Oregon Trail
48711
224666450
2008-07-09T21:50:21Z
SGBailey
6019
/* Further reading */ Western Passage
{{otheruses}}
{{Infobox_protected_area | name = Oregon Trail
| iucn_category = V
| image = Wpdms nasa topo oregon trail.jpg
| caption =
| locator_x =
| locator_y =
| location = [[Missouri]], [[Kansas]], [[Nebraska]], [[Wyoming]], [[Idaho]], [[Oregon]]| established = 1978
| visitation_num =
| visitation_year =
| governing_body = [[National Park Service]]
}}
[[Image:Oregontrail 1907.jpg|thumb|400px|The Ox Team or the Old Oregon Trail 1852-1906 by Ezra Meeker]]
Pioneers traveled across the '''Oregon Trail''', one of the main overland migration routes on the [[North America]]n [[continent]], in wagons in order to settle new parts of the [[United States|United States of America]] during the 19th century.<ref>[http://www.wyomingtalesandtrails.com/OregonTail.html Oregon Trail, Death on the Trail.] The Oregon Trail: From Wyoming Tales and Trails. Retrieved [[December 23]] [[2007]].</ref> The Oregon Trail helped the United States implement its cultural goal of [[Manifest Destiny]], that is, to expand the nation from the [[Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic]] to the [[Pacific Ocean]]. The five to six month journey spanned over half the continent as the wagon trail proceeded 2,170 miles (3,500 kilometers) west through territories and land later to become six [[U.S. state]]s ([[Missouri]], [[Kansas]], [[Nebraska]], [[Wyoming]], [[Idaho]], and [[Oregon]]). Between 1841 and 1869, the Oregon Trail was used by settlers migrating to the [[Pacific Northwest]] of what is now the United States. Once the [[First Transcontinental Railroad|first transcontinental railroad]] was completed in 1869, the use of this trail by long distance travelers diminished as the railroad slowly replaced it.
==History==
[[Image:Conestoga wagon on Oregon Trail reenactment 1961.gif|thumb|right|Oregon Trail reenactment at Scotts Bluff]]
===Astorians===
The first land route across what is now the United States that was well-mapped was that taken by [[Lewis and Clark Expedition|Lewis and Clark]] from 1804 to 1805. They believed they had found a practical route to the west coast.{{Fact|date=April 2008}} However, the pass through the [[Rocky Mountains]] they took, [[Lolo Pass (Idaho-Montana)|Lolo Pass]], turned out to be too difficult for wagons to pass. In 1810, [[John Jacob Astor]] outfitted an expedition (known popularly as the [[Astor Expedition]] or ''Astorians'') to find an overland supply route for establishing a [[fur trade|fur trading]] post at the mouth of the [[Columbia River]] at [[Fort Astoria]]. Most of Astor's partners and all of his staff were former employees of the [[North West Company]], known as Nor'Westers.
Fearing attack by the [[Blackfoot]], the expedition veered south of the Lewis and Clark route in what is now [[South Dakota]] and in the process passed through what is now [[Wyoming]] and then down the [[Snake River]] to the Columbia River.
Members of the party, including [[Robert Stuart (explorer)|Robert Stuart]], one of the Nor'wester partners, returned back east after the [[American Fur Company]] staff there sold the fort to [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|British]] North West Company staff, who took over the outpost in the [[War of 1812]] via the Snake River. The party stumbled upon [[South Pass]]: a wide, low pass through the Rockies in Wyoming. The party continued via the [[Platte River]]. This turned out to be a practical wagon route, and Stuart's journals were a meticulous account of it.<ref>Philip Ashton Rollins, ''ed.'', ''The Discovery of the Oregon Trail: Robert Stuart's Narratives of His Overland Trip Eastward from Astoria in 1812-13'', University of Nebraska, 1995, ISBN 0-803-29234-1</ref>
Fort Astoria was returned to United States control at the end of the war. However, the British [[Hudson's Bay Company]] came to control the fur trade in the region, especially after its merger with the North West Company in 1821.
