most of them were well off to pay the huge money to do the trip not like desperate busted out homeless people like most think like people escaping from the dustbowl in the depression. They were daring people so the arrivals ended up being pillars of the community. Trading posts along the way were often based at spots like "portages" or bottoms of hills where they had to give off their best stuff. Many died or did not make it or stayed put such as at "the Dalles" Oregon instead of toughing it through the mountains. also many returned to the dalles not able to take the cold and rain in the Willamette valley the end point of the trail in Portland. also the trail was often miles wide undulating all over the place not a single road like people picture. as they left the plains areas alot of not needed stuff ended up having to be thrown out along the trail as they entered more hilly terrain. The conestoga wagons were not really used at all to get to oregon they were heavy tonnage haulers only for flat areas more east.
@@jaysilverheals4445 you beat me to it. I always tell people that the folks who traveled overland we're not broke. You had to have money to do that. They were basically greedy people that were looking for more money like the Donner party
Many, if not most, were failures at home. Bankrupt, criminals, anyone desperately needing a new life. Plus wagons were often overloaded, and progressively along the trails more and more items were discarded.
The families also walked to collect "buffalo chips" for fuel for cooking. Probably a little foraging for native plants and small game along the way as well.
My Great, great, great Grandfather came across the Oregon Trail with his wife and 11 children in 1853. They settled in the Willamette Valley south of Salem and our family still has possession of 5 acres of land on the original homestead, where we hold annual family reunions, occasionally with an Oregon Trail reenactment complete with covered wagon and period clothing.
A number of the comments here seem to be surprised about the idea of walking the Oregon Trail. We need to remember that 180 years ago, the most common means for anyone to go from A to Z was to walk. To own a riding horse was above a middle class purchase. If farming, most common the family would have only a single animal. That being said, any draft animal will only do so much work in a day. If you take the horse and wagon six miles to town and back, that is a days work for the horse. So people walked to where they were headed. It was the norm. So for farm folks, who would have been the most common settler of the era, walking beside the wagon, or horses would be the norm, not the exception.
Believe it or not: Born in Southwest Germany 1968, i had to walk most of the time. There was not enough money to pay transportation to school for my sister and me. Once every two years we got to our hollidays per train. We got our first car around 72, an old nearly broke down Renault 5. I would have greatly appreciated any kind of Riding animal to go to school...😅
I can't say much to the wagon aspect of it but for riding a horse 20 miles a day if you ride 6 days a week. The long riders guild suggests the 7th day of rest for the horse. In a short one day shot 80-100 miles depending on the breed how heavy and skilled the rider was possible but the horse would need the next 4 days to recover. It's one of the reasons Arabs were so sought after. good speed amazing endurance and because they have one less vertebrae than other breeds their backs were quite strong. most breeds like thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses owe a lot of their abilities to breeding from Arabs.
In 2008 I was working for the forest service in Oregon and worked on parts of the original Oregon Trail, specifically the Barlow Road. You could still see rope burns on trees where the Pioneers lowered their wagons down steep slopes without the horses and you could see wagon wheel marks in rocks. Very cool stuff.
Many years ago I went out west with my sister and we drove up to Casper Wyoming to drive out the Oregon trail on the back roads. She had a Jeep and wants just itchin to take it out. It was so cool. I have so many awesome pictures from that ride. We wrote it all the way to Independence Rock
A great book, if you have an interest in the Oregon Trail is ‘The Wake of the Prairie Schooner,’ by Irene Paden. Full of great stories, first hand interviews. The book was written in the mid thirties. Great photos, diary entries, maps. This book took her many years to write. She and her family would spend summers camping and exploring and interviewing people along the route. A wonderful book - I recommend it highly.
They did walk, but occasionally they got tired and rode in the wagons. One 12 year old girl bragged in her diary that her parents rode some, while she walked all the way, on one particular day.
