Bound For Oregon

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1994

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-4

Chapters 5-8

Chapters 9-12

Chapters 13-16

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

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Discussion Questions

Chapters 9-12Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 9 Summary

Throughout June, Mary Ellen spends her days walking behind the wagon looking for wild roses. Meanwhile, the family continues traveling, eventually passing Fort Kearney and arriving in Fort Laramie, Wyoming “by the Fourth of July” (81). Some days they cross paths with other families and wagon trains. Some of these wagons are drawn by mules and seem to move faster than the Todds’ train. Mary Ellen sometimes wishes they didn’t use oxen as the trek is growing more difficult. It’s hot and the air is filled with mosquitoes. They also have more and more trouble finding water and it’s often filled with mud. Out on the Platte, firewood is harder to find, too. They start burning buffalo chips to build fires so that they can cook. At first, Mother complains about the smell the chips give off, but everyone eventually adjusts. Mary Ellen and Louvina start gathering the chips for fuel, too.

Then one day, a wagon comes speeding towards the Todds’ train. The family inside is frantic and informs the Todds’ train that there’s a cholera epidemic spreading up ahead. This family is turning back so they don’t get sick. Everyone starts to worry about contracting cholera and they pass more and more graves as they continue on their way. Then one day, Louvina complains that she’s not feeling well. Shortly thereafter, both she and Cynthia fall ill. The Todds and Grants build a camp so they can rest. The Grants set themselves a distance apart from the Todds so that they don’t get sick, too. Meanwhile, Father stays in a separate tent where he cares for Louvina and Cynthia. One night, Mother crawls into her and Mary Ellen’s tent looking worried. Mary Ellen has never seen her this way before, but she feels comforted when Mother suggests they pray together. In the morning, Mother tells Mary Ellen that Cynthia is improving but Louvina is getting worse (87).

A few days later, Cynthia is better. The family sterilizes her things and helps her get the food and water she needs. However, Louvina’s breathing is so slow that Father sometimes thinks she’s dead. Mary Ellen tries to keep praying but is terrified of losing her sister. She feels guilty for all of the times she was mean to Louvina or jealous of her for being Mother’s favorite.

Mother notices that Mary Ellen is upset and tries to distract her by encouraging her to work on her quilting project. Mary Ellen tries stitching but grows restless and takes a walk by the river. She finds a rosebush on the riverbank and picks some flowers for Louvina. That evening, Father says he got Louvina to drink some water and she seems a little better. She improves over the next two days. Finally, Louvina is able to open her eyes and talk. She thanks Mary Ellen for the roses.

Chapter 10 Summary

The Todds and Grants continue their journey once Louvina recovers. They lost time, but their animals enjoyed the rest. Throughout the days following, however, they encounter storm after storm. Mary Ellen and her sisters are particularly afraid of the thunder and lightning.

Eventually, the families arrive in Wyoming. One day, Mr. Grant decides to go hunting for antelope. They haven’t had fresh meat in some time, and he’s determined to bring some back for them. However, night falls before Mr. Grant returns to camp. David wants to go looking for him, but Father insists they wait until morning. The next day, David and Father set out in search of Mr. Grant. The women stay at camp. Mary Ellen notices Mother telling Mrs. Grant stories to distract her from her worry. When evening arrives, Mary Ellen spots three horses approaching in the distance. David and Father found Mr. Grant, but he’s tired and sick. After they get him settled, they tell the women they found him under a bush, collapsed from heat exhaustion. When he recovers, he tells the group the full story of what happened to him. His horse ran away at one point, and bison and wolves threatened his safety. Father leads the group in singing hymns to lift their spirits.

Chapter 11 Summary

The families continue their journey through the Rocky Mountains. By mid-July, they pass Fort Laramie and leave the Platte River, continuing on into the desert. They keep up a fast pace and eventually pass through Sweetwater and the Devil’s Gate, soon reaching the Continental Divide. They stock up on water before journeying back into the desert. Meanwhile, the cattle grow weary, and Mary Ellen feels as if they’ll never reach Oregon (106). She longs for fresh water and vegetables. Sometimes they encounter Indigenous tribes who trade food with them. One day, a group of Indigenous Americans attacks their train. One man swings a rope at Mary Ellen, and she dives into the wagon to hide. Then, shots fire in the distance and the Indigenous people ride away. A group of pioneers approaches and says they saw the incident. They fired their guns to help the Todds and Grants. The new pioneers include the Powell and Clark families, and they join the Todds’ group. That night, Mary Ellen can’t sleep because of what happened. Father comforts her and reminds her to trust in God when she’s afraid.

