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Do-Now
Consider the Mormon Migration discussed on Friday. Review your information and answer:
1. How far did the Mormons have to travel before settling?
2. What reasons did they have for migrating?
3. What hardships did they face on the journey?
4. What made these hardships worth enduring?
Monday, April 6th
Agenda• Do-Now• The Oregon Trail Experience• Journal reading• Intro to the Oregon Trail Survival Simulation
HomeworkRead the Oregon Trail Journal (stapled to your “Manifest Destiny” questions) and list 5 difficulties faced by its author. And answer the 1 question at the end.
An Epic MigrationAn Epic Migration
The Oregon TrailThe Oregon Trail
SUPPLIESSUPPLIESThus equipped for adventure, anticipating a new home on the far frontier, the emigrants were Thus equipped for adventure, anticipating a new home on the far frontier, the emigrants were
ready for days, weeks and months on the trail.ready for days, weeks and months on the trail.
HANDY ITEMS: Liniments Chamber pot Tallow Bandages Washbowl Spyglasses Campstool Lantern Scissors, Surgical instruments Candle molds Needles, pins, thread
LUXURIES: Canned foods Dolls Silverware Musical instruments China Furniture Plant cuttings Family albums Fine linens Schoolbooks Jewelry Iron stoves
FOOD: Flour, Rice, Hardtack Bacon, Dried beef Coffee, Tea Baking Soda Molasses Dried beans, Dried fruit Salt, Pepper Vinegar Eggs, Sugar Corn Meal
TOOLS AND MISCELLANEOUS: Set of augers Ax, Hoe, Shovel Whetstone Oxbows Kingbolts Ox shoes Wagon tongue Chains, Heavy ropes Gimlet, Hammer Plow Spade Axles Linchpins Spikes
SUPPLIES CONTINUEDSUPPLIES CONTINUEDCLOTHING:
Wool sack coats Cotton shirts Palm-leaf sun hat Buckskin pants Felt hat Wool pantaloons Brogans Boots Cotton dresses Cotton socks Sunbonnet, Rubber coats Flannel shirts Green goggles
BEDDING AND TENT SUPPLIES: Feather beds Pillows Tent Stakes Poles Ropes Blankets Ground cloths
WEAPONRY: Rifle, Gunpowder Bullet pouch Pistol Lead Holster Knife Bullet mold Hatchet Powder horn
COOKING UTENSILS: Dutch oven Skillet Coffee pot Ladle Butcher knife Reflector oven Water kettle Tin tableware Kettle Coffee Grinder Teapot Matches
The Covered WagonThe Covered Wagon
The Covered WagonThe Covered Wagon• Provided the necessities of life
& a degree of shelter • Strong enough to carry up to
2,500 lbs, yet light enough not to strain the draft animals
• To reduce strain on the oxen or mules, most emigrants walked alongside– the added weight of even one passenger was often too much for the
weary oxen– bone-jarring jolts of the rutted road meant that travelers preferred
the day’s distance on foot to the experience in the wagon box• As oxen tired, the load would have to be
lightened even more– Countless pieces of unnecessary furniture, many of
them family heirlooms, were discarded along the trail
The Many Trails WestThe Many Trails WestThere's the Lewis and Clark Trail, the Oregon Trail, the California Trail, the Mormon Trail, the Santa Fe Trail, the Bozeman Trail, the Southern Route, the Free Emigrant Road, the Cherokee Trail, the Pony Express Trails, the
Nez Perce Trail, and too many shortcuts & military roads to even try to list
The CALIFORNIA TRAIL• it followed the Oregon Trail across the Great Plains and over the Continental
Divide, and then cut off from the Oregon Trail near Fort Hall to follow two or three major routes to the gold fields.
• Tens of thousands of prospectors, miners, and carpetbaggers followed the California Trail west after gold was found at Sutter's Mill in 1848. However, this Web site belongs to the Oregon Trail Foundation...