===Great American Desert===
Westward expansion did not begin immediately, however. Reports from expeditions in 1806 by Lieutenant [[Zebulon Pike]] and in 1819 by Major [[Stephen Long]] described the [[Great Plains]] as "unfit for human habitation" and as "The [[Great American Desert]]". These descriptions were mainly based on the relative lack of timber and surface water. The images of sandy wastelands conjured up by terms like "desert" were tempered by the many reports of vast herds of bison. It was not until later that the [[Ogallala Aquifer]] would be discovered and used for irrigation, and railroads would allow farm products to be transported to distant markets and lumber imported. In the meantime, the Great Plains remained unattractive for general settlement, especially when compared to the fertile lands, big rivers, and seaports of Oregon.
The route of the Oregon Trail began to be scouted out as early as 1823 by [[fur traders]] and explorers. The trail began to be regularly used by fur traders, missionaries, and military expeditions during the 1830s. At the same time, small groups of individuals and the occasional family attempted to follow the trail, and some succeeded in arriving at [[Fort Vancouver]] in [[Washington]].
===The Peoria Party===
On [[May 1]], [[1839]] a group of men from [[Peoria, Illinois]] set out with the intention to colonize the [[Oregon Country]] on behalf of the United States of America and drive out the English fur trading companies operating there. The men of the [[Peoria Party]] were among the first pioneers to blaze the Oregon Trail. The men were led by [[Thomas J. Farnham]] and called themselves the [[Oregon Dragoons]]. They carried a large flag emblazoned with their motto "'''OREGON OR THE GRAVE'''". Although the group split up on the trail, several of their members did reach Oregon and were among the prominent early pioneers of that region
===Elm Grove Expedition===
On [[May 16]], [[1842]], the first organized [[wagon train]] on the Oregon Trail set out from [[Elm Grove, Missouri]], with more than 100 pioneers (members of the party later disagreed over the size of the party, one stating 160 adults and children were in the party, while another counted only 105). The party was led by [[Elijah White]], appointed Indian Sub-Agent to Oregon, the first U.S. official in the region (never confirmed by Congress). Despite company policy to discourage U.S. emigration, [[John McLoughlin]], Factor of the [[Hudson's Bay Company]] at [[Vancouver, Washington|Fort Vancouver]], offered the American settlers food and farming equipment on credit, being unwilling to watch able-bodied people starve.{{Facts|date=March 2007}}
===Free land===
The biggest driving force for settlement was the offer of free land.
In 1843, the settlers of the [[Willamette Valley]] by a vote of 52 to 50 drafted a [[Organic Laws of Oregon|constitution]] that organized the land claim process in the state. Married couples were allowed to claim up to 640 acres (a "section" which is a square mile, or 260 hectares) at no cost and singles could claim 320 acres (130 ha).<ref>[http://www.endoftheoregontrail.org/road2oregon/sa28claims.html Claiming the Farm.] End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center. Retrieved [[December 22]] [[2007]].</ref>
In 1848, the United States formally declared what was left of the [[Oregon Country]] a U.S. territory, after it effectively partitioned it in 1846. The [[Donation Land Act]] of 1850 superseded the earlier laws, but it did recognize the earlier claims. Settlers after 1850 could be granted half a section (320 acres) if married and a quarter section if single. A four-year residence and cultivation was required. In 1854, the land was no longer free (although still cheap—initially $1.25/acre, or $0.51/ha).
===Opening of the trail===
In what was dubbed "The Great Migration of 1843" or the "Wagon Train of 1843",<ref>[http://www.peak.org/~mransom/pioneers.html The Wagon Train of 1843: The Great Migration.] Oregon Pioneers. Retrieved [[December 22]] [[2007]].</ref><ref>[http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/events/1840_1850.htm Events in The West: 1840-1850.] PBS. Retrieved [[December 22]] [[2007]].</ref> an estimated 1000 immigrants, led by [[Marcus Whitman]], arrived in the Willamette Valley. Hundreds of thousands more followed, especially after [[California Gold Rush|gold was discovered]] in [[California]] in 1848. The trail was still in use during the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], but traffic declined after 1869 when the [[transcontinental railroad]] was completed. The trail continued to be used into the 1890s, and modern highways eventually paralleled large portions of the trail, including [[U.S. Highway 26]] which follows the trail for much of its length.
