Oregon Trail - Pioneers, Wagons, Westward (2024)

Many motion pictures show wagon trains in the West full of people riding in big wagons pulled by horses. In reality, smaller and lighter wagons called prairie schooners (the white canvas tops, or bonnets, of which appeared from a distance to resemble sailing ships) were much more suitable for long-distance travel than the big, heavy, and unwieldy Conestoga wagons of the East. Horses were used by some emigrants, but mules and oxen were better suited, since they had greater endurance and were less likely to be stolen. In addition, most people walked, both because it allowed their wagons to carry more weight and because riding in the wagons—which had no suspension—they would have endured constant jolting and lurching on the rough trails and roads. Ox teams were not controlled with reins, and drivers walked alongside the animals.

Several techniques were developed for taking wagons down inclines. If the angle was not too steep, the oxen could be left hitched to the wagon to check its speed, often with the wagon’s wheels locked to help slow the descent. In places with trees, ropes could be tied between them and wagons to create makeshift winches, or trees could be felled and used as drags. If the top-heavy wagons were to traverse (move diagonally across) a steep slope, ropes could be secured to the upper side of a wagon and a strain maintained on them as they descended.

There were also a variety of methods for fording rivers. Some emigrants simply caulked their wagon boxes, making them watertight, and floated them across. Where the crossings were shallow, wagon boxes could be raised by putting blocks on the axles. For deeper water, eight or more teams were hitched to one wagon, which allowed one of the teams to always be on solid ground and have some degree of control over those that were swimming. Unfamiliar fords were scouted and crossed in advance. During that crossing, a rope was often carried along, fastened on each side of the river, and then used as a guide for the swimming animals.

Hazards of the journey

Like statistics on the total number of emigrants who traveled the Oregon Trail, estimates of how many people died en route have varied considerably. Low-end figures on mortality tend to be around 4 to 6 percent of the total (i.e., some 12,000 to 24,000 deaths), and estimates range up to 10 percent. The greatest threats to life on the trail were accidents and disease. Most diaries included reports of someone hurt or killed by firearms or animals, accidental drownings, or hypothermia. Wagon accidents were also quite common, and many children were killed or maimed after falling under the wheels of a moving wagon.

Diseases also took a heavy toll on the trail. Opportunities for sanitation—bathing and laundering—were severely limited, and safe drinking water frequently was not available in sufficient quantities. Human and animal waste, garbage, and animal carcasses were often in close proximity to available water supplies. As a result, cholera, spread by contaminated water, was responsible for the most deaths overall on the Oregon Trail, although diphtheria was the single biggest killer of children. Many emigrants, exhausted and suffering from poor nutrition, fell prey to typhoid, “mountain fever” (believed to be a tick fever that causes flulike symptoms), dysentery, mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria, food poisoning, scurvy (from the lack of vitamin C), or poisoning from drinking water that was too alkaline. Measles, mumps, and smallpox also preyed on the pioneers, especially children, and women were always at risk while giving birth.

One of the common scenes in western films shows circled wagon trains under attack by Indians. However, conflict with native peoples was actually a rare occurrence for most emigrants during the heyday of Oregon Trail use. A study by historian John Unruh concluded that fewer than 400 emigrants were killed as a result of Indian attacks along the trail between 1840 and 1860. Rather, most Indians were helpful and generally friendly. Many provided supplies needed by the pioneers or operated ferries or helped manage livestock for them. Most wagon companies did circle their wagons when resting or camping overnight, but that was done more to control their livestock than for defensive purposes. The few times when Indians did attack, it was usually when the wagons were in a line.

Many of the incidents with Indians were precipitated by whites through their ignorance of and arrogance toward native peoples. An altercation—typically the shooting of an Indian—would bring retaliation, though often not against the wagon train of the perpetrator but against the next train encountered. Violent attacks by Indians on small, isolated trains or individuals did increase after the 1850s, as native hostility grew toward whites and their increasing settlement of the West.

Great numbers of emigrants had run out of provisions and were starving as they neared the end of the Oregon Trail. Others were exhausted and sick, and many were destitute, having lost their wagons and belongings or used up their funds paying tolls. It was common for established Oregon residents to mount relief expeditions to aid those just arriving. Pack trains organized by charitable settlers regularly met the new arrivals at The Dalles to help them along the final leg of the journey.