I have several Oregon Trail ancestors: James H Ward b. 26 Apr 1831 in Lexington, Lafayette, Missouri, the son of David Ward and Nancy S. Holman, date of immigration is unknown. He married Nancy Holman 20 Jun 1852 in Monmouth, Polk, Oregon. Yes, his mother and wife had the same name, and I suspect that they are related. It was James H Ward's half-brother, Alexander Ward who, along with his wife and all but two of their children, were murdered in the Ward Massacre in present day Canyon County, Idaho on 20 Aug 1854. In The Ward Massacre at http://home.att.net/~ptnmel/ward-massacre.html, Paul Tonning and Marilee Elizabeth Locklear attribute the Ward Massacre as "the precursor of the Yakima Indian War". The Holmans and the Bowmans 1847 James Sanders Holman and his wife Mary Ann Bowman, along with their children and her parents, John and Elizabeth Bowman, crossed the plains as part of The Missouri Company with John Nathaniel "Nat" Bowman, son of John and Elizabeth Bowman, as Captain. Children of James Sanders Holman and Mary Ann Bowman included Nancy Holman (who married James H Ward), Hardy Holman, John Holman, Rev Preston H Holman, and Nathaniel Holman. Due to conflicting information, I cannot tell if their son Amos was born before or after they crossed. What I have indicates that they crossed with 50 wagons, and in his book, Thunder Over the Ochoco Distant Thunder Volume II, Gale Ontko states that "The Missouri Company, numbering 16 wagons and led by Nathaniel Bowman, arrived at The Dalles on August 23, 1847 ...". This was third trip for Nat Bowman. Gale Ontko chronicles problems with they had with Indians, the really bad advice they received, and the consequences of taking this really bad advice. The Missourians fled into the Cascades from the Walla Wallas, and ended up being lost for days before they were rescued by the militia. I thought that this was one of the contributing tensions that led to the Whitman Massacre, but I did not include that in my database, and I have returned the book. Archibald Gibson and Elizabeth Kent Archibald and Elizabeth Gibson left Missouri in 1850 joining one of Captains Ankneys' wagon treks to Oregon. In Oregon Territory, they settled on the Long Tom River near Eugene, on an Oregon Donation Land Claim. Their son George William Gibson, my gg grandfather, was born 6 May 1849 in Warren County, Missouri. Other children included Lewis Dozier Gibson, Susan Lucinda Gibson, Lucinda Jane Gibson, Malinda Paradino Gibson, John Archibald Gibson, and Sarah Ann Gibson. Their son Thomas Milton Gibson was born 22 Oct 1853 in Lane County, Oregon. Their oldest son, Joseph, died in 1835 in Missouri. Elizabeth Kent is the half-sister of Andrew Kent who died at The Alamo. Those who took the southern route to California: John Guinn Ray crossed in 1846, with his second wife Harriet and children including my ggg grandmother, Martha Jane Ray. Martha Jane Ray married John Milton Cantrell, below, whose second wife was Susan Cruse (Crews). Susan Cruse was the widow of Nathaniel Mitchell Ward. Nathaniel Mitchell Ward was the brother of the Alexander Ward who died in the Ward Massacre and the half-brother of James H Ward, the first person I listed at the top of this post. Other/Not sure about John Milton Cantrell, who married Martha Jane Ray, came to Oregon in 1846 and served in the Cayuse War. He emigrated from California to Lane County, Oregon in 1866 per the Mary B "Molly" Cantrell Gibson interview in 4 Aug 1939 Crook County News. Erica Iverson