They had planned for this moment for over a year, but now that it had arrived, Mary Ann was shaking like the proverbial leaf. She looked up at T. Burdick, Judge for Pottawatomie County, and nodded as her brother Edward raised his right hand and swore that "everything was legal and right". James took her right hand in his hand, gave a squeeze to encourage her, and spoke the solemn response "I do". Mary Ann repeated the words, "I do", and the judge, having determined they were of legal age or had parental permission, quickly dispensed with the brief civil words that bound James and Mary Ann together as man and wife for the rest of their natural lives. Edward stepped up to kiss the bride. Judge Burdick shook hands with James.
They left the courtroom quickly, giving place to other engaged couples who would be married before starting out on the Oregon Trail. A single man in Oregon could claim 160 acres of land from the government, free if they "improved the land". A married couple could claim 320 acres of land from the government. Judge Burdick was doing a brisk business that 13th day of May, 1852, as wagon train companies prepared to cross the Missouri River and go over 2,000 miles west on the Oregon Trail.
Mary Ann Evan's father and mother, Richard and Nancy Evans, were among the witnesses to her marriage. Her little niece tossed flowers in her path as she walked back to their wagon. The entire company of travelers cheered and applauded James and Mary Ann as they approached the camp. Fiddles and banjos were going, anyone who was not minding children or cooking the meal was dancing, and it was, as Mary Ann declared to James later that evening, "the perfect wedding".
Her mother had already helped Mary Ann move her belongings into James' wagon. Her quilting circle had made her a gift -- a signature quilt. Each quilt block contained the signature of one of the quilting group members, or one of Mary Ann's family who was staying behind. Now it was spread out over new sheets that Mary Ann and Nancy wove. Wearing her white cotton nightgown, embroidered with flowers and bluebirds by Mary Ann herself, with her long wavy hair down over her shoulders to her waist, Mary Ann was a picture perfect bride.
She asked James if they could start their married life by praying together before bedtime. Her father had already told him that would be expected of him, so he smiled and nodded. They would begin their marriage by acknowledging God in all their ways, and asking His blessing on their lives. Their ferry ticket to cross the Missouri was for early morning on May 18th. They were young and strong and filled with joy. Their Oregon Trail honeymoon began tonight.
Surely with all their work and preparation, it would be a wonderful journey. They would reach Oregon Territory by September, and claim their 320 acres.They had left behind the rising controversies over slave states and free states. The newly published and immensely popular book, Uncle Tom's Cabin, couldn't affect them. Oregon was beyond that. They would have it all - a new life, a new family, a new farm and a new home.
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| Emigrants near Missouri River in 1852 at the Kanesville crossing near Council Bluffs, Iowa. Jackson, William Henry, 1843-1942, Courtesy, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602. |
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