*Finalist for The WILLA Literary Awards, 2020.The award is named in honor of Pulitzer Prize winning author Willa Cather, one of America’s foremost novelists, and honors the best in literature, featuring women’s or girls’ stories set in the West that are published each year. The judges are professional librarians, historians and university affiliated educators.Between the years 1841 and 1869, over 250,000 pioneers headed west on the California Trail. Some were searching for gold and riches, others wanted opportunity, freedom and adventure. Many came for the rich farmland and milder climate. The California Trail’s popularity peaked in 1852. The journey to California was roughly 2000 miles and would take a typical emigrant family five months to complete the trip. Most pioneers began their journey at jumping off towns along the Missouri River. When they crossed to the west bank of the Missouri River, they were leaving the United States and entering unorganized territory. There were no roads, towns, houses, stores or any means of communication for the next five months.As the emigrants traveled west, the wagon was their only home and shelter. They mostly walked the 2,000 miles in order to spare the draft animals pulling their wagons, which contained all their food and supplies. They faced many perils on their journey. Dangerous river crossings and diseases such as cholera, which could break out and take lives within a day. Also, starvation, accidents with guns and sometimes hostile Indians, crossing deserts and keeping their animals alive and well. It is estimated that one in ten emigrants died and were buried along the trail. The pioneers who traveled west hoping for better lives and broader opportunities, not only showed great courage, but they changed the course of American history. They expanded the boundary of America from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean and their settling of the American West gave the United States access to vast new sources of agricultural and mineral wealth.This story chronicles one family’s journey west in 1852, told through the eyes of Katie, age 13.I hope that you enjoy the story.One reviewer’s praise: Beautiful Courage is a heartfelt story told through the letters and journal of a young girl bound for California in 1852. This touching tale stays with you long after you finish reading. New York Times Best Selling author, Chris Enss