G'day, The method here in Oz, when descending a steep hill, was to cut down a Sapling, tie it to the Back Axle, and then go down with the "Drag" of the Sapling being pulled across the Ground serving to retard the descent. For heavier loads and steeper hills, cut down a bigger, heavier Sapling to serve as a "Drag". The practice was probably fairly common, globally. Certainly, when the first Aerodynamicists were attempting to describe an Aircraft in Stable Level Flight..., the Equation which they settled onto was, and is, "Lift = Weight & Thrust = DRAG... (!). The Brake-Blocks built onto the Wagons were Wood with Leather facings, pressing via a Foot-operated Lever onto the Steel Wheel-Rims...; they were more use when parking, than to try slowing a heavy Wagon on a steep "pitch". The Sapling Drag method STILL works, for Bicyclists on a steep descent, to avoid overheating and wearing through the Brake Blocks. Just(ifiably ?) sayin', Such is life... Have a good one. Stay safe. ;-p Ciao !
@@WarblesOnALot My father did the same when cutting trees for lumber and heating in the 1930s, through in his case, he was logging on the mountains of Appalachia. In Appalachia the practice was to remove the wheels completely and have the horses drag the wagon down the Mountainside. Then unload the wagon, jack it up, put the wheels back on to haul the logs through the valley below the Mountainsides. Steep hillsides discouraged the use of wagons with wheels on the actual mountainside, but once down the mountainside the wheels came in handy (as they did with the horses hauling the wagons up those same mountainside for the next load of lumber).
Yes, my Granddad traveled by covered wagon as a young teenager from the prairies of Illinois to the plains of Kansas with his family. He didn't like Kansas; he said it was too flat and when he was a little older he went back to Illinois. I've always wondered how he could tell any difference between the flat prairie of Illinois and the flat plains of Kansas!
There were also a good amount of people who didn't have money for either of those and took handcarts, pulling them with their own strength. I've participated in reenactmentments were we spent several days pulling them. We would go about 10 miles/day before setting up camp around 3 or 4 pm. It was actually more doable then it sounds. I can understand why there are accounts where some people basically said crossing the plains was uneventful, they just walked a lot one summer
In my hometown, Oregon Trail wagon ruts run right across the #8 fairway at our local golf course. The trail runs through our valley and is marked and you can follow it for miles, to Fort Hall, also the Hudspeth Cutoff is right there where they turned South off the trail to go to the Salt Lake Valley. Interesting and historic area.
Former Pocatello guy here. I still miss the Ross Park Drive-In with it's delicious Taco-spaghetti and the Mess. Best food that was ever served in cardboard french fry trays!
The trail goes right through Boise. Outside of town where it goes through the desert, it's not really like one definable trail with wagon ruts, but a general linear area a mile or so wide, criss-crossed with lots and lots of ruts in various stages of erosion and overgrowth. It's a living thing. It's almost like a forest you can't see because of all the trees.
Generally the wagons were typical small,farm all pupose wagons(4'x9 ' app.). There wasn't room to ride or sleep inside. All would have walked except very small kids, the sick or elderly. The inside was completely filled with food, household goods & farm necessities. Horses were not used so much as oxen & occasionally mules. Both did not require a diet like horses, were stronger, did not tire as easily & in the case of mules, more sure footed. A long journey by foot but, it was accomplished..one step at a time.
