Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Retrospective Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 1977 Dress of the Oregon Trail emigrants: 1843 to 1855 Maria Barbara McMartin Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd Part of the American Material Culture Commons, Fashion Design Commons, Home Economics Commons, and the United States History Commons Recommended Citation McMartin, Maria Barbara, "Dress of the Oregon Trail emigrants: 1843 to 1855" (1977). Retrospective Theses and Dissertations. 16715. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd/16715 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Retrospective Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Dress of the Oregon Trail emigrants: 1843 to 1855 by Maria Barbara McMartin A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Partial Fulfillment of The Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE Major: Textiles and Clothing Signatures have been redacted for privacy Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 1977 ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION 1 FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO THE MIGRATION TO OREGON 5 THE OREGON TRAIL 13 PREPARATIONS FOR THE JOURNEY TO OREGON 19 CLOTHING AND ACCESSORIES OF EMIGRATING FAMILIES 28 THE EFFECT OF TRAIL LIFE ON CLOTHING 57 CARING FOR CLOTHING ALONG THE TRAIL 61 CONCLUSIONS AND SUMMARY 65 SOURCES CITED 68 ADDITIONAL MANUSCRIPTS CONSULTED 73 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 76 iii LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1. Model of Conestoga-type wagon on display in Oregon Historical Society exhibit 22 Figure 2.