18 May 1845: A New Wagon Joins Us!
The adults had another meeting today. They fought again. I could hear Papa and Mr. Bradford yelling at one another, and then Mr. Hedrick and Uncle Luke started yelling, and Mama left crying again. We tried to comfort her, but she insisted that she was fine.
It turns out that they were arguing over a young man who asked to join our group. His name is Will Applegate, and Papa says that he is a fool, and will cause no end of problems for us.
The grown-ups voted to let him stay with us, despite Papa’s misgivings, and he introduced himself to us children after the meeting. He has a small printing press, which is called a letter press. He says he will start a newspaper in Oregon, like the one he worked for in Independence. The printing press is the cause of Papa’s dissatisfaction. Papa says, “It is an extra burden, and the idiot should be carrying supplies, not a fool printing press.”
I like Will, despite Papa’s grumpy opinion. He is funny and tells marvelous stories.
We traveled 7 miles today.