Where Does My Female Character Fit In the Family? by Zina Abbott

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the challenges of staying on track while working on the computer is avoiding the time-wasters. Some I have struggled with through the years have been emails, Pinterest, and Facebook. My latest (thanks, but no thanks, A.I. and targeted marketing) are the articles that pop up when I click on a browser. I try to ignore them. However when one catches my interest, I decide it is time for a "break," and I read.

That was how I came across the article titled

Eldest Daughter Syndrome: What It Is And 12 Signs ToLook For, According To Experts

This caught my interest for two reasons. 

First, I am an oldest child and an eldest daughter. Did I recognize myself in some of the common traits listed? Oh, yeah.

Second, the heroine in my current work in progress, Sue, is an eldest daughter. As I reread some of the interactions between her and her mother in the first chapter, I realized had it down pat how to depict an oldest daughter. Here are a few excerpts:

"...I suspect he is looking for a milkmaid as much as a wife. It’s one thing to milk one cow for a family’s personal use. But, a whole barn full of cows that need milking twice a day?” Puffing a breath through almost closed lips, she raised her gaze to the ceiling.

            “You’ve never complained, so I had no idea you felt that way about milking the cow...." 

and (speaking of when her stepsister, Lucy, lived with the family):

"...Before she took over all the teaching duties, we mothers were taking turns having the local children at our houses. After she took over, I noticed you gradually became less of a student and more of an assistant teacher.”

and again:

"...But, at least I had my own room. I was the oldest, and I knew you counted on my help. That helped me feel special.”

            “You have always been special, Susan. I hope you never felt like I ignored you or took you for granted..."

"That never meant we forgot you, Susan. You were our constant in the storms of life. When more was required to take care of this family than what your Papa Jack and I could do alone, we knew we could always count on you to pitch in.”  

            “Thank you for saying so, Mama.” Lips parted, Susan jerked her gaze to the side as she allowed her mother’s words to sink in. Our constant in the storms of life. As much as she loved copying her mother’s ways and following in her footsteps, she never realized that was how her mother and Papa Jack saw her...."

What characteristics can often be seen in an eldest daughter?

 - She is given more responsibilities than younger siblings.

 - She learns to anticipate what her parents will expect, and she organizes things in advance in order not to disappoint them. "A place for everything, and everything in its place."

 - She is expected to set a good example for both behavior and accomplishments.

Older sister cares for brother while mother away

 -  She is expected to do more household chores and sibling childcare than expected of younger siblings. She tends to be assigned the more difficult or unpleasant tasks compared to her siblings.

  -  She is expected to help manage the emotional well-being of younger siblings, to be responsible to "keep the peace," regardless of whether or not the younger siblings are willing to cooperate.

 - Because parents tend to have higher expectations of their eldest daughter, she can often experience anxiety, guilt, or frustration when she does not or cannot meet those expectations. 

Children whose birth order falls elsewhere have other challenges and characteristics. 

A middle child or children do not feel under as much pressure as the eldest daughter. However, they often feel overlooked, which can lead to acts of rebellion.

Youngest children are not under the same pressure to help take care of younger siblings. They tend to be more outgoing, playful, creative, and independent. By the time they come along, parents are not as rigid--they have learned what works and what doesn't. Parents are older and often have less energy, so younger siblings get away with things more easily.

 

Sue, book 55 in the Prairie Roses Collection, is currently on pre-order. It is scheduled for release on May 16, 2025.

For the book description and purchase options, please CLICK HERE.

 

When I reread this article, I found it interesting to realize my heroine in my last year's Prairie Roses Collection romance was also an oldest daughter. The way I wrote her character, she also exhibited eldest daughter traits, but several were different than those of her stepsister, Sue.  Right now, Lucy is on a Kindle Countdown sale. In addition to being available on Kindle Unlimited, it is for sale for only 99c through May 14, 2025.

For the book description and purchase options, please CLICK HERE.

 

 

 

 

Central Overland Trail by Zina Abbott

While developing the plot for my most recent covered wagon story in the Prairie Roses Collection, I decided for the covered wagon accompanying some of my characters to travel the Central Overland Trail between Salt Lake City, Utah, and Carson, Nevada Territory.

