October 29th
On October 29th, in her diary, Eliza expressed her hopes for the future “we are now preparing to leave in a few days, to locate, we trust for life, in the Nez-Perces country….. Thus it seems we are about to go to our respective fields, ….. single-handed and alone. May the unerring hand of our covenant God be extended to guide, assist and protect us, and bless us……”
Narcissa took a last opportunity to write to her family until the spring and wrote a long letter about the preparations for traveling to the missions. She wrote “we are greatly blessed in finding conveniences for building housekeeping etc. far, very far from our expectations when we left home.” A stove was purchased as well as “enough sheet iron for the pipe”, tinware was made, blacksmiths made farming utensils. Bedding was limited to blankets, no sheets, and Narcissa commented that she had “found a piece of bleach linen which I take for sheets, the only one in the store price 75 cents per yard.” She wrote “everything we could wish for to make s comfortable contented and happy is at hand. I could not have received more attention at home than I have here. … Beloved friends, all comfort your hearts concerning us. The Lord has provided and the Lord will provide for us, even to the end of our pilgrimage here.”
The mission party left Fort Vancouver on November 3, Henry and Eliza in one boat; Narcissa accompanied by John McLeod in the other, to the tune of a farewell hymn sung by the children. They expected to travel for two weeks to the mission sites.
The journey was almost over and a new adventure was to begin.