Learn of how we'll get there.

Wagons
Timeframe
Landmarks and Route
The Final Leg of the Trail

Wagons


Prairie Schooners
The "Prairie Schooner," was a wagon that typically measured 4' wide and 10' to 12' in length. With its tongue and neck yoke attached, its length doubled to about 23 feet. With the bonnet, a Prairie Schooner stood about 10' tall, and its wheelbase was over 5' wide. It weighed around 1300 pounds empty and could be easily dismantled for repairs en route. Teams of 4 to 6 oxen or 6 to 10 mules were sufficient to get the sturdy little wagons to Oregon. Manufactured by the Studebaker brothers or others, a Prairie Schooner in good repair offered shelter almost as good as a house.

The wagon box, or bed, was made of hardwoods to resist shrinking in the dry air of the plains and deserts the emigrants had to cross. It was 2' to 3' deep, and with a bit of tar it could easily be rendered watertight and floated across slow-moving rivers. The side boards were beveled outwards to keep rain from coming in under the edges of the bonnet and to help keep out river water.
The complex undercarriage centered around a kingpin, which allowed the front wheels to pivot, so the wagon could turn easily. And the front wheels are smaller than the ones in back--which also helped the wagons to round sharp corners. Even the width of the wheels was carefully calculated. Wide wheels were more effective in soft, sandy soil. Narrow wheels worked better on hard surfaces.
All four wheels had iron "tires" to protect the wooden rims, and they were likewise constructed of hardwoods to resist shrinkage. Nonetheless, many emigrants took to soaking their wagon wheels in rivers and springs overnight, as it was not unheard of for the dry air to shrink the wood so much that the iron tires would roll right off the wheels during the day.

Hardwood bows held up the heavy, brown bonnets. The bows were soaked until the wood became pliable, bent into U-shapes, and allowed to dry. They would hold their shape if this was done properly, which was important to the emigrants: if the wagon bows were under too much tension, they could spring loose and tear the bonnet while the wagon was jostled and jounced over rough terrain. The bonnets themselves were doubled over to make them watertight. The bonnet was always secured against the wind, and its edges overlapped in back to keep out rain and dust. To keep out the rain, the covers were treated with linseed oil, but most eventually leaked anyway.

Wagons inevitably broke down or wore out from the difficulty and length of the journey. Equipment for making repairs en route were extra iron bolts, linch pins, skeins, nails, hoop iron, a variety of tools, and a jack. Usually found slung on the sides of emigrant wagons were water barrels, a butter churn, a shovel and axe, a tar bucket, a feed trough for the livestock, and a chicken coop.

There was only one set of springs on a Prairie Schooner, and they were underneath the rarely-used driver's seat. Without sprung axles, riding inside a wagon was uncomfortable at the best of times. Some stretches of the Trail were so rough that an overlander could fill his butter churn with fresh milk in the morning, and the wagon would bounce around enough to churn a small lump of butter for the evening meal. The brake lever was usually located so it could be pressed by the driver's foot or thrown, and it was ratcheted so the brake block would remain set against the wheel even after pressure was taken off the lever.

Taken from: http://www.endoftheoregontrail.org/wagons.html and
http://www.isu.edu/~trinmich/Oregontrail.html

Timeframe
Our trip will begin April 27th, 1846. We'll be leaving from Independence, a Missouri River town. Getting to Oregon should take us four to five months - six is too many. We'll go about 15 miles a day.

Landmarks and the Route
Three days' travel out of Independence, the untried, greenhorn Oregon Trail pioneers came upon a hill rising from the flat grassland around it. Blue Mound seemed strangely out of place in the midst of the prairie. Eager emigrants climbed it to get a look at what lay ahead. Officers and guides urging the parties to move on allowed the curious only a quick glance.

