Background Walking Accidents Disease Weather Spoiled Food Indians River Crossing Summary

Over 600,000 people made the trip along the Oregon Trail. Unfortunately, only 1 in 10 people made it alive. So, that would make 60,000 dead along the way.

Take a moment … Think of as many reasons you can as to how or why so many people did not finish the journey.

How many reasons were you able to come up with? Well as you can imagine there are probably hundreds. Today, we will be discussing the top six reasons one tenth of the people never made it to Oregon alive.

The pioneers started their hardships by having to leave behind their families, friends, and homes. Knowing the chances were slight, if at all, that they would ever see these people or places again.

Next, saving up the money to finance the trip was a major obstacle. Most families has to save for over a year as well as sell off many things that held sentimental value to them, such as family heirlooms and keepsakes.

Deciding what was essential for the journey and what would be needed once they arrived was very hard. The wagons were usually only 11feet long, by 4 feet wide and just 2 feet deep. Space was very limited. Many pioneers were faced with overloading their wagons which added extra strain to their animals.

Once a family was equipped they had to wait in Independence, Missouri. There were usually about 10,000 people in Independence at any given time, in all stages of preparations for the trip. The congestion in the town was very chaotic. Families had to wait until a large enough group was ready to leave at the same time.

Wagon parties usually chose a leader or appointed people to be in charge of particular duties. They also had written laws or a contract of sorts to refer to when disagreements threatened to get out of control, which was a regular occurance.

Because the pioneers grossly overloaded their wagons, they were forced to walk the 2000 miles. Most wagon trains traveled about 15 to 18 miles a day. For the very young and the very old this alone was deadly for some. Sheer exhaustion!

The wagons were very primitive, they had no safety features. Once they were going it was very difficult to stop them. Many children fell under the massive wagon wheels, causing broken bones and sores that usually resulted in infections that would lead to death, if the actual fall didn’t kill them.

Walking in the Mid West during the spring and summer months caused to be very dangerous. Wildlife was abundant; an attack from snakes, spiders and other dangerous animals could easily result in death to travelers of all ages.

All pioneers were equipped with firearms and other devices used for defense and hunting. Unfortunately, there were times when arguments would get out of hand, resulting in gunfire among the group. These were usually senseless killings involving pride.

Although there were several deadly diseases circulating, the one that took the most lives along the trail, by far, was Cholera, for which there was no cure. Sometimes the victims received proper burials, however, many times the sick would be abandoned on the side of the trail to die alone.

Leaving a sick family member along the side of the trail usually attracted animals that would attack the body before they were even dead. Cholera killed more pioneers by far then anything else. In a bad year some wagon trails lost two thirds of their people.

Weather Weather was a huge issue along the trail. It determined the departure of the parties, if they left too early in the season there may not be enough food for the animals along the way, however if they left too late, they may not make it through the Rockies before winter set it.

The pioneers also had to deal with extreme temperatures along the trail, varying from over 100 degrees on the planes, to below 40 degrees crossing the Rockies. The planes could be so dry, pioneers had to deal with severe sunburns and boils that could easily get infected in the dirty environment they were living in.

Along with the severe temperatures, pioneers also dealt with sudden thunder storms, tornados, and dust storms, that could devastating to a wagon trail. Animals and children were known to disappear in such storms. These storms usually held a party up for several days.

River Crossing Crossing rivers were always a constant threat to the pioneers. Hundreds of people drowned trying to cross the Kansas, North Platte, and the Columbia Rivers. In 1850 alone 37 people drowned crossing the Green River.

Most of the wagons were made to be water tight, however even with this precaution, capsizing was always an issue. A capsized wagon resulted in the family losing everything they owned, and being left destitute with no food or supplies.

Spoiled Food Although this was not a cause of many deaths, it happened often. People packed their food in large wooden barrels, if maggots or other insects got into these barrels it would all be ruined. Spoiled food left many families at the mercy of their groups to provide for them.

Indians Indian attacks were always feared, although they very rarely happened. Indians were more known for stealing livestock or supplies, then actually killing the pioneers.

Summary Attempting to cross the country was very dangerous. One conservative estimate states that there would be a grave every one hundred yards along the trail. The majority of deaths were due to cholera. However the benefits of going west must have out weighted the danger, because so many people attempted the journey.