Photo by Jan Wayne Fields
July 1862
Dearest Sarah,
I write this with great apprehension but feel compelled to do so before you and the children depart Missouri.
This is an inhospitable land full of poisonous snakes, swollen rivers, and murderous Indians.
Please remain home until I send for you.
Forever yours,
Matthew
June 1862
My Dearest Matthew,
I am sending sorrowful news. Little Annie died of snake bite yesterday.
Last week Tommy and June succumbed to the cholera,
and your favorite horses were lost crossing the Green River.
I wish I had stayed put.
With a heavy heart,
Your Sarah
<!– start InLinkz script –>
https://static.inlinkz.com/cs2.js
<!– end InLinkz script –>
Up From the Ashes 
Dear Lish,
The letter form seems to work for both of us this week. Alas, your story is so tragic…and well written.
Shalom,
Rochelle
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks. I’ll need to hop over and read yours! Sometimes the letter form serves a story well. Cheers! Friend.
LikeLike
What an ill-fated exchange of letters. How sad that Sarah’s eagerness to rejoin Matthew led to such tragedy.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I can’t imagine having the mail move so slowly! Thanks. Sometimes patience is a virtue. Yes?
LikeLike
Oh no, that’s so sad (and darkly humorous with all the warnings being just a bit too late). I love the format. Great writing.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Gabi. Looking back, I wish I would have left the first letter as a forewarning of unspeakable dangers without saying what they were, then have Sarah’s letter fill in the blanks. Hindsight. But I’m glad you liked the format.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I think it’s perfect as it is. Things like the mirroring of warnings and events make us grimace and grin because otherwise we’d have to cry. I think that gives it more impact.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Gabi!
LikeLike
I loved the crossing letters. Well done
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Neil. I used this format a few years ago (and think I used the same title – oops!)
LikeLiked by 1 person
In those days it could take months for a letter to arrive. So tragically it crossed in the mail.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I can’t imagine! News would be so slow reaching you, especially if you were in the wilds of wherever this is. Thanks for reading, Alice
LikeLike
Sadly, life was very hard back then in more places than the far West. Tragic.
LikeLiked by 1 person
And in some places today! Thanks.
LikeLiked by 1 person
There must be so many true stories just like this, lost to history because so many didn’t write. Tragic but well written Lish
LikeLiked by 2 people
I’ve always thought I’d make a lousy pioneer. But where there’s a will, there’s a way. Thanks. Lynn
LikeLiked by 1 person
My pleasure
LikeLike
The fates conspiring or terrible timing, whichever way you look at it a tragic turn of events.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think they’ve got more kids. Hopefully, the rest of them make it to Matthew’s side. Thanks, Iain.
LikeLiked by 1 person
What a great, though tragic, take, Alicia.
I could so imagine this very thing happening, once upon a time.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Snail mail at its worst! Thanks, Dale.
LikeLike
Indeed!!
LikeLike
Awwe, the bad old days of mail taking weeks and months to reach from one place to another. So tragic.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Now we get news sometimes WAY before we really want it. Thank you for reading.
LikeLiked by 1 person
what unfortunate events! now i’m wondering if she’d be able to come back alive.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Or GET there alive. Tough times those. Thanks for reading and commenting.
LikeLiked by 1 person
This is superbly constructed, Alicia, and quite heart-rending.
I hope the other side of the postcards were a bit cheerier!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks very much. The postcards I have that my grandfather sent my grandmother (they lived on the prairie in CO during the Dust Bowl) had nothing on the other side. Kind of sad, really. But his missives were wonderful, and always written in pencil.
LikeLike
Oh dear, already too late even as he penned his letter. Tragic.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Ali. I’m not even sure Pony Express would have helped. 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
What a tragic turn of events.
Loved the letter format of writing.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Norma. I’m so glad it worked for you, Alicia
LikeLike
What a tragedy! Seriously, we have it easy nowadays…. Great story in a refreshing format.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks. I’m glad you enjoyed the format. It’s a fun one to use. Alicia
LikeLiked by 1 person
Difficult to ‘like’ this as it contains so much pain and loss. The curse of the crossed-letter. Why didn’t Matthew write earlier? Honestly, it’s the first thing he should have done.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think he was “on the road.” 😉 Thanks for reading and liking. Sometimes it is hard to hit that like button when a story has tragedy in it. As always, I appreciate your stopping by.
