Later settlers followed the Platte and South Platte Rivers into their settlements there (much of which became the state of Colorado). Between 1840 and 1860, the Oregon Trail was the main route for settlers who wanted to travel across the Great Plains of the United States and the Continental Divide to the Willamette Valley of Oregon or the gold fields in California. Other trails were developed that traveled further along the South Platte to avoid local Native American hot spots. The Army improved the trail for use by wagons and stagecoaches in 1859 and 1860. Since the game is easy for the banker, no point multipliers are applied. "[14] In 1830, William Sublette brought the first wagons carrying his trading goods up the Platte, North Platte, and Sweetwater rivers before crossing over South Pass to a fur trade rendezvous on the Green River near the future town of Big Piney, Wyoming. Even though Lewis and Clark had only traveled a narrow portion of the upper Missouri River drainage and part of the Columbia River drainage, these were considered the two major rivers draining most of the Rocky Mountains, and the expedition confirmed that there was no "easy" route through the northern Rocky Mountains as Jefferson had hoped. In the Eastern Sheep Creek Hills in the Thomas Fork valley the emigrants encountered Big Hill. Often young Native American boys were hired to drive and ride the stock across the riverthey knew how to swim, unlike many pioneers. Some of the company used it to raise their bread.[31]. And that association is firmly The "forty-niners" often chose speed over safety and opted to use shortcuts such as the Sublette-Greenwood Cutoff in Wyoming which reduced travel time by almost seven days but spanned nearly 45 miles (72km) of desert without water, grass, or fuel for fires. The first detailed map of California and Oregon were drawn by Frmont and his topographers and cartographers in about 1848.[16]. Some profited by collecting discarded items, hauling them back to jumping off places, and reselling them. Starting initially in Independence, Missouri, or Kansas City in Missouri, the initial trail follows the Santa Fe Trail into Kansas south of the Wakarusa River. From there travelers could float downstream or, after 1846, go overland through the Cascade Range to the trails western terminus in the fertile Willamette valley situated between the Cascades and the Coast Ranges to the west. [80] The competing merits of oxen and mules were hotly debated among emigrants. The first land route across the present-day continental United States was mapped by the Lewis and Clark Expedition between 1804 and 1806. Large losses could occur and the drovers would still make significant profit. The images of sandy wastelands conjured up by terms like "desert" were tempered by the many reports of vast herds of millions of Plains Bison that somehow managed to live in this "desert". In 1810 fur entrepreneur John Jacob Astor organized an expedition of frontiersmen to head westward and establish a trading post for his American Fur Company in Oregon. You go out hunting, and you shoot a bison. [7] Because of the War of 1812 and the lack of U.S. fur trading posts in the Pacific Northwest, most of the route was unused for more than 10 years. First released to the masses in 1974 by MECC, The Oregon Trail stands out as the most important educational game of all time, holding a worthy spot in the Video Game Hall of Fame. Following persecution and mob action in Missouri, Illinois, and other states, and the assassination of their prophet Joseph Smith in 1844, Mormon leader Brigham Young led settlers in the Latter Day Saints (LDS) church west to the Salt Lake Valley in present-day Utah. The eastern part of the Oregon Trail spanned part of what is now the state of Kansas and nearly all of what are now the states of Nebraska and Wyoming. Travel was often along the top of ridges to avoid the brush and washes common in many valleys. The main Oregon and California Trail went almost due north from Fort Bridger to the Little Muddy Creek where it passed over the Bear River Mountains to the Bear River Valley, which it followed northwest into the Thomas Fork area, where the trail crossed over the present day Wyoming line into Idaho. Another possible crossing was a few miles upstream of Salmon Falls where some intrepid travelers floated their wagons and swam their stock across to join the north side trail. Press Enter Key to start or stop walking Many who went were between the ages 12 and 24. The western expansion, and the Oregon Trail in particular, inspired numerous creative works about the settlers' experiences. Try refreshing the page. No gamepads detected. [80], By 1842, many emigrants favored oxencastrated bulls (males) of the genus Bos (cattle), generally over four years oldas the best animal to pull wagons, because they were docile, generally healthy, and able to continue moving in difficult conditions such as mud and snow. There is no estimate on how many used it to return East.[91]. Today, modern highways, such as Interstate 80 and Interstate 84, follow parts of the same course westward and pass through towns originally established to serve those using the Oregon Trail. [36] Women were significantly underrepresented in the California Gold Rush, and sex ratios did not reach essential equality in California (and other western states) until about 1950. [84][85] Chipped beef, rice, tea, dried beans, dried fruit, saleratus (for raising bread), vinegar, pickles, mustard, and tallow might also be taken. Other missionaries, mostly husband and wife teams using wagon and pack trains, established missions in the Willamette Valley, as well as various locations in the future states of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. [85], Some pioneers took eggs and butter packed in barrels of flour, and some took dairy cows along the trail. [47] The Mormons established about 50 temporary towns including the town of Kanesville, Iowa (renamed Council Bluffs in 1852), on the east bank of the Missouri River opposite the mouth of the Platte River. As the North Platte veers to the south, the trail crosses the North Platte to the Sweetwater River Valley, which heads almost due west. "Joint occupation" of the region was formally established by the Anglo-American Convention of 1818. By the end of the 1860s, it is estimated that approximately 500,000 pioneers had traveled overland from the settled East to the uncertain West. The expedition demonstrated that much of the route along the Snake River plain and across to the Columbia was passable by pack train or with minimal improvements, even wagons. Oxen hooves are cloven (split), and they had to be shod with two curved pieces of metal, one on each side of the hoof. titled "Oregon Trail" parodies expeditions that took place on the