Other migration paths for early settlers prior to the establishment of the transcontinental railroads involved taking passage on a ship rounding the [[Cape Horn]] of [[South America]] or to the [[Isthmus]] (now [[Panama]]) between North and [[South America]]. There, an arduous mule trek through hazardous swamps and rain forests awaited the traveler. A ship was then typically taken to [[San Francisco, California]].
==Routes==
[[Image:South pass marker2.jpg|thumb|right|The [[20th Century]] saw a host of [[Oregon Trail]] boosters celebrate the old trail as a patriotic pathway of [[Manifest Destiny]]. Oregon Trail pioneer [[Ezra Meeker]] erected this boulder near [[Pacific Springs]] on Wyoming's [[South Pass]] in 1906.<ref>"Ventures and Adventures of Ezra Meeker: Or, Sixty Years of Frontier Life," by Ezra Meeker. Rainer Printing Company 1908. ASIN: B000861WA8</ref>]]
The trail is marked by numerous cutoffs and shortcuts from Missouri to Oregon. The basic route follows river valleys. Starting initially in [[Independence, Missouri|Independence]]/[[Kansas City, Missouri|Kansas City]], the trail followed the [[Santa Fe Trail]] south of the [[Wakarusa River]]. After crossing [[Mount Oread|The Hill]] at [[Lawrence, Kansas]], it crossed the [[Kansas River]] near [[Topeka, Kansas]], and angled to [[Nebraska]] paralleling the [[Little Blue River]] until reaching the south side of the [[Platte River]], where it traveled along the [[Great Platte River Road]]. It followed the Platte, North Platte, and Sweetwater Rivers to [[South Pass]] in the Rocky Mountains in Wyoming. From South Pass the trail approximately parallels the [[Snake River]] to the [[Columbia River]] at [[The Dalles, Oregon]]. From there, several branches and route variations over time led to the [[Willamette Valley]], including boats down the Columbia River, the [[Santiam Wagon Road]], the [[Applegate Trail]] and—the most popular route—the [[Barlow Road]].
While the first few parties organized and departed from Elm Grove, the Oregon Trail's generally designated starting point was Independence or [[Westport, Kansas City|Westport]] on the [[Missouri River]]. Several towns along the Missouri River had feeder trails and make claims to being the starting point including [[Weston, Missouri]]; [[Fort Leavenworth, Kansas]]; [[Atchison, Kansas]]; and [[St. Joseph, Missouri]].
The Oregon Trail's termination point was [[Oregon City, Oregon|Oregon City]], at the time the proposed capital of the [[Oregon Territory]]. However, many settlers branched off or stopped short of this goal and settled at convenient or promising locations along the trail. Commerce with pioneers going further west greatly assisted these early settlements in getting established and launched local micro-economies critical to these settlements' prosperity.
At many places along the trail, alternate routes called "cutoffs" were established either to shorten the trail or to get around difficult terrain. The Lander and Sublette cutoffs provided shorter routes through the mountains than the main route, bypassing [[Fort Bridger]]. In later years, the Salt Lake cutoff provided a route to [[Salt Lake City]].
Numerous other trails followed the Oregon Trail for part of its length. These include the [[Mormon Trail]] from [[Illinois]] to [[Utah]], and the [[California Trail]] to the gold fields of California.
Remnants of the trail in Idaho, Kansas, Oregon, and Wyoming, have been listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]], and the entire trail is a designated [[National Historic Trail]] (listed as the '''Oregon National Historic Trail''').
===Landmarks===
[[Image:Oregon Trail reenactment at Scotts Bluff.gif|thumb|right|Oregon Trail reenactment at Scotts Bluff]]
Many rock formations became famous landmarks that the Oregon Trail pioneers used to navigate as well as leave messages for pioneers following behind them. The first landmarks that the pioneers encountered were in western Nebraska, such as [[Courthouse and Jail Rocks]], [[Chimney Rock National Historic Site|Chimney Rock]], and [[Scotts Bluff National Monument|Scotts Bluff]]. In Wyoming, names of pioneers can be seen carved into a landmark bluff called Register Cliff, and in [[Independence Rock (Wyoming)|Independence Rock]]. One Wyoming landmark along the trail, [[Ayres Natural Bridge]], is now a state park of the same name.
