WHAT AND WHERE WAS THE OREGON TRAIL?
The Oregon Trail is designated a National Historic Trail. It is a 2170 miles (3490 kilometers) long (from east to west) trail large enough for large wheeled wagons. It connected the Missouri River to valleys in the Oregon territory. The principle starting point, and the starting point for our family, was Independence, Missouri. The east part spanned part of what is now Kansas and nearly all of what is now Nebraska and Wyoming. The western half spanned most of Oregon and Idaho.
HISTORY
From 1811 to 1840, it was used by fur trappers and traders but was passable only on foot or horseback. One of those trappers was Adam Hewitt, brother of Henry Hewitt, Jr. The Trail was cleared by traders traveling to meet trappers at their rendezvous at the Platte River. The Platte River was too flat for river navigation for the traders, but good for wagons. By 1836, a wagon trail had been cleared as far as Fort Hall in what is now Idaho and the first migrant train left for Oregon.
By 1843, it was widely publicized and wagon trails were cleared increasingly farther west. There were various starting points in Iowa, Missouri, and Nebraska Territory converging along the lower Platte River near Fort Kearney, NE Territory. It eventually reached the Willamette Valley completing the Trail from Independence, Missouri to Oregon City, Oregon. Bridges, cutoffs, ferries, and roads continued to improve it.
HOW DID THE TRAVELERS KNOW WHERE TO GO?
Captain Benjamin Bonneville’s expedition (1832-1834) explored much of the Oregon Trail and his account of the west was published by Washington Irving in 1838. John C. Fremont of the US Army Corps of Topographical Engineers and his guide, Kit Carson, led three expeditions from 1842 to 1846 over parts of Oregon and California. He and his wife wrote up his explorations and were widely published. In 1848 [five years after our 1843 Wagon Train], he and his cartographer and topographer drew the first detailed map of California and Oregon. But before then, travelers, including our ancestors, relied on guides. Eventually, there were ruts across the landscape from all the wagons.
HOW MANY TRAVELED THE TRAIL?
From the early to the mid-1840s, especially from 1846 to 1869, the Oregon Trail and its offshoots were used by about 400,000 settlers, farmers, miners, ranchers, and business owners, and their families. Others used the eastern half before branching off to other destinations in California. Our 1843 wagon train is estimated to have been about 900 settlers; so less than a quarter of a percent of those who traveled the Trail.
WHY DID IT STOP BEING USED?
After 1869, when the first transcontinental railroad made the trip faster, cheaper, and safer, the use of the Trail declined.
WHAT IS THERE NOW?
The modern highways of I-80, I-84, and U.S. Highway 26 in Oregon follow parts of the Oregon Trail route and pass through towns that were originally established to serve travelers on the Trail.
