Most journals of women traveling West show that they struggled to maintain their roles as wives and mothers, but did the best they could under the circumstances. Most of their responsibilities were similar to those they had at home. Cooking, cleaning, laundry, entertaining children etc. it was a woman's job, but these obligations were much more difficult being in the middle of nowhere. Women also had extra tasks, such as preparing the wagon, making sure their children were with them, and taking on the husband's role when he fell ill. It was common for children to fall behind amidst all the chaos, fall off the wagon, or be stricken with illness. Mothers could only watch helplessly and had to continue the journey if their child died. The diaries of Narcissa Whitman, Amelia Stewart Knight, and Jane Gould Tortillott all contain entries that suggest they were struggling with their roles as women, but trying to make the best of it. Narcissa Whitman and her husband Marcus traveled to Oregon County to begin their missionary work in March 1836. It is important to note that Whitman was the first woman to cross the Rocky Mountains and her journey began 20 years before Knight and 30 years before Tortillott went west. There were no traces left by earlier pioneers on Whitman's journey, but that does not necessarily mean his work was more difficult. At the beginning of his journey, Whitman said that lumber was their fuel for cooking food. However, there was no lumber near the Platte, so he used dried buffalo dung instead. Women had to make do with the resources they had and buffalo dung was the cheapest. Thirty years after Whitman's journey, Jane Gould Tortillott recorded that her boys left... middle of paper... now I must leave him here alone." It is important to note that some women did not want to travel west to begin with, but their husbands, fathers or some kind of male figure forced them to go. The women had to re-establish their roles during the journey by trying to cook, wash clothes and do normal “women's jobs” in an atmosphere. constantly changing. The physical demands of lifting, pushing, unpacking the cart, etc. challenged their roles because these types of demands were "men's work." Women struggled to keep up with the emotional demands and physics of the movement westward, as well as trying to find one's identity The diaries of Narcissa Whitman, Amelia Stewart Knight and Jane Gould Tortillott as well as the excerpts of Martha Morrison and the story of Catherine Sager all have a common theme: they were doing. their best in this new world..