Jeff Szeker
Education 428
Reading in the Content Areas
  Lehigh University
Spring 2001

         The first emigrants to Oregon came by ship before the Trail was established. Ships continued to to travel to Oregon even after the overland migrations began, but they were not popular among the pioneers. First, the fare for a sea journey to Oregon was quite expensive--few pioneer families could afford it. Second, most Oregon-bound pioneers came from the central states--far from any sea port. Lastly, the sea journey often took up to full year--versus 4-6 months by wagon.
 
 

Across the Plains

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.

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.
 
 

                    After reviewing the website the students' will be asked to complete an assignment detailing the journey across the Oregon Trail with themselves as the explorers.  They should relate their personal feelings and experiences from the journey.  The assignment can be in the form of an essay, journal, model, skit, speech, or song.