Alone in the Wilderness

Ronnie, a seventeen-year-old young woman was forced to travel alone after crossing several states by wagon train with her family. She was born Veronica, but her loved ones called her Ronnie. All but her father who could never seem to forgive her for being born a girl.After her Grandmother died, he announced that he was selling the farm that his wife inherited and they were all moving west to apply for free land. No one completely understood his motive except Ronnie which made him even more hostile toward her.They sold everything and started out with some of Grandpa’s prize sheep and a few Jersey cows that hadn’t freshened yet. The trail would be harsh and they wouldn’t have time to milk cows twice a day, was his reasoning.Ronnie insisted on taking enough of the livestock to get them started when they settled knowing that Pa had no intentions of farming in Colorado. She just knew he was headed to California in search of gold. In her mind, they would need the animals for food no matter how difficult it would be to coax them along the grueling trail.The sheep were the hardest to get moving each day and Ronnie ended up arriving in the new campsite long after the wagon train stopped for the night. With each mile, Pa became more agitated until he told her that if she insisted on wearing Grandpa’s overalls, she could make her own way along with the stinking sheep.She did her best to continue to follow the trail left by the wagon train but it became harder each day. Her mother and siblings left things for her including a horse, rifle, and shells with a note that they would continue to leave things at the campsite each morning.When it became apparent that she would no longer be able to push the sheep along, she sent a message with a man traveling on horseback trying to catch up with the wagon train. She told Momma that she would make her own way in the world and not to leave anymore along the trail.