Tricia Martineau Wagner - It Happened on the Oregon Trail

It Happened on the Oregon Trail

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Copyright 2005, 2014 by Morris Book Publishing, LLC

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted in writing from the publisher. Requests for permission should be addressed to Globe Pequot Press, Attn: Rights and Permissions Department, PO Box 480, Guilford, CT 06437.

Map by Tony Moore Morris Book Publishing, LLC

Layout: Adam Caporiccio

Project editor: Staci Zacharski

Wagner, Tricia Martineau

It happened on the Oregon Trail / Tricia Martineau Wagner. 2nd ed.

p. cm. (It happened in series)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-7627-7220-9

1. Oregon National Historic TrailHistoryAnecdotes. 2. Frontier and pioneer lifeWest (U.S.)Anecdotes. 3. Overland journeys to the PacificAnecdotes. 4. West (U.S.)History19th centuryAnecdotes. 5. West (U.S.)BiographyAnecdotes. I. Title. II. Series.

F597.W34 2004

978.02dc22 2004057998

Printed in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

In memory of my mother, Merreck E. Martineau, who said everything beautifully

We can all be thankful for the courageous pioneers who took time to write in their diaries and journals and who later offered their reminiscences about their cross-country treks over the westward trails. Without their insight into this fascinating period in American history, our understanding of it would be much poorer. The voices of these ordinary people who endured an extraordinary experience teach us that everyone has a story.

This book came to fruition with generous assistance from the following people:

Those who pointed me in the right direction when I began my research: Kevin Howard, Gordon Howard, Dean Knudsen, and Art Johnson.

My editors at Globe Pequot Press: Charlene Patterson, whose expert direction made the editing process simply enjoyable; Erin Turner, who took me to a new level; Shelley Wolf, whose attention to detail brought the manuscript together; and Courtney Oppel and Staci Zacharski, who skillfully oversaw the second edition revisions.

Samantha M. Scarf, Assistant to the Director at the Rufus Porter Museum, Bridgton, Maine, for her research assistance about Rufus Porter.

Beth Radmall Olsen, for her willingness to share her wealth of knowledge of the Rebecca Winters story, and all the descendants and friends of Rebecca Winters, particularly Norma Winters Freeman, great-granddaughter of Rebecca Burdick Winters, for her patience and diligence in reviewing the facts so I could get the story right. Likewise I thank William J. Curtis for sharing his research on Emily Fisher.

Dr. Robert Munkres, for critiquing the book and offering valuable suggestions.

For their assistance in uncovering historical documents and newspaper articles, Doris E. Onorato at the Van Allen House Heritage Center in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa; Vickie Clause at the North Platte Valley Historical Association in Gering, Nebraska; and Janice Schultz at the Mid-Continent Public Library in Independence, Missouri.

Allen Harrison and John Cook from the National Oregon and California Trail Center in Montpelier, Idaho, for information on their museum.

Wallace DeYoung, who figured out the value of a modern dollar in 1850.

For their continual assistance, the staffs at Dublin Public Library (CA) and the San Ramon Public Library (CA), especially Robin Calogne and Steve Ginochio.

Kevin Fitzgerald, for his technical support and expertise, which got me started. Thank you, my friend.

The value of constant friends cannot be underestimated. Thank you, Melissa Johnson, Tania De Young, Nancy Mills, Joan Rush, and Janet Chi for the kind words.

My husband and best friend, Mark, who lead me kicking and screaming into the world of computers, which did indeed simplify my life. His love and encouragement made my dream come true.

Our children, Kelsey Merreck and Mitchell Dale, for listening to all my stories with wide-eyed interest and for sharing in my excitement. Always follow your dreams.

No two journeys over the Oregon Trail were the same. For some, the overland trip was a carefree and scenic experience of a lifetime. Unencumbered by accident, disease, or misfortune, theirs was an adventure-filled, if not a romantic, affair. For others, the cross-country trek was nothing short of grueling, with unexpected hardships and unbearable heartaches. They experienced intolerable extremes of weather; lacked the basic necessities of food, water, and shelter; and witnessed inconceivable human behavior.

When the wagon train era began in the 1840s, thousands of courageous emigrants left behind the America they knew and traveled into uncharted territory across unfamiliar terrainat times unsure of the route, let alone what to expect ahead. West of the Missouri River towns was a wild frontier as foreign to them as living in a space station seems to us today.

The flood tide of emigrants over westward trails began as a trickle and evolved into a tidal wave that left the Native Americans overwhelmed by the sheer volume of trespassers. Caught up in the Oregon Fever, the emigrants were collectively driven toward fresh horizons, and thus the caravans of wagons began rolling westward. The citizenry of the United States felt it was their right and destiny to expand their land holdings from the Atlantic coast to the Pacific coast. In 1845 a New York newspaper editor, John OSullivan, coined the term Manifest Destiny, which explained the collective expansionist determination of the young nation. People from all walks of life viewed the unchartered territory of the West as the land of opportunity. Perhaps it was the chance for a better life, free farmland, economic opportunity with the hope to strike it rich mining gold, the attainment of social freedom, the desire to unite the land as one nation, or simply an adventuresome spirit that led them to leave behind their lives in the eastern United States.

An overwhelming number of emigrants poured into America from the 1830s to the 1860s. The geometric progression of large families with ten or more children drove the expansion of the country. With each son requiring eighty acres of land to support a family, the need for available land pushed families westward. In the span of forty-five short years, the United States went from being a country made up of towns east of the Mississippi River to a nation that stretched from sea to shining sea.

There are several myths about the settlement of the West that need to be dispelled to gain a clear understanding of this time in American history. The first myth is that the Oregon Trail was one long, continuous road. More accurately it was like a network of blood vessels that trailed westward, gathering into a pulsating vein in the vicinity of Fort Kearny, Nebraska. From there the Oregon Trail headed in a westerly direction with additional cutoffs being defined along the way as the travelers sought the quickest route to the Pacific coast.

The second myth involves the image of a single-file line of wagons heading toward the setting sun. In actuality an array of wagons spread out one abreast of the other, row behind row, to avoid the choking dust. The path a caravan took was often a mile wide, due to the natural detours caused by changes in river courses or the necessity of finding available grass and fresh campsites.