Trail Blazers: The Oregon Trail

There is a very popular game that many homeschoolers I've met played when they were young. Titled The Oregon Trail, the game consisted of going down the trail, doing your best to survive plagues, sickness, disease, attacks and getting lost in the middle of nowhere. It was a fun game, and very educational, too.
Unlike the game (for those of you who are familiar with it) there is no "reset" button. If you died that was it, everyone moved on without you. I'm sure you know this, but think about it for a moment. You leave everything you know and love. You realize that those you leave behind in the Eastern cities of America you'll probably never see again. You may not even survive the trip. Many don't, and you hear about the dangers of Indians and cholera. Why then, would you leave your home, your friends and go on a journey that a lot of people die trying?
Because there's something about the promise of new land, a bold adventure and a new life that draws certain people to try and conquer. Kinda like that saying, "I climb the mountain because it's there."
The Oregon Trail got it's first start in 1811, by fur trappers and traders who would travel to the Western united states to gain their fortune. For the most part, the only fur trappers who had spent any amount of time in the now present states of Alaska, Washington, Oregon and California were the Russians. For years the Russians had the largest supply of fur in the world, most notably getting their furs from Siberia and Alaska. They ventured into the Western states as well, trading with the Indians for the valuable furs. The business was good and it brought many other trappers from the Eastern states as well.
At first, the only way to get to the Western states was to ride on horseback or travel on foot. It wasn't until 1836 that the first wagon train started it's journey from Independence, Missouri, on a trail that had been cleared for wagons. Even then the route was still fairly dangerous.

From Wikipedia:

From the early to mid-1830s (and particularly through the epoch years, 1846–1869) the Oregon Trail and its many offshoots were used by about 400,000 settlers, ranchers, farmers, miners, and businessmen and their families. The eastern half of the trail was also used by travelers on the California Trail (from 1843), Bozeman Trail (from 1863), and Mormon Trail (from 1847) before turning off to their separate destinations. Use of the trail declined as the first transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869, making the trip west substantially faster, cheaper, and safer. Today, modern highways such as Interstate 80 follow the same course westward and pass through towns originally established to serve those using the Oregon Trail.

So as you can see, the Oregon Trail didn't only lead to just Oregon, it had separate branches that could bring people to Utah, California and Washington, as well as Idaho.

Many of the people who live in these states today are descendants of these brave pioneers, who often faced things like thunderstorms, hail storms, stampedes, and all kinds of scary accidents.

A good website to look at is the http://www.oregontrailcenter.org/ which gives lots of references and statistics as well as the history of the Oregon trail for those who want to know more about it. According to their site, they proclaim that the leading cause of death was getting run over by the wagons.

Oregon Trail Center:

Major threats to pioneer life and limb came from accidents, exhaustion, and disease. Crossing rivers were probably the most dangerous thing pioneers did. Swollen rivers could tip over and drown both people and oxen. Such accidents could cause the loss of life and most or all of valuable supplies. Animals could panic when wading through deep, swift water, causing wagons to overturn. Animals could cause very serious injury to their owners. People could be crushed by wagons or animals, thrown by horses.  

According to Peter D. Olch, being run over by wagon wheels was the most frequent cause of injury or death. Both children and adults could slip while getting out of a wagon and fall beneath the wheels. Children were especially susceptible to being run over by heavy wagons. Firearms were the second leading cause of emigrant injury and death and a surprisingly large number of pioneers were injured by accidental firearm discharges. The third cause was stampeding livestock. Other causes of injury or death included attacks by emigrants on other emigrants, lightning, hailstorms, grass-fires, gunpowder explosions, snakebite and suicide. Such diseases as cholera, small pox, flu, measles, mumps, tuberculosis could spread quickly through an entire wagon camp, killing several people.  Cholera was the main scourge of the trail.

Sounds pretty harsh, doesn't it? Makes you think twice about heading out on such a venture. And yet these people did it. Why? Why would they risk it? Because to them it was worth it. The idea of having their own place that wasn't crowded, living in a new land and creating their own rules gave people a new sense of freedom. Don't you like the idea of living in an area where you create your own rules, and you had as much land as you wanted to have the animals you wanted? It sounds kind of fun, doesn't it? That's the reason Marin and I moved to Hawaii, 12 A.D. So we could have the whole place to ourselves and have all the animals we wanted.

We can all learn something from the pioneers. Perseverance, determination and trust that God will get us through whatever we start can be seen in the lives of these trail blazers. I hope we all learn to be a bit more like them.

Little Known Fact: I'm sure we've all heard stories or seen movies about Indians attacking wagon trains, making off with children and shooting the men. Well, did you know that Indian Raids was the least cause of death on the Oregon Trail? Most of the Indians were fine with the wagon trains that moved through their territory. In fact, a lot of them traded buffalo robes and other items with the pioneers for things like knives, clothes and food. There were some instances where Indians did indeed attack the pioneers, but for the most part they were pretty good with all of the new settlers.

Today in History: Well, there doesn't seem to be much that went on today in history that has survived in the archives. The only thing we could find:

Henry J. Lutcher, American business partner and sawmill owner, died

Well, whoever Henry J. Lutcher was, we hoped he lived a good life!

Thanks to Oregon Trail Center and Wikipedia for provided some of the information used in this post.

Come back next week for some good reads on the Oregon Trail!