Alanna's Blog: March 2011

The beginning of a new life... Oregon Trail

Alanna Dolan

2-15-11

In 1803 President Thomas Jefferson said in a letter to Merriwhether Lewis... “ The object of your mission is to explore the Missouri River...by its course and communication with the waters of the Pacific Ocean...most direct and practicable water communication across this continent...” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oregon_Trail) What he said was, he wanted Lewis and Clark to explore the west, and find the most direct route to the Pacific Ocean by river as possible. The Oregon Trail is one of the best passageways to the west coast, and still is today.

        The Lewis and Clark expedition was one of the most important expeditions on the Oregon trail. In 1803 President Thomas Jefferson, told Merriwether Lewis, the object of his mission. Many people who were traveling the Oregon trail stopped and settled down to start businesses or become farmers, or something. Not until 1859 did they create a direct and practicable route-The Mullan Road- that connected the Missouri River to the Columbia River,even though Lewis and Clark found a path as well.

    There were many different people who traveled the Oregon trail, some of the most well known are... Merriwether Lewis, William Clark, John Jacob Astor, and many more. But there was one woman who’s story stood out of all the others because of this womans courage and determination to stay alive through the winter and make it to Oregon. That story belongs to Janette Riker. ‘A Woman Alone’.
‘Janette Riker was on her way to Oregon with her father and two brothers. They were in Montana - it was September 1894 - and the men went off hunting. They never returned. Riker was on her own. She knew she couldn't cross the mountains alone and winter was coming, so she took tools from the wagon and built a hut for herself. Then she put the wagons stove inside, along with provisions, and blankets, and a load of firewood she had chopped. Because she had no meat, she killed an ox, butchered and salted it, and prepared for Montana’s long cold winter. It soon came. Wolves and mountain lions sniffed outside her shelter, but she didn’t budge from the hut until a spring thaw flooded her out, then she moved back into the wagon. Finally, Indians found her and were so astonished that she had survived on her own that they took her west where she wanted to go.’ That’s one reason why that story stood out to me. It proves that even though all a woman was supposed to do back then was clean and cook, it proved that she could build herself a house to last for months and kill and harvest a buffalo, and survive the entire winter without dying. She was very brave compared to what some woman would have done.

    There are many different historical sites on the Oregon Trail, for example, in Oregon one could go to Grande Ronde, The Dalles, Oregon City, or Barlow Road, all of these are historical sites that people still visit today. There are some all across the country, like the Whitman Mission in Washington, or Fort Boise or Devils Gate, in Wyoming. Devils Gate was popular because there were good camping grounds, good grass, food and water. Fort Boise was famous for its frontier hospitality, entertaining and supplying travelers and traders until the mid 1850’s when it was closed because of Indian hostilities. Whitman Mission was named after Marcus and Narcissa Whitman and was used just as a rest stop for travelers passing by.

Before the Europeans, over 180000 natives in about 125 different tribes lived in Oregon. The Oregon trail is one of the most important transportation routes in American history. All the pioneers traveled in wagon trains, no pioneer ever traveled alone. The trail was around 2170 miles long. Somewhere between 250,000 and 650,000 people traveled the Oregon Trail but only one third of them were immigrating to Oregon, another third was immigrating to Utah, Colorado, and Montana and the other third to California, the first immigrant to make the trip in 1836 from New York was Marcus and Narcissa Whitman both were born in New York and they left for Oregon in 1835 together.

A lot of people said a lot of things while they were traveling the Oregon trail but here are some of the most important... “No other race of men with the means at their command would undertake so great a journey, none save these could successfully preform it, with no previous preparation, relying only on the fertility of their own invention to devise the means to overcome each danger and difficulty as it arose. They have undertaken to preform with slow moving oxen a journey of 2000 miles. The way lies over trackless wastes, wide and deep rivers ragged and lofty mountains, and is beset with hostile savages.” Jesse Applegate 1843

“It is 4am the sentiles on duty have discharged their rifle-the signal that the hours of sleep are over; and every wagon and tent is pouring forth its night.” Jesse Applegate 1843

Jesse Applegate was an American pioneer who lead a large group of settlers along the Oregon trail.

