Children's Chores

Gathering Buffalo Chips

Young children making the trip to California with their parents were expected to do their part and help the adults. Both boys and girls would be expected to do the following:

• Milk the cow - if the family had brought a milk cow (called a milch cow), it had to be milked every morning, and some times in the evenings too.
• Fetch water from the stream
• Watch out for the smaller children
• Gather firewood or buffalo chips for the cooking fires
• Help pack and unpack the bedding and cooking supplies from the wagon
• Herd the extra livestock that would follow the wagon - this would include the milch cow, spare oxen or horses; some people took goats or sheep with them for food.
• Help cook the food and wash the dishes
• Help with the laundry
• In areas where the trail was rough, walk ahead ofthe wagon and throw stones out ofthe way, clear brush, and put limbs and brush over muddy spots so that the wheels of the wagon would not sink in
• Fish or hunt for small game