As the wagon trains crossed Kansas and Nebraska, the mileposts were obstacles in the form of rivers that had to be crossed: the Blue, Wakarusa, Kansas, Vermilion, Big Blue, and Little Blue. Steep banks and high water during May were common problems. Some rivers could be forded, but for rivers deeper than four feet or so, a pair of canoes would be lashed together, a wagon rolled on crossways, and the resulting ferry poled across. Some smaller creeks had toll bridges built by entrepreneurs hoping to cash in on the emigrant traffic.

Dotting the length of the Trail from Missouri to Oregon are numerous springs with names of explorers, descriptive names such as Cold or Cottonwood, or names reflecting pioneer determination such as Faith or Charity. Alcove Springs has a twelve-foot fall of water that provided much-needed relief for man and beast. The Donner Party carved the words Alcove Springs in eight inch letters on a nearby rock that could be read for over a century (recent travelers report that part of the inscription has broken away from the rock face, apparently through natural weathering). Two days away at Fremont Springs, similar graffiti can be seen displaying the names of 1842 scouts John C. Fremont and Kit Carson.

Later emigrants saw Pony Express stations and stagecoach stops about every fifteen miles from Hollenberg's Ranch House to Fort Bridger. The first one, Hollenberg's, was built in 1857 and is the only one left today in its more-or-less original state. Rock Creek Station in Nebraska was the site of the 1861 shootout involving David McCanles and James Butler Hickok, which gave Hickok his "Wild Bill" reputation.

Where the Oregon Trail out of Independence met the Platte River, the first of many forts was built to protect plains emigrants. Forts operated by the US Army usually had post offices where emigrants could send home letters, and eastbound riders headed back to the United States were sometimes willing to take along letters from westbound emigrants. The Platte River itself was another major obstacle, as in June it consisted mostly of shallow, stagnant pools separated by mud flats, sandbars, and a three foot deep main channel that meandered from bank to bank. It was too wide to be bridged and too shallow to for a ferry. Crossing the Platte from the northern Council Bluffs Road (the Mormon Trail) to the Oregon Trail on the Platte's south shore required a risky trek following a path of willow poles set out to mark stable sandbars that would support the weight of wagon.

The Oregon Trail had to eventually cross the South Platte River to gain access to the North Platte River, which overlanders followed all the way to the area of present-day Casper, Wyoming. This was done at California Crossing, named for the gold rushers of 1849. Before then it had been known as Brule Crossing. The Pony Express used another crossing twenty miles upstream and also called it California Crossing, so the Oregon Trail ford became known as the Old or Lower California Crossing.

Once across the South Platte, there was a steep grade as the Trail climbed up California Hill to a high plateau. Deep ruts are still visible there today. Then it was back down the other side on Windlass Hill, so named because it seemed impossible to descend safely without the aid of a windlass (legend has it that there actually was a windlass set up there for a time, but there is no evidence to support this). All available men and women held on to ropes to slow wagons making the descent.

At the bottom was Ash Hollow on the North Platte River, a sylvan glade with clean, cool springs which served as an oasis for the weary adventurers who had just struggled down from atop Windlass Hill. In her journal entry for June 5, 1852, Esther Belle Hanna described the great profusion of wild roses in full bloom to be found there.

Along the banks of the North Platte River is a profusion of massive sandstone features rising majestically from the plains. The first, Courthouse and Jail Rocks, could be seen for forty miles or three days away. Next came Chimney Rock. For two days before arriving its solitary finger looked like "an old ruin, then a very sharp cone, more the shape of a chimney than anything else." (A.J. McCall, June 13, 1849) Scotts Bluff was named for fur trapper Hiram Scott, who was purportedly abandoned for dead sixty miles away and crawled to that spot to die. The legend is retold in many emigrant diaries, the overlanders having heard it at local trading posts and forts.