“Clark saw Sacajawea who was with her husband 100 yards ahead began to dance and show every mark of the most extravagant joy, turning round him and pointing to several Indians, whom he now saw advancing on horseback sucking her fingers at thee same time to indicate that they were of her native tribe... Clark and Lewis soon after met with the Chief, after this the conference was to be opened, and glad of an opportunity of being able to converse more intelligently Sacajawea was sent for; she came into the tent, sat down, and was beginning to interpret when in the person of Cameahwait she recognized her brother; she instantly jumped up, and ran and embraced him, throwing over him her blanket and weeping profusely; the chief was himself moved, though not in the same degree. After some conversation between then she resumed her seat, and attempted to interpret for us but, her new situation seemed to overpower her, and she was frequently interrupted by her tears.” Anonymous

The previous quote was just to show one what Lewis and Clark saw and delt with while they were on the Oregon Trail.

The next quote will show a little about what some people did while traveling the trail. Often people would stop and buy stores and build houses or buy a store and leave soon after so they still get money from other pioneers in wagon trains yet they still make it to their destination.

    “ After working in small parties in the Salt Lake region, the trappers gathered for RENDEZVOUS at nearby Cache (Willow) Valley with Louis Vaquez and James Clyman, Henry g Fraeb, Daniel t Potts, and many others. after rendezvous, Jedediah smith, David Jackson, and William Sublette bought out Ashley's interest in their partner ship and formed a new partner ship.” 1826 Unknown
    “The smith Jackson Sublette partnership caravan from St. Louis to Wind River region for summer rendezvous in 1830, was the first train of wagons to travel up the Platte River Trail. The caravan included 10 wagons, two dearborns and 81 men.some historical narratives call this expedition THE OPENING OF THE OREGON TRAIL.” 1830 Unknown
    That last quote was a journal entry about when the first wagons traveled up the Platte River Trail.

Here is an Oregon Trail Timeline to show one what happened during the years the Trail was used: 1841:The Bidwell Bartleson party led 100 farmers and families to California but some left the party and head to Oregon. 1842: Emigrants later used many of the guidebooks written by Dr. Elijah Whites party of 200 people. 1843: Jesse Applegate was inspired to forge a new route into Oregon after his misfortune on the Columbia River. 1844: 2000 farmers, mechanics, lawyers, and merchants are brought by four major wagon trains, one party each leaves Independence, Westport, St.Joseph, and Bellevue (near Council Buffs.) 1845: Stephen Meek got his party lost in the desert and yet he still beat Sam Barlow to the Dalles. 1846: A slow year, only about 1000 immigrants headed to Oregon and California this year. 1847: Brigham young leads the Mormon Brigade to Utah opening a new destination... by this time there were over 2000 souls on the trail.

One of the most tragic stories on the Oregon trail was the Donner party story. In this wagon train made up of twenty wagons included George Donner, his wife Tamsen, his five children, a family friend John Denton and, many more. ‘The Donner Party left Independence, Missouri, May 1846 heading for Sutters Fort. they followed the Oregon trail until, on the 28th of July, they reached Fort Bridger. When they arrived Lansford Hastings was trying to persuade people to go the Hastings cutoff way instead... insisting it would remove 300 miles from sutters fort. They had to cross the Wasatch mountains, round the great salt lake to the south, then due west before returning to the main trail. He said they could find water after 24 hours of walking through the desert, even though it would really take 48 hours of walking. He said that 3 wagon trains had already taken his route. The Donner party was already making poor time and they had to cross the Sierra Nevada before snowfall. So they took the shortcut. They left July 31st and got out of Echo Canyon on August 6th. What took them 7 days should’ve only taken 4 days according to Hastings. Hastings left them a letter saying that they should send someone ahead to find him and ask him to show them the way, but when they found him and asked him for directions he refused to tell them. Instead he drew them a rough map. They entered the Wasatch Mountains on August 12th. They now realized they were in trouble because it was August 24th. They reached Pilot Peak on September 8th and they reached the main trail on September 30th. The other wagon trains were already in California. The party crossed the desert and reached Truckee Lake near the end of October. When they reached within 3 miles of the summit they were blocked by 5 feet snow drifts. They had to return to Sutters Fort, but they were blocked. They built camp, and were short, very short, on food. In those next 2 weeks they were only able to kill a bear, an owl, a coyote, and a squirrel. If they stayed they would die of starvation. They were finally able to cross the mountains, but while they were crossing they got snowed in and eventually had to resort to cannibalism. on December 25th they began to cook Patrick Dolan’s arms and legs. On December 30th the party set off again but the weather beat them and they had to make camp again. They had no more food so the group decided to murder Luis and Salvador, the two Indian guides but, a man named Eddy was against that, so he secretly told Luis and Salvador and they left that night. Soon Eddy was able to kill a deer but that was all and another man died supplying food for the rest of them. The next day they found Luis and Salvador dying and Eddy couldn't stop a man named William Foster from killing them for meat. This made Eddy angry so he split up with the group and a couple of wagons went with him. Eddys group soon reached their destination while someone was sent back to find the rest of them. eventually they reached a ten foot deep trail of snow and they once again had to resort to cannibalism to survive but eventually they made it. The Donner party was the worst disaster in wagon train history. 42 immigrants and 2 Indian guides had died but the remaining 47 travelers survived.

