Gen Tales
Allen Curtis, 9 Years, Crushed By Covered Wagon … Lives
“Little Allen Curtis,” age 9, was one of five pre-teen boys in the Pella Company wagon train heading to California in 1864. Others included Warren Baxter Earp (age 11), John James Rousseau (age 12), Albert Rousseau (age 8), and one “Little” Oscar Hamilton whose age is unconfirmed. In this tale as old as time, they all end up in a scrape or two along the Old Oregon Trail.
It has been said that boys at this age are made of snails and puppy dog tails [1] or, more recently, that their bones are made of rubber. And I am glad for it! My own kiddo at this age did almost everything I could think of to get himself into a heap of mud, splintered like a cactus, scraped from head-to-toe, falling from a tree into a yard of rocks, and even bruised, stubbed, broken, and busted in ways I had never thought of. No matter how many “Be careful” cautions I issued, whenever he and his friends went out to play, someone came back needing a band-aid. Thank goodness for the mega-sized boxes!
The Curtises Go West
In 1864, the Curtis family left Iowa to avoid Union conscriptions. After pioneering the quaint little town of Pella, Iowa, in 1844, patriarch Israel Curtis founded Central College and the first Baptist church in the city. He was an outspoken Democrat and a strong pacificist. His opposition to using violence to solve problems was a tricky stance to uphold during Civil War times. He was also the District Attorney for Marion County and was known to be judicious and honorable — so much so that he was nominated to become a State Senator in 1863. But as long as the Civil War raged on, remaining in the state would pose a threat to his adult sons (William, 26 and Richard, 21), who may have already been conscripted and a sky-high deferral or replacement fee paid from Israel’s coffers.
In May of 1864, Israel Curtis joined a covered wagon outfit comprised of the families of notable Iowa pioneers: Nicholas Earp (father of Wyatt Earp, also from Pella), John Hamilton Jr. (son of another Pella pioneer), and Dr. James Rousseau (original pioneer settler of present-day Bussey, Iowa).
*Side note: The Rousseaus are the author’s 3rd great-grandparents.
Israel’s wife, Lucy Holman Curtis, was the daughter of an Indiana Justice of the Peace. She was a virtuous woman and devoted mother of ten. She birthed her ninth baby just days before the journey and her tenth appeared that December (seven months later).
Allen Vail Curtis (1855–1906) was baby number six.
Accidents Happen!
Well, twenty-one days into the journey, Allen gave his mother quite the scare. The account of his crushing by covered wagon wheel come from the 1864 Diary of Mrs. Sarah Jane Rousseau [2] and from an 1865 letter written by Nicholas Earp [3].
On June 2nd, Sarah Rousseau writes that she was in Council Bluffs, Iowa, waiting for a ferry to cross the Missouri River into Omaha. The Rousseaus get on a ferry before the Curtises (there was only so much weight per ferry load). And as soon as the Rousseaus were on their way, Allen took a spill.
She wrote [2]:
“…We packed up … and started for the ferry, got there about one o’clock. Dick Curtis was on the boat coming after us, he said one of his little brothers fell out of their waggon and was very badly hurt. He had to wait until the ferry boat went over and back again before we could cross, there is so many going.”
Nicholas Earp fills in some of the missing details. In his letter, he includes [3]:
“well hear we go across the Missouri River as you know we had to do to cross the plains[.] just before we got to the River at the crossing place little Allen Curtis fell from the mule waggon and it ran over him and came verry near killing him…”
The Oregon/California Trail Center in Idaho discusses this danger in their “Trail Basics” article [4].
“According to Peter D. Olch, being run over by wagon wheels was the most frequent cause of injury or death. Both children and adults could slip while getting out of a wagon and fall beneath the wheels. Children were especially susceptible…”
As common as these events may be, as a mother, I automatically question how the kiddos are suddenly bounced off, accidentally slip off, or otherwise fall out of a moving vehicle when they are supposed to be paying attention, staying seated, or holding on. Then again, accidents do happen.
What Happens When Crushed Under A Wagon?
When I pondered this, I was reminded of another young boy’s story and the gory details he shared in an interview about his journey from Iowa that same year. This boy was John Ellerbroek, also from Pella, Iowa. His mother, Jannetje Mars, was one of the original Dutch immigrants who settled in Pella with Rev. Hendrick Scholte [5]. She was a mother of eight and on her third marriage at the time. John Ellerbroek, a son by her second husband, was twelve years old upon their departure to Oregon.
On June 12, just one day after camping with the Pella Company on Wood River in Nebraska, John recalled [6]:
“I had an accident. While my brother and I were riding on our big wagon, our hired man who drove the oxen was having a lot of fun with one of the women we had picked up, and Peter said to him, ‘Let me drive awhile with the whip,’ and the hired man let him do it.”
Before we move too much further from that point, the “hired man” was twenty-three-year-old Gerrit Roorda, a diarist and teamster for Lutje Mars. I have no idea who this woman was that they “picked up” and do wonder what was going on when he was having “fun” with her. My guesses conflict with the strict religious values the family had. Granted, this story is coming from a pre-teen boy remembering things as an eighty-year-old, so I’ll reserve some of my opinions. In any case, Gerrit appears to have stopped supervising the driving of the covered wagon, leaving the operation to thirteen-year-old Peter and his little brother.
John continues:
“When Peter had driven for some distance, I said to Peter, ‘Let me try it once,’ and Peter gave me the whip. As I swung the long whip out, trying to crack it, I lost my balance and fell on the tongue of the wagon and then on the ground and the front wheel went over me … and the rear wheel went over me, too. They picked me up for dead.