And Oxen could survive on graze that would starve a horse. Thus most wagon masters told people to trade in they horses and mules for oxen. One observation was a mule or horse wagon train would speed ahead of any oxen train for about a month. After about a month the Oxen train would first pass dead horses and mules and then the rest of the horse or mule train. Horses were faster then mules or oxen, but needed additional food mostly in the form of grains (oats, corn, wheat etc.) to survive on the trail. Thus the stage coaches and express wagons used horses or mules (Mules were preferred, cheaper to feed and better endurance over a horse), but such wagons would switch horses or mules at stations set up for such switches, and the tired horses or mules given grains to eat and a few days of rest till it was time for they to return on a return stage coach or express wagon (These stations were kept supplied by oxen hauled wagons with hay, oats, corn, wheat etc). When you read of the use of horses by the German Army in WWII, in combat situations those horses lasted about four weeks till they had to go back for a long rest or die (and given how starved the horses were used, the remaining meat on them was almost useless as a food for the troops). Thus till the Steam Engine was invented, oxen was the main way to haul freight any distance. Horses and mules were faster, but did not have the endurance of oxen AND oxen could haul more then a team of horses or mules. By the time of Western Movies, railroads had replaced most Oxen and steam and later gasoline tractors were known (Through not that common till the 1930s, and horses would remain the main source of "power" on the farm till the 1960 US Census, when tractors were finally found to provided more "power" on the farms in the US then horses). On the soil in the American Midwest, horses and mules had replaced oxen by the 1870s, but oxen stayed the main source of "Power" on New England farms till replaced by tractors, mostly due to the extra pulling power oxen have over horses and mules, extra power needed to ploy the heavy soil of New England. One last comment on horses, mules and oxen. In the years before the horse was domesticated, horses were slowly disappearing for Cattle and Bisons were better at processing grass into fat for later use by the animal. Thus horses were being pushed out land they needed to graze by the more efficient Bison and cattle. Man domesticated them just in time, or horses would have gone extinct. That is how much more efficient oxen and its cousins are in using grass as a food source and why, except when speed was needed, or you had "light" soil, oxen were preferred over horses and its relatives for most farm work or any serious hauling till the steam engine came into widespread use in the mid 1800s.
The wagons weren't designed for riders. All walked alongside as comments reveal. What is not discussed is that each wagon had a "lazy board" at the side front which could be slid out to enable one person to sit on it while the oxen driven wagon moved. The Arizona Historic Museum has a glass plate image of a female teamster walking alongside a freight wagon in her long black dress. Tough competent women then, not the mousy squeakers of today.
@@michaelplunkett8059 Towns had general stores and dry goods distributors, but away from town, your options were more limited and you had to eat whatever food you had access to.
I didn't realize there were two distinct types of wagons, so I'm thankful for this video. I've driven across the Great Plains (and other areas) many times, and sometimes I think about what it would have been like to travel there "during the old days". I recall reading some years ago that there is actually a type of tour in which customers ride a considerable distance in wagons, and essentially duplicate the conditions of those days.
I used to live about a hundred or two hundred yards from where the trail passed. The ruts were all gone, but it was fun being that close to where history had passed. I'm sure that people occasionally walked off the trail a little ways and crossed my yard while they were hunting.
@@fastsetinthewest I'm not sure. Digging in that soil was horrible. I think they would have been more likely to pile rocks over a body. Maybe there were some spots where digging was more feasible. In that case, I'm sure there were some bodies.
Interesting. I grew up in a town called "Conestoga" in PA. It is an Indian tribe name of the larger tribe the Susquehanna Indians. The wagons were reported to be built in this area. My mother and father restored on many years ago for a museum. I did not know of the horses being called Conestoga horse. Thanks for the video. FYI Conestoga wagons do not have a seat for driving the horses and generally were guided by a person walking.
If you’re ever in Casper Wyoming go to the interpretive trails museum, it’s awesome… In depth on everything you ever wanted to know about the Oregon, Mormon, California trails, and the Pony Express… 🎅🏻🏴☠️🏔
@@philbrooks5979 I second this. It's one of my favorite places on the trail, in fact that whole area along the Sweetwater is beautiful. Just the geology of such a huge granite dome would have been worth the stop even without the historical aspects. It was great walking up the backside of the rock to the top, reading the inscriptions, then sitting for a while and enjoying the view. FWIW, we were there on a perfect May day and the mosquitoes were already getting bad, I guess due to its proximity to the river. Bring some bug repellant. I also recommend nearby Devil's Gate and Martin's Cove.
When I was on Extreme Makeover Home Ed in 2006 my 3yr old son was given a 100+yr old wagon that was made into a bed for him. It is fantastic. We now have it set aside for when we have grandchildren one day.
