Landmarks of Westward Expansion; 6; The Oregon Trail: Wagons to the West

[intro music] [intro music] [intro music] [Mark] They were called movers, families on the move heading west by land in wagons with canvas covers that would be their homes until, with a good deal of luck and hard work, they arrived at their destination: the Oregon country.

[Jane] They'd heard stories about its beauty, about how Congress was thinking about giving away free land to anyone who settled there. And about how several missionaries and their families had already made the journey. What was that feeling of restlessness, that urge to pack up and go west? They called it 'Oregon Fever.' Hi again I'm Jane Ferguson. [Mark] And I'm Mark Sparks. Were in a desolate part of northeast Oregon, south of Boardman. [Jane] And these ruts we've been walking in are actual tracks made by thousands of wagon wheels on one of history's most famous roads, The Oregon Trail. And we're going to have help imagining what it was like traveling in these early covered wagons on the trail. Some members of the Pendleton Roundup Association have hitched up their own restored wagons to come along with us. Each year, as a part of the Pendleton Roundup, these wagons pay tribute to the pioneer spirit of the trail. Once wagons began to travel the Oregon Trail in greater numbers, the Indians came to

call it the Great Medicine Road of the Whites. It had the power to draw people thousands of miles to new homes, in spite of many hardships along the way. But it wasn't always a great well traveled road. [Mark] During the 1830s, many people in the east, midwest and south faced hard times. Many farmers were discouraged over poor prices for their crops and high prices for land. When they heard that Congress might give away free land in the Oregon country to Americans who would settle there, that was all the encouragement some needed to start making plans to head west. Some saw the settlement of the northwest by Americans as a way to help the United States claim control of the Oregon country. Those pioneers felt the move west was the patriotic thing to do. Still others simply found the adventure of such a long journey impossible to resist. [Jane] But what did those first pioneers know about making the trip west? Most of them were farmers, not frontiersman. And much of what they had read or heard about the route was

exaggerated. Even so, by the spring of 1843 they could point to the efforts of several earlier trailblazers and convince themselves it could be done. When Dr. Marcus Whitman and his party of missionaries traveled west in 1836 they managed to bring a two wheeled cart as far as Fort Boise. In 1842 Dr. Elijah White and a party of 105 men, women and children had set out with 18 wagons for Oregon. In that case the last of the wagons was abandoned at Fort Hall. [Mark] By the spring of 1843, nearly 1000 people with 120 wagons had gathered near the town of Independence Missouri for what was to become the great migration of 1843. Trapping caravans and the Santa Fe Trail started from there. And if the Oregon Trail had an official starting point, it was Independence. Many of those first pioneers were families who spent their life savings to get to Missouri and

outfit their wagons with what supplies they thought they'd need. [Jane] They were facing a trip over 2000 miles through country they knew little or nothing about, and as the time for heading out drew nearer, there were a thousand questions to be answered. Questions travelers on the trail would argue about for years to come. [Mark] About what food to take for instance. What would you take to eat on a six month long trip? They took flour, about 200 pounds per person, salt, sugar, coffee. Things that weren't likely to spoil. Many of the wagons were simply farm wagons that had been outfitted with canvas covers. They had to carry enough supplies, tools, spare parts, clothing and household goods to use on the trip, and to give the family a start once they reached the Oregon country. Another question was which animals to use to pull the wagons. Horses, mules or oxen? Most favored oxen because they were cheaper and less likely to stampede. But they were slower too, and to drive them you had to walk beside them cracking your whip. But what was the hardest decision? It was choosing a leader.

[Jane] An army officer named John Gant was elected guide, and by a stroke of luck, Dr. Marcus Whitman joined the caravan. He was on his way back west after traveling to Boston to ask for support for his mission, and he was eager to help. Later one of the travelers would write that no one was more responsible for the success of their journey than Dr. Whitman. On May 22nd, 1843, about 12 miles outside of Independence, at a place called Elm Grove, the wagon train got under way. They followed a series of rivers until they reached the shallow Sandy waters of the Platte River. As the wagons headed west, the air grew drier, grass turned brown. There was no escape from the heat and dust. Slowly they traveled on, beyond Chimney Rock and Scottsbluff, to the fur trading post of Fort Laramie. Here six hundred and forty miles out, with about a thousand four hundred

miles to go, they could rest and celebrate with a dance. On the trail once more they follow the North Platte River, and then the Sweet Water river. Everything became so dry. Equipment had to be repaired again and again. They left the Sweet Water to cross a sage brush plain called South Pass. This was a high broad gap through the Rocky Mountains. Beyond South Pass, they marked a rough trail through to Fort Bridger, and then on to Fort haul. Wagons and animals were wearing out. Dr. Whitman had to travel on ahead to his mission, but he assured them they could clear their own trail through the treacherous Blue Mountains. He was right. On September 14th, they reached the Whitman Mission at Waiilatpu. They got what supplies they could and continued west to the Hudson's Bay Company trading post at the mouth of the Walla Walla river. From there, those with animals still strong enough followed a rugged trail to the mission at The Dalles.

