By: Eli Montgomery Ryan Dunn Bradon Wooldridge

Emigrants sold everything to make a trip to Missouri,where the Oregon Trail began. The emigrants bought their supplies for a Journey west. People were too poor to buy wagons, so they set out to Oregon with their stuff in a wheelbarrow. At Laramie, where the wagon trains stopped to rest and buy supplies like flour and bacon Between 1835 and 1855, many people died on the Oregon trail diseases as well as firearms accidents were some causes of death. Wagon trains had about 100 families that traveled with them for them for 6 months.

 A typical could hold about 2,500 lbs of supplies.  Wagon trains covered about 15 miles. At night, the wagons go in a circle that served as a pen for the livestock.  Emigrants traveled west. The Oregon Trail is famous, there was the California Trail, the Mormon Trail, and the Santa Fe Trail, all leading emigrants west.

When Henry Sager decided to head out west in 1844 he was not alone. In the 1840’s families made that journey. They brought anything the could fit in a wagon and started the long journey to Oregon or California. Today we call these People “pioneers” or settlers, but back then, they were called emigrants. Emigrants Are people who leave one country to stay in another. Pioneers were actually leaving the United States and going west to areas under British, Spanish, Mexican, and French rule. The earliest families that went were slightly crazy. What were they thinking? How could they go through the wilderness with a few animals and one Wagonload of simple possessions? Weren’t they scared of storms and snakes, of bears and hunger. Didn’t they know they would never see their loved ones again? The emigrants understood the risks they were taking. However, their desire for fresh, good land. So was their desire for adventure.

 Children had to entertain themselves on the long miles of travel. They had to find a way to have fun without the use of equipment. They did not have video games, disc players, or television. Children of all ages were expected to help with chores along the trail. They had to fetch water from the stream to refill the large storage barrels that hung off the wagons. They made a game of this. The 2 teams raced back and forth carrying buckets of water. The first team to fill the storage barrel was the winner.

 A few wagons contained a set of chess or checkers, or a deck of cards. Mostly, though, fun had to be made up as the wagons lumbered through the dust and mud. Children played guessing games, collected flowers and feathers, or tossed a leather ball back and forth as they walked. Another famous game that they played was bingo.