Below is a letter written by Jane Townley North in 1856... in it she describes to a cousin, what the journey was like.

I am now going to try to tell you something of my life in Nebraska, we'll commence with our leaving Ohio, my Husband and eldest son came to Omaha in May of 1856, went out on a survey for three months, where they encountered had one or two very narrow escapes from drowning, I followed them (with our other children, aged respectively 16, 10, 8, and 5, the youngest two being girls) in July, we came by water & Rail to Iowa City (then the capitol of Iowa) from there by stage, I could only procure three seats for five of us, so you can see I carried one in my arms about three hundred miles while the rest had to do the best they could, when the weather was fine some of the gentlemen would ride outside, then we were more comfortable, when we arrived at Des Moines one of the girls was sick, & I was obliged to lay over twenty four hours, the night after leaving there we were lost on the prairie in a fearful Thunderstorm, finally when daylight came, we found the road and continued our journey to Council Bluffs without further mishap, met my husband & son & remained there until the first of October when we moved across the Missouri River to Omaha.

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All seemed well until late 1856 and early 1857 which was the coldest and longest winter that anyone could remember. The snow was at least six feet deep on the level, and in many draws and ravines it was piled up twenty to thirty feet. Mrs. North got used to melting snow in a large copper washboiler for cooking and washing. She was constantly busy providing for her family and the woodchoppers. Many wild animals froze to death that winter, and the streams and creeks were frozen several inches thick. It was so cold that many cottonwoods along the river would split and pop from the intense cold.

Death was always near to those early pioneers. During that fall and winter, tragedy overtook the North family. Luther had just recovered from a near fatal bout with the ague when the bitter blow fell. Mrs. North relates once again to her cousin.


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My husband left home the morning of the 12th in company with three other gentlemen to survey land, they drove out ten miles, put up the team and started on foot to find the corners of the sections, it being where Mr. North had Surveyed he was well acquainted with the country, they walked all day, became very much exhausted & when night came on, they were several miles from any house, the men separated, it was very dark, & the supposition was that Mr. North got bewildered and was obliged to lie down, he was not found till the next day, when he who left me so full of life & hope was brought back to me a corpse, the days following that sad event are almost blank to me, as I told you, we were very poor, & I feel now that it was a blessing that we were, if I had not been obliged to work, to help my dear boys, take care of three who could not take care of themselves.

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Some of the excerpts through out this area were taken from a book called "Luther North, Frontier Scout" - and written by Jeff O'Donnell. Several of the photos, primarily those of the parents, Luthers funeral and the military picture, are from the Nebraska State Historical Society.