Laurie D'Audney
My mother's father's family, the Woottens, were part of a wagon train from April 1863 to Sept. 1864 that travelled from Illinois to California. From 1926 to 1944, Clarence Wootten wrote down the oral histories from surviving wagon train participants. This is a story of how the family became in possession of a Jefferson Peace Medal. Not a proud tale, but an interesting one.
From 1804 to 1806, the Lewis and Clark expedition presented at least 89 Jefferson Peace Medals to Indians they met along the way. The medals bore the image of President Thomas Jefferson with the inscription on one side, "Th. Jefferson President of the US AD 1801." The reverse side said, "Peace and Friendship" with an image of clasped hands and a crossed tomahawk with a peace pipe.
The large wagon train had a great many teenage boys. All along the trail they investigated new and strange objects they came upon. One day they found an Indian burial site near Fort Kearney, Nebraska. The Indians typically used trees for funeral pyres but along the Platte River they made structures of driftwood. The boys pillaged the site looking for valuables, including arrows, trinkets and coins. In this grave they found a special treasure, a Jefferson Peace Medal. Although they were proud of their find, the adults were worried that the Indians might retaliate. They were asked to return the medal to the grave but they feared it was too dangerous.
The boys said they threw the medal away when they were a safe distance from where it had been stolen. Whether it was discarded or not, it made its way to California and remains in the possession of a descendent of the wagon train.
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