For three labors days the men of the wagon train spent moving their wagons over these mountains. They had to double their teams in order to move the wagons up each slope. Then, going down the other side, they had to chain the wheels and tie logs on behind the wagons to slow their dangerous progress. On their last day in the mountains they woke up to gently falling snow. But that evening, through an opening in the forest, they could see the beautiful valley of the Columbia River. And yet, there were still three hundred miles to go along this river before they would reach the Willamette Valley.
To settle in the Willamette Valley had been Henry Sager's dream. This his children knew. But their father had made Captain Shaw promise, if anything happened to Henry and the children's mother, to take the youngsters to the Whitmans at their mission. Now the older Sager children began to question whether or not the Whitmans would want them.
Captain Shaw, leaving his wife and the Sagers camped, rode on ahead to the mission: there was no reason to subject the children if Mr. and Mrs. Whitman refused to take them. In fact, at first the missionaries did refuse to take the children in. Then Narcissa Whitman agreed to keep just the girls for the winter. The next day Captain Shaw led them towards the mission, hoping the Whitman's would change their minds and agree to take in the boys as well.
For two worried days the party traveled. The children speculated on what the mission would look like. Then someone voiced a very serious concern: would there be Indians there. The children were assured that, since Doctor and Mrs. Whitman were missionaries to the Indians, yes--there were Indians there.
And then, at last, the mission came into view. Soon, Dr. Dagon had stopped the exhausted oxen and the girls were helped out of the two-wheeled cart. It was a tearful sight that greeted the two missionaries. The children knew that now they would be separated. It was nearly more than any of them could stand.