The Many Trails WestThe Many Trails WestTHE SANTA FE TRAIL• led 780 miles west from Independence, MO to Santa Fe, NM• Every spring covered wagons full of trading goods set off for Santa Fe for trading• On the journey, traders banded together in groups of up to 100 wagons, fearing
attack by native tribes• Once arrived in Santa Fe, traders split off to trade goods for silver, gold, and furs
THE OREGON TRAIL• 1836, two Methodist Missionaries proved that wagons could travel on the
– Marcus and Narcissa Whitman set up mission schools– They reported fertile soil and abundant rainfall through letters east
• Oregon Trail started in Independence, MO, and ended in Portland, OR• Following the Whitmans’ lead, many more headed for Oregon• By 1844, approximately 5000 American settlers had arrived and were farming
the fertile Willamet Valley in Oregon
What was the trip like?
Exhausting because most emigrants had to walk almost the entire way. Even without the extra weight of people in the wagons, the trip was so long that even the sturdiest ox could die from exhaustion or go mad from thirst.
Boredom came from the daily routine of breaking camp, walking, making camp again in the evening, and eating the same thing day after day, all in the midst of a cloud of dust and grit thrown up by the wagons and animals.
Dangerous because every once in a while, the boredom was broken up by treacherous river crossings or steep ravines and mountainsides. Historians estimate that one in every ten people on the Oregon Trail died on the way to Oregon. Disease was the single biggest killer on the Trail, especially during a cholera epidemic around 1850.
Frightening because most anticipated attacks by Indians, even though in reality this was usually the last thing they had to worry about.
Exciting because of the dreams that lay ahead on the trail.-- probably in that order.
Still, it wasn't all bad: there were marriages, births, and holidays (especially the Fourth of July) to celebrate along the way, and it was always a big day when a major landmark like Chimney Rock came into view for the first time.
The Oregon TrailThe Oregon Trail
Remainders of the trailRemainders of the trail
The Video GameThe Video Game
Buried Alive!?Buried Alive!?At least some of the emigrants who died en route to Oregon were probably
buried alive. Why? The survivors were in a hurry.For many years, cholera ravaged emigrants along the Oregon Trail.
Whoever caught it was dead (usually within 24 hours)--no cure existed. If an entire wagon train stopped for an elaborate funeral, it would slow their
progress. The Donner Party tragedy emphasized the urgency of traveling quickly. Too many delays meant the pioneers might not get to Oregon before winter--and then everyone might perish.
So on most wagon trains, the burials got shorter and shorter as more people died. Some even abandoned the terminally sick by the side of the Trail, where they would eventually die alone. The more humane wagon companies elected a "watcher" to wait with the dying person while the wagons forged ahead. It wouldn't take long for the watcher to catch up; a quick death, after all, was imminent.
Many watchers were in such a hurry that they started digging the grave long before their infected companion was dead. Needless to say, watching your own grave being dug was probably quite disturbing. And if you lingered too long? No one is sure, but evidence strongly suggests that some were accidentally buried before they took their final breath.
The Video The Video GameGame
The Video GameThe Video Game
Start the Start the JourneyJourney
START: Independence, MOSTART: Independence, MO
• Founded in 1827, a rapidly growing trading post • Located near where the Missouri River meets the
Mississippi • Became the most popular "jumping off" point for
pioneers to stock their wagons with supplies for the journey westward, to Oregon or California.
Independence, MOIndependence, MO
The Oregon TrailThe Oregon Trail
Chimney RockChimney Rock
Chimney Rock was one of the most picturesque landmarks along the Oregon Trail. It signaled the end of the prairies as the trail became more steep and rugged heading west towards the Rocky Mountains.
Many drawings of it were made by surveyors and artists, and most pioneers mentioned it in their diaries. Travelers reported that it was visible forty miles away. General Joel Palmer, leading a surveying party in 1845, said it had the "appearance of a haystack with a pole running far above its top."
Chimney RockChimney Rock
Fort LaramieFort LaramieThe fort was begun by fur traders as Fort William in 1834 where the
North Platte and Laramie rivers meet. In 1849, the U.S. Military purchased the fort and named it in honor of
Jacques La Ramie, a local French fur trapper.
One of the most important forts in the settlement of the American West, it served many functions.
• It protected and supplied emigrant wagon trains. • It later became a major link in the Pony Express, Overland Stage
and transcontinental telegraph systems. • It also served as a base of operations for the High Plains Indian
Wars.
Fort LaramieFort Laramie
The Oregon TrailThe Oregon Trail
Independence RockIndependence RockNamed for a fur trader's Fourth of July celebration in 1830, this huge
rock became one of the most famous of all Oregon Trail landmarks. The giant piece of granite is 1,900 feet long, 700 feet wide, and 128 feet high.