The first bit of confusion I needed to clear up in my own mind was that there were two Central trails and routes which, although they somewhat connected, were not the same. The Overland Trail/Route, also known as the Overland Stage Line, started at the St. Joseph, Missouri and ended at Placerville, California.

The Central Overland Trail was a transportation route from Salt Lake City, Utah, south of the Great Salt Lake through the mountains of central Nevada to Carson City, Nevada. Particularly during the decade between 1859 through 1869, until the first Transcontinental Railroad was completed, it served as an important trail through Utah, Nevada, and California for emigrants, mail, freight, and stagecoach passengers. Once developed, many California-bound travelers chose it over the more-established California Trail that followed the Humboldt River.

Maj. Howard Egan

The trail was first scouted in 1855 by Howard Egan. He used it to drive livestock between Salt Lake City and California. Egan’s route went straight through the high mountain ranges of the Great Basin that most earlier explorers had worked so hard to avoid. However, he discovered a series of mountain passes and mountain springs that aligned to allow an almost straight path across the middle of Utah and Nevada. 

Although many of these places were named later, Egan discovered what we now know as the Schell Creek Range, which could be crossed at Schellbourne Pass. He crossed the Cherry Creek Range at what is now Egan Pass, the Ruby Mountains at Overland Pass, the Diamond Mountains at a different Overland Pass, the Toiyabe Range at Emigrant Pass, and the Desatoya Mountains as Basque Summit. There were other smaller ranges and two large deserts that also needed to be crossed. However, there were a series of springs along the route, which allowed travelers access to water.

Central Overland Trail marker

The advantage of this trail compared to the California Trail was that it was 280 miles shorter. Using the Central Overland Trail could save travelers two weeks of travel time—an important consideration for emigrants headed for California using the Emigrant/Carson Pass Trail.

About 1858, when the U.S. Army learned of this new route, they sent out a survey expedition led by Captain James H. Simpson. The goal was to determine if this would be a good route for delivering supplies to Fort Floyd in Utah. In 1859 and 1860, the Army then improved the trail and springs for use by wagons and stagecoaches.

The southwestern Butterfield Overland Mail route had followed the Gila River to California since 1858. In 1861, John Butterfield, also switched the Butterfield Overland Mail route to the Central Route to avoid possible hostilities with the approach the American Civil War.

George Chorpenning, who held a mail contract for the western part of the nation, immediately realized the value of this more direct route. He had been using the northerly Humboldt Route along the Humboldt River (California Trail), but switched to the Central Overland Trail. The various stage lines, by traveling day and night and changing their teams at about 10 to 20 mile intervals, could transport light freight, passengers, and mail to or from the Missouri River towns to California in about 25–28 days.

In May 1860, the transportation firm of Russell, Majors, and Waddell  acquired George Chorpenning’s contract for mail service from Utah to California. At that point, the Central Overland Trail was joined as part of the Central Overland California and Pike’s Peak Express (C.O.C. & P.P.) route. In addition to freight, they also operated a stagecoach line.

At the encouragement of William H. Russell, in 1860, they formed the Pony Express. With the COC&PP as the parent company and under the direction of Russell, the Pony Express route used the Central Overland Trail for part of the western leg of their fast 10-day mail delivery. Home and relay stations were built along the Central Overland Trail to support both the Pony Express and the stagecoach lines that traveled this route. The firm utilized its partner, William H. Russell’s, equipment and portions of his former Leavenworth & Pike’s Peak Express route, as well as purchasing other lines running to Salt Lake City.

However, the company faired very poorly. The Pony Express experienced heavy losses. After the completion of the Transcontinental Telegraph, the Pony Express became obsolete. The business ran out of cash, and soon the company employees referred to C.O.C.& P.P. Express as “Clean Out of Cash and Poor Pay.” The company collapsed in 1861, and the holdings were sold at a public sale for $100,000 to Ben Holladay on March 21, 1862,

 

Ruins of the Cold Springs Stagecoach Station ctsy Ramartin

 

That was not the end of the Central Overland Trail. California and Nevada produced gold and silver, which was transported as stagecoach cargo going east along that route to support the Civil War. Nearly all stage lines were heavily subsidized to carry the mail. After the American Civil War, Wells Fargo & Co. absorbed the Butterfield stage lines and ran stage coaches and freight wagons along the Central Overland Route. Wells Fargo also developed the first agriculture in the Ruby Valley in Nevada to help support their livestock. The Army established Fort Ruby at the southern end of Ruby Valley in Nevada to protect travelers against marauding Indians along the road.