==Travel equipment==
The Oregon Trail was too long and arduous for the standard [[Conestoga wagon]]s used in the [[Eastern United States]] at that time for most freight transport. These big wagons had a reputation for killing their oxen teams approximately two thirds along the trail and leaving their unfortunate owners stranded in desolate, isolated territory. The only solution was to abandon all belongings and traipse onward with the supplies and tools that could be carried or dragged. In one case in 1846 on the [[California Trail]], the [[Donner Party]], en route to California, was stranded in the [[Sierra Nevada (U.S.)|Sierra Nevada]] in November and some of the emigrants resorted to [[cannibalism]] to survive.
This led to the rapid development of the [[Conestoga Wagon#Prairie schooners|prairie schooners]]. The wagon was approximately half the size of the big Conestogas but was also manufactured in quantity. It was designed for the Oregon Trail's conditions and was a marvel of engineering in its time. The covers of the wagons were treated with linseed oil to keep out the rain. However, the covers eventually leaked anyway.{{Fact|date=March 2007}}
The recommended amount of food to take for an adult was 150 pounds (70 kg) of [[flour]], 20 pounds (9 kg) of [[corn meal]], 50 pounds (25 kg) of [[bacon]], 40 pounds (20 kg) of [[sugar]], 10 pounds (5 kg) of [[coffee]], 15 pounds (7 kg) of [[dried fruit]], 5 pounds (2 kg) of [[salt]], half a pound (0.25 kg) of saleratus ([[baking soda]]), 2 pounds (1 kg) of [[tea]], 5 pounds (2 kg) of [[rice]], and 15 pounds (7 kg) of [[beans]].<ref>[http://www.endoftheoregontrail.org/outfit.html Provisions for the Trail.] End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center. Retrieved [[December 23]] [[2007]].</ref>
==Statistics==
Immigration to Oregon Territory increased vastly between 1840 and 1852, the year of greatest migration. According to ''Oregon Trail Statistics'' by William E. Hill, the figures rocketed from 13 in 1840 to 1,475 four years later, nearly doubled the following year, and hit 4,000 in 1847. Emigration declined considerably prior to 1850, when 6,000 people trekked to Oregon. In 1851 the number dropped again (3,600) but sustained a huge comeback with 10,000 in 1852. (That same year some 60,000 people emigrated to Utah and California, a stand-alone record.)
Another 13,500 people moved to Oregon in 1853-54, with 5,000 more making the trip as of 1859, the year of statehood.
In the 20 years from 1840-1859 some 52,000 emigrants moved to Oregon, but nearly five times that number opted for California or Utah.
Though the numbers appear significant—and they were, especially in context of the times—vastly more people chose to remain at home in the 31 states. Part of the explanation is attributed to scout [[Kit Carson]] who reputedly said, "The cowards never started and the weak died on the way." According to some sources, one tenth of the emigrants perished on the way west.<ref>Lloyd W. Coffman, 1993, ''Blazing A Wagon Trail To Oregon''</ref>
==Legacy==
The western expansion and the Oregon Trail in particular inspired many songs that told of the settlers' experiences. "Uncle Sam's Farm," encouraged east-coast dwellers to "Come right away. Our lands they are broad enough, so don't be alarmed. Uncle Sam is rich enough to give us all a farm." In "Western Country," the singer exhorts that "if I had no horse at all, I'd still be a hauling, far across those Rocky Mountains, goin' away to Oregon."
When purchasing a new vehicle from 1995-1998, Oregonians could purchase special commemorative Oregon Trail license plates for their cars for an added fee.<ref>[http://www.endoftheoregontrail.org/oregontrails/projecthistory.html Project History.] End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center. Retrieved [[December 23]] [[2007]].</ref>
The story of the Oregon Trail inspired a popular educational computer game of the same name, ''[[The Oregon Trail (computer game)|The Oregon Trail]]''.
