Howdy, the name's Wendelyn Silver, this is my sister Natasha, I call her Nat, and her husband Henry Black. We're headin' west because the government's offerin' free land over there! The only thing that needs payin' is a ten dollar filing fee.

It'll be a long way from just outside Chicago in Iowa to Colorado, however, all we have to do is stay there for 5 years, and we get to keep 160 acres of land for free! We chose to leave now 'cause the sky shows fair weather. With Henry's carpentry and Nat's 'n' my sewing skills, we will settle there no problem.

We first have get out of Iowa, then we have to cross the Missouri and Great Plains. Only one of these is dangerous, crossing the river is said to be deadly if one goes the wrong way or steps in the wrong part of it.

We'd just started our journey when we ran into a woman heading the same direction. We asked her to join our travel party and she agreed. We now have the addition of Millicent Roberts.

Shortly after Millicent joined us, we ran into the Missouri river. This river is the longest one of three that feeds into the Mississippi River and covers 2,315 miles. It also used to be the home of Blackfeet, Hidatsa, and Crow Native Americans.

The river is wide and deep, so we had to be careful crossing it. The fact that the water is dirty was not helping us safely cross. We just have to be slow and secure our footing as we made our way across.

Slowly but surely, we made our way across. When we were all rested, we continued on our way. We knew a few more days' walking and we'd make it to Omaha and get more rest and provisions.

Two-and-a-half, almost three days later, and we've made it to Omaha. Deciding to stick to the plan of resting and getting provisions, we stay for a day to be prepared to make the journey across the Great Plains.

The Great Plains are home to wild bison and bighorns. Our trip will be dangerous, but if we manage to stay away from them, we'll be fine. My only other worry is that we won't get to our plot of land soon enough and won't have enough time to set up a home before winter.