The Central Overland Trail continued to be used by stagecoaches, freighters, and wagon trains until the coming of the First Transcontinental Railroad made the trail all but obsolete except for local traffic.

The desert regions of central Utah and Nevada are dry and mostly desolate desert. For some beautiful pictures of the location of Cold Springs Station, part of this route, please CLICK HERE

To view the ruins of both Cold Springs Station and Sand Springs Station please CLICK HERE

In my most recently published book, Lucy, part of the Prairie Roses Collection, I set a scene along the Central Overland Trail. Lucy is currently available as an ebook, for sale or at no additional cost with a Kindle Unlimited subscription. It is also available in paperback. To find the book description and purchase options, please CLICK HERE

 

 

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Overland_Route

https://www.legendsofamerica.com/central-overland/

https://www.legendsofamerica.com/leavenworth-pikes-peak/

https://researchworks.oclc.org/archivegrid/collection/data/122499640

https://noehill.com/nv_churchill/poi_central_trail_27.asp

https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/a-socially-distanced-excursion-to-original-pony-express-stations-in-nevada.htm

https://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-overlandstage/

 

Melissa Coray Walks Three Blazed Trails by Zina Abbott

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Melissa Coray was the wife of Mormon Battalion Sgt. William Coray. As a laundress, she was allowed to travel with the Mormon Battalion the entire route from Iowa to the coast of California during the Mexican-American War. As part of that two-year venture, she ended up walking across three trails blazed by the men with whom she traveled.

Melissa Burton Coray was the youngest of the four women who made the entire march of the Mormon Battalion. (Earlier in the campaign, the other laundresses were sent back to Pueblo, Colorado, with one of the sick detachments.) She was born March 2, 1828, in Mersey, Essex, Ontario Canada to Samuel Burton and Hannah Shipley. At the age of ten, she joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon). When the members of the church were driven out of Nauvoo, Illinois, with the rest of her family, she began the march westward.

Eighteen-year-old Melissa was among about 2,000 Mormon refugees at Mt. Pisgah, Iowa, when she married William Coray on June 22, 1846. Four days later, the U.S. Army requested the enlistment of 500 Mormons for the war with Mexico.

Captain James Allen and four other officers in uniform arrived with orders from U.S. Army to request the enlistment of 500 Mormons for the war with Mexico. After the persecution, murders, and theft the church members had been subjected to in Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois, with no relief offered or granted by the federal government, their request was treated with mistrust. However, Brigham Young arrived from Council Bluffs, Iowa within a few day. He had been in communication with certain senators and others to assure them the members were not a hostile force. They still supported the constitution of the United States. He told the members they should enlist. The enlistment pay would help their families move west. 

Melissa knew that her young husband would enlist. He was a military man, having served with the Nauvoo Legion. However, as much as she believed in placing her faith in God, she rebelled at the prospect of being separated from her husband, especially so soon after their marriage.

"If he must go, I want to go," she said. "Why must women always stay behind and worry about their husbands, when they could just as well march beside them."

When William told her that there were to be four women with each company employed as laundresses, Melissa realized there was a way she might accompany him. He was a sergeant in Company B, and if she were in the same company, it would be entirely safe and proper.

On July 13, 1846, William and Melissa arrived at Council Bluffs, Iowa, with other volunteers. On July 20, they marched to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and from there to California.

In her journal, Melissa said that one of the hardest parts of the journey was leaving her father and mother. However, since it was a choice between them and her husband, she thought her duty was to her husband.

 Above map, created by Brian Cole, courtesy of the Mormon Battalion Assoc.

The march of the Mormon Battalion from Council Bluffs, Iowa, to San Diego, California, was the longest infantry march in the nation’s history. Melissa walked almost the entire way. She was inclined to belittle the walking she did, although other members of the Battalion said that she traveled on foot a large part of the 2,000 miles to San Diego and most of the return journey to Salt Lake. "I didn't mind it," she declared. "I walked because I wanted to; my husband had to walk, and I went along by his side." She said many times they had very little food and less water, but she and her husband got along very well. Many of the men in the Battalion ate until they were satisfied. The result was that they consumed their food at the start and did not have any later on when they needed it badly.

