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On to Oregon! It all began with a crude network of rutted traces across the land from the Mississippi River that was used by nearly 400,000 people. Today the 2,170 mile Oregon Trail still evokes an instant image, a ready recollection of the settlement of this continent, of the differences between American Indians and white settlers, and of new horizons. In 1840 only three states existed west of the Mississippi River. Maine's boundary with Canada was undefined. The western boundaries of the Nation lay roughly along the Continental Divide. Within 10 years the United States and Great Britain had drawn a boundary that stretched from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The western boundary moved from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. In another 40 years successive waves of emigrants completely eliminated any sense of frontier, changed the way of life of the American Indians, and ravaged many wild animal species, especially the herds of buffalo. Plows and barbed wire subdued the prairies. Transcontinental railroads knitted the great distances together.
The first Europeans to see the trans-Mississippi West were the mountain men, trappers, and the maritime explorers along the west coast. In Canada, the Hudson's Bay Company fur frontier was approaching the Columbia River basin. In 1812 John Jacob Astor established Astoria at the mouth of the Columbia in a countermove and sent Robert Stuart overland to carry dispatches east. Stuart found South Pass by following a Crow Indian Trail. Only 7,000 feet above sea level, with easy gradients. South Pass has an attractive geographic proximity to the upper reaches of the Platte River. Both were determining factors in the routing of the Oregon trail. The early frontiersmen found the passes, crossed the great rivers, and defined the vast reaches of the western interior. From the beginning these explorers contributed to a growing campaign to make the Oregon Country a part of either the United States or Great Britain according to their own sometimes confused loyalties.
Economic depressions in 1837 and 1841 frustrated farmers and businessmen alike. The collapse of the international fur trade in 1839 intensified the hard times, and concerns of British domination of the Northwest grew. At the same time, eastern churches saw the American Indians of the Oregon Country as ready candidates for European ideas of civilization. Churches formed ardent missionary societies to create an active appetite for Christianity. In 1836 Marcus Whitman and his new wife, Narcissa, along with Henry and Eliza Spalding, headed for Oregon as missionaries. The letters they sent home publicized the opportunities and advantages of Oregon. Many people for many reasons had become interested in Oregon, but it was not until 1841 that the first group with serious intent to emigrate left the banks of the Missouri river and headed west. In 1843, nearly 1,000 completed the trip - an omen of the multitudes to follow.
The Oregon Trail was never a clearly defined track. In places the wagons passed in columns that might be hundreds of yards apart; those traces shifted with the effects of weather and use. In the course of time nature obliterated many of the fainter traces. Road builders followed the deeper, more permanent traces because they marked the best route. The Oregon Trail was quickly being forgotten. In 1906, 76-year old Ezra Meeker, Oregon settler in 1852 and tireless champion of the trail, set out in a covered wagon to retrace the route from west to east. Among his goals; to create a general interest in marking the route, to raise public awareness of the trail's history and heritage, and to point out the loss and damage resulting from careless disregard. Meeker met with Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Calvin Coolidge, testified before Congress, and made several other publicity trips over the trail before his death in 1928. Today the National Park Service, in concert with the Bureau of Land Management, the Forest Service, and the states of Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington strive to protect this legacy.
Guidebooks in book or pamphlet form were soon available for emigrants. Some provided good solid reliable information. Others contributed to the "Oregon Fever" that swept the country in the 1840s describing the land in almost Biblical terms.
Each part of the journey had its difficulties. For the first third of the way, the emigrants got used to the routine
and work of travel. They learned to hitch and unhitch their livestock, to keep the wagons in good running order,
and to make sure that their animals got the water and food they needed to survive. They learned to get along
with their fellow emigrants, to agree on rules they would all follow on the journey, and to set up and break camp
every night and morning. They learned to spread out in several columns so that they raised less dust and fewer
of them had to breathe the choking air. They rotated positions in the line in a spirit of fairness. They learned to
travel six out of seven days as experienced voices told them that some of the most difficult sections to travel
would come at the end when they would have to cross mountains before the winter snows. Fortunately the
landscape was relatively gentle as they traveled through the Platte River Valley heading for the High Plains.