The emigrants passed several fur trading posts beyond Scotts Bluff. The oldest, dating back to 1834, was William Sublette's post at LaRemay's River, later called Fort Laramie. Beyond Fort Laramie, Oregon Trail pioneers crossed a number of rivers flowing out of what the emigrants called the Black Hills, today known as the Laramie Mountains. There were crossings of the Laramie River, Horse, Cottonwood, LaBonte, Box Elder, and Deer Creeks, the North Platte itself, and as many as nine crossings of the Sweetwater River. Many of these crossings were made with the benefit of ferries or bridges. Most of the streams were clear-flowing water up to 100 yards wide with banks littered with driftwood.

Emigrant diaries mention several prominent landmarks beyond Fort Laramie. One was Register Cliff, a soft sandstone formation that served as a message board for the emigrants. One interesting section of the cliff is that claimed by the Unthank family. Above the other names is written "A.H. Unthank, 1850" -- the family patriarch, Alva inscribed his name just one week before dying of cholera. Below it is "O.N. Unthank, 1869," Alva's nephew. Below them is "O.B. Unthank, 1931," Alva's great-grandson.

Farther up the trail are the spectacular ruts at Guernsey, Wyoming. The Oregon Trail at this point had to go over more soft sandstone, and the wagon wheels gradually carved a depression five feet deep. Nearby is the grave of Joel Hembree, a six year old boy with the Applegate company who was killed July 18, 1843, when he fell under a wagon. This is believed to be the oldest marked grave on the Oregon Trail, and it was seen by all who followed. The abundance of grass next to Independence Rock made it a welcome stopping point for every train. The goal was to arrive here by the 4th of July to be sure of beating the winter snows to Oregon. Independence Rock is a large, low granite mass resembling a giant turtle and covering about five acres of prairie. It is the most often noted landmark west of Fort Laramie. Emigrants found many fur trappers' names already drawn on the rock and added their own names. Axle grease made of pine tar and hog fat was used to paint some names, and a handful are still visible in sheltered nooks and crannies. Some emigrants carved their names, dates, or initials, but this was much harder work than doing so in the sandstone of Register Cliff. The Mormons, in one of their many entrepreneurial ventures, had men who would inscribe names for up to five dollars each. In 1860 Sir Richard Burton calculated that there were between forty and fifty thousand names written in one way or another on Independence Rock. Within sight of Independence Rock is Devil's Gate, where the Sweetwater River shoots through a crack in the granite. The Trail went around the feature, as it was entirely too narrow and steep-sided to allow a wagon road to be blazed, but emigrants would stop and climb to the top to peer over the edge. At least one young overlander fell to her death doing just that.

The next milepost was Ice Slough, a shallow basin at the 6000 foot level just before South Pass. Ponds and springs here were covered with turf. Ice from the previous winter was insulated under the turf and could be dug out during the hot summer months. The surface water was alkaline, but the ice was clear and good: "We dug down in the earth about 12 inches, and found chinks of ice. We carried it along till about noon, and made some lemonade for dinner. It relished first rate." (George Belshaw, July 4, 1853)

South Pass marks the halfway point of the Oregon Trail, a powerful symbolic landmark that lacked any distinguishing feature which we would actually think of as a landmark. Here, the emigrants crossed the Continental Divide and the eastern boundary of Oregon Territory. Before 1849, it was at this point that emigrants left the territory controlled (more or less) by the United States.

Expecting a narrow alpine pass, emigrants were surprised by the gradual approach leading to a broad, flat plain some twenty miles wide. The descent was steeper, but still not a bad stretch of road. About 3 miles into the plain is Pacific Springs, a marshy prairie bog fed by springs which was distinguished solely by being the first body of water the pioneers encountered that drained into the Pacific Ocean.

Most river crossings in Wyoming were difficult due to the considerable amount of snowmelt in July and August. The emigrants always arrived during this period of high water and had to cross rivers on submerged gravel bars -- a risky proposition at best. Straying from the marked course by even a few feet could mean disaster for people, wagons, and livestock. A ferry was eventually established at the Green River crossing, but other crossings remained dangerous.

