People often traveled by steamboat up the Ohio River or the Mississippi to reach the major trailheads. The Oregon Trail was created earlier by fur trappers.
A The
Humboldt Basin
The dreaded 40-mile stretch of Humboldt Basin promised severe heat, sand
deep enough to trap oxen and no food or water.
B The
Continental Divide
South Pass was the easiest passage through the Rockies. Rivers to the
east flowed toward the Atlantic. Rivers to the west flowed toward the
Pacific. From this point on, travel became increasingly difficult.
C Independence
Rock
Marked on by hundreds of pioneers who passed it.
D Fort
Laramie
Over 39,000 people were recorded passing through Fort Laramie in the
first six months of 1849. It is likely that several thousand more passed
through unrecorded.
E The
Platte River
The rains of 1849 made the overland journey difficult at the Platte
River.
F Chimney
Rock
A 500 ft. column. It marks 550 miles from Independence, Mo.
G The
Jayhawkers
A group, named the Jayhawkers, broke off from a larger group in the
hopes of cutting 600 miles off the distance. Their journey ended in an
area named Tomesha, "ground afire," by the local Indians.
Today, the area is called Death Valley.
Forts
Pioneers could replenish food, tools and other supplies at posts along
the way, if the wagon train before them hadn't cleaned the forts out.
Landmarks
The weary travelers looked forward to sighting these almost mythical
places as they confirmed that they were not only on the right trail but
also making progress.
Sickness
A cholera epidemic
killed young and old alike on the trail. Dysentery was introduced from
drinking dirty water.
Trails
Trails through Arizona and New Mexico with frequent towns and trading
posts were popular.
The cost for a family of four was around $600 to $700. Groups organized and agreed to travel together. Any given train of wagons would have people with different occupations. The more varied the abilities, the more comfortable the journey was likely to be.
Supplies
might include:
Cooking stove made of sheet metal, cows, bacon, ham, rice, dried fruit,
molasses, packed butter, bread, coffee and tea, tools for mining,
farming and repairing wagons, vegetable and flower seeds, medicines,
quilts, musical instruments, guns, ammunition, awls, needles
strengthened for mending clothes and tents, bedding, including buffalo
robes, waterproof india rubber blankets to keep things dry, lock chains
to hold wagons back on steep hills.
On the
trail:
There are hooks on the
inside of the hoops to hang milk cans, guns, etc.
Making butter: After a
few hours on the bumpy trail, a ball of butter would form in the center
of a can of milk.
Plates, silverware,
pots and pans were kept in a special box attached to the rear of the
wagon.
Animals were driven by
shouting and whip-cracking over their heads. They were not struck.
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Some brought chickens.
Eggs could be stored
in flour barrels. So long as they were not touching, they wouldn't
break.
The rigors of life on
the trail led many women to try wearing pants for the first time.
People often walked,
as the wagons traveled very slowly and the bumpy trails made the wagon
seats uncomfortable.
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On the prairie, wood was
scarce. Pioneers discovered that buffalo chips created a hot, smokeless
and odorless fire.
A bucket of grease
hung between the wheels to lubricate them.
Sources:
"The Great American Gold Rush" by Rhoda Blumberg, "The
Gold Rush" by Liza Ketchum, "The California Gold Rush,"
published by American Heritage, "The California Gold Rush" by
Elizabeth Van Steenwyk, "Hunting for Gold" by William Downie,
"Sea Routes to the Gold Fields" by Oscar Lewis, "If You
Traveled West in a Covered Wagon" by Ellen Levine, "The East
Indiamen" by Russell Miller, Steve and Eric Chrissman of the
National Nautical Heritage Society
Graphics: Sean McDade Information from website of the Sacramento
Bee Newspaper.