Audio
Alcove Spring - Lost Along the Way Exhibit Audio Description
Transcript
Lost Along the Way. 538 words.
Sitting here beneath shady trees on the side of the hill just past a stone bench and stone monument are two graphic panels, side by side. The hillside rises beyond with more trees in the distance. Ruts are visible going down the hill on the left.
The background of this panel has a color illustration looking up a slope towards a tree line in the distance. At the crest of the hill is a covered wagon pulled by oxen coming towards us. A man with a whip stands on the right and a woman in a long dress is on the left. On the right side of the panel is a historic photograph of an older woman wearing wire-rimmed glasses. Her dress is made of a dark shiny material with buttons up the front of the tight bodice and a narrow lace collar. Her hair is covered with a lace-trimmed cap with ringlets falling down on either side of her face.
Text at upper left reads, "Stranded by heavy flooding on the Big Blue River, 100 members of the Donner-Reed party camped here for several days in May of 1846. Sarah Keyes, James Reed’s mother-in-law, was feeble and ill but still traveled with them. While camped here, Sarah’s illness worsened, and she died on the morning of May 29th. Her party fashioned a coffin and gravestone, and laid her to rest a short distance away. Sarah Keyes was the first loss of the ill-fated Donner and Reed Wagon Train. That winter, the party lost 40 of its 87 members when winter storms trapped them in California’s Sierra Nevada. Death was a part of traveling the overland trails. Sarah’s grave served as a reminder to passing wagon trains that the journey ahead was fraught with challenges and losses."
Below the text in the middle of the panel is a portrait of a girl with dark hair parted in the middle and gathered over her ears. Her earrings have crosses on them and she wears a cross around her neck. To the left of her portrait is a photograph of a female doll with a painted face, jointed elbows, and wearing a long full skirt. Text below the images reads, "Eight-year-old Martha “Patty” Reed treasured her “dolly.” It may have been a gift from her grandmother, Sarah Keyes, before departing Missouri. When the trail grew difficult, Patty’s family asked her to leave her belongings to lighten the load, but she could not part with dolly. Patty hid her four-inch wooden companion in the hem of her skirt, keeping it with her through the tragic winter of 1846. Patty’s granddaughter donated the doll to Sutter’s Fort State Historic Park in Sacramento, CA. Courtesy of Sutter’s Fort State Historic Park, [object #308-1744-89 & object #308-1744-2]."
Across the top of the panel is a black bar. At the left end text reads "Alcove Spring." At the right end are the logos and text for Oregon National Historic Trail and California National Historic Trail. Other text reads, "National Park Service, Alcove Spring Preservation Association Oregon-California Trails Association."
At bottom right is a QR code and the Audio Description symbol. Text reads, "For audio description of this wayside visit go.nps.gov/LostAlongTheWay."
End of Description.
Description
Listen to the audio description Alcove Spring - Lost Along the Way Exhibit.
Date Created
04/26/2023
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