CHICKEN GIRL (LOUISE PRATT)

Emigrant children were comforted by a variety of pets. Dogs, cats, birds, horses, ponies, calves, and pet lambs made the journey. Oxen were often considered more of a pet than a beast of burden. Wild animals such as buffalo calves and baby antelope were adopted enroute.

The Pratt family children had pet chicken for a companion. “Going through the willows a slat was torn off the chicken coop and only surviving hen was lost out. We did not miss her till we camped at night. When the children found she was gone they could scarcely be restrained from going back on foot to recover the lost treasure. ‘such an extraordinary hen, that knew the wagon where she belonged and laid all her eggs in it, and had travelled a thousand miles!'”