Slowed by rugged trail conditions, weather, and weary teams, emigrants in 1846 entered the southern Willamette Valley in dire circumstances. Transit of the mountains between the Rogue River and the Willamette watershed took a terrible toll - abandoned wagons, dead livestock, hunger, and for some, death. Emigrants anticipated at least five months on the trail, but they were unprepared for delays which brought them to the Willamette watershed as late as December.
Thomas Holt, a remarkable resident of Polk County, sensed the tragedy unfolding on the new Applegate Trail. Recruiting neighbors and securing supplies, he sent out on a rescue mission. "I feel for them." he wrote of the starving families he found on the upper Willamette, "I am bound to go and assist them."
Provisions gave out and Mr. Pringle set off on horseback to the settlement for relief, not knowing how long he would be away, or whether he would ever get through In a week or so our scanty provisions wee all gone and we were again in a state of starvation.... As the only alternative, or last resort for the present time, Mr. Pringle's eldest son, Clark shot down one of his father's best working oxen and dressed it. It had not a particle of fat on it, but we had something to eat - poor bones to pick without bread or salt. — Tabetha Moffet
Brown, Recollections of 1846
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