Trials on the Trail

From prosperous New Englanders and Midwestern families with sturdy well-provisioned wagons and ample livestock, to penniless frontiersmen who joined wagon trains as hired hands, to the young and restless who could not resist the lure of a far away adventure - the early Oregon trail blazers had much in common.  They were touchy and quarrelsome for one thing, had little knowledge  of wilderness survival or the hardships that lay before them.  They did have a sturdy determination to survive the brutal tests of the Oregon Trail.

They shared a common enemy - time.  Their traveling season was short and one week difference could be the death of them.  Before the prairie grasses were up in early May, it was time to leave Missouri where they had waited all the winter through.  Their livestock would not survive if they left later in the Spring.  The westernmost mountains had be to crossed before mid-October when the snows came.  They had five months to cover 2,000 miles at an average of 15-20 miles a day if the skies were sunny and clear and the rivers were not swollen from rains. 

The opening stretch to the Platte River through present day Kansas to Nebraska was usually an "easy" journey.  Following that, they went through what pioneers called "the mile wide and an inch deep" section along the Platte River.  The land got gradually higher, more broken and more arid. 

They marked their journey with landmarks like Chimney Rock and Scott's Bluff on the way to Laramie where fresh supplies awaited them.  Independence Rock was the marker where the route left the Platte River and traveled across the Rockies at the South Pass.  Following the main route to Fort Bridger and then northwest to Fort Hall brought them to the Snake River Canyon at Farewell Bend.  Before crossing the Blue Mountains, the Grand Valley was a welcome respite before the mighty Columbia River awaited them.  Through the Willamette Valley the route diverged.  Here cautious travelers took jolting trails over the Cascades, or if they were risk takers, they built makeshift rafts and plunged down the Columbia.  Which would you have been?

Next time - Hazards Galore
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Today in Pioneer History:  "On February 19, 1792, George Washington signs the United States Postal Act creating the United State Post Office.

Across the Mountains to the Sea

On August 30, 1805,  Lewis and Clark set out northward once more to find the waterway to the Pacific, using pack horses obtained from the Shoshone. They went through narrow, rocky crevices where both men and horses struggled constantly - up 7500 feet on ridges in snow, hail, sleet, rain and hunger.  There was not a single game to be found.

After 10 days they emerged in a valley - the home of the Flathead Indians.  The Indians were friendly and helped guide the explorers to a westward flowing river, the Clearwater River, navigable but difficult.

Lewis and Clark set out on October 7 and three days later they ran into dangerous rapids on the Snake River. The peril of the river seemed far more expedient than the prospect of winter spent in the mountains!

On October 16, the Snake River took them to the Columbia, the legendary river of Oregon Territory.  This was their main objective of the whole expedition but they were too exhausted to celebrate - actually they barely noticed it!  Ahead lay more days of running rapids and a final journey around the upper and lower Cascade Mountains.  Add bouts of seasickness to it...all in all a really fun journey! :)

Next time...Eureka! The Pacific
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On This Day in Pioneer History: "On December 21, 1968, Apollo 8, the first manned mission to the moon, is successfully launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, with astronauts Frank Borman, James Lovell, Jr., and William Anders aboard. On Christmas Eve, the astronauts entered into orbit around the moon, the first manned spacecraft ever to do so.

Walker 2, Paiutes 0

The marshes around Humboldt Sink were swarming with Paiute Indoans - more so than the year before when Walker had to charge on them.  This time Walker and his men did everything they could think of to reconcile and be friendly, but the Paiutes would have none of it.  In no mood to be bribed or pacified, they prepared for battle.

Captain Joe Walker was concerned his men would get out of control and cause a total massacre, but again he gave
the order to charge.  14 Indians died, 3 whites were injured.  Walker called off his men and avoided further hostilities - something he was known and respected for.

The party continued up the Humboldt River without further Indian trouble, crossed over the Snake River and on to Bear River where he met up with his old buddy...

Next time..How ya doin' Ben?

Moving On

In November 1832,  Walker and Bonneville reunited but only for a few days.  With rations short, Walker took 20 fresh men and traveled south to Blackfoot River near the junction of the Snake River in southern Idaho where they waited out the heavy snows.

In the spring, Walker traveled south again for the spring hunt around Bear River Lake in Shoshoni territory.  Shoshoni were also called "Snake Indians"  The Shoshoni were constantly at war with the Blackfoot Indians.

Walker went on to develop close ties with the Snake Indians and it is believed that he married the Chief's daughter.

Next time...Final Count  

Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow?

Walker returned to Fort Nonsense with his group of free trappers.  Bonneville found them as interesting as the Delaware and one convinced him that a much better camp for the winter lay 200 miles west on the Salmon River.

Surprisingly Bonneville quickly agreed which got Captain Walker wondering why Bonneville built the fort - maybe for entirely different reasons than fur trapping over the winter. Nevertheless they stored extra supplies at Fort Bonneville, then packed up and moved to the Salmon River.

The Salmon River offered little improvement in shelter, game or trapping for the winter.  Walker thought it a miserable establishment - not even sheep could be found for food.  Walker had no intentions of spending the winter of 1832-33 at this camp.  Walker began to think that this might just be a way for the fur companies to get rid of Bonneville - to an isolated place where he would be too busy trying to survive to do much fur trapping.

By this time Old Joe realized that it was impossible to educate Bonneville and to continue on with him would not only cost him his reputation with other mountain men, but may affect his own survival as well.

So two days after arriving, Walker took 20 men and left, heading northwest to the Madison River to trap beaver.

Next time..Not so fast buster...

Fort Nonsense

The fort was named Fort Bonneville but it was a well known truth throughout the West that a better name was Fort Nonsense.

Looking back it was a good summer camp and easily accessed by wagon trains for supplies an safe from the Indians, but it lacked food and pasture.  A great  location, it was centrally located to most warring tribes in the mountains and the plains.

Fort Nonsense controlled the Snake River Pass from Oregon to California, and repelled anyone  coming from the Pacific Ocean.  Hmmm - remember Bonneville's true reason for partnering with Walker on this expedition?

Walker did not take part in the construction of the fort but went looking for free trappers to replace the lost Delaware Indians.

Next time..Moving So Soon?