The landmark was a favorite resting place for travelers along the trail. Called the "Great Register of the Desert", more than 5,000 names of early emigrant were carved on this boulder.
Starting the trail in the early spring, emigrants along the Oregon Trail hoped to reach Independence Rock by July 4, Independence Day. If they had not arrived by then, they knew they were behind schedule.
Independence RockIndependence Rock
Independence RockIndependence Rock
Devil’s GateDevil’s Gate
In a geological oddity, the Sweetwater River has carved a narrow gorge through the rock of the Granite Mountains when an almost level route around the mountain is just a short distance south. The trail took the easy way, but some travelers would wade the river through Devil's Gate for amusement, meeting their wagons on the other side.
Martin’s CoveMartin’s CoveIn early November 1856 the struggling Martin handcart company, with
assistance from the rescue party from Salt Lake City, passed Devil's Gate and sought shelter at a small stockade.
It was inadequate for the large group, and with snow over a foot deep, temperatures below zero, and a strong wind they were assisted over the freezing river and a few miles north into a sheltered cove. Here, a large sand dune blocking the cove entrance provided shelter from the winds and there was firewood available. The company spent five days here waiting for the weather to break and more help to arrive. They would eventually reach Salt Lake City on November 30, having lost between 150 and 167 members, about one-fourth of the company.
Martin’s CoveMartin’s Cove
South PassSouth Pass
An area known as the Crows Nest affords one more look over the upper reaches of the Sweetwater drainage towards the Continental Divide.
The Oregon TrailThe Oregon Trail
Soda SpringsSoda Springs
Natural bubbling pools of carbonated water, caused by ancient volcanic activity, have long made Soda Springs an attraction. Local Indians, fur traders and trappers visited the springs prior to the days of the Oregon Trail emigrations.
Soda Springs was located along a shortcut in the trail off of the main route to Fort Hall.
Soda SpringsSoda Springs
Fort HallFort HallThe British flag flew over Fort Hall briefly when it was purchased by an
English company, until a treaty placed it and the rest of the Oregon Country in United States territory.
Early emigrants on the Oregon Trail usually abandoned their wagons at the fort and continued on foot with their animals. But in 1843, Dr. Marcus Whitman, who had established a mission near Walla Walla, Washington, led a wagon train westward from the fort. From then on, migrations along the trail increased as the pioneers could now travel all the way to Oregon with their wagons and possessions.
Fort HallFort Hall
Fort BoiseFort Boise
The fort served as a supply point along the Oregon Trail until 1854, when it was abandoned due to flooding and Indian attacks. In 1863, the military constructed a new Fort Boise near the present town of Boise, Idaho.
The Oregon TrailThe Oregon Trail
Whitman MissionWhitman MissionFounded in 1836 by Dr. Marcus Whitman and his wife,
Narcissa, the Whitman Mission was the site of one of the worst tragedies along the Oregon Trail.
The Whitmans, Methodist missionaries, offered religious instruction and medical services to the local Cayuse Indians. They also gave care and supplies to wagon parties traveling along the Oregon Trail.
Measles epidemic broke out at the mission (Nov. 1847) • many Indians killed while the white newcomers survived• Cayuse suspected that the Whitmans and their foreign religion
were the cause of the fatal disease. • Killed the Whitmans and 11 other whites, and the mission was
burned down in retaliation.
Whitman MissionWhitman Mission
River CrossingsRiver Crossings
The DallesThe Dalles
The DallesThe DallesThe Dalles, named by fur trappers (French word for gutter). Emigrants
floated down the Columbia River in rafts through this stony river gorge.
The passage was perilous, with emigrants and their wagons crowded onto a small wooden raft in rough waters. As N.M. Bogart described in 1843,
"When trying to pass some of the Cascades their frail craft would get caught in one of the many whirlpools, the water dashing over them, & drenching them through & through."
OTHER OPTION: The Barlow Toll Road Opened in 1845, offering emigrants an alternative to the Columbia River route to Oregon City. The wagon ride along the toll road took a long route around Mount Hood, but it was a much safer method than rafting.