[Mark] This is Well Spring. For many later travelers on the Oregon Trail, it was an oasis in the middle of a hot and dusty part of eastern Oregon, located about halfway between the Whitman mission and The Dalles. The spring that once provided weary travelers with a drink has long since dried up. But this was a favorite camping spot for wagons nearing the last difficult leg of their journey. [Jane] Water. It was a major concern for everyone traveling the Oregon Trail. Would there be enough to drink? Was it safe to drink? It's a stream a river had to be crossed, would a day be lost to loading and unloading the wagon to float it across? Over the years many travelers would lose their possessions by trying to cross rivers too deep, or too swift. Still others would lose their lives. The Columbia River provided those first pioneers on the Oregon Trail with the final leg of their journey. They had to travel by boat from The Dalles to Fort Vancouver.

It was a frightening and often dangerous trip down a river once far more wild than it appears today. [Mark] Between eighteen forty three, and eight hundred forty nine, more than 9000 American pioneers arrived in the Oregon country. With each year there were new improvements along the trail. And one of the most important changes was the creation of a safer way to the Willamette Valley than down the Columbia River. In 1845 a pioneer from Kentucky named Samuel Barlow reached The Dalles. He refused to believe the Columbia River was the only way he could get beyond the Cascade Mountains. So he, and a party of wagons, set out to find a land route around Mt. Hood. Wandering through the deep valleys and thick forests south of Mount Hood, Barlow's party began to run low on food. Winter was setting in, and some decided to head back to The Dalles. But Barlow wouldn't give up. [Jane] These were Sam Barlow's words: 'God never made a mountain that he did

not make a place for some man to go over it or around it. I am going to look for that place.' Not far from where I'm standing, Barlow left his wagon and supplies at a place he called Fort Deposit, while he and another member of the party, William Rector, went on foot through the forest to Oregon City. Just when those who had stayed behind were about to give up hope, Barlow and Rector returned with food and supplies. They abandoned the wagons and arrived on foot in Oregon City on Christmas Day 1845. During the summer of 1846, Barlow, in partnership with Philip Foster, cleared and widened his road linking the Willamette Valley with the Oregon Trail. It became the Barlow toll road, and a replica of the original toll gate stands not far from the tiny mountain community of Rhododendron on Mt. Hood. [Mark] For those who chose the Barlow road from The Dalles, the last part of their journey was far from easy.

One stretch in particular, called Laurel Hill, was as difficult as any hazard encountered on the entire length of the Oregon Trail. [Jane] This is what one pioneer named Emilia Stuart Knight wrote in her diary about going down Laurel Hill: 'It would be useless for me with my pencil to describe the awful road we have just passed over. Let fancy picture a train of wagons and cattle passing through a crooked chimney and we have big Laurel Hill. After descending several bad hills, which I thought as bad as could be, but in reality it was nothing to this last one called Big Laurel.' Here at Laurel Hill the drivers had to rough lock the wheels and drag a tree behind the wagon to slowly lower it to the bottom. Or sometimes, they use ropes wrapped around a tree or a stump to ease the wagons down. [Mark] Jane! [Jane] Mark? [Mark] I'm over here, come on down. [Jane] I'll be right there! [Mark] By the late 1950s the Oregon Trail had become a commercial road. Along it

trappers and Indians ran ferries, supplies stations and bridges, making travel easier, if a bit more expensive, for those heading west. Days on the Oregon Trail were long and hard. Every member of the family had many jobs, whether it was gathering wood for the fires, repairing the wagon, tending to the animals, or fixing the meals. [Jane] Over the years the lessons of the trail became clearer. Come prepared, know your guides and bring only what you really need. [Mark] These lessons were not easy for many of the early travelers. One couple on their honeymoon lost everything they owned to trying to cross a river unprepared. [Jane] And there were other unforeseen dangers like accidents, rattlesnakes, poisoned water, bad weather and diseases. But in spite of all those things, families kept packing their wagons for the westward adventure. [Mark] And in the end that was the other great lesson of the trail: that in spite of many hardships the pioneer spirit lived on. In families helping each other in times of need, and in the simple pleasures to be found along the trail.

[Jane] Seeing a field of wildflowers might make the morning chores a little easier. Or a song carrying beyond the wagons and tents at bed time might lighten the load, if only for a minute. The trails early pioneers followed the setting sun on a journey that tested their strength and courage. And what did they find at the end of the trail? The new challenges of settling in places like the Willamette Valley. Here, just as on the trail, there were no guarantees. But most of those pioneers believed the risks were worth it for the chance to start again and build their new homes in the Oregon country.