The Road to No Where: The Oregon Trail

Friday, May 11, 2012

Bibliography

Aronin, Miriam. How Many People Traveled the Oregon Trail? N.p.: Lerner Publishing Group , 2012.

Bagley, Will. So Rugged and Mountainous. Vol. 1. Overland West. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2010.

“Basic Facts About the Oregon trail.” Bureau of Land Managment. Accessed March 3, 2012. http://www.blm.gov/‌or/‌oregontrail/‌history-basics.php.

Dary, David. The Oregon Trail; An American Saga. New York: Alfred A. Knope, 2004.

Pringle, Catherine Sager. Across the Plains in 1844. Fairfield. Galleon Press, 1993. Originally published in Whitman College Quarterly. 1897.

Rumer, Thomas A. The Emigrating Company: The 1844 Oregon Trail Journal of Jacob Hammer. Spokane. Arthur H. Clark Co., 1993

Sinclair to Bartlett, “Sufferings of the California Emigrants”: 29 January 1847, reprinted in Crossroads 8, no. 4, 1997

Sharp, Brief Account of the Experiences, 3.

“Start of the Oregon Trail.” Historic Oregon City. Accessed March 4, 2012. http://www.historicoregoncity.org/‌end-of-the-oregon-trail-history/‌oregon-trail-history/‌131-startoftrail.

Trail Boss. “1950’s Wagon Train, Traveling from Independence, Missouri to the Oregon Trail.” Lecture, The National Oregon/‌California Trail Center, Montpelier, ID, May 6, 2012.

Trinklein, Michael. The Oregon Trail. Amazon Digital Services, 2011. Amazon Kindle Edition.

Primary Sources:

Bagley, Will. So Rugged and Mountainous. Vol. 1. Overland West. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2010.

Dary, David. The Oregon Trail; An American Saga. New York: Alfred A. Knope, 2004.

Pringle, Catherine Sager. Across the Plains in 1844. Fairfield. Galleon Press, 1993. Originally published in Whitman College Quarterly. 1897.

Rumer, Thomas A. The Emigrating Company: The 1844 Oregon Trail Journal of Jacob Hammer. Spokane. Arthur H. Clark Co., 1993

Sinclair to Bartlett, “Sufferings of the California Emigrants”: 29 January 1847, reprinted in Crossroads 8, no. 4, 1997

Sharp, Brief Account of the Experiences, 3.

Secondary Sources:

Aronin, Miriam. How Many People Traveled the Oregon Trail? N.p.: Lerner Publishing Group , 2012.

“Basic Facts About the Oregon trail.” Bureau of Land Managment. Accessed March 3, 2012. http://www.blm.gov/‌or/‌oregontrail/‌history-basics.php.

“Start of the Oregon Trail.” Historic Oregon City. Accessed March 4, 2012. http://www.historicoregoncity.org/‌end-of-the-oregon-trail-history/‌oregon-trail-history/‌131-startoftrail.

Trail Boss. “1950’s Wagon Train, Traveling from Independence, Missouri to the Oregon Trail.” Lecture, The National Oregon/‌California Trail Center, Montpelier, ID, May 6, 2012.

Trinklein, Michael. The Oregon Trail. Amazon Digital Services, 2011. Amazon Kindle Edition.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

The Trail Today

Across the country there are wagon tracks. Under highways, alongside mountains, and across the plains, traces of the trail mark the countryside. The following are a few pictures from the Trail.

Above Photo Credits: Jenni White, Lander Cutoff, offside WY HWY 89

Above Photo Credits: Jenni White, Lander Cutoff, outside of Big Piney, WY

You can see the faint tracks coming off of "The Big Hill" as wagons dug in by locking their breaks to come down the trail. Compare to the illustration below.

Above Photo Credits: Nick White, "The Big Hill" outside of Montpelier, ID

Death was a common occurrence along the Oregon Trail. Statistically, for every mile of trail there are ten graves. From starvation to cholera, snake bites to infections, people died all along the road west. Many of these graves have been found and marked but even more have not been. Too many travelers did not have the time or the wood for proper markers, making thousands of graves along the road unmarked and unknown.[1]

Many people wrote about their experiences along the trail. One such journal was written by Jacob Hammer, who set out with his wife and children in a wagon trail headed for Oregon. Traveling in 1843, he took care to keep notes of their journey west.