But not so with the Coray couple. She had learned differently from experience. She looked ahead and figured how many days the food would have to last until they met the next supply company, and then she used only so much each day. She tried to cook wisely, so that no food would be wasted. Although they did not have all they wanted to eat, they were never in danger of starving. She went from campfire to campfire, urging more care in the use of food. She used to relate how, weary and footsore, they had to walk miles and miles without water, and often the men thought they would die of thirst: "That is something," she said, "that only gets worse when you think of it. When I was thirsty, I tried not to think of it." It was at such a time that she learned to carry a pebble in her mouth. This caused the saliva to flow more freely and lessened her unquenchable thirst.

When the Battalion reached Santa Fe, Colonel Cooke decided to send the women and children and sick soldiers to Pueblo for the winter. At this, Melissa Coray almost lost courage. But it was not so with her husband. Along with Capt. Davis, Capt. Hunter and Sergeant Brown, he went to the Colonel to persuade him to let the four women continue. Just what was said at this conference, the women never knew, but they were permitted to accompany their husbands. She said it was a sad day when they had to bid their companions good bye.

The nausea of early pregnancy made traveling harder for her, and she had to hide it as long as possible. Once, after marching two days without water, she saw a number of men crowded around a small spring from which trickled a little stream of water. As it seeped from the rocks they were sucking it through a quill. She said it was such sights as this that made one's heart almost fail.

William attempted to keep many of the trials of the trip from her, but she knew and shared most of them. One night in Arizona she had a scare that she didn't forget. Mexicans were in the vicinity. The men, concerned they might be attacked, stayed up all night. Nothing happened. About this time, Melissa was becoming extremely weary and footsore. Col. Cooke seeing her fatigue, got down from his big white horse and offered it to her to ride on. In relating this to her grandchildren, she was always careful to designate "white horse" as though this made the event more important.

 

Up until this time, travel through the desert southwest had been only on horseback or on foot. The Mormons brought wagons, and blazed a route across the region that would be followed for the next century and more. At one point they reached a box canyon that was slightly too narrow for the wagons to pass. Using axes, the men widened the road by literally chipping their way through until it was wide enough for the wagons. Their route became used as the Southern Overland Trail, and is today the approximate route of Interstate 8 between Yuma and San Diego.

On Jan. 29, 1847, the Mormon Battalion reached Mission San Diego, California. She and Sergeant Coray, with others of the Battalion thought their journey ended. After two days, however, they were ordered to the Mission San Luis Rey to do garrison duty and protect the area from the Indians. In six weeks or so Company B was ordered back to San Diego. On March 17, 1847, Company B, which included William and Melissa, arrived in San Diego and took over operation of Fort Stockton. Melissa said they camped at Old Town, near the site which is now known as Ramona's marriage place. It provided the couple four months of a peaceful life.

In July, they marched to Los Angeles where the battalion was disbanded. From there, the battalion members split into several groups for the trip to the Salt Lake Valley.

Melissa had looked forward to the time when her husband would be mustered out so he could make a home for her and the baby she was expecting. Once the Battalion was discharged in early summer, William Coray bought a wagon and horses and the Corays joined a small party led by Capt. Jefferson Hunt. They traveled up the California coast to Monterey.

While in Monterey, Melissa gave birth to a son on October 2, 1847. The baby, whom the couple named William, only lived a few days. He was buried in the little cemetery in Monterey. When Melissa returned to California years later, she tried to find her son’s grave. However, there had been so many changes, she was unable to locate it.

As soon as she was able to travel, the couple started out again. Melissa said the trip was hard; the country was new; and there were no roads. They had to pick their way as best they could. In one place they came to a gorge so narrow that they couldn't drive through it. They had to take their wagon apart and carry it through, a piece at a time.

When they reached Sutter's Mill they found that gold had been discovered. Although the Corays were anxious to get to Salt Lake, they had to remain in the area long enough to get the means to continue. William Coray sent two sacks of gold back east with others to be delivered to his mother and sister still in Iowa so they could make the journey to Utah.