THE END: Oregon CityTHE END: Oregon City
Oregon Oregon CityCity
THE END: Oregon CityTHE END: Oregon CityFounded 1842, it was the first territorial capital of Oregon.
Always a natural place of commerce between Indians and whites, the town also utilized the nearby river as a dependable source of power for mills for its economic development.
Due to the great migrations along the trail, Oregon City grew rapidly as an economic center of the territory. Emigrants arrived here at the end of the trail to establish their land claims in the region.
Local industries sprung up to resupply emigrants planning to start their farms. Today, the city is a suburb of the much larger city of Portland, Oregon.
Fun with Buffalo DungFun with Buffalo DungIf you think frisbees were invented in the 1960s, you're
wrong--by about a hundred years. Children on the Oregon Trail threw frisbee-like devices back in the mid-1800s. But they weren't made of plastic--they were made of buffalo dung.
During the great western migration, the entire Great Plains region was covered with buffalo chips--they were unavoidable. And yes, kids occasionally tossed them about in a frisbee-like manner. But the chips had a much more practical purpose for the emigrants--they were burned for fuel.
Oregon via Oregon via Antarctica?Antarctica?
Not everyone who went to Oregon used the Oregon Trail. There were other routes, including one that went perilously close to Antarctica!
Those who did not want to endure a four-month walk across the West traveled to Oregon by ship. However, there was no direct water route to the West Coast. So a ship leaving New York had to travel all the way to the tip of South America--skirting the edge of the Antarctic continent--before heading north to Oregon. It was a difficult trip that sometimes took a complete year.
So, primarily for gold-crazed 49ers who were in a hurry to get West, several shortcuts were developed. The most popular cutoff involved taking a ship to the Isthmus of Panama, then trekking overland to the Pacific side (there was no Panama Canal then) where another ship would, with any luck, pick them up.
When the 49ers got to the Pacific side they waited and waited--for weeks, sometimes even months. When a ship finally arrived, passage would cost between $500 to $1,000, and sometimes there was no space at any price.
Worse yet, many of the Pacific-side ships were unseaworthy and sank en route. In the end, many regretted not taking the overland route.
An Unusual HoneymoonAn Unusual HoneymoonWhat would be worse than spending your honeymoon in a tent?
How about sharing the tent with other people, including your ex-boyfriend. That's what happened to pioneer Narcissa Whitman.
Narcissa Whitman and her husband, Marcus, were the first family to travel to Oregon in a covered wagon. Their epic trip was an important event in American history, but the first few months of their marriage were certainly quite strange.
Marcus, a Presbyterian missionary, first met the devout Narcissa in New York in 1835. After knowing each other only a couple of days, they decided to marry. Soon they were headed west--sent by the Presbyterian church to minister to the Native Americans in Oregon Country.
But the Whitmans did not travel alone. They were accompanied by another missionary couple, Henry and Eliza Spaulding. Henry had proposed earlier to Narcissa, but she had turned him down flat.
Despite the awkward situation, the four pioneers seemed to get along fairly well, although the Spauldings and Whitmans did split up when they arrived in Oregon Country.
Today, in a remote section of Wyoming, there still stands a stone monument commemorating Narcissa and Eliza as the first white women to travel across the Rockies. The monument doesn't mention whether their husbands got along.
A Million Dollar Wagon?A Million Dollar Wagon?It's likely that only one emigrant wagon ever carried $1,000,000 worth of goods, but
this wagon wasn't filled with gold or silver--instead, it carried fruit trees.
Henderson Luelling took his family to Oregon from Iowa in 1846. He brought two extra wagons filled with apple, cherry, pear, plum and black walnut trees. It was an odd sight, the covered wagon filled with dirt and with trees sticking out. Throughout the trip, Luelling pampered his prized cargo. His daughter, Eliza, wondered if he cared more about the trees than about her.
Luelling's plants thrived in fruit-bare Oregon, and his orchards were an immense success. Trailblazer William Barlow once estimated the resulting value of Luelling's trees at well over $1 million.
The success of Luelling's trees inspired Illinois dentist James R. Cardell to pack up his own "fruit wagon." Hoping for great profits, Cardell began the great journey west in 1852. After 1,500 miles of tough travel, Cardell's wagon slid on a bank of the Snake River and overturned.
Cardell's fortune floated away.