“ We traveled all day in a town of the prairie dogs. Many buffalow bones are to be found here. Thomas Vance very sick and has been for several days. Some others not very well. Traveled five miles up the Platte. This afternoon we crossed Unknown Creek.

[June 23] …T. Vance very sick yet. Distance traveled is twenty miles.

[June 24] Stay in camp today for Vance to get better.

[June 25] Vance is no better. Traveled sixteen miles today…

[June 26] Vance is not better. Distance traveled is twenty miles.

[June 27] Our sick man is no better. Some buffalo occasionally brought in. Distance traveled, twenty miles today.

[June 28] Traveled twenty miles. Thomas Vance died this evening about sunset. This man is a member of the Baptist society, the regular Baptists… His faith appeared to be good. He seemed to be sincere… …the young man as he departed sighed one sigh and departed without struggle. And as he opened his eyes and looked up as if he was looking into heaven… He was decently laid out. Now the people … thought best to bury him as quick as the grave could be dug, for mortification had taken place. Some thought to wait till morning the smell would be so great that they could not endure it very well… We had no coffin for him. We dug the grave deep and dug a very neat vault and placed in it some dry grass. And putting a quilt around the corpse we placed it in the vault and laid some pieces of planks on the vault. This formed his coffin… We buried this young man about ten miles up the North fork of the Platte river [on] the North side of the river in the bottom a few rods from the river.”[2]

Men were not the only ones to keep journals of their trials and tribulations. Catherine Sager was a young woman who wrote candidly about her family despite their bad fortune in a way that only a child can:

“We had one wagon, two steady yoke of old cattle, and several young and not well-broken ones. Father was no ox driver and had trouble with these…

Reaching the buffalo country, our father would get some one to drive his team and start on the hunt, for he was enthusiastic in his love of such sport…

August 1^st we nooned in a beautiful grove on the north side of the Platte. We had by this time got used to climbing in and out of the wagon when in motion. While performing this feat that afternoon my dress caught on an axle helve and I was thrown under the wagon wheel, which passed over and badly crushed my limb before father could stop the team…

In a broken voice he exclaimed: “My dear child, your leg is broken all to pieces!”… A surgeon was found and the limb set; then we pushed on the same night to Laramie…

…Sickness became common. Father and the boys were all sick… it soon became apparent that his days were numbered. He was fully conscious of the fact, but could not be reconciled to the thought of leaving his large and helpless family in such precarious circumstances.

The evening before his death we crossed Green River and camped on the bank. Looking where I lay helpless, he said: “Poor child! What will become of you?!”…He said his last hour had come, and his heart was filled with anguish for his family. His wife was ill, the children small, and one likely to be a cripple… He begged the Captian to take charge of them and see them through. This he [Captian] stoutly promised. Father was buried the next day on the banks of the Green River. His coffin was made of two troughs dug out of the body of a tree, but the next year [1845] emigrants found his bleaching bones, as the Indians had disinterred the remains.

…With camp fever and a sore mouth, she [Mother] fought bravely against fate for the sake of her children, but she was taken delirious soon after reaching Fort Bridger and was bed-fast… We traveled a rough road the day she died, and she moaned fearfully all the time. … The tent was set up, the corpse laid out, and the next morning we took the last look at our mother’s face. The grave was near the road; willow brush was laid in the bottom and covered the body, the earth filled in- then the train moved on.

Her name was cut on a head-board, and that was all that could be done. So in twenty-six days we became orphans. Seven children of us, the oldest fourteen and the youngest a babe…”[3]

Catherine and her siblings were adopted by the wagon train and taken to a mission to be raised.

Some of these markers and many modern ones can be found today. The Oregon Trail does still exist, and such markers can be seen alongside. There are even places that bare the wagon wheel ruts from so many traveling the same path. The Oregon Trail was more than a way for the nation to grow; it was a way for the pioneers to extend themselves, to pit themselves against the wilderness and for some, to win.

