Life on the Trails

The Oregon Trail was legendary migration route that brought settlers from Missouri to Oregon during the ear of westward expansion in the 1800’s. The trail spanned over 2,170 miles through Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Idaho and Oregon (through the Great plains and over the Rocky Mountains). Settlers were offered free land (until 1854) in Oregon’s Willamette Valley for making the brutal journey on their prairie schooners. The trail was used from 1841 to The average family made it to Oregon City in about four months. The trail was no longer needed in 1869, with the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad, a railroad that crosses a continent from "coast-to-coast".

Animals Horses were rejected to go on the trail. Horses could not live off prairie grass. Oxen were the most common. Mules were the second common. Morning Routine First, they start the fire. Second, the women make breakfast. Then they would pack up all the supplies and head off on the trail. Meal Preparation If lucky, they would have quail or buffalo. They usually ate bacon. Pioneers cooked their meals over an open fire. Jobs Along the Way Women washed clothes. Men hunted, traded, and dealt with the livestock. Women were the family doctors. Daily Life on the Trail

Entertainment Many items of entertainment were brought along on the trip. Adults had musical instruments, cards, and checkers. Dances became important social events along the trail. Children then had few toys, so they had to entertain themselves. Some were lucky enough to have marbles. Others made their own toys from household items. Distance Traveled People traveled about miles in one day. Oxen traveled about 2 miles an hour. Evening Routine Build another fire to keep them warm. Prepare the evening meal. Eat our dinner. Write in our journal. Sleep and be ready to travel in the morning. Daily Life on the Trail Continued What did a Family Need for Food? A family of four needed more than 1,000 pounds of food during the trip. Each person needed at least 200 pounds of flour, 150 pounds of bacon, 10 pounds of coffee, 20 pounds of sugar, and 10 pounds of salt. All this plus farm equipment and furniture were loaded into the tiny wagon. The cotton cover on the wagon was coated with linseed oil to help make it rain resistant, and the cover protected cargo from the weather and the constant dust on the trail. Both ends of the cover usually were tied shut.

Death and Disease Nearly one in ten who set off on these trails did not survive. The two biggest causes of death were disease and accidents. The disease with the worst reputation was cholera, known as the "unseen destroyer." Cholera crept silently, caused by unsanitary conditions: people camped amid garbage left by previous parties, picked up the disease, and then went about spreading it, themselves. People in good spirits in the morning could be in agony by noon and dead by evening. Symptoms started with a stomach ache that grew to intense pain within minutes. Then came diarrhea and vomiting that quickly dehydrated the victim. Within hours the skin was wrinkling and turning blue. If death did not occur within the first 12 to 24 hours, the victim usually recovered.