that of returning after hardships and privations really began.
But on his arrival in Oregon it seemed that anxiety had only just begun. At the missionary trading-post in Oregon City he had been able to secure on credit only the small bag of wheat and the side of salmon. He had found the little settlement filled with people who were nearly naked like themselves and with no resources to buy either food or clothing.
In spite of the anxiety of the elders of the family, the first meal in the new home was a happy affair. The whole family carefully washed hands and faces at the spring, though Asa had to be sent back to wash behind his ears and a little higher up his wrists. The winter dusk was gathering when the family finally assembled at table. John asked his brief, simple blessing, and the rattle of pewter spoons, steel knives, and two-tined forks against scoured tin plates began.
Martha, true housewife, made the most of any situation. The work of scouring cutlery and tin plates and cups was faithfully done by the girls each morning under her close scrutiny. In spite of the soiled clothing and the raggedness, anything that could be cleaned or mended had been faithfully given the utmost attention.
After the first keen edge was off the appetite and John had told Asa for the hundredth time to turn the sharp edge of his knife inward before putting his food in his mouth, and Martha had chided Esther Amelia for carelessly upsetting her cup of water, John said: “Well, Martha, I’ve made arrangements to stake out our claim; there’s plenty of room here
