. Some members used the cabin that  Moses, Joe, and Allen had built. The tragic outcome of that journey compared to the Stephens party shows a remarkable contrast. The Murphys listened to experienced mountain men. They risked separating, shared horses, rationed food, and demonstrated incredible fortitude and courage in bringing the wagons over the mountains as they did, then choosing to leave some behind along the Yuba. Their feats are overshadowed by the Donner Party disaster. It's my hope that this story might celebrate the honor of self-sacrifice, the wisdom of working together, and the power of persevering through community and faith."

As Kirkpatrick says, it's an interesting story that unfortunately got overshadowed by the macabre outcome of the successor. While I didn't love everything about this book, I am glad more attention was brought to the history and overall had a quite nice reading experience with it. 

FTC DISCLAIMER: Revell Books kindly provided me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. The opinions above are entirely my own.