LikeLike
Such a sad story – and I’m willing to bet that this sort of thing actually happened.
Susan A Eames at
Travel, Fiction and Photos
LikeLiked by 1 person
I imagine it did! I heard an article about the Donner Party on NPR last summer. What a tragedy that was! Thanks, Susan.
LikeLike
You do this format well, Lish.
We had a collection of my grandfather’s letters written around 1912, mailed from California to his mother in Mayfield, Arkansas. The language was interesting and you could tell he was terribly homesick.
May your couple have better days ahead.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Russell. It’s wonderful to have letters from our ancestors, isn’t it?
LikeLike
A reminder of the conditions that many people suffered back in those times. The letter format really works well. It brings those involved to life.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Jilly. Bugs, disease, floods, drought, accidents ~ they were a hardy bunch.
LikeLike
Oh tears!!
Sad story
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sorry about the tears! Thanks for stopping by.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The warning was a little late. A sad but very well crafted take.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Only because she left too soon and the mail was super slow. Glad you liked yarnspinnerr.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The cruelty of snail mail… those letters that come ‘after’ the tragedy… have received many over the years…. never good.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh, Jelli! So sorry you’ve received tragic news too late.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Stunning and sad. Well-structured story.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks so much. Alicia
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ah , those pioneers of the wild west, they had so much courage and yet so much loss. A sad but very real tale.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Tough as nails, they were. Thank goodness or many of us wouldn’t be here. Thank you, James.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Tragic. If only the first letter had found it’s intended recipient in time. Great writing
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks very much, Michael.
LikeLiked by 1 person
A powerful and sad story. A reminder of true-life stories of the pioneers who struck out, pushing westward, looking for a new life.
LikeLiked by 1 person
So many reasons to do it too. Thanks for reading. Alicia
LikeLiked by 1 person
He should have sent his letter first class, or is it pigeon post, maybe even a telegraph! I am being deliberately flippant, Lish, to hide my hurt – caused by your tragic letters. Lovely writing (as always).
LikeLike
Thanks, Kelvin, for stopping by to read and leave a reply. I did catch the sarcasm, and it actually made me smile. Good to see your face in that tiny box. Lish
LikeLike
I like the letter format. Slightly dark this week, with touch of black humour here. Looks like he did not get her letter on time.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks. The letter format is fun to “pull out of the drawer” every now and then.
LikeLike
Letters can be so filled with sorrow, especially when they arrive after the fact.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, indeed. Thanks, Bjorn.
LikeLike
Tragic, but darkly humorous. Nicely done!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you. I really hadn’t seen the humor until people mentioned it and I did a “look back.”
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’re welcome.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who sees the humour (I admit to having a dark sense of humour.)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow, if it wasn’t for bad luck, he’d have no luck at all! Very cute!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Nan.
LikeLike
An interesting format, and a tragic family
LikeLiked by 1 person
I hope you liked the format. It’s fun to use every now and again. Thanks.
LikeLike
A long time before the instant messaging of today!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Don’t you think people from that time would think we were all magic if they saw our phones? Cars? It would be fun to travel back in time. Thanks, Dawn
LikeLike
It would. I have just begun watching a TV series called “Boardwalk Empire” set just after WWI. I’m loving it but I wince at the “medicine” they practiced. Yesterdays episode began in a dentists office. I closed my eyes! lol
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh! Sounds like a great series. Thanks for letting me know about it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Loved the letter format. Hopefully, they are both still fertile as they tended to be back in the old days 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m glad the format worked for you. I think they have “extra” children. Thanks.
LikeLike
Such a tragic story! Now that modern medicine is so advance we have that some of these problems faced before are mere small conditions solved within days.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I hadn’t thought about that aspect of it. Thanks!
LikeLike
What a pity she didn’t get his letter first. So sad and beautifully written.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Irene. I’m glad you stopped by.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I really like your story – so well crafted using the crossed letters. Think that works really well, as post would have been slow wouldn’t it, in those days. Evokes the conditions they are in so clearly.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for the lovely comment.
LikeLike