Exit Project:The Many Difficulties of the Travelers on the:

By Leo Ng from 704California Trail

Mormon Trail

Oregon Trail

Essential Question

My essential question is:

What were the difficulties the travelers faced on the trails?

The Oregon Trail

The Oregon Trail is approximately 2170 miles long.

The trail was used by people who wanted to travel from Missouri to Oregon.

The California Trail

The California Trail is approximately 2000 miles long.

This trail was used by people seeking prosperity in California.

The Mormon Trail

The Mormon Trail is approximately 1300 miles long.

The trail was used by the Mormons that was escaping religious persecution.

Guided Questions

1st Guided Question What difficulties did the travelers

on the Oregon Trail face?

2nd Guided Question What difficulties did the

travelers face on the California Trail face?

What difficulties did the Mormons face

while on the Mormon Trail?

3rd Guided Question

1st Guided Question：

What difficulties did the travelers on the Oregon Trail face?

Difficulties: Diseases

One of the diseases on the Oregon Trail was cholera.

Many of the cholera symptoms stopped the travelers from going onward.

Another one of the diseases was smallpox.

Smallpox was deadly and people on the trail couldn’t treat it fast enough.

Difficulties: Nature

Rivers often swept away precious cargo, livestock, and people.

Mountains often provided a huge barrier on the trail, which wasn’t a good thing.

Thunderstorms often scared away oxen, tipping over wagons and running away.

Grassfires were another thing that the travelers had to watch out for.

Difficulties: Miscellaneous

There are always other dangers on the trail. Some of them include:

Being ran over by a wagon. People would accidentally fall under a wagon and get crushed.

Another one would be accidental shootings. Firearms would discharge and shoot someone in their vitals.

Some of the Indians (or natives) would be hostile and attack the camp.

Snakebites would also occur.

2nd Guided Question：

What difficulties did the travelers on the California Trail face?

Difficulties: Diseases

One disease is scurvy. It is caused when there is lack of vitamin C in the body.

Another disease on the California Trail was typhoid fever.

Difficulties: …

Since the California trail is basically an extension of the Oregon trail,

all of the difficulties were the same. The Rocky Mountains still block

the way to California and travelers can still fall under wagons and get

crushed.

3rd Guided Question：

What difficulties did the Mormons face while on the Mormon Trail?

Difficulties: Diseases

There are more new diseases on this trail. One such disease is tuberculosis.

Another popular disease was malaria. (Not popular with the pioneers).

One last disease was pneumonia. All of theses diseases each had a major impact on the travelers.

Difficulties: Nature

Nature played a great role in the Mormon’s trek to Salt Lake Valley. Winter was harsh and a certain incident forced the Mormons to leave early.

Mud bogs slowed down the Mormons considerably.

Difficulties: Miscellaneous

Before the Mormons left a raid happened and forced the Mormon to leave early. This caused them to leave their precious supplies.

Leadership was also disorganized and these factors left to difficulty on a daily basis.

Fun Facts on the Trails

Many times, pioneers would have to pay 100 dollars for a glass of water when they were dying of dehydration.

Oxen eat almost anything. On occasion, spare clothes bounced out of a back of a covered wagon and were quickly eaten by an ox pulling the following wagon.

There was no firewood along the trail so “chips were used”. These were dried buffalo bung and it burned pretty well and no odor was released in the process.

People who got cholera or another fatal sickness during that time were sometimes cast away along the side of the trail. Watchers would see if the person dies and some even dug the victims grave for them!