Fort Bridger was a palisaded trading post and blacksmith shop established in 1842 by Jim Bridger and Louis Vasquez to capitalize on the overland trade and the need for blacksmithing services. Worn out animals could often be exchanged there for fresher ones.
Sublette's Cutoff was a fifty mile trek across desolate, hostile land that cut 46 miles, or about 3 days, off the journey. The waterless landscape crossed by Sublette's Cutoff was arguably the worst stretch of the Trail. Not popular until the gold rush of 1849, it called for a decision whether to save time or risk the death of animals. Some emigrants chose to travel the Cutoff by night, breaking camp at 2 AM and navigating by "head lights" -- lanterns carried by boys walking ahead of the wagons. Day or night, the wagons stirred up gritty, alkaline dust, and they generally traveled side by side in a broad front up to a mile across in order to avoid each other's dust.

Heading northwest towards the Snake River, the Oregon Trail emigrants passed through the lava lands, an otherworldly landscape dotted by cones, craters, springs, geysers, and waterfalls. Steamboat Springs, the principal feature of a group of mineral springs collectively known as Soda Springs, was a three-foot geyser that emitted a high-pitched whistle that reminded emigrants of the steamboats they had seen or ridden on the Missouri River. The area has been geologically active since before recorded human history, and some of the springs ran hot, others warm or cold. Some were white in color, others gray, buff, or red. Some tasted to the pioneers like soda water, others like metal or beer. One minister proclaimed that, "Hell is not more than a mile from this place."
Now traveling in territory worked by the early fur trappers and mountain men, the emigrants arrived at forts older than the Trail itself. Fort Hall was established by Nathaniel Wyeth in 1834 and later sold to the Hudson's Bay Company. After Oregon became a United States Territory in 1849, the HBC departed and the post served the emigrant trade exclusively. Many emigrants here tasted Pacific salmon for the first time.
The Snake River flows through the bottom of a deep chasm, and it was all but inaccessible to the emigrants much of the time. The rumble of American Falls, Shoshone Falls, and Twin Falls could be heard for miles. At Thousand Springs, a series of streams burst out from under the lava rimrock into the Snake River. Since these falls were on the other side of the river, this landmark was only of interest to the pioneers as a milepost.
The Snake River briefly escaped from its high walls at what is today known as Three Island Crossing, allowing parched wagon trains a chance to cross to the north side and travel to the lush, green Boise River Valley. During the pioneer era, there were only two islands at the crossing; the third was formed years later when the river scoured out a new channel during a flood. The river was six to eight feet deep, but its clarity was deceptive, making it appear shallower. Combined with its swift current, this was generally considered the most treacherous river crossing on the entire Trail. Guidebooks went into great detail on how to use the two islands to avoid mishaps. Still, wagons capsized and men and animals drowned. Many emigrants chose an alternate route, staying on the dry south bank of the Snake rather than risk fording the river.

Beyond Fort Boise (and after 1859) the Oregon Trail entered the State of Oregon. Past Farewell Bend, where the overlanders left the Snake River behind, the next milepost was the Blue Mountains. This heavily timbered expanse was full of steep grades that tried the weary emigrants and their animals. Many overlanders recorded their astonishment at the sight of 200 foot tall trees. From the crest could be seen the great volcanoes of the Cascade range. Nights in the Blue Mountains are often chilly in late August and September, and the cool, alpine nights reminded the emigrants that the mountains ahead were even higher.

