Ellen Baumler resides in Helena and works as a historian at the Montana Historical Society.

The Long Trek
In April, 1863, we set out for Montana. A few nights before, Ma hung a big washing on the lines so that she might have everything clean at least at the beginning of the long trek. In the morning she found that thieves had stripped the lines.
My father always had two wagons drawn by six-mule teams, one loaded very heavily and driven by a hired man. My father drove the other wagon in which the family rode. Supplies covered the bottom of this wagon. Over the supplies, Pa spread mattresses, blankets, and comforters; there we slept at night. Sometimes during the daytime Ma, Ellen, or I would be glad enough to crawl back for a nap with Kate. Fastened on the back of the wagon were a sheet-iron stove, a little rocking chair for my stepmother, and a mess box containing the food we needed day to day. When we stopped for a couple of days or more, the stove was set up and we cooked and washed. While the bread was baking and the clothes were drying, Ma rocked in her little chair and mended. In the evenings as we traveled right along, we cooked supper over a campfire. If we were out of bread, biscuit or shanter's bannock was baked in a Dutch oven.