Toby Chamberlain
Miss Harms World History
Hour 3
December 13, 2011
One Woman’s West Summary
In “One Woman’s West” written by Martha Gay Masterson, and edited by Lois Barton, Martha and her family of 12 adults and children move from a large farm in Missouri, westward through Kansas, Colorado, possibly modern day Utah, Oregon, Washington, and many more until she moved back to the Colorado area. This book, or rather journal written by Martha takes place from the years 1838-1916 and contains all of the challenges and hardships that this Missouri family faced during the move westward.
The family decided to start the long journey westward shortly after the Martha was about 10 years old. The father and sons in the family bought five wagons, numerous clothes, previsions, ammunition, and oxen to last the whole journey. The Gay family met up with other settlers along the trail and traveled with many different people as it was safer to travel in larger groups. Along the way, the family encountered many Native Americans both friendly and unfriendly that they traded with, sheltered, and traveled with. Surprisingly there were no deaths of family members along the way. The family split up as the children grew older and started their own lives. Martha, her brothers, and sisters all married and went their separate ways. Martha married James Alfred Masterson. All of the events in this book were checked for accuracy by matching dates with one of Martha’s brothers journal that he wrote in along the way to Oregon.Stories of other family members such as brother and sister-in-laws were also included in this book as they give reference to how they met the Gay family. The family was opposed to slavery and cruelty which was part of the reason they were able to make the trip to Oregon. Many of their traveling companions were extremely afraid of Indians because of stories told in the southeast. The Gay family tried their hardest to be kind to the Indians and their land while trying to keep their traveling companions safe, as they often wanted to go hunt the Indians and steal from them. The Gays met many people and saw many great sights of the western United States. Geographic features such as the Rocky Mountains, Yellow Stone Geysers, and spectacular lightning storms. The Martha and her husband later met Chinese slaves, French settlers, and fur trappers from the Canadian area.
The hand written accounts by Martha Gay Masterson in the book “One Woman’s West” give reference to the attitude of the western United States during the 1800s. Because most everything written in this book came from Martha’s mind, one can experience the thoughts of children and women during the time period as well as the challenges of the Oregon Trail and how they were handled.This few of words cannot give tribute to the very interesting book of “One Woman’s West” by Martha Gay Masterson.