Starting in the spring provided them with abundant grass for the livestock. Water was also plentiful,
and if they were early enough in the year campsites and waterholes would not be overgrazed or fouled.
Cholera, whose cause was then unknown (but we now know it can be traced to contaminated water) killed
more travelers than anything else. How many emigrants died along the trail can never be known. The
number of deaths varied from year to year. Most likely the death rate was little different from those
who resisted the lure of the trail with all its potential disasters.
Over the Continental Divide
Excitement abounded when the emigrants passed the landmarks of Chimney Rock and Scotts Bluff, about
one-third of the way on the trail; it meant they were making progress. By this time, too, they would
have an idea if their money would hold out. Tolls at ferries and bridges had to be paid. Supplies and food were
bought at trading posts along the way or from other emigrants. A week's journey beyond Scotts Bluff brought
them to Fort Laramie, the great supply depot and resting place. Here they could replenish dwindling stocks
of food and other staples - for a price. Wheels could be repaired and wagon boxes tightened before they set
out on the steepening ascent to the Continental divide. Water - and grass for livestock - became more scarce.
The drier air caused wooden wheels to shrink and the iron tires that held the wheels together loosened or
rolled off. Buffalo herds on which the emigrants had depended for fresh meat to supplement their staples
became increasingly hard to find the farther west they went. Cooking fuel, whether wood or buffalo chips,
was also harder to find. To lighten their wagons, the emigrants left treasured pieces of furniture and other
personal belongings by the wayside. Surviving the trip had become of paramount importance; food and tools
were vital, heirlooms were not. From Fort Laramie to Fort Bridger, on the western edge of present-day
Wyoming, the Mormon Trail flowed with the Oregon and California trails. At Fort Bridger the emigrants parted ways as those
bound for Oregon turned northwest toward the Snake River Valley. Alternate routes included Sublette's Cutoff and the Lander
Cutoff. Beginning just west of South Pass, Sublette's Cutoff crossed a barren, arid stretch of country where for 50 miles
there was no water and little grass. Those who chose the grueling route and survived had saved 85 miles and a week of travel.
Loading the Wagon
Wagons usually measured 4 feet wide by 12 feet long. Into these 48 square feet were put supplies for
traveling the trail and the wherewithal for beginning a new life. The emphasis was on tools and food, but
a few family treasures and heirlooms were also carried. A typical load is shown above. Using the wagon
as shelter was almost an afterthought.
Trail's End
Footsore, weary, and exhausted traveler and beast alike faced the final third and the most difficult part of the
trail. Yet speed was of the essence, for winter snows could close mountain passes or trap unprepared and
tired groups of emigrants as they crossed both the Blue Mountains in eastern Oregon and the Cascades to
the west. The photograph below shows a family entering Baker City, just east of the Blue Mountains, about
1864. In the early years, before the Barlow Road across the Cascades was opened as a toll road in 1846,
emigrants had no choice but to go down the Columbia from the Dalles on a raft or abandon their wagons and
build boats. The Columbia was full of rapids and dangerous currents, many emigrants lost their lives, almost
within sight of their goal. Once the settlers arrived in the Willamette Valley they spread out to establish farms
and small towns. Initially, few emigrants settled north of the Columbia, but once the United States and Great
Britain agreed on an international boundary and the Hudson's Bay Company moved its post at Fort Vancouver
to Vancouver Island, Americans settled in present-day Washington as well. The 1850 census showed that
12,093 people lived in Oregon. Ten years later, when Oregon had been a state for one year, 52,495 were
counted. Small towns were on the verge of becoming cities. Frame houses replaced log cabins. Orchards
grew to maturity. The land was acquiring the look of civilization that the emigrants had left behind.
Exploring the Oregon Trail
The Oregon National Historic Trail, designated by Congress in 1978, is administrated by the National Park Service in partnership with the Bureau of Land Management, the Forest Service, state and local governmental units, citizen organizations, and numerous private individuals whose property the trail crosses. Today the trail corridor contains some 300 miles of discernible ruts and 125 historic sites. An auto route can be followed from Independence, Mo. to Oregon City, Ore.