Oregon Trail Highlights

The Oregon Trail was the highway to the future for many who traveled 2000 mile length. They hoped it would lead to a better life, fertile crop land, and a chance to control their own destiny. For many, these hopes and dreams were fulfilled, but for some the dream died -- the highway was filled with danger, hardships and tragedy. The great road west, known as the Oregon Trail, had its first real traffic in 1843 when a train of about 1000 people left Independence, Missouri heading west to Oregon. Marcus Whitman traveled with this group of emigrants, helping to guide them across the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains. The trail was heavily used until the mid-1860's, when trains replaced wagons as a means of cross-country travel.

The road began in Missouri, followed the North Platte River until it reached the Sweetwater River. The river offered relatively easy travel and a close water source. The Sweetwater River banks led the wagon trains up the gentle slopes of South Pass, where pioneers crossed the Rocky Mountains. The trail then crossed the rugged Snake River Desert and treacherous Blue Mountains before reaching the Columbia River. Here, pioneers chose either to use rafts to transport wagons down the river or follow the Barlow Road around Mount Hood to their final destination in Oregon City.

The Independence and St. Joseph, Missouri areas were the most common starting or "jumping off" places. Emigrants gathered there in large numbers before heading west.. This was the place to make sure your "outfit" was fully assembled and equipped. While television has led many to think the emigrant wagons were pulled with horses, the truth is oxen were the number one draft animal of the great migrations. About 80% of the wagons in 1850 were hauled by oxen. Horses were expensive - about $200.00 for one of medium quality and their upkeep was demanding. A horse would not eat the dried grasses of the plains, he was bothered with insects, and the tepid water of the Platte gave him distemper. Horses were used only by those outfits prosperous enough to carry grain for them.

Mules were tough and durable, and better able to survive the plains' dry feed and water, but at times their temperament was given to mayhem! They were often used for pack trains, but diaries are filled with the troubles caused by contrary mules. Oxen, however, were adaptable and calm. They survived on the dried prairie grasses and the Indians did not steal them as they would horses or mules, and oxen were much cheaper at $50.00 to $65.00 per head. It was recommended that oxen be five years or older. A wagon needed at least two span, or pair, of oxen to pull it and if possible, a spare pair should be taken. Oxen hooves required attention, and shoes were applied to their feet to protect them. If iron shoes were not available, emigrants nailed sole leather on or smeared the hooves with tar or grease and fastened on boots made of buffalo hide. Families had great affection for their oxen, giving them names like any pet.. When one died, the whole family grieved.

Wagons used on the Oregon Trail were not the boat-shaped Conestoga, but more of a farm wagon, capable of hauling from 1600 to 2500 pounds. It was protected with bows reaching about 5 feet above the wagon bed and covered with some type of heavy, rain proof canvas-like material. Spare parts, tongues, spokes, and axles were carried, often slung under the wagon bed. Grease buckets, water barrels, heavy rope (at least 100 feet was recommended), and chains completed the running gear accessories. When store-bought grease, necessary for wheel bearings was exhausted, boiled buffalo or wolf grease served the purpose.

Provisions were of vital importance to the emigrant. The work was strenuous, so foods high in calories were favored. The food supply was the heaviest and most essential part of the covered wagon cargo. A delicate balance was necessary, for hauling too much food would wear down the animals, but not enough could result in starvation. While some wild berries, roots, greens, and fish might supplement the diet, it was too risky to depend on these. It was also not a good idea to depend on too much success in hunting or foraging on the semiarid and thinly covered high plains. Prior to 1849 there were no stores or respectable trading posts along the route. Even after the establishment of the post at Scotts Bluff and Army quartermaster posts at Fort Kearny and Ft. Laramie, supplies were meager and extremely expensive.

It was recommended by those who wrote early guide books that each emigrant be supplied with 200 pounds of flour, 150 pounds bacon, 10 pounds coffee, 20 pounds sugar and 10 pounds of salt. Basic kitchen equipment consisted of a cooking kettle (Dutch oven), fry pan, coffee pot, tin plates, cups, knives and forks. Stoves were a help, but the smaller the better, as heavy stoves were likely to end up on the side of the trail when the route became difficult.

Bread-bacon-coffee was the staple diet. Most people extended their basic recommended list by adding dried beans, rice, dried fruit, tea, vinegar, pickles, ginger, mustard, and saleratus (baking soda). While pioneer women were used to baking bread at home, it took some experimenting and practice to bake bread in a Dutch oven or reflector oven under prairie conditions with a buffalo chip fire, blowing ashes, dust, and insects. Corn meal, and pilot bread or ships biscuits were also welcome additions.

While the science of dietetics was not completely understood, there were many suggestions to help ward off scurvy, dysentery and other ailments obviously directly related to an inadequate or unbalanced diet. Some pioneers brought a few chickens along in cages tied to the side of the wagon. Families with small children were more likely to drive milk cows along. Milk was a health giving supplement to a family diet made mainly of meat and bread.

The standard date for departure from any of the jumping-off places was April 15 - give or take a week or two, with expected arrival in Oregon or California hopefully by September 1, but not later then October 1. An ideal crossing was 120 days, April 15 to August 15, a daily average for the 2000 mile long trail of 15 miles per day. Realistically, a typical crossing took about two weeks longer. On a good day more than 15 miles could be covered, on a bad day, much less.