For five years, this stretch of the Trail went past the Whitman Mission. The mission provided food, medical attention, and blacksmithing services. Following the November 29, 1847, murders of the Whitmans, the mission closed down and was bypassed, shaving a few miles off the journey. At Fort Walla Walla, needy emigrants could often travel to Fort Vancouver in HBC boats.
Several tributaries of the Columbia River had to be crossed between the Blues and the Cascades. The Umatilla River was crossed at Echo, where emigrants saw the first frame house since leaving Missouri. The John Day River had a swift current and a solid bed of round stones. The Deschutes River was a difficult ford until a ferry was established.
The Dalles was the terminus of overland traffic in the earliest years of the Oregon Trail. Starting in 1846, the Barlow Road was open, allowing wagons to skirt the south shoulder of Mount Hood before descending into the Willamette Valley from the east. Emigrants taking the Columbia River route from The Dalles stopped over at Fort Vancouver, the Hudson's Bay Company trading post and regional headquarters established in 1825. For many emigrants it was here, for the first time since Missouri, that they ate at a table or slept in a house.

The end of the Oregon Trail was Oregon City, not quite 2000 miles from Independence. Those arriving by river landed near Governor George Abernethy's house and proceeded to Abernethy Green, a large meadow behind Abernethy's house. The Barlow Road travelers entered Abernethy Green from the east. Here was the final campground.

The Final Leg of the Trail
(Click here to learn about The Dalles)
Looking down on the Columbia River Gorge from high up on Rowena Loop, one sees where the river cuts through the Cascade Mountains. For three years this was the end of the Oregon Trail as an overland route. It was here, just past The Dalles, that the wagons were loaded on rafts or bateaux and floated down to Fort Vancouver and Oregon City.

The west end of the gorge was wretchedly unsuitable for a wagon road: the river was hemmed in by steep slopes and cliffs of hard, volcanic rock, the climate was cold, wet, and windy, and the only areas that were reliably flat enough to permit wagons to pass were soggy bottomlands that were subject to seasonal flooding. Before 1843, no wagon had made it much past Fort Hall intact. From 1843 until 1845, wagons could reach The Dalles, but from there the emigrants had little choice but to make a raft of pine logs, buy a raft from enterprising Indians, or rent a bateaux from the Hudson's Bay Company for around $80. Many lives were lost on the rapids of the Columbia River, the relentless winds overturned many a raft, and there was a stretch of impassable rapids that had to be portaged. Worse still, families were often divided as cattle were driven over Lolo Pass, on the northwest shoulder of Mount Hood, to Eagle Creek and Oregon City. Despite these hardships, almost one in every four emigrants chose the river route after the Barlow Road was opened.

When -- and if -- the pioneers emerged from the Columbia River Gorge, they floated downriver to Fort Vancouver, a British fur trading post. Chief Factor John McLoughlin was under instructions to discourage American settlers, but the "Great White-Headed Eagle," as he was called by the natives, was a Christian in the best sense of the word and could not ignore the plight of the onrushing immigrants. He extended credit to many penniless pioneers, and he was still owed thousands of dollars at the time of his death in 1857.

McLoughlin encouraged the Oregon Trail travelers to head south to Oregon City and the Willamette Valley. This was in part to keep American influence from spreading throughout the extensive territory claimed by Great Britain under the auspices of the Hudson's Bay Company, but also because he had a stake in the city he had founded at Willamette Falls in 1829. The HBC ran a store there, and McLoughlin would build a house and later retire there. By 1844, Oregon City had three stores to supply farmers and was the seat of the newly-founded American Provisional Government. Anyone wishing to file a land claim had to come to Oregon City.

