In 1849 Martha and Garrett Maupin had everything ready for their trek across the Oregon Trail. He’d built the lightweight wagon. She’d sewn the wagon’s double cover, made bags to carry food and clothing, and gathered all they needed for the 2,000-mile journey.
Then Garrett got in an argument with folks they planned to travel with and decided not to go. Martha began to see life with Garrett might not be as idyllic as she’d hoped.
The next year, 1850, the Garretts and their two little girls headed west. The family hadn’t gone far when Martha realized she was pregnant again. She continued walking from Missouri to Oregon, and her steps felt heavier as the trail got rougher.
In the book titled A Place of Her Own, author Janet Fisher describes Martha’s journey and her determination in the face of many trials, including harsh deserts, sudden storms, raging rivers, the incessant rocky path and flaring tempers.
Martha gave birth in a small cabin at trail’s end. It was her third child, Fisher’s great-grandmother, Mary. She was one more citizen for Oregon and a sweet moment of triumph.
Source: Fisher, Janet. A Place of Her Own: The Legacy of Oregon Pioneer Martha Poindexter Maupin. Guilford, CT/Helena, MT: TwoDot/Globe Pequot Press, 2014. 104-27. Print.