The Oregon Trail Introduction The Oregon Trail was much more than a pathway to the state of Oregon; it was the only practical corridor to the entire western United States. The places we now know as Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Idaho and Utah would probably not be a part of the United States today were it not for the Oregon Trail. That's because the Trail was the only feasible way for settlers to get across the mountains. The journey west on the Oregon Trail was exceptionally difficult by today's standards. One in 10 died along the way; many walked the entire two-thousand miles barefoot. The common misperception is that Native Americans were the emigrant's biggest problem en route. Quite the contrary, most native tribes were quite helpful to the emigrants. The real enemies of the pioneers were cholera, poor sanitation and--surprisingly--accidental gunshots. The first emigrants to go to Oregon in a covered wagon were Marcus and Narcissa Whitman (and Henry and Eliza Spalding) who made the trip in 1836. But the big wave of western migration did not start until 1843, when about a thousand pioneers made the journey. That 1843 wagon train, dubbed "the great migration" kicked off a massive move west on the Oregon Trail. Over the next 25 years more than a half million people went west on the Trail. Some went all the way to Oregon's Willamette Valley in search of farmland--many more split off for California in search of gold. The glory years of the Oregon Trail finally ended in 1869, when the transcontinental railroad was completed. Actual wagon ruts from the Oregon Trail still exist today in many parts of the American West; and many groups are working hard to preserve this national historic treasure. Hardships Walking 2,000 miles barefoot Above: Crossing the Platte River. Drownings here were common. RIVER CROSSINGS River crossings were a constant source of distress for the pioneers. Hundreds drowned trying to cross the Kansas, North Platte and Columbia Rivers--among others. In 1850 alone, 37 people drowned trying to cross one particularly difficult river--the Green. Emigrant John B. Hill: "The ferryman allowed too many passengers to get in the boat, and the water came within two inches of the gunwale. He ordered every man to stand steady as the boat was liable to swamp. When we were nearly across the edge of the boat dipped; I thought the boat would be swamped instantly and drowned the last one of us." Those who didn't drown were usually fleeced. The charge ranged up to 16 dollars; almost the price of an oxen. One ferry earned $65,000 in just one summer. The emigrants complained bitterly. WALKING Because most emigrants grossly overloaded their wagons, few could ride inside. Instead most walked--many made the entire 2,000 mile journey on foot. ACCIDENTS The emigrant wagons didn't have any safety features. If someone fell under the massive wagon wheels, death was instant. Many lost their lives this way. Most often, the victims were children. Edward Lenox: "A little boy fell over the front end of the wagon during our journey. In his case, the great wheels rolled over the child's head----crushing it to pieces." WEATHER Great thunderstorms took their toll. A half-dozen emigrants were killed by lightning strikes; many others were injured by hail the size of apples. Pounding rains were especially difficult for the emigrants because there was no shelter on the open plains and the covered wagons eventually leaked. CHOLERA Perhaps the biggest problem on the Trail was a mysterious and deadly disease--called cholera for which there was no cure. Often, an emigrant would go from healthy to dead in just a few hours. Sometimes they received a proper burial, but often, the sick would be abandoned, in their beds, on the side of the trail. They would die alone. Making matters worse were animals that regularly dug up the dead and scattered the trail with human bones and body parts. Emigrant Agnes Stewart: "We camped at a place where a woman had been buried and the wolves dug her up. Her hair was there with a comb still in it. She had been buried too shallow. It seems a dreadful fate, but what is the difference? One cannot feel after the spirit is flown." Cholera killed more emigrants than anything else. In a bad year, some wagon trains lost two- thirds of their people. Emigrant John Clark: "One woman and two men lay dead on the grass and some more ready to die. Women and children crying, some hunting medicine and none to be found. With heartfelt sorrow, we looked around for some time until I felt unwell myself. Got up and moved forward one mile, so as to be out of hearing of crying and suffering." Historic Sites On the Oregon Trail If the links do not work, pick a location from the list and Google it within the time period of 1843-1869. Example: “Independence Missouri 1843-1869” Missouri Oregon St. Louis Grande Ronde Independence The Dalles St. Joseph Oregon City Westport Barlow Road Iowa Washington Council Bluffs Whitman Mission Fort Vancouver Kansas Wyoming Shawnee Mission Fort Laramie Alcove Spring Fort Caspar Nebraska Independence Rock Rock Creek Station Devils Gate Fort Kearny South Pass Ash Hollow Fort Bridger Courthouse Rock Idaho Chimney Rock Fort Hall Scotts Bluffs Craters of the Moon Shoshone Falls 3 Island Crossing Fort Boise Weird Wagons ABOVE: Wind Wagon An Oregon-bound airline, in 1849? Don't laugh--it almost happened. Rufus Porter, founder of Scientific American, planned to fly pioneers to Oregon on propeller-driven balloons powered by steam engines. He advertised the endeavor, and 200 brave souls signed up for the trip. But the "airline" never got off the ground. Then there was the wind wagon, a cross between a sailboat and a wagon. Because it can be very windy in the West, it seemed like a good idea on paper. A prototype was built, and for a brief moment it barreled across the plains at the advertised 15 miles per hour. Then it went out of control and crashed. The inventor, "Wind-Wagon Thomas," kept trying for years, but never succeeded. Others took a more low-tech approach, making the trip with only a simple wheelbarrow. It's hard to imagine pushing a fully loaded wheelbarrow for 2,000 miles, but several dozen people tried. For a time, they could outpace everything on the Trail, but human endurance has its limits. It is uncertain whether any of them made it all the way. Mormon handcarts were somewhat more sophisticated. Like wheelbarrows, they were human- powered, but handcarts were pulled, not pushed. Thousands of handcarts made it to Salt Lake City, Utah, but there is no record of anyone taking a handcart further west. (UPDATE: Reader Tony Clapier says he owns a handcart that DID make it all the way to Oregon. It was owned by Robert Stanley. Stanley's family spent the winter in Salt lake City and then followed an emigrant train to Enterprise, Oregon to settle--pulling their handcart with the train. Eventually the family moved to Idaho to homestead and brought the cart with them.) .