Select the correct text in the passage.
Which event should be included in a summary of the passage?
Independence Rock
The journey that stretched out 2,200 miles under the hot summer sun began to feel as if it would go on forever. Two and a half
months ago my family filled our covered wagon with food and supplies. Then, we joined 40 other families headed to Oregon. At first,
my sister, Anna, and I were excited about the adventure and the new life awaiting our family at the end of the trail. However, walking
15 miles each day next to our slow-moving oxen on the dusty terrain took its toll on us. Occasionally, when Ma or Pa noticed we were
getting tired, one of us would ride in the wagon, wedged in a small opening between sacks of dried beans and potatoes. The
cramped ride was a short-lived blessing to our sore feet because the extra weight meant extra work for our team of oxen pulling the
wagon.
We had to stick to a tight schedule if we were to cross the mountain passes before the cold months set in bringing snow. So every
day at 4 a.m., the bugler startled us from deep slumbers with his morning wake-up call that clamored over the camp. Since I was
almost 11 and old enough to help, I joined my pa and the rest of the men and boys to help round up the cows, horses, and oxen that
grazed in the fields during the night. At the same time, the women and girls cooked Johnny cakes and bacon over the simmering
camp fires. By 7 a.m. all of the wagons were repacked with breakfast dishes and bedding and lined up to continue the long journey.
We had started the trip as 40 separate families, but nearly 100 days later, we had become one. The older children, like myself and
Anna, who was 11, helped take care of younger kids along the way. We shared our food and water rations with families who had
less. We helped repair each other's wagons when rough patches on the trail caused wheels to come loose. And we chipped in by
doing extra chores whenever someone fell ill. I wondered how we would break this bond at the end of the journey when families
would go their own way to clear the trees on their newly claimed land, to build their own houses, to plant their own crops, to start their
new lives.
The dust stuck to my sweaty face as we plodded on, each day blending with the next. But one day I looked beyond the front of our
train and saw something. Hope. A huge piece of granite spread out like a giant tortoise on the desert floor. We had reached
Independence Rock before July 4. To our large wagon train family, this meant everything. We were right on schedule and would avoid
the weather that could trap us in the mountain passes. And, we were more than half way to our new lives. Anna and I clambered to
the top of the rock as fast as we could. Names of those gone before us were etched in the piece of granite. Pa handed me the chisel
and hammer and I began my work on the massive stone: Joe, 10, and Anna, 11 - July 2, 1854.