When Thomas Jefferson told Lewis and Clark to explore the Missouri river and discover the Pacific, I don’t think he realized how big that exploration would be later on in history. That led to the Oregon trail which led to settlers coming and moving over here to California and Oregon which later led to all the people who are living here now typing essays about the Oregon Trail. The Oregon Trail is one of the most common passageways that leads from the east coast to the west coast and it still is today.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BOOKS:

Hakim, Joy. A History Of Us: Liberty For All. New York: Oxford University Press Inc. , 2005

Stefoff, Rebecca. The Oregon Trail. New Jersey: Enslow Publishers Inc., 1997

WEBSITES:

http://www.nps.gov/oreg/index.htm NPS.GOV: OREGON

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oreghttp WIKIPEDIA: OREGON TRAIL

http://www.isu.edu/~trinmich/Discoverers.html THE ORGEON TRAIL: DISCOVERES AND EXPLORERS

http://www.frontiertrails.com/oldwest/oregontrail.htm FRONTEIR TRAILS OF THE OLD WEST: THE OREGON TRAIL

http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/s_z/whitman.htm NEWS PERSPECTIVES ON THE WEST: MARCUS AND NARCISSA WHITMAN

http://www.isu.edu/~trinmich/Sites.html THE OREGON TRAIL: HISTORIC SITES

http://books.google.com/books?id=PwlP_btsPtsC&printsec=frontcover&dq=History+of+the+Oregon+Trail&hl=en&ei=rtgsTeLfBoLGsAOgo-inBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CEgQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=History%20of%20the%20Oregon%20Trail&f=false
OREGON TRAIL STORIES: TRUE ACCOUNTS OF LIFE IN A COVERED WAGON
http://www.42explore2.com/oregon.htm THE TOPIC: OREGON TRAIL

http://www.octa-trails.org/learn/people_places/articles_chronology.php THE OREGON TRAIL GENERATION (1841-1866)

http://www.americanwest.com/trails/pages/oretrail.htm THE OREGON TRAIL

http://www.roadtripusa.com/routes/oregontrail/idaho/or_parma.html ROAD TRIP USA: PARMA AND FORT BOISE

http://www.theheroesclub.org/lewis_clark_sacagawea.php THE REAL HEROES CLUB: LEWIS & CLARK & SACAJAWEA

http://www.isu.edu/~trinmich/Hardships.html THE OREGON TRAIL: HARDSHIPS

http://www.eg.bucknell.edu/~hyde/jackson/OregonTrail.html INFORMATION ON THE OREGON TRAIL

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/WWdonnerP.htm SPARTACUS EDUCATIONAL: DONNER PARTY

Alanna's Blog

Thursday, March 31, 2011

2nd MAGNETIC POEM

Magnetic Poetry

VS POEM

Water V.S. Fire

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

History Paper