I tried to be brave for the sake of my husband and child, and at three o'clock there came to us a dear little daughter, with no one near to help, comfort or relieve. It is useless to say how I got along. I simply endured without complaint. I was so sure that both the baby and I would die that all fear was gone. "We named the little girl Sierra Nevada, in honor of her birth place." In this description, Virginia Wilcox Ivins relates only one of many desperate circumstances pioneer women faced during emigration from Iowa to California. The 1849 Gold Rush was on and, like many young people, they had more courage than sense. A few days later, on resuming their journey, she and her children tried to sleep in the wagon: "On going over a rough place in the road the gun fell down close to my head and went off within a few inches of my face, setting fire to the cover." Illness, Indians, and wild animals were all encountered against a backdrop of astounding scenery. Hardship came almost every day.