In many wide open places, trains broke up into two or more columns, spreading out to find relief from the dust. When the road narrowed due to the topography, the wagons formed a single line and typically a wagon held the same position in line for the whole day. Each morning the wagons would have rotated positions in the line, one day being spent in the back of the line, one in the middle, and the one in the front. There were frequently quarrels between oxen and horse teams. Oxen were largely in the majority, and some of the drivers seemed to take delight in holding up the faster traveling horse teams in narrow spots.

The day usually started about 6:00 a.m. and lasted until around 5:00 p.m. with a one hour rest at noon. This "nooning" was essential because it gave both man and animal a much needed rest. The oxen were not unyoked, but were allowed to graze.

The first order of business at the end of the day was forming a corral by pulling the wagons into a circle. It was normally circular or oblong in shape, with the tongue of one wagon chained to the rear of the next to form a fence. Originally designed as a defense against Indian attacks, which were rare, or desperadoes and wild animals, it became an institution, as much for companionship as anything else. An opening or two was left for passage of livestock which could be closed with the tongue of a wagon.

The evening campfire was important beyond debate. It provided comforting warmth and a place to dry wet clothes and cook a hot supper. While the Platte River bottoms are choked with trees today, 150 years ago frequent prairie fires kept the trees from maturing. How did the emigrants keep warm and fry their bacon and bake their bread? They cut green willows when available, burned drift wood when found, broke up the occasional abandoned wagon box, twisted dry grass into tight twists, and upon arrival in buffalo country, used dried buffalo chips, sometimes called prairie coal.

Water was important, of course, but was not a real problem from Missouri to South Pass. Most people took their supply directly from the Platte, which one witty traveler described as too thick to drink and too thin to plow. If springs were found, this was better water. The fastidious often tried to filter out some of the sand and other particles found in the river water. Some boiled their water, not so much to insure its safety, but to kill the wiggle-tails. Drinking untreated water was a factor in the high mortality rate.

Sleeping arrangements were simple. Women and children might sleep on storage boxes in the wagon, but most beds were made of a blanket, a piece of canvas, and an India rubber cloth or buffalo robe on the ground. Tents were luxuries, but they away in the wind and often were simply discarded. No sleeping pills were needed by the emigrants - fatigue and exhaustion made the ground seem soft.

The Oregon migrations were a family affair, often running at least 50 percent women and children. There were courtings and marriages among the young and unmarried members of the trains.

There was a high incidence of childbirth on the trail, and often those who kept diaries made no mention of an impending birth until a short entry announced the arrival of a new member of the family. Tragedy often came with the arrival of an infant, death during childbirth was common and infant mortality was high. Poor nutrition, lack of medical care and poor sanitation caused many of these deaths. Another contributing factor was the necessity to keep moving westward without time for recovery from the birth..

Religion played an important role in the westward migrations, for a majority of these emigrants were devout Christians. While it was not practical to lay over on Sunday, some sort of Sabbath observance was usually held. If the train stopped on the Sabbath, it was not truly a day of rest - the women washed clothes or did extra cooking and the men repaired wagons, harnesses, etc.

Given the extremes which tested the emigrants to the limit of their endurance and fortitude, the evidence of crime among the travelers was low. Under the circumstances, the vast majority of pioneers behaved admirably. There were no civil laws, no marshals, sheriffs, or courts of law to protect those who crossed the plains. The military offered some protection near the forts, but that was limited. The only effective law was the inward sense of morality and the outward law-abiding sense that was normal for most pioneers.

While some people seemed to thrive on the excitement and adventure of the journey across the plains, for many it was an ordeal. After surviving untold hardships, there arose the threat of disease and death. There are, of course, no valid mortality rates available. Estimates are as large as 30,000 deaths, but a more conservative estimate is 20,000 for the entire 2000 miles of the Oregon Trail - an average of ten graves per mile. Assuming the grand total of 350,000 people emigrating is correct, that averages to be one death for every seventeen persons who started.

Deaths occurred from poor sanitation practices in cooking and food storage, bad water, and poor living conditions. Some people suffering from "consumption" or tuberculosis, made or tried to make the journey because it was believed that outdoor exercise would overcome the disease. What better exercise than walking across the prairie, mountains, and desert for 2000 miles! Pneumonia, whooping cough, measles, small pox and various other miscellaneous sicknesses and diseases caused many deaths. Cholera, caused by drinking infected water, was the greatest killer on the Oregon Trail.

Accidents associated with wagon travel also took their toll. Injuries, maimings, and death were caused by drownings, wagon accidents (typically being run over by a wagon), accidental shootings, and animal handling. Fatigue caused carelessness and carelessness led to these and other accidents.

Weather extremes were among the hardships along the Platte River that could not be avoided and simply had to be endured. April and May could be cold and wet, and since the emigrants traveled with a meager supply of clothes and bedding, many were uncomfortable. Later, heat and dust became the enemy. When it rained, low places became bogs for wagons to mire down in, and rivers that had to be crossed became raging torrents.

After surviving the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains, then making their way along Snake River, the Blue Mountains still had to be crossed. Many found the road through the Blues more difficult than crossing the Rockies. Travelers then journeyed across eastern Oregon to the Columbia River. For some historians, the Oregon Trail ended at The Dalles, but many consider its true end to be at Oregon City.

After reaching The Dalles, wagons were floated down the Columbia River on rafts. This method changed in 1846 when The Barlow road was built around Mount Hood. This gave travelers another, but still difficult, alternative to river travel.

Finally! The Valley of the Willamette. Here was the land office where you could file your land claim. Where hopes and dreams either blossomed and bore fruit or died. Those who had endured came to this valley to seize the land, settle it, come to terms with it, and call it home.

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Last modified on: January 31, 2004