Preparing to "Go West Young Man (or Woman)

So why would a family leave their home for the arduous journey into the unknown? 
One of the main reasons is the economic depression of 1839 when wages for the common man took a 50% decrease, banks closed, and grain was worthless.  Another reason was farmers in the Mississippi Valley and the Plain states began to feel "crowded" when there was a mere 12 miles between neighbors.  To us today, that is wilderness living but to the early American farmer that was too close for comfort.

"Oregon Societies" were formed in towns along the Mississippi Valley.  Members pledged to make the westward journey together.  These societies relied on the journals of traders, trappers, missionaries, travelers, government reports and guidebooks of the early 1830's to make their decision.  One traveler who have gone to Oregon in 1834 wrote: "The soil...is rich beyond comparison...The epidemic of the Midwest country, fever and argue, is scarcely known here...the willament valley is a terrestrial paradise." 

As we have discovered, the westward migration was a family affair.  One young girl wrote: 

"One Saturday morning father said that he was going to hear Mr. Burnett talk about Oregon.  Mr. Burnett hauled a box out to the sidewalk, took his stand upon it and began to tell us about the land flowing with milk and honey on the shores of the Pacific.  He told of the great crops of wheat which it was possible to raise in Oregon and pictured in glowing terms the richness of the soil and the attractions of the climate, and then with a little twinkle in his eye he said  'they do say gentlemen, they do say, that out in Oregon the pigs are running about under the great acorn trees, round a fat, and already cooked with knives and forks sticking in them so you can cut off a slice whenever you are hungry'  Father was so moved by what he heard that he decided to join the company that was going west to Oregon.  Father was the first to sign his name." 

Once the decision was made to journey west, a wagon had to be built, supplies purchased, houses sold and possession secured. 

Next time...Let's build a wagon!

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Today in Pioneer History:  On June 4, 1876,  a mere 83 hours after leaving New York City, the Transcontinental Express train arrives in San Francisco.  That any human being could travel across the entire nation in less than four days was inconceivable to previous generations of Americans. when it had taken Thomas Jefferson 10 days to travel from his home to Philadelphia via carriage.