[1] Michael Trinklein, The Oregon Trail (Amazon Digitial Services, 2011), Amazon Kindle Edition.

[2] David Dary, The Oregon Trail; An American Saga (New York: Alfred A.
Knope, 2004), 124-125.

[3] Ibid, 115-118

Above Photo Credits: Jenni White, graves along the Oregon Trail (aprox. 5 mile stretch) outside of Big Piney, WY.

[1] Michael Trinklein, The Oregon Trail (Amazon Digitial Services, 2011), Amazon Kindle Edition.

The Donner Party ~ The Unspeakable Truth

Photo Credit: http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/WWdonnerP.htm

In June of 1846, the infamous Donner Party left the safety of the eastern towns and struck out onto the Oregon Trail to head west. George Donner was the trail leader as he traveled with his wife, Tamsen Donner and their train. They traveled well with an easy way across the prairie and into the mountains. Stories and pamphlets flew across the lands telling of shortcuts, better trails, and oasis destinations. George had a trail guide telling of the Hasting’s Cutoff; a trail that was supposed to be well traveled, flat, with plenty of water and cut off over one hundred miles of dangerous Sierra-Nevada terrain. Taking a small group from the main one, George took off up this new trail.

The trail was not what it was advertised to be. Rocky, steep terrain met the splintered party. Only thirty miles from the California plains the group was low on supplies, they had no choice but to push onward. An axel on one of the wagons broke enticing the group to break for the night. As they slept, over five feet of snow fell around them, drifting into mountains of snow sixty feet deep. The group was stranded.

During the first three weeks the travelers ate all of their stores and then went without food. In desperation, they butchered the pack animals that had not gotten lost in the storm. The snow continued to fall, adding to the snow pack and walling them in even deeper. When the animals were gone, bones, dirt, leaves and twigs became food. After those resources were reduced to nothing, whispers of cannibalism circled on the wind. In December the first human was consumed. Steps were taken to prevent survivors from eating their kin; meat and other products were labeled well.

Photo Credit: http://www.atsolutions.info/oregon.asp

Survivors were stranded for five months alone in the wilderness with very few supplies and even less food. The party was rescued in two tiers; the weather was so bad that it was impossible to bring everyone out at once. Unfortunately by the time second rescue party was able to find the last of the survivors there was only one man left, surrounded by entrails and a pot of blood on the fire.

John Sinclair, host to the rescue party stated “Yes, stern necessity, and that love of life which even sufferings the most intense cannot vanquish, compelled them to devour their dead.”[1]

George Donner was found dead but his wife was never located. What happened to the Donner party was an unfortunate effect of the impossible need to move west. The need for shortcuts and the desire for better trails led many off to their deaths and the Donner party was no exception. It is easy to look back from our comfortable, warm, fully stocked houses and damn the survivors. To rage that the price for life was too high, to demand that there be retribution for breaking one of humankind’s most controversial taboos. Wait before making such sweeping accusations. Imagine sixty feet of snow. Imagine your child looking to you for something to eat, knowing that she will die if she doesn’t get something, anything, soon. In that position it is not such an easy answer.[2]

[1] Will Bagley, So Rugged and Mountainous, Overland West (Norman:
University of Oklahoma Press, 2010), 1: 319-324.

[2] America: The Story of US, "Westward," History Channel, September 3, 2011.

Packing for the Trip: Boon or Bust from the Beginning

“I could never have believed we could have traveled so far with so little difficulty. Indeed, if we do not experience anything worse, I shall say the trouble is all in getting started.” – Tamsen Donner’s journal [1]

Photo Credit: Nick White, Example of a Farm Wagon
Oregon/California Trail Center, Montpelier, ID

After a family makes the decision to head west, whether for a new beginning or for the free land, the choices they made in what to bring defined much of their trip. A choice of wagons was a common starting place for many. There were many different styles of

wagons, but the most durable was called a “prairie schooner” or simply, a heavy farm wagon. These wagons looked much simpler than they were; counterbalanced with gears and hounds, drop tongues or fixed tongues, and independent axles were all incorporated to the best. Underneath the wagons hung buckets of grease to care for the wagon hubs and other moving parts. The grease concoctions may have differed but the grease helped move things along and helped prevent them from breaking.

