The Oregon Trail: A New American Journey

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Fort Laramie was the end of most cholera outbreaks which killed thousands along the lower Platte and North Platte from 1849 to 1855. Spread by cholera bacteria in fecal-contaminated water, cholera causes massive diarrhea, leading to dehydration and death. In those days its cause and treatment were unknown, and it was often fatal—up to 30 percent of infected people died. It is believed that the swifter flowing rivers in Wyoming helped prevent the germs from spreading. [53] Colorado [ edit ]

The Trail to Oregon' musical review: A new kind of Starkid show". Hypable. July 14, 2014 . Retrieved May 22, 2020. U.S. Seventh Census 1850: California" (PDF) . Retrieved August 18, 2011. The 1850 U.S. California Census, the first census that included everyone, showed only about 7,019 females with 4,165 non-native females older than 15 in the state. To find a "correct" census there should be added about 20,000 men and about 1,300 females from San Francisco, Santa Clara, and Contra Costa counties whose censuses were lost and not included in the official totals.Additional estimate for Fort Kearney, South Pass, and Honey Lake wagon road: letter from the acting Secretary of the Interior, transmitting a communication from Colonel Lander regarding the Fort Kearney, South Pass and Honey Lake wagon road. United States. Dept. of the Interior. 1861 . Retrieved March 19, 2011. Rollins, Philip Ashton (1995). The Discovery of the Oregon Trail: Robert Stuart's Narratives of His Overland Trip Eastward from Astoria in 1812–13. University of Nebraska. ISBN 978-0-8032-9234-5.

Besides skirmishes with the Native American tribes, the early settlers were caught in the middle of a war between the U.S. government and the British. The United States wanted to expand its territory to the north and west, but the British still had interests in those North American regions. The United States managed to defend itself against the British and their Canadian and Native American hired guns even as the British captured Washington D.C. for a time. The War of 1812 ended in 1815, and colonization of the Pacific Northwest resumed sporadically after the ratification of the Treaty of Ghent. Oregon Trail Memoirs For an Oregon-California trail map up to the junction in Idaho NPS Oregon National Historic Trail Map. Retrieved January 28, 2009.Williams, Joseph (1921). Narrative of a Tour from the State of Indiana to the Oregon Territory in the Years 1841–2 (DJVU). Standard. ISBN 978-0-87770-172-9. OCLC 2095243.

Though the numbers are significant in the context of the times, far more people chose to remain at home in the 31 states. Between 1840 and 1860, the population of the United States rose by 14 million, yet only about 300,000 decided to make the trip. Many were discouraged by the cost, effort, and danger of the trip. Western scout Kit Carson is thought to have said, "The cowards never started and the weak died on the way", though the general saying was written [ when?] by Joaquin Miller, in reference to the California Gold Rush. [96] According to several sources, 3 to 10 percent of the emigrants are estimated to have perished on the way west. [97] Tonquin". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on June 6, 2013 . Retrieved May 11, 2013. A significant number of travelers were suffering from scurvy by the end of their trips. Their typical flour and salted pork/bacon diet had very little vitamin C in it. The diet in the mining camps was also typically low in fresh vegetables and fruit, which indirectly led to the early deaths of many of the inhabitants. Some believe that scurvy deaths may have rivaled cholera as a killer, with most deaths occurring after the victim reached California. [103] From 1812 to 1840, the British, through the HBC, had nearly complete control of the Pacific Northwest and the western half of the Oregon Trail. In theory, the Treaty of Ghent, which ended the War of 1812, restored possession of Oregon territory to the United States. "Joint occupation" of the region was formally established by the Anglo-American Convention of 1818. The British, through the HBC, tried to discourage any U.S. trappers, traders, and settlers from work or settlement in the Pacific Northwest.Larry and Carolyn. "Franklin Missouri The Beginning of the Santa Fe Trail". www.santafetrailresearch.com . Retrieved October 13, 2017. From 1821 to 1846, the Hudson's Bay Company twice annually used the York Factory Express overland trade route from Fort Vancouver to Hudson Bay and then on to London. James Sinclair led a large party of nearly 200 settlers from the Red River Colony in 1841. These northern routes were largely abandoned after Britain ceded its claim to the southern Columbia River basin by way of the Oregon Treaty of 1846. By overland travel, American missionaries and early settlers (initially mostly ex-trappers) started showing up in Oregon around 1824. [ citation needed] Although officially the HBC discouraged settlement because it interfered with its lucrative fur trade, its Chief Factor at Fort Vancouver, John McLoughlin, gave substantial help, including employment, until they could get established. In the early 1840s thousands of American settlers arrived and soon greatly outnumbered the British settlers in Oregon. [8] McLoughlin, despite working for the HBC, gave help in the form of loans, medical care, shelter, clothing, food, supplies and seed to U.S. emigrants. These new emigrants often arrived in Oregon tired, worn out, nearly penniless, with insufficient food or supplies, just as winter was coming on. McLoughlin would later be hailed as the Father of Oregon. Kaiser, Leo, and Priscilla Knuth, eds. “From Ithaca to Clatsop: Miss Ketcham’s Journal of Travel, Pt. 2.” Oregon Historical Quarterly(December 1961): 397. A branch of the Oregon trail crossed the very northeast corner of Colorado if they followed the South Platte River to one of its last crossings. This branch of the trail passed through present-day Julesburg before entering Wyoming. Later settlers followed the Platte and South Platte Rivers into their settlements there (much of which became the state of Colorado).

Most groups tried to set out by mid-April. Their goal was to reach Fort Kearny, founded in 1848 near present-day Kearny, Nebraska, by May 15; Fort Laramie in present-day Wyoming by mid-June; South Pass on the Fourth of July; and Oregon by mid-September. Wagon trains could average from twelve to fifteen miles per travel day, but most had to pause because of conditions and some did not travel on Sundays. In many sections, the trail spread across miles of terrain, as successive emigrants sought easier transit. Sources of water and forage for animals often determined camping locations. Publishers Weekly: " An entertaining and enlightening account of one of America’s most legendary migrations. Even readers who don’t know a horse from a mule will find themselves swept up in this inspiring and masterful tale of perseverance and the pioneer spirit. [3] The Oregon Trail". CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on June 29, 2011 . Retrieved January 11, 2013.

CHAPTER VII

Area Histories: Historical Maps". North East Winnipeg Historical Society Inc. (2010) . Retrieved October 12, 2017. The Oregon Trail Memorial half dollar was coined to commemorate the route. Issued intermittently between 1926 and 1939, 202,928 were sold to the public. With 131,050 minted in 1926, that year's issue remains readily available for collectors.