American History

The Oregon Trail was considered one of the main overland migration routes of the United States from1841 to 1869, with the heaviest migrations occurring in the 40s. The migration trail began at the Missouri River and traveled onto the Pacific Northwest, with Oregon as its final destination. This vast migration of travelers consisted of business men, bankers, missionaries, settlers, ex-convicts, farmers and ranchers. Further feeder migration trails veered from different locations on the eastern end of the Oregon Trail the 1,300-mile Mormon Trail the 2,000-mile California Trail and the Bozeman Trail that connected Montana to the Oregon Trail. The history of the Salt Lake Trail is the history of the Oregon, California and Mormon trails, reaching a point near Soda Spring, Idaho. However, once the first transcontinental railroad was finished in 1869, long distance Oregon Trail travelers began to ebb after the Northern Pacific Railroad reached Portland, Oregon in 1883.

The Oregon Trail
The Oregon Trail commenced because of the economic depression from 1837 to 1841, caused by industrial overkill and future speculation of the coming railroad and canals. Additionally, the 1839 collapse of the international fur trade helped intensify the situation in a country with 11 million citizens heavily located on the eastern coast. 1 Zealot missionary societies felt the American Indians out West were ripe candidates for European ideals of civilization and Christianity, and were more than willing to head out West to convert the savages. 2 The superior attitude of white men toward the Native Americans of the time did not make things easier on the Oregon Trail travelers who would be soon traveling in their midst, as described by Francis Parkmen in his journal, The Oregon Trail Sketches of Prairie and Rocky-Mountain Life. Vol. II.

Having been domesticated for several weeks among one of the wildest of the hordes that roam over the remote prairies, I had unusual opportunities of observing them, and flatter myself that a sketch of the scenes that passed daily before my eyes may not be devoid of interest. They know nothing of the power and the real character of the white men, and their children would scream in terror when they saw me. Their religion, superstitions, and prejudices were the same handed down to them from immemorial times .

Prior to traveling to Oregon on the Oregon Trail, the journey took about a year to complete on water. People would board ships on the east coast and travel downward to Cape Horn, then travel to the Columbia River and Willamette Valley via the Pacific Coast. With the Oregon Trail consisting of a series of trails, the main trail was across Kansas and Nebraska by following the Platte River to Wyomings Fort Laramie. A journey that would take six months to complete, it was always influenced by unknown weather, diseases, natural disasters, and scarcity of food and water for both man and beast.

The first written documented proof of traveling over the Oregon Route was by Nathaniel J. Wyatt and Jedidiah S. Smith in 1826, and Captain Benjamin L.E. Bonneville and party in 1832 that traveled over the Rocky Mountains South Pass. 4 After this, the trail became a primary traveling source for historic travelers who wished to reach Oregon for one reason or another. In 1858, a Prairie Manuel was written by Randolph Barnes Marcy, Captain of the U.S. Army, to make it easier for young travelers to travel on overland expeditions across the United States. He describes the Oregon Trail as well-tracked and defined, and, excepting about twenty miles of hog wallow prairie near Powder-horn, is an excellent road for carriages and wagons. Travelers who bring their livestock with them were advised to travel around May 1st, as the grass was sufficient to feed the cattle, oxen and horses. Anytime after that would cause their possible death, as previous livestock would have eaten the prairie grass with summer heat preventing it from growing again. He also advised on the weight of the wagons

Wagons with six mules should never, on a long journey over the prairies, be loaded with over 2000 pounds, unless it is transported, when an additional thousand pounds may be taken, provided it is fed out daily to the team. When grass constitutes the only forage, 2000 pounds is deemed a sufficient load.