I don't believe Conestoga wagons were used on the Oregon Trail. They were too long and heavy for crossing the Rockies, Blues and Cascade mountains, Prairie Scoones and farm wagons were used on the Oregon Trail where Conestoga wagons were much more suited for the Santa fe Trail and other less mountainous terrain. I guess it's possible a few of them may have been able to make the trip over the mountains, but certainly were not one of the two said "main types".
Some years back we were in, I believe, Idaho on way to Yellowstone. There was a "covered wagon museum". Gave us some idea of how it went. As I recall, we were told that people walked next to the wagons. Boys were tasked to count the wheel rotations so to see how many miles gone. The roads outside of St. Louis (Gateway to the West) were littered (as shown in a brief part of this video) with chairs and other belongings that were jettisoned. There is an early John Wayne movie, "The Long Trail", I think, that shows the travelers coming to a bluff, and taking the wagons apart, getting the parts lifted, and then the wagons put back together again. Hard to believe that some of the children of the travelers lived to see autos and airplanes.
Yes, there would be a handkerchief tied to one of the spokes to mark the rotation. Someone figured out the math for the count of turns in a mile. There was a "roadometer" invented to do it automatically.
I read that "Prarie Schooner" was an actual Wagon equipped with mast spar and sails using the prevalent WIND to power its movement over the flat land of the prairie. As I understood it the "Conestoga" Wagon was a BOAT it could cross rivers with a dry cargo. A full team was SIX horses, while most families found it hard to assemble two or four OXEN as prime movers.
I'm not sure if you're joking, but prairie schooners were not equipped with sails. There are so many reasons why that would not have worked, not the least of which is the fact the emigrants traveled west, which would have been INTO the prevailing winds on the prairies and high plains, which typically blows from west to east. Much of the route is not flat at all. They had to deal with many extreme ascents and descents, in some cases so steep the wagons had to be winched up the grades and lowered down the other side. Even the flattest portions were through tall grass, mud, or over rutted, rocky soil. Not exactly conducive to sailing.
There were as many different kinds of wagons that moved west than there are different cars on the freeway today. Many were unique, built by a local blacksmith in the town they were leaving behind, who often modified other designs and even made up their own. Every shape and size from the Mormon Handcart to the 21 mule borax wagons. It is true, however, most of the time people chose to walk alongside rather than ride as the wagons were packed with belongings and provisions for the trip.
We pulled into Salem on July 4th, 1967 in a Pontiac. I was 10. Wouldn't want to live anywhere else on this planet. Nowhere does a perfect day like Oregon.
My great-great wagon-trained from Illinois to Oregon in 1845. His family wagon-trained from Kentucky to Illinois (part of the Indiana Territory at the time) in 1816.
It’s often forgotten now, but in the early 19th century Europeans especially Brits were on the move around the world, they loaded their possessions into covered wagons and traveled into the wilderness seeking out new farmlands. So not just in the US and Canada, but also Africa especially South Africa and Australasia. The Industrial Revolution had resulted in a population explosion and food shortages, with the effect of increasing the value of farm land. I’m British, but my ancestors traveled North out of the cape colony and into Natal.
In Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House on the Prairie--the entire family rides almost all of the time (in fact she asks to run alongside once and Ma says no, why is not explained--since this is actually a memory from when Laura is about 4 years old, she probably couldn't keep up.) Anyhow their mattresses are stowed in the wagon the kids seem to camp out comfily enough on them.
@@savinghistory642 Where do you get that Pa was "kind of sorry?" Historically, the Ingalls were usually a little above average economic class of the places they lived, and Pa was often in a position of some civic leadership. These are historical facts, not just from the books. By pioneer standards they were actually quite successful.
Oxen were the preferred animals to pull the wagons. Horses needed the right grasses to feed and had to be corralled at night so they didn't wander off or get stolen by natives. Oxen would eat anything. Prairie schooners were often chosen because the bottoms were canvased and treated for waterproofness as well as being lighter for river crossings. My wife and I walked a portion of the Oregon trail this past year where it crossed the Missouri river. It was incredible to see an original ferry and ruts still left from the wagons.