Buried Alive!?Buried Alive!?At least some of the emigrants who died en route to Oregon were probably
buried alive. Why? The survivors were in a hurry.For many years, cholera ravaged emigrants along the Oregon Trail. Whoever
caught it was dead--no cure or treatment existed. Usually, the infected emigrant died in 24 hours or less.
If an entire wagon train stopped for an elaborate funeral, it would slow their progress. The Donner Party tragedy emphasized the urgency of traveling quickly. Too many delays meant the pioneers might not get to Oregon before winter--and then everyone might perish.
So on most wagon trains, the burials got shorter and shorter as more and more people died. Some even abandoned the terminally sick by the side of the Trail, where they would eventually die alone. The more humane wagon companies elected a "watcher" to wait with the dying person while the wagons forged ahead. It wouldn't take long for the watcher to catch up; a quick death, after all, was imminent.
Many watchers were in such a hurry that they started digging the grave long before their infected companion was dead. Needless to say, watching your own grave being dug was probably quite disturbing. And if you lingered too long? No one is sure, but evidence strongly suggests that some were accidentally buried before they took their final breath.
Weird WagonsWeird Wagons• Oregon-bound airline, in 1849? Don't laugh--it almost happened. Rufus
Porter, founder of Scientific American, planned to fly pioneers to Oregon on propeller-driven balloons powered by steam engines. He advertised the endeavor, and 200 brave souls signed up for the trip. But the "airline" never got off the ground.
• Then there was the wind wagon, a cross between a sailboat and a wagon. Because it can be very windy in the West, it seemed like a good idea on paper. A prototype was built, and for a brief moment it barreled across the plains at the advertised 15 miles per hour. Then it went out of control and crashed. The inventor, "Wind-Wagon Thomas," kept trying for years, but never succeeded.
• Others took a more low-tech approach, making the trip with only a simple wheelbarrow. It's hard to imagine pushing a fully loaded wheelbarrow for 2,000 miles, but several dozen people tried. For a time, they could outpace everything on the Trail, but human endurance has its limits. It is uncertain whether any of them made it all the way.
• Mormon handcarts were somewhat more sophisticated. Like wheelbarrows, they were human-powered, but handcarts were pulled, not pushed. Thousands of handcarts made it to Salt Lake City, Utah, but there is no record of anyone taking a handcart further west.
Ezra Meeker: Hero or Nut?Ezra Meeker: Hero or Nut?There was nothing particularly out of the ordinary about
Ezra Meeker's wagon trip to Oregon in 1852. What was unusual was Meeker's decision to make a return trip--over 50 years later.
At 76 years of age, Meeker loaded up his wagon, picked two good oxen, and headed east. If Horace Greeley had been alive, he might have coined a new phrase: "Go east, old man."
Meeker's friends were against the idea; they thought he would never make it alive. Although his ox died, the difficult trip didn't kill Meeker. Along the way, he gave speeches encouraging preservation of the Trail, and many turned out to listen. He wrote a book, convinced President Teddy Roosevelt to set aside money for trail preservation, and became a national celebrity.
The whole expedition was so successful, Meeker did it again a few years later in 1910. He was more than 80 then, but still as energetic as ever. In later years, Meeker switched to newer forms of transportation, making the journey to Oregon by car, train and even plane. Meeker was still busy promoting the Oregon Trail when he died at age 98.
The cow that started a warThe cow that started a warIt started innocently enough. A pioneer's cow wandered into a Sioux
camp. If the emigrants had gone after the cow, it's likely the amiable Sioux would have simply returned it. Instead, the emigrants went to Ft. Laramie, where they told overzealous Lt. Grattan what happened. He and 29 soldiers then set out to punish the tribe. In the meantime, hungry Sioux did what you might expect--they ate the cow.
When Grattan and his men arrived at the Sioux camp, the chief offered a horse in exchange for the cow--more than a fair trade. Grattan's response? He ordered his men to fire at the Sioux. Surprisingly, the chief ordered his warriors to withhold their fire, thinking Grattan now had his revenge and would leave. Grattan's response? He shot again, and killed the chief. This time the Sioux fought back, killing 21 soldiers.
The unfortunate result was that a number of tribes continued guerrilla attacks, and the military plotted a major retaliation. Years of hostility ensued and many innocent people died.
All because of a wandering cow.