Wagons were the most common and the most successful in making the trip across the country. This did not prevent others from stepping outside this ideal; carriages and small carts were seen attempting the trip. They were ill-suited for going; very few made it all the way. These carts were hard on the horses that had to pull them and they did not carry the provisions that were needed. Despite this, there are documented cases of people taking no more than a wheelbarrow full of supplies and making it. Some men drove pack stock across the nation, with multiple animals carrying the supplies for one or two men.

Photo Credit: Nick White, Stock shoes; the oxen shoes were worn on the Oregon Trail.
Oregon/California Trail Center, Montpelier, ID

Stock was another important choice. Horses were flashy and quick, but they were expensive and broke down easier. They also were sought after by Indians, either through fair trade or through raids. Mules were hardier but a little slower. They were also fairly expensive and could be “borrowed” by the natives. Mules do not have a reputation for being steady across water; some even say they would rather drown than swim. Oxen often turned out to be the best bet to make. Cheap to buy, cheaper to feed and easier to maintain, these beasts of burden often made the entire trip. Oxen were not coveted by the Indians and they could be eaten easily if the need arose. They also wore wooden yolks instead of expensive leather harnesses that horses and mules required. While oxen were common, horses and mules did make the pilgrimage successfully despite their down sides.[2]

Whichever animal was chosen to make the journey across the country, people soon became attached to the beasts that pulled their belongings faithfully. When remembering his oxen teams, emigrant Mary Medley Ackley said “I must pay tribute to our when oxen, Dick and Berry, who drew the family wagon all the way across the plains. They were gentle, kind, patient and reliable. I loved them and my heart often ached for them when they tried to hold back the wagon on a steep hill.”[3]

Photo Credit: Nick White, example of a farm wagon and some gear
Oregon/California Trail Center, Montpelier, ID

Milk cows were assets on the Oregon Trail and as such, many were tied to the wagons and pushed west. Fresh milk, cream, and butter were luxuries that were enjoyed by those lucky enough to keep their cow alive. Churning the butter was a very intense chore when done at home, but on the trail a tightly covered bucket tied under the wagon turned to butter as the miles ran under the wheels. Fresh beef came from her trailing calf if the trails proved easy enough for the cow to keep him. Chickens were also brought along in crates to provide fresh eggs and meat.

Photo Credit: Nick White, example of a General Store
Oregon/California Trail Center, Montpelier, ID

Bacon, beans, and biscuits were the main stay for every meal for every family member. Salted pork would stay edible for miles; beans and wheat proved to be the ultimate travel food. Both could last a long time despite the heat and dampness found on the trail. If there were wet, they could easily be dried again before they were either cooked or ground into wheat. Coffee was another vital provision for the family moving west. Not only did the caffeine provide a bit of a kick to keep walking every day, but the act of boiling the water killed whatever bacteria might have been lurking. This saved many from cholera.

Cloth was another supply that was much needed. It could be used to fashion new clothes as the old ones wore out or to patch them as they frayed. Colorful cloth could also

be traded to Indians for other supplies or guidance along the trail. Medicine such as opiates and liniments were also encouraged by wagon bosses for all to carry. Tin lanterns verses the traditional oil lamps were preferred as they did not require the dangerous oil to burn and they did not have glass that would break. Fine china was sold to buy tin plates and cups; one for every member of the party was not necessary. Two pairs of shoes for all were necessary, along with a shoe repair kit. Walking twenty miles per day was hard on shoes.

Over one thousand pounds of equipment had to be packed into the wagons. The stock had to be heavy and healthy enough to make the trip; their provisions, such as oats and shoes, had to be in the wagon as well. Not many people rode in the wagons for these reasons; usually only they very young, very old, or very sick rode. Along the way every family member had a job to do. Some young ones were allowed to play as they walked, but the older ones were required to gather buffalo chips to burn later or to count the wagon wheels turning. By counting the times the wagon wheel turns, the group could keep track of the miles they were making. This was done by tying a rag onto the wheel and counting how many times it went around; it took four hundred and five revolutions on a standard wheel to go one mile. Needless to say, many children lost count. To make up for this, the wagon wheel odometer was invented and sold at many jump off points.

