Deborah knew girls that went to Spokane for their honeymoon. Her now mother-in-law shared with Deborah that she and her groom honeymooned at Niagara Falls, something beyond the comprehension of Deborah both due to distance and financial wherewithal.
After spending their wedding night in a borrowed cabin, Deborah and Percy loaded the last of their belongings onto the wagon and headed northwest from Walla Walla. Walla Walla felt like the wilderness, but their targeted destination was even further removed from the home of her upbringing in Kansas. When she left Kansas, not only did she leave friends, most of her family, and the vestiges of civilization, but everything else that was familiar. In leaving Walla Walla, the only thing that was familiar that she took with her was her new husband, but even Percy had only been a part of her life for the past year.
As they loaded the wagon, her thoughts wandered from the pragmatic: What did they forget? Is that strap tight enough to hold everything in place? To the emotional: Will she ever see her mother again? Her tears fell and mixed with the dusty July Walla Walla soil.
Having arrived with her parents at Walla Walla via the Oregon Trail, Deborah was very familiar with life on the trail. Percy, on the other hand, had traveled from New York via ship then boat, and although he had spent time under the stars, traveling for extended distances by horse and wagon was new to him. Doing so with the responsibilities of a wife was entirely new. As they had planned for the journey, Deborah had interjected numerous ideas and suggestions, but tried hard to not just tell him what to do.
Percy was a good man, she knew. He loved her blatantly. He tried so hard to show both his willingness and ability to care for her. She was confident that had they been moving to his home in Upstate New York, his skills would enable him to take good care of her. But her own skills were more aligned with the life they traveled toward with every step of their horse.
But neither of them really knew what to expect. They had heard so much of what the Wenatchee Valley had to offer and this excited them both. They were eager to strike out on their own and to find what kind of life they could make for themselves, independent of the resources of their families. The valley of their destination seemed to boast too much to be true: fertile soils, warm sun, vast plains, harsh winters, deep snows, jagged peaks, wild rivers teaming with unlimited fish, and wildlife everywhere one turned.
These promises were more than enough to inspire them to move there, but the realities still hung present in their thoughts: Where specifically will we live? Just how will we put food on the table? Do we really have what it takes to live so remotely?
In the two short years since Deborah and her parents arrived at Walla Walla, life on the trails had improved. With each passage by a pioneer the trail became more defined. Every traveler shared with every other traveler information and the routes were filled with far fewer mysteries.
The route they would travel from Walla Walla to the Wenatchee Valley was, by comparison to the Oregon Trail, straightforward. They would follow the Touchet River to the Walla Walla River, then to the Columbia River, then turn north and follow the Columbia to the mouth of the Wenatchee. Gone were the mountain passes of the Oregon Trail.
But as for what would happen after arriving at the juncture of the Wenatchee and Columbia Rivers, Percy and Deborah could make no plans. They knew no one; did not have a place to stay; did not have a way to produce or procure sustenance. Some people would be filled with fear. Percy and Deborah were filled with anticipation.
As he loaded the last of their belongings, Deborah sized up her new husband. He was a tall man and slight of build. He had a fair complexion, although this had changed some since arriving at Walla Walla, thanks to his time in the outdoors. She wasn’t sure if he shaved every day, or just had little beard to see. Deborah found him attractive, most notably his smile. It was ready and contagious.