After carefully calculating the requisite amount of provisions, father stored in his wagons a quantity that was deemed more than sufficient to last until we should reach California.  Seed and implements for use on the prospective farms in the new country also constituted an important part of our outfit.  Nor was that all.  There were bolts of cheap cotton prints, red and yellow flannels, bright-bordered handkerchiefs, glass beads, necklaces, chains, brass finger rings, earrings, pocket looking-glasses and divers other knickknacks dear to the hearts of aborigines.  These were intended for distribution as peace offerings among the Indians.  Lastly, there were rich stores of laces, muslins, silks, satins, velvets and like cherished fabrics, destined to be used in exchange for Mexican land-grants in that far land to which we were bound.

My mother was energetic in all these preparations, but her special province was to make and otherwise get in readiness a bountiful supply of clothing.  She also superintended the purchase of materials for women’s handiwork, apparatus for preserving botanical specimens, water colors and oil paints, books and school supplies; these latter being selected for use in the young ladies’ seminary which she hoped to establish in California.

A liberal sum of money for meeting incidental expenses and replenishing supplies on the journey, if need be, was stored in the compartments of two wide buckskin girdles, to be worn in concealment about the person.  An additional sum of ten thousand dollars, cash, was stitched between the folds of a quilt for safe transportation.  This was a large amount for those days, and few knew that my parents were carrying it with them.  I gained my information concerning it in later years from Mr. Francis, to whom they showed it.

To each of his grown children my father deeded a fair share of his landed estate, reserving one hundred and ten acres near the homestead for us five younger children, who in course of time might choose to return to our native State.

As time went on, our preparations were frequently interrupted by social obligations, farewell visits, dinners, and other merrymakings with friends and kindred far and near.  Thursday, April 15, 1846, was the day fixed for our departure, and the members of our household were at work before the rosy dawn.  We children were dressed early in our new linsey travelling suits; and as the final packing progressed, we often peeped out of the window at the three big white covered wagons that stood in our yard.

In the first were stored the merchandise and articles not to be handled until they should reach their destination; in the second, provisions, clothing, camp tools, and other necessaries of camp life.  The third was our family home on wheels, with feed boxes attached to the back of the wagon-bed for Fanny and Margaret, the favorite saddle-horses, which were to be kept ever close at hand for emergencies.