Oregon Trail, as well as the 1985 video game The Oregon Trail. The random challenges in the game can change the entire course of the game for a player. There, leaving the river, it crossed its first mountain ranges before heading across the arid and desolate Great Divide Basin. Along the way he camped at the confluence of the Columbia and Snake rivers and posted a notice claiming the land for Britain and stating the intention of the North West Company to build a fort on the site (Fort Nez Perces was later established there). Used with Permission. By 1854, most of the Mormon towns, farms and villages were largely taken over by non-Mormons as they abandoned them or sold them for not much and continued their migration to Utah. Skirting the southern end of the Sand Hills, it continued along the North Platte River (a major tributary of the Platte) into much drier and increasingly rugged lands in what is now southern Wyoming. Nearly all of the settlers in the 1843 wagon trains arrived in the Willamette Valley by early October. The winter before, Marcus Whitman had made a brutal mid-winter trip from Oregon to St. Louis to appeal a decision by his mission backers to abandon several of the Oregon missions. 2150 South 950 East Provo, UT 84606. Another hazard was a dress getting caught in the wheels and pulling the person under. [41] In 1852, there were even records of a 1,500-turkey drive from Illinois to California. Multiple ferries were established on the Missouri River, Kansas River, Little Blue River, Elkhorn River, Loup River, Platte River, South Platte River, North Platte River, Laramie River, Green River, Bear River, two crossings of the Snake River, John Day River, Deschutes River, Columbia River, as well as many other smaller streams. Lewis and Clark initially believed they had found a practical overland route to the west coast; however, the two passes they found going through the Rocky Mountains, Lemhi Pass and Lolo Pass, turned out to be much too difficult for prairie schooner wagons to pass through without considerable road work. With the exception of most of the 180,000 population increase in California, most of these people living away from the coast traveled over parts of the Oregon Trail and its many extensions and cutoffs to get to their new residences. In 1846, the Barlow Road was completed around Mount Hood, providing a rough but completely passable wagon trail from the Missouri River to the Willamette Valley: about 2,000 miles (3,200km). The Oregon Trail gave children a measure of control in their learning and did it in a memorable way. you could only carry 200 pounds of meat with you. What kind of weapons did they tack on the Oregon trail? Oxen generally pulled the wagons, primarily because they could eat the native grasses. During the busy season there were several ferry boats and steamboats available to transport travelers to the Kansas shore where they started their travels westward. (The Oregon and California emigrants averaged about 15 miles (24km) per day.) He was mapping the country for possible fur trading posts. WebThe Oregon Trail was a 2,170-mile (3,490 km) [1] eastwest, large-wheeled wagon route and emigrant trail in the United States that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Starting in 1860, the American Civil War closed the heavily subsidized Butterfield Overland Mail stage Southern Route through the deserts of the American Southwest. [57] It was about 80 miles (130km) shorter than the main trail through Fort Bridger with good grass, water, firewood and fishing but it was a much steeper and rougher route, crossing three mountain ranges. This route was used by some adventurous travelers but was not too popular because of the difficulties of making connections and the often hostile population along the way. Fort Hall was an old fur trading post located on the Snake River. The crossings were doubly treacherous because there were often hidden holes in the river bottom which could overturn the wagon or entangle the team, sometimes with fatal consequences. [80] Mules also cost about three times as much as oxen, a deciding factor for many emigrants. Travellers left the Snake River and followed Raft River about 65 miles (105km) southwest past present day Almo. Their wagons were the first to reach the Columbia River over land, and they opened the final leg of Oregon Trail to wagon traffic.[19]. However, many settlers branched off or stopped short of this goal and settled at convenient or promising locations along the trail. From Independence it first traversed the vast prairie grasslands of present-day northeastern Kansas and southern Nebraska, there following the Platte River. The valleys were all covered with a white crust and looked like salaratus. The men of the Peoria Party were among the first pioneers to traverse most of the Oregon Trail. Sometimes mules were used as well. Wagon trails were cleared increasingly farther west and eventually reached all the way to the Willamette Valley in Oregon, at which point what came to be called the Oregon Trail was complete, even as almost annual improvements were made in the form of bridges, cutoffs, ferries, and roads, which made the trip faster and safer. WebThe Sublette Cutoff lopped some 70 miles (110 km) off the main route by heading straight west across the desert from the Parting of the Ways trail divide (about 15 miles [25 km] It is made OTHER items taken on the trail included farm implements, cooking utensils, bedding, tools, personal possessions such as books, Bibles, trail guides, writing quills, ink and paper for letters. After the first transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869, telegraph lines usually followed the railroad tracks as the required relay stations and telegraph lines were much easier to maintain alongside the tracks. The wagons could not easily be stopped, and people, particularly children, were often trying to get on and off the wagons while they were movingnot always successfully. muscet What did the people on the Oregon Trail bring with them? [85] Many emigrant families also carried a small amount of tea and maple sugar. WebFlour, crackers, bacon and coffee were standard staples on the trail, and settlers brought along firearms for protection and to hunt game. Other routes involved taking a ship to Coln, Panama (then called Aspinwall) and a strenuous, disease ridden, five- to seven-day trip by canoe and mule over the Isthmus of Panama before catching a ship from Panama City, Panama to Oregon or California. Trapping took place in the fall when the fur became prime. I've just had 24 days of it. It was the opening track in his Columbia River Collection album. He had a crew that dug out the gullies and river crossings and cleared the brush where needed. 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