According to the numerous diary accounts I’ve read in several different books all the wagon’s bottoms were covered with tar to make them waterproof for fording streams
Of course this meant that before they forded a stream they were reapplying because of the cracks that would have happened while traveling between streams. That meant it wasn’t a simple matter of coming to a crossing and heading right across. There was always a time of preparation.And in the interim of waiting anxiety that they needed to get everyone across. It was often a real nervous time for them. There was so much they had to think about and plan ahead for. I am in awe of their bravery.
@@SusanOltmans1st very intresting. 2ndly "with the power flex seal I"cut the are ETA in half. and we can even save the tar to make black tar heron for Portland....or ourselves.
Mormon Mesa, west of Mesquite, is interesting in that it has remnants of both the Santa Fe, and Mormon Trail. Even in the desert, time is slowly erasing these features.
@@kristic4472 YES, on the southern tip of Nevada. My ancestors settled near there. Mormon Mesa is seen either side of I-15 for about 20 miles between Glendale and Mesquite Nevada. I had an uncle, Edwin Marshall (1882-1856) who would struggle with his team to take water up to cattle grazing up on Mormon Mesa. He almost lost his wagon and team off a cliff! It had to be a gift of God that he survived! If you go south off the Mormon Mesa you'll end up in Lake Mead IF there's any water left in it!
when you are on highways in CO look before you reach the elevation passes. there are still many markers saying where the wagon trails went and still the dirt roads over rocky passes you can see from the highways. It's a miracle people stayed alive!
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In addition to wagons, early pioneers used handcarts to travel out west. Many of the pioneers who went to Utah on the Mormon trail pushed/pulled handcarts that contained all of their belongings. Handcarts were much cheaper than wagons and didn't need horses to pull them. Many of the inhabitants of Utah can trace their family trees back to these handcart pioneers.
There were also more than a few who started the Oregon trail with wagons but because of damage to their wagons and/or death of their oxen had to remake their wagons down into a cart to haul the rest of what they could over that last brutal part of the trail. Tough people.
I was going to point this out as well. Ox were good for pulling and eating if need be. There are ads during that time showing what was use and commonly needed for the travel.
Certainly on the southern routes, a large percentage of the folks moving west went by handcart. Large wheels and with minuscule load compared to the horse or ox drawn wagons, they were affordable and worked well enough over level prairies. For perspective, as you fly across the country, every 45 seconds is pretty much what the pioneers could cover in a day. They had no particular schedule beyond avoiding bad weather with the seasons.
My great grandfather, 10 years old when my great great grandparents came across the Oregon trail in 1864 walked from Rock Island Illinois to Toledo Oregon. One of the wagon train members shot an Indian woman. When the Indians caught up with the train, they took the individual in question and skinned him alive while they made the rest of the travelers watch. (This was the Shedd Wagon Train, and the community of Shedd Oregon is named after Captain Frank Shedd).
It was said that no child ever asked, “Are we there yet?” Because they knew their father would say, “So help me, if you ask me again, I’m gonna turn this wagon schooner around….”
Once on the trail, there was nowhere to change horses/oxen. You soon learned to travel as light as possible to save your animals from dying of exhaustion. These trails were littered with things people realised they just had to leave behind, otherwise they just weren’t going to make it. The animals didn’t need driving, they were led by the bridle and everyone walked. And wherever possible, the travellers spread out so as not to be choked by the dust from the wagon in front. People were used to walking everywhere and long distances too, so travelling to another part of the continent mainly on foot, was considered normal.
E as Conestoga wagon? Eram de Lancaster na pennsylvania, sec 18, e estas idas para o Oregon eram em wagons menores e puxadas por Mulas e Horses. Interessante esta história sec 19.
