Diary of Sallie Hester: A Covered Wagon Girl

Traveling 2,000 miles from Indiana to the California Territory, fourteen-year-old Sallie Hester and her family were among the more than 350,000 pioneers who made the journey west across the United States in the mid-1800s. In a diary she kept during their trip, Hester noted her experiences on the wagon train, including crossing the Platte River: “we had a great deal of trouble swimming our cattle across, taking our wagon to pieces, unloading and replacing our traps.” Alongside brief diary excerpts, spreads include captioned photographs and period illustrations; sidebars supply background information, such as describing the famous landmark, Independence Rock, where Sallie and many other pioneers carved their names. A route map is provided in the introduction, and bolded words are defined throughout as well as in a glossary. Back matter also contains a time line, suggestions for further reading, critical-thinking questions using the Common Core, a link to publisher-approved Web sites, and an index.