Brigham Young decided to move the Mormons west, to practice freedom of religion. This resettlement required preparation and planning. Like all pioneer women, before the trek began, Patty had to determine what to take and what to leave and how to pack in the most orderly way. She drove a team for virtually the entire distance, an achievement in itself, but she also cooked meals. And she never ceased to be a midwife. On April 30, 1846 she was called to attend Adeline Benson (a false alarm) and "came home could hardly reach the waggon. I went to bed rested me but could not eat. About noon I thought I could eat some peach pie I had a kettle of coals in the waggon I cooked my peaches on them and by laying down and resting several times I made me a pie went to the stove and backed it have eat some and feel better."
Patty did not discuss particulars about being female in the wagon train. Cleanliness of person and belongings must have been a constant consideration.
At least she fretted enough about washing, sometimes recruiting help for that chore. Almost once a month, she also mentioned ironing with what we recognize today as awkward, heavy irons during the journey from Nauvoo to Winter Quarters and from Winter Quarters to the Salt Lake Valley. Personal hygiene had to be a constant challenge, not to mention the implications and complications of exhaustion from dealing with illness and death and delivering babies day after day or night after night. Dust and insects, mud and wind, scorching sun and pelting rain, and swollen rivers had to be confronted daily. Still Patty wrote regularly during both reasonably good and difficult days for the following forty-one years, a time when her continuing story and the central focus of her life—socially and economically—reflected the growth of Salt Lake City and the Mormon Church.
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