Two emigrants would make decisions at or near The Dalles that would change the character of the Trail. In 1843, Jesse Applegate had the misfortune of losing a wagon to the vagaries of the Columbia River, and his wife suffered the heartbreak of watching a child drown whom she had refused permission to learn to swim. From this experience, Applegate made the decision to open a trail across the inland deserts and into the Willamette Valley from the south. This he did, but the Southern Route (we know it today as the Applegate Trail) was a less than desirable route. The terrain was harsh and dry, and in one of those rare instances where emigrants' worst fears occasionally came true, Klamath Indians sometimes raided passing wagons. More than one wagon train over the years had to be rescued by Army troops or irregulars riding out of the Willamette Valley. In 1845, Sam Barlow found himself arriving late at The Dalles, where he was faced with the prospect of waiting for a bateaux that was downstream with no scheduled return. Running out of money, food, and patience, Barlow stated that, "God never made a mountain but what He provided a place for man to go over or around it." He then set off with his wagons around the south shoulder of Mt. Hood, Oregon's tallest volcano. Following an Indian trail, Barlow managed to get his wagons about halfway around the mountain before being forced to admit defeat. At the crest of the Cascade Mountains, Joel Palmer climbed the glacier now named for him and scouted a route off the mountain. Palmer saw that there was little chance of getting the wagons through, so the party sent some of their wagons back to The Dalles and cached the rest of their possessions at a spot they christened Fort Deposit. Most of the party and their livestock was able to enter the Willamette Valley by following the Lolo Pass Trail, an old Indian trail around the northwest flank of Mt. Hood that was too narrow and steep to allow wagons to pass. Thus free to proceed on foot, Palmer, Barlow, and Barlow's eldest son attempted to walk off the mountain. Exhausted, footsore, and cold, Palmer and the Barlows stumbled into Eagle Creek and met local resident Philip Foster. Rejoining his wife and family in Oregon City, Barlow spent the winter contemplating his route over Mt. Hood. He approached the Provisional Government and obtained official permission to build the Mount Hood Toll Road in early 1846. The Provisional Government allowed him to charge $5 a wagon and 10¢ a head for livestock to use the Road.

With Philip Foster as his financial backer and a crew of forty men, Barlow hacked out a narrow road through forests, rivers, and marshy meadows from The Dalles to Oregon City, a distance of about 150 miles. Reuban Gant is recorded to have driven the first wagon across the new road in 1846; Barlow reported to the Oregon Spectator -- the first newspaper published west of the Rockies -- that 145 wagons and nearly 1600 head of livestock made it over the Road that first year.

Despite being cheaper than renting HBC bateaux and (perhaps) safer than rafting down the Columbia, Barlow was almost universally reviled for building his toll road. Many emigrants were incensed at the idea of having to pay a toll on the last 150 miles of a 2000 mile journey, particularly when they reached Laurel Hill, a slope so steep that the emigrants had to wind ropes around tree limbs and drag hundred-foot-long tree trunks to lower their wagons safely down the incline. Laurel Hill was such a nightmare that even after months of heat, dust, disease, and death, most diarists proclaimed it the single worst stretch of the Oregon Trail, bar none. The Barlow Road's elevation was also a source of difficulty for the emigrants, as snow and icy fog are commonplace on the mountain during the fall. As Barlow's original toll gate was on the east side of the mountain, weary and frustrated emigrants cursed him for collecting tolls from dead people -- that is, charging tolls to people who would die while attempting to follow his road into the Willamette Valley.

Over the years, five toll gates were built to serve Barlow Road traffic from 1846 until 1915, when the right-of-way was willed to the State of Oregon and the last gate, near the town of Rhododendron, was removed. The route was one way -- west -- for its first fifteen years, until a road was blasted out around Laurel Hill. With the Barlow Road open to traffic in both directions, it became a true thoroughfare, and emigrants were gradually displaced by stagecoaches and freight wagons. In the 1880s, it served the first tourists headed up from the Willamette Valley to vacation and recreation sites on Mt. Hood.

Today, much of the western half of the Barlow Road in Clackamas County is paved over and used by skiers, hunters, and campers visiting the mountain from the Portland area, though this is less a testament to Barlow's skill as a surveyor than it is the result of the terrain dictating where it would be feasible to build a road. However, parts of the Road's eastern half in Wasco County are still very pristine, just as the last emigrant wagon left it over a century ago.

Taken from: http://www.endoftheoregontrail.org/wagons.html

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"Lead, kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom;
Lead me on!
The night is dark, and I am far from home..."
-- John Henry, Cardinal Newman