The people of the Oregon Trail came from a wide variety of backgrounds and cultures, easily seen in the diaries and journals left behind from this epic period in history. Many sources describe individuals such as Jim Bridger, Joe Meek, Jedidiah Smith, the Whitman Family (People in the American West and Whitman Massacre), Coon Oregon Trail Diary and William Porters Diary as part of our written documentation of this historical roadway.  However, what seemed to matter the most with all of them was the law of the wagon trains and wagon clusters for everyone to get along for their ultimate survival.  Even so, over 10 or 20,000 to 30,000 travelers died because of cholera, a bacterial disease in the bowels which caused severe vomiting and diarrhea. The resulting dehydration would cause the sick individual to die within hours of being exposed.  It spread rapidly because of poor sanitation and affected water on the trail, with the years 1849, 1850, and 1852 considered the peak of the cholera epidemic resulting in thousands of deaths.

Against the popular opinion, emigrant travelers who died from Indian attacks were less than 1 in number, according to actual documentation found during that time.6 In fact, according to the Oregon Bureau of Land Management, most encounters between the Indians and emigrants were mutually advantageous and peaceful. Historical records show the stereotypical savages we hear about is false, with much of this information coming from white and Euro-American writers who glorified the West at this time. This caused extreme paranoia about the Indian race to Oregon Trail travelers.

The Native American tribes along the Oregon Trail route consisted of Comanche, Pawnee, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Shoshone, Paiute, Walla Walla, Arikara, Oto, Umatilla, Kansa, Nez Perce, and Bannock. When describing them, many emigrant writers would place different tribal cultures under one sub-group as they were confused with different languages and customs of the tribes. What killings did occur were because of theft, paranoia, and retaliation, with many incorrect scenarios written about the tribe who did it.

A study included in John Unruhs book The Plains Across estimates 362 emigrants and 426 Indians were killed due to altercations on the Oregon Trail between 1840 and 1860. Most violence and fatalities came from small skirmishes due to paranoia, retaliation, or theft. Indians did not attack full speed at circled wagons or large wagon trains as frequently scripted in Hollywood productions. As accomplished military strategists, natives realized they would be at a disadvantage in such an encounter.

A major leading cause of death for the Oregon Trail travelers was wagon accidents,  drownings at river crossings, and from firearms.  Other developing situations like fatigue and poor nutrition caused many emigrants to die of food poisoning, typhoid, childbirth, and tick fever (mountain fever).  These individuals who died were buried in the middle of the Oregon Trail roadway for wagon wheels to pack the soil, preventing grave-robbers and animals from dragging away the body remains. Others were buried in the middle of the plains, covered with rocks and stones. Settlers and travelers who did not make it were buried en masse graves, with families all placed in one grave or those of a group or wagon train all buried together. 7 Unfortunately, at the same time cattle and oxen were dying because of the alkali water on the plains. By the time many travelers reached Oregon, they were without necessities and money as they were forced to reduce their loads en route, due to the loss and strength of their teams.

The Oregon Trail was known to be an established Indian highway long before it was used by early trappers, explorers and hunters  now known as Highway 30 with a distance of 3,073 miles. Alignments of the old Oregon Trail are still extant and predate todays highway and freeway, with the historical trail approximately 2,170 miles in length.

Recently, over 24 students from the United States embarked on a two-week journey of the Oregon Trail, captured on film  for In Pursuit of a Dream by Candy Moulton.  The screening of the documentary film will be on May 8th at 1 pm  and May 9th at noon CST, featured during the Buffalo Bill Historical Centers Traces of Tradition Festival.  The 24 students will learn about history by recreating the Oregon Trail experiences  living in tents, riding on mules and horse drawn wagons, walking the trail, and wearing settler clothing.

At the time, the Oregon Trail was not only the longest of the overland routes but the best traveling route to reach western United States, especially for those who traveled with supplies, tools and livestock to begin a new life. It is estimated that approximately 650,000 people made the trip with one-third immigrating to Oregon, another one-third going to California, and the remaining one-third immigrating to Utah, Colorado, and Montana. There is a wide opinion that if it were not for the Oregon Trail, the American West would have belonged to Canada or Mexico.