==See also==
*[[Kansas Territory]] (1854-1861)
*[[Nebraska Territory]] (1854-1867)
*[[The Oregon Trail: Sketches of Prairie and Rocky-Mountain Life]] (1847) by [[Francis Parkman]]
*[[Landmarks of the Nebraska Territory]]
*[[Emigrant Trail in Wyoming]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Refimprove|date=May 2007}}
==Further reading==
*{{cite book|last=Crawford |first=Medorem |title=Journal of Medorem Crawford: an account of his trip across the plains with the Oregon pioneers of 1842 |publisher=Star Job Office |year=1897 |oclc=5001642 |url=http://www.secstate.wa.gov/history/publications_detail.aspx?p=11 |format=DJVU}}
*{{cite book|last=Hanson |first=T J |title=Western Passage |publisher=Bookmasters, Inc |year=2001 |isbn=0-9705847-0-9 |quote= Well researched fiction }}
*{{cite book|last=Hewitt |first=Randall |title=Notes by the way : memoranda of a journey across the plains, from Dundee, Ill., to Olympia, W. T. May 7, to November 3, 1862 |publisher=Washington Standard |year=1863 |oclc=51465106 |url=http://www.secstate.wa.gov/history/publications_detail.aspx?p=38 |format=DJVU}}
*{{cite book|last=Smedley |first=William |title=Across the plains in '62 |year=1916 |oclc=4981167 |url=http://www.secstate.wa.gov/history/publications_detail.aspx?p=58 |format=DJVU}}
*{{cite book|last=Ward |first=D. B. |title=Across the plains in 1853 |publisher=Ward |year=1911 |oclc=2931824 |url=http://www.secstate.wa.gov/history/publications_detail.aspx?p=57 |format=DJVU}}
*{{cite book|last=Williams |first=Joseph |title=Narrative of a tour from the state of Indiana to the Oregon Territory in the years 1841-2 |publisher=Standard |year=1921 |oclc=2095243 |url=http://www.secstate.wa.gov/history/publications_detail.aspx?p=59 |format=DJVU}}
*[[Francis Parkman]], ''The Oregon Trail: Sketches of Prairie and Rocky-Mountain Life'' (U.Virginia)
*[http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1015 ''The Oregon Trail: Sketches of Prairie and Rocky-Mountain Life''], Francis Parkman (Project Gutenberg]
==External links==
{{commonscat}}
*[http://oregonmag.com/OrHistArticle.htm Oregon or the Grave]
*[http://www.isu.edu/~trinmich/Sites.html Historic Sites on the Oregon Trail]
*[http://www.endoftheoregontrail.org/histhome.html Oregon Trail History Library]
*[http://www.ku.edu/kansas/seneca/oregon/mainpage.html Oregon Trail: The Trail West]
*[http://www.nps.gov/oreg Oregon National Historic Trail Home Page]
*[http://www.rootsweb.com/~orgenweb/1843trailmap.html Oregon Trail Map 1843]
*[http://www.lib.utulsa.edu/speccoll/collections/maps/mitchell/Mitchell%20complete.jpg Mitchell Map of 1846]
*[http://www.oldchildrensbooks.com/music/OTrailCD.html Music of the Oregon Trail]
*[http://www.IndependenceRock.org Photos and History of the Oregon Trail in Central Wyoming]
*[http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/CS/SSB/Oregon_Trail.shtml Oregon Trail history from Oregon Department of Transportation] (with maps)
*[http://www.virtualapple.org/oregontraildisk.html The Oregon Trail Game Online]
*[http://oregonoverland.com Oregon Overland Book]
{{TrailSystem}}
{{Oregon Pioneer History}}
[[Category:Oregon Trail| ]]
[[Category:Oregon Country]]
[[Category:National Trails of the United States]]
[[Category:Lincoln Highway]]
[[Category:Columbia River Gorge]]
[[Category:Registered Historic Places in Idaho]]
[[Category:Registered Historic Places in Kansas]]
[[Category:Registered Historic Places in Oregon]]
[[Category:Interstate 84 (west)]]
[[Category:Infrastructure-related Registered Historic Places]]
{{Registered Historic Places}}
[[da:Oregon Trail]]
[[de:Oregon Trail]]
[[fr:Piste de l'Oregon]]
[[nl:Oregon Trail]]
[[ja:オレゴン・トレイル]]
[[pl:Szlak oregoński]]
[[sv:Oregon Trail]]
[[vi:Đường mòn Oregon]]