In March 1852, against the wishes of Anne Scott, who had concerns about her health, John organized a party of 30 people and 5 ox-drawn wagons to emigrate to Oregon, 2,400 miles (3,900 km) away by trail.

Soon afterward, Benjamin was permanently disabled in an accident involving a runaway team, and Abigail had to support the family.

Angered by stories of injustice and mistreatment relayed to her by married patrons of her shop, and encouraged by Benjamin, she moved to Portland in 1871 to found The New Northwest, a weekly newspaper devoted to women's rights, including suffrage.

[2][4][5] Before addressing the Oregon legislature, Abigail Scott Duniway toured the Pacific Northwest in the company of the famous Susan B. Anthony, one of the leading voices in the Women's Suffrage movement.

Her brother Harvey W. Scott, who also edited The Oregonian and later contributed to The New Northwest, opposed woman suffrage in many editorials on the subject.

[9] She wrote a booklet called My Musings after attending a convention of the National Woman Suffrage Association in 1872.

Her last publication was Path Breaking: An Autobiographical History of the Equal Suffrage Movement in Pacific Coast States, in 1914.