It is a wonder that I lived to tell it, for it was the big wagon of stepfather Mars… and it had two and a half tons of freight on it. They noticed that I still lived, and they made a soft bed for me in the family wagon, where I lay for many days. Mother made a bandage around my body and wet it with salt and vinegar and kept it wet all the time.
I was unconscious for a long while and when I regained consciousness … At first, I could not move a finger, but gradually, I began to move about … And the strange thing was that … the same thing happened on a wagon train that was ahead of us. A boy also fell out of a wagon and under the wheels and he was instantly killed. We passed them when they were burying him. His intestines were crushed and he lived but a few minutes.”
Gerrit Roorda’s diary is much less detailed, but he confirms [7]:
“The boy of L. Mars fell out of the wagon and both wheels run over him. He was about 12 years old and got hurt pretty bad.”
Who Saved Allen… And How?
After Dr. James Rousseau finished his ferry ride to Omaha, then crossesd back to Council Bluffs with his medical supplies, he was able to treat Allen’s injury. Sarah Rousseau claims that under the doctor’s care, Allen saw improvements within ten days.
“Mr. Curtis’s little boy that fell out of the waggon and got so badly hurt is getting better [2].”
I can’t say what the extent of the injury was, but I do wonder if the salt and vinegar wraps were involved somehow in the treatment. They are more than just an old wives’ tale, after all. Vinegar compresses and diluted soaks have been used to heal wounds from as far back as the BC days [8]. They can reduce inflammation and prevent infections.
That last diary entry is dated June 12… Again, one day after camping with the Mars family on Wood River. Perhaps this wound care protocol was observed by Mrs. Mars during their time together and she repeated it on Dr. Rousseau’s recommendation?
Nicholas Earp also comments on Allen’s recovery, stating, “the boy got well and on we went with tolerable good luck and speed” [3].
Allen’s Continued Adventures In California
When the Pella Company finally reached San Bernardino that December 18, Nicholas Earp recorded, “Curtis and Rusaw is in the San Bernardino and are all well [3].”
Israel did not stay in the area long. Only his eldest son, William, stayed to become a pioneer citizen. In 1868, Israel and Lucy took their other, younger kids with them to the Los Angeles area. Again, Israel established new Baptist churches. In fact, he started three in Orange County, starting with a frontier-style redwood sanctuary in 1876.
“His original church, a small white building later became the wedding chapel at Knotts Berry Farm in Buena Park [9].”
His second church is still in operation as the First Baptist Church of Downey (near Long Beach) and his third was established in Los Nietos.
Israel’s weekday job on the U.S. Censuses read “farmer,” and from the age of sixteen, Allen was listed as working for his father on a small piece of land. For some reason, Allen never married and remained with his parents as a bachelor. When his father passed away in 1883, Allen assumed the role as sole caretaker for his mother. The city directory of ‘84 shows him employed as an “orchardist.”
Allen continued working in the orchard until around 1900, when the U.S. Census shows him living in downtown L.A. working as one of the very first electric streetcar conductors. At the age of forty-five, and in this new career, I can only hope his falling-off-a-moving-vehicle days were well out of his system.
About the Author:
Janelle Molony, M.S.L. is an award-winning freelancer and nonfiction author from Phoenix, Arizona. She has a particular interest in women-centric stories and local history. Her writing has been featured in magazines and journals such as History Nebraska, The Michigan Historical Review, Minnesota Genealogist, Annals of Wyoming, the Tombstone Epitaph, and more.
Her latest book, Emigrant Tales of the Platte River Raids (M Press, 2023) just launched as the Number 1 Hot Release for Biographies of the American Civil War on Amazon. It features the Rousseau Family’s 1864 journey across the Great Plains and the life-or-death battle that awaited them mid-way.
See more from the author by following on Medium and on social media. More publications by Molony can be found on her official author webpage.
Continue Exploring:
More on the Curtis family experience during the 1864 trip across the Plains can be found in this essay by descendant and family historian, Pam Greenwood. The introduction of the electric streetcar is also quite an interesting side quest. If anyone is interested, check out these related articles: Experiences of a Street Car Conductor & Streetcar History.
In-Text Citations:
1. “What Are Little Boys Made Of” (Nursery Rhyme).
2. Sarah Rousseau, The 1864 Diary of Mrs. Sarah Jane Rousseau (Phoenix: M Press Publishing, 2023).
3. Nicholas Earp, “Handwritten Letter From Nicholas Earp to James Coplea, April 2, 1865,” Pella Community Memory Database, Pella Public
Library [Identifier: 2019.1.62.11].
4. “Trail Basics — Dangers,” National Oregon/California Trails Center.
5. “History of Pella, Iowa,” Pella Historical Society.
6. John Ellerbroek, “The Oregon Trail,” in Charles L. Dyke’s The Story of Sioux County, 2nd ed., (Orange City: n.p., 1942: 408–409).
7. Gerrit Roorda, “Day Book of Gerrit E. Roorda, 1861 [sic, 1864],” in Roorda Family History. Private publishing by William Frans Brunia, 1984, 37–34. (Copy held in Geisler Library Archives of Central College in Pella, IA.)
8. “Acetic Acid and Wound Healing,” Dermatology Times, Dec. 7, 2022.
9. Nicholas R. Cataldo, “Curtis family made an impression locally after difficult 1864 wagon train,” San Bernardino Sun, May 22, 2015.