Chapter 12 Summary

The Todds reach Fort Hall. Mary Ellen longs to join the town when she sees “the houses facing the square” (114). They camp in the area for the night so they can buy supplies before continuing on. That night, the families discuss the route they should follow next. Some families want to take one route while others want to take another. Mary Ellen is sad to learn that they are leaving the Powells and joining the Clarks. Father encourages her to be brave, explaining that Mother is pregnant and they need to take a faster route so they can get to Oregon before she gives birth. Mary Ellen goes to bed feeling excited. She’s glad they’re going to have a new baby and tells herself she’ll do everything she can to help Mother.

The Todds resume their journey with the Clarks, Grants, and McReynolds. Then one day, Rebecca and George McReynolds fall sick with mountain fever. Some of the oxen get sick, too, and they have to leave them behind. At Salmon Falls, Father and the other men discuss how they should proceed. Father decides to travel with the Clarks, but the rest of the group goes a different way. Mother is especially sad to say goodbye to Mrs. Grant.

One day, the families set up camp and Mary Ellen follows John down to the river, where they find an Indigenous tent. John tells her not to look when he opens the flap, but Mary Ellen sees the pile of dead bodies inside. She races back to the wagon. Mother notices that she’s upset and encourages her to work on her quilt. In the morning, she wakes up with a fever. They continue on ahead and Mary Ellen rides in the wagon, feeling awful. It takes her days to recover, and she slips in and out of nightmares. Father gives her water and comforts her, and eventually she feels better.

Chapters 9-12 Analysis

The Todd family’s migration west continues to challenge Mary Ellen’s character in this section. The novel uses Mary Ellen’s first person point of view to reveal how Mary Ellen is processing The Challenges of Migration. Mary Ellen doesn’t always vocalize how she feels to her family or friends because she knows that others need her to be brave and strong. However, her internal monologue reveals the truth of how she sees her family’s circumstances. For example, in Chapter 9, when Mary Ellen notices another wagon train using “mules instead of oxen, and its people dressed in style,” she secretly envies them (82). She says that these other pioneers seem “to be looking down their noses [...] as they [sail] past [their] slow-moving wagons” (82). She feels “a little twinge of envy at how easy [the other pioneers’] journey [seems] to be,” because she longs to reach their destination and to have a settled home and community once more (82). In part, Mary Ellen’s lack of transparency with her family is because she is young and has been taught that being quiet and respectful is part of being a lady. On the other hand, Mary Ellen doesn’t speak up because she wants to believe that trusting her family will in fact help her to survive.

The Todd family’s encounters with sickness worsen Mary Ellen’s fears of the unknown. Mary Ellen is terrified when she hears that the cholera epidemic is spreading among the pioneer peoples and throughout the wagon trains. The imagery of abandoned wagons, graves, and tents filled with dead bodies intensify the narrative atmosphere and represent the extreme danger facing those braving this trail. Furthermore, when members of her own family and wagon train begin to fall ill, Mary Ellen is no longer able to dismiss her fears with prayers, hymns, or quilting. These pastimes are Mary Ellen’s ways of trying to stay strong and prove that she is as resilient as someone like Father. However, Mary Ellen’s aimlessness throughout Louvina’s illness reveals how she truly feels—after being taken from her physical home, she finds home in her family and community, highlighting The Importance of Family and Community to Survival. This is the stability she holds onto, and this stability is threatened by the cholera epidemic. She is “unable to think of anything to do” during her sister’s illness because her sorrow and fear are overtaking her mind and spirit (89). This is why she picks the wild roses for her sister in Chapter 9. Mary Ellen is a mature character, but she is also still fragile, young, and innocent. She wants to be able to love and support her sister, and picking the flowers is her way of doing so. The image of the roses contrasts with the aforementioned images of illness and death and therefore becomes symbolic of hope and healing.

The wagon trains’ encounters with Indigenous tribes further complicate Mary Ellen’s emotional state. Mary Ellen has tried to understand what Father has told her about the Indigenous peoples’ experience—particularly that they have been abused by white people who have stolen their land and food for years. Although the Todds’ wagon train does have some surprising encounters with various tribes, the Indigenous people ultimately cause them no harm. Mary Ellen’s sustained fear of the Indigenous Americans she encounters is the result of the time in which she lives and of her youthfulness. Indeed, Mary Ellen is afraid of anything that is unfamiliar to her. She is nine years old and therefore has had a limited experience of the world. Her fears about other people are therefore largely inspired by her general fear that she and her family might not make it to their destination alive.