Oregon Trail (2024)

FAQs

What was the Oregon Trail and why was it important? ›

The Oregon Trail was a roughly 2,000-mile route from Independence, Missouri, to Oregon City, Oregon, that was used by hundreds of thousands of American pioneers in the mid-1800s to emigrate west. The trail was arduous and snaked through Missouri and present-day Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Idaho and finally into Oregon.

Combined with accidents, drowning at dangerous river crossings, and other illnesses, at least 20,000 people died along the Oregon Trail. Most trailside graves are unknown, as burials were quick and the wagon trains moved on.

Historians estimate that about 300 of the original 2,000 miles (480 of 3,200 km) of the Oregon Trail remain untouched. The rest of it has been lost to time or development—in many places, roads and highways were built directly over the popular route, such as Oregon's stretch of U.S. 26 along the Barlow Road route.

Perhaps some 300,000 to 400,000 people used it during its heyday from the mid-1840s to the late 1860s, and possibly a half million traversed it overall, covering an average of 15 to 20 miles (24 to 32 km) per day; most completed their journeys in four to five months.

Some of the best known included Blue Mound in Kansas; Courthouse and Jail rocks, Chimney Rock, and Scotts Bluff in Nebraska; Laramie Peak, Independence Rock, Devil's Gate, Split Rock, the Wind River Range, and Twin Buttes (near the South Pass) in Wyoming; Three Buttes (near Fort Hall) in Idaho; and Flagstaff Hill and, ...

Death on the Trail

The majority of deaths occurred because of diseases caused by poor sanitation. Cholera and typhoid fever were the biggest killers on the trail. Another major cause of death was falling off of a wagon and getting run over.

Women on the Oregon Trail drove wagons, herded livestock, yoked oxen, and sometimes even took a turn at guard duty.

Emigrants feared death from a variety of causes along the trail: lack of food or water; Indian attacks; accidents, or rattlesnake bites were a few. However, the number one killer, by a wide margin, was disease. The most dangerous diseases were those spread by poor sanitary conditions and personal contact.

Stream and river crossings, steep descents and ascents, violent storms, and the persistent threat of disease among large groups of travelers were the most common challenges. Disease was the greatest threat on the trail, especially cholera, which struck wagon trains in years of heavy travel.

A number of these emigrant graves can still be found along the trails and through the dedicated research of some OCTA volunteers, the history of the deceased has been reconstructed and markers have been placed.

How many bodies are along the Oregon Trail? ›

The Oregon Trail is this nation's longest graveyard. Over a 25 year span, up to 65,000 deaths occurred along the western overland emigrant trails. If evenly spaced along the length of the Oregon Trail, there would be a grave every 50 yards from Missouri to Oregon City.

The bluffs close proximity to the river forced the emigrant trails onto a narrow path that went up and over the bluffs. Over time, as thousands of wagons, emigrants, and livestock went up the rise, ruts were carved into the dry bluffs. These ruts are still visible today at Sutherland Rest Area.

Rough roads and wagons without springs made for a very bumpy ride, and wagons were filled with supplies which left little room for passengers. Generally, travelers only rode in wagons when too ill or tired to walk, and slept most nights in tents or bedrolls outside the wagon.

The most dangerous period of the emigration was the early 1850s, when cholera broke out in the jumping-off towns along the Missouri River. The emigrants and Gold Rushers headed for Oregon and California picked up the disease while outfitting for the journey and carried it west along the Platte and North Platte Rivers.

The real enemies of the pioneers were cholera, poor sanitation and--surprisingly--accidental gunshots. The first emigrants to go to Oregon in a covered wagon were Marcus and Narcissa Whitman (and Henry and Eliza Spalding) who made the trip in 1836.

After the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, more and more Americans began settling the West, and by the early 1840s, the Oregon Trail provided a route for people to reach all the way to the West Coast of the Pacific Northwest. The trail facilitated the settlement of what would become major cities like Portland, Oregon.

The north-south Oregon–to–California Trail was the main overland route for travel and shipment of goods between the two states during the nineteenth century.

Students who played the game in the '90s were some of the first to learn basic computer literacy without being consumed by the internet from an early age. In illustrating systems and data like weather, rations and pace of travel, PBS notes, “Oregon Trail” served as some kids' first exposure to computer science.

Where is the Oregon National Historic Trail? The Trail passes through the following seven states: Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. The trail begins at its eastern end in Wayne City, Missouri, but emigrants also departed from St. Joseph, Missouri, and Omaha, Nebraska.