The main company of returning Mormon Battalion veterans left for Utah with the Browett-Holmes Company from Pleasant Valley, near present-day Placerville. The company consisted of forty-five men, Melissa Coray as the lone woman, two cannons, seventeen wagons, 150 mules and horses and about the same number of cattle. On July 4th in 1848, in Pleasant Valley, California, they recognized Independence Day by firing two rounds from a cannon. Addison Pratt wrote: "With these [cannons] we saluted the day, which made the mountains ring."

 

Silver Lake along the Emigrant Trail as seen from Hwy 88

To avoid crossing the Truckee River numerous times, they chose to blaze a new trail farther south through the Sierra Nevada Mountains. It took them six weeks to build a wagon trail over what is now known as the Carson Pass. These were the first wagons to travel this route and the first to go from west to east.

Original map courtesy of National Parks Service

For Melissa Coray, this was the second time she had watched the battalion build a road. The first was the last 700 miles to San Diego. Melissa also witnessed a third building of a road—the Salt Lake Cut, which eliminated the wagons going all the way north to Fort Hall in what is now Idaho before going south again. This was constructed just before arriving in the Salt Lake Valley on Oct. 6, 1848.

Upon arriving in Salt Lake City, Melissa was reunited with family members, among them several brothers as well as her father, who had remarried a young widow with a daughter after the death of Melissa’s mother. Glad that the journey was over, she expressed gratitude for the respect and consideration she received from the men with whom she traveled, as well as their support for her husband, whose health had begun to fail. He had developed a cough during the last several months of the march to San Diego, and it had grown progressively worse.

Melissa and her husband decided to build a house just outside the fort surrounding Salt Lake City. By then, William was “greatly reduced in flesh,” so Melissa relied on the help of three of her brothers, Robert, William, and Charles, to make bricks for the home. William tried to help, but was not able to do much. By November, William hoped to live long enough to see his and Melissa’s second child born. The couple moved into their new home on January 20, 1849.

Melissa gave birth to a baby girl on February 6, 1849. The couple named her Melissa, after her mother.

 William Coray passed away on March 7, 1849, less than three months after arriving here. Having just turned twenty a few days before, Melissa became a widow with a young child. Fortunately, she had the support of her family. Just before his passing, William gave her brother, Robert, a sack of gold to help provide for Melissa and the baby.

 

About two years later, Melissa married William H. Kimball, eldest son of Heber C. Kimball. The couple ran the hotel and stagecoach stop at Kimball Junction, at the top of Parleys Canyon in Utah. During the year and a half the Pony Express was in operation, it also served as a station for their riders. The couple had six children.

 

During the 1896 Utah Jubilee, Melissa was photographed along with the still-living members of the Mormon Battalion who attended. She is the third person from the left in the front row.

Melissa stayed in Salt Lake City area, where she died on September 21, 1903.

 

Photograph of Melissa Burton Coray Kimball displayed during 1915 San Diego Exhibition

 

Melissa Coray Peak marker ctsy Ted Muller Ted's Outdoor World blog

In 1990, a mountain peak in eastern California was renamed Melissa Coray Peak to honor the memory of this Mormon pioneer woman and the "thousands of emigrant women who endured similar hardships in settling the West."

 

In my last year’s Prairie Roses Collection book, Clara, she along with other characters in the story trod this route cut by the Browett-Holmes Company, now known as the Emigrant Trail or Emigrant-Carson Pass Trail, which was first trod by Melissa Coray. To find the book description and purchase options, please CLICK HERE

 

 

This year I am writing a third book for this series. It is titled Lucy, and is currently on pre-order with a release date of May 2nd. With the exception of a few improvements since Melissa Coray’s day, Lucy will also travel this same trail. To find the book description and pre-order link, please CLICK HERE

 

 

 

 

 

Sources:

Ricketts, Norma B., Melissa’s Journey with the Mormon Battalion, The Western Odyssey off Melissa Burton Coray: 1846-1848.International Daughters of Utah Pioneers, Utah Printing Company, Salt Lake City, Utah: 1994.

http://www.coryfamsoc.com/articles/coray.html

https://www.thechurchnews.com/1994/8/13/23256692/california-peak-named-in-honor-of-wife-of-battalion-member

https://www.topozone.com/california/el-dorado-ca/stream/

https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/records/item/560418-melissa-s-journey-with-the-mormon-battalion-the-western-odyssey-of-melissa-burton-coray-1846-1848