Photo Credit: Nick White, example of a rag odometer and a geared odometer
Oregon/California Trail Center, Montpelier, ID

The ideal time for many wagon trains to leave was in early April. By then the snows had become less harsh and the grasses had begun to grow. This allowed the most time for getting across the dangerous western mountains before the snows fell again. It was a race against time and a fight against Mother Nature to make the trip. From Independence, Missouri to Clover Creek (now Montpelier) Idaho, the trip was fairly easy and twenty miles per day were normal. From Clover Creek onto Oregon, the trails became much less forgiving and ten miles per day were considered excellent. [4]

Due to the constricting time demands, the need for cutoffs and better trails was insistent. Many sprung up along the trail created by people looking to shorten their time. Some worked well, bypassing dangerous aspects of the trail. Others were not shortcuts at all but rather, they were death traps. The most infamous of all the cutoffs was the Hastings cutoff and the ill-fated Donner Party.

[1] America: The Story of US, "Westward," History Channel, September 3, 2011.
[2] Will Bagley, So Rugged and Mountainous, Overland West (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2010), 1:119-170.
[3] Ackley, Crossing the Plains, in Levy, They saw the elephant, 20
[4] Trail Boss, "1950's Wagon Train, Traveling from Independence, Missouri to the Oregon Trail" (lecture, The National Oregon/California Trail Center, Montpelier, ID, May 6, 2012).

America's Desire to Move West

2 Photo Credit: http://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plan/oregon-trail

From the very first European to step foot on North American shores, Americans have had the unrelenting desire to move west. In 1775 Daniel Boone explored the west directly against the British laws designed to keep settlers in the east. He traveled without supplies

and lived off the land as he traveled through the Cumberland Gap into the wilds. Following Boone’s steps and then making their own, Lewis and Clark came west in 1804 to become the first Europeans to travel overland to the Pacific Ocean. Along their way they found a coveted asset: beaver pelts. These thick coated mammals were used for the high fashions of the day and as such were worth the risks associated in obtaining them. The mountain man pursued them with vigor in the eighteen twenties to near extinction. The most prolific of these men was Jed Smith who learned quickly to work with the Indians. Showing Smith the way, the trails were etched deep for more to follow.

3 Photo Credit: http://kdwpt.state.ks.us/news/Hunting/Furharvesting/Furbearer-Gallery/Beaver-Castor-canadensis

The beaver pelts became harder to harvest and silks soon replaced the sleek furs in the fashion trends. The West had been opened and American’s desire to move into the unknown was strong. People moved out along the Native American trails and in the footsteps of the mountain men by the thousands. Riding horses, pushing carts, walking travelers and covered wagons all brought immigrants westward. Averaging ten miles per day, the trip across the country took approximatly six months. Half of all of the travelers were children and one fifth of the women trekking were pregnant.

This ticket to the new frontier was not cheap. Families saved for years or sold everything to fund the trip. A covered wagon with a good team of oxen cost the equivalent of five thousand dollars in today’s money. Ever inventive, drinking water was harvested from the canvas tops of wagons and oxen manure was dried for kindling. This wagon became the family’s ark, carrying one thousand pounds of food and supplies with them. Indians quickly saw an opportunity in the travelers, charging tolls for roads and river crossings. Costs varied, but the averages were approximately ten dollars for roads and one hundred dollars for river crossings in modern money. The road west cost more than money and supplies; the death rates for the travelers were high. There are ten graves for every mile along the Oregon/California trail.[1]

4 Photo Credit: Nick White, "The Big Hill", Oregon/California Trail Center, Montpelier, ID

*An interesting fact: The term “ox”, plural "oxen", refers to any breed of male cattle that was castrated and trained as a working animal. The invention of trains and cars made them obsolete; the word along with the idea of a trained adult steer. There are a few oxen still around but they are not common.

[1]America: The Story of US, "Westward," History Channel, September 3, 2011.