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This
grave is located near Rock Creek, outside Atlantic City, Wyoming,
on
the main Oregon- California
Trail. Brown was a native of
Ralls County, Missouri,
and was traveling with his wife Nancy and several children to
California when
they camped at Rock Creek the evening of August 1, 1857.
Arthur Menefee was traveling with the Brown family
and kept a diary of the journey.
His entry for August 2 contains this passage: "Next
morning at the point
of leaving a conflict took place which terminated in the death of E.
Brown.
Buried him & left at 12 A. M. traveling over a tolerable road.....
still
not satisfied with the justice unfortunateness of the past day, owing
all [to]
the Women's tongue."
Menefee
never gets specific, but a careful reading of his diary makes
it clear that
some of the women of the wagon train were in nearly constant
conflict.
As early as May 24 while still in Missouri he wrote:" Nim
[Menefee]
and Ephraim coming up at noon. Great joy in camp.
All supted together
in mutual friendship and harmony & continued until next morning when
a little storm arose between Mary {Menefee] and Nancy [Brown]."
Whatever the trouble was it continued during the
course of the journey and culminated
with
the fight that ended the life of Ephraim Brown," owing all
to the Women's
tongue", as Arthur Menefee put it.
On August 11 he wrote, " we tried the Boy &
dismissed him from the Train after finding him guilty,
thence pursuing our journey, over a very good road. "
Unfortunately, the diary provides no other details including
the identity of the Boy.
Kentucky
born Ephraim Brown was 34 at the time of his death.
It is not
known what became of Nancy Brown and their children.
The grave is still marked
by the headstone put up by Brown's companions on August 2, 1857. |
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