I remember watching recent Western thriller ‘Meek’s Cutoff’ about travelers on the Oregon Trail, and despite being a good film it does seem like they walked the entire journey.
Many walked beside or ahead of their wagon checking for rocks etc. Rattlesnakes were thus a constant danger the further west they got Donners took cut off espoused by a phony land agent
The major factor regarding wagons is weight. Apart from food, water and clothing, most of the things hauled in wagons were made of Iron. With anything of wood being removed. This was that wood was available at the and of the journey, whereas things if Iron were not. The portion of this video where furniture was strewn alongside the trail was the result of being overburdened by things that could be built after thy got to their destination. Only food and water could be overloaded as that weight drops off daily. If a wheel broke, the hub and tire were saved, after a spare wheel was installed. On steep downhill inclines, no one would be in the wagon seat and a block and tackle would be rigged to the rear axle.to slowly be let out,as wagon brakes would slip on the iron tires. Or if too steep for a block and tackle, you could use your draft animals faced backwards to slowly bring the wagon down.
I had distance relatives that were attacked and some killed by Indians on the east coast. I discovered this when I did a family tree project for school back in the 70s
Actually, the answer is arithmetic. Every pound of people in the wagon detracted from the useful that could be carried. That load had already been stripped to the bones and the wagon overloaded with consumable cargo (food, water, etc). Under such circumstances, causing a beast of burden to suffer your weight unnecessarily was generally considered to be inhuman.
Wonder what happened to the wagons and horses when they got to their destination. Was it like the rental car business where cars need to be driven back to where they are needed?
Often they'd remain in use on farms or other local transport needs, or they'd be taken apart and the wood planks and even nails were reused for building houses and barns and anything else needed.
Mary answered this rather well. The horses were still needed for farm work and to go into town as needed. I remember one man said that his ancestors used the wagon sheets to cover the floor. Ships made the trip both ways. Wagons often only once.
They needed those animals for raising crops, unless they were moving to the bigger cities. I guarantee the first thing they did when they got to there destination, was built a shelter and start preparing the ground for seed and busting ass getting those fields planted.
It's where the first 'used car lots' were born and the first guys with cheap toupees learned to wind the odometer backwards (on the horses and the wagons).
I don’t think we really appreciate how tough those people had to be to go across country in a wagon. I can only imagine the hardships they had to endure. Think about it, there were no rest stops, there was no guarantee for food or water, no McDonald’s along the way and no Holiday Inn at the end of the day for a good nights rest not to mention a nice hot shower.
Since I retired in Oklahoma oil can think of the settlers that first came here! 1890 was the big Oklahoma Land Rush! But I think about life living in one of those things for months on end what an exciting and scary year that would be!!
The larger of the two wagons looks very much like a wain an English wagon as in the John Constable picture "The Hay Wain". Charles' Wain is over the new chimney and yet our 'orse not packed. The Plough star configuration used to be called Charles or Carl's Wain.
There's a period cartoon of a stagecoach with a wheel off, luggage scattered all over and the passengers standing around. Underneath it says "worse things happen at sea". It was a comment on the state of the roads.
I discovered (on You Tube I believe) that the drivers of the Conestoga wagons were referred to as "Stogies" & their cigars came to be known by the same name. Can you verify?
Mother, My apologies for the cursive being difficult but the trail is riddled with stones and passage is bumpy. The country is splendid and the travelers are hearty. I will write again as I am excited to participate in the Antifa rally when we arrive in Oregon later this year. Your son, Ebenezor
Yes. Your wagon was not a rv. It was packed with food, tools, firearms, gun powder, seed for crops and personal ltems. There are eight in your family. Maybe two people ride in wagon. The rest are walking. If you were flush, one person might ride a saddle horse. At night you sleep in a tent.
And that is just flat out prejudice… (Unless you are talking about Karen’s). Underestimating what the current generation is capable of has been happening for millennia… and been wrong for just as long.
I would be interested in a discussion of how far they would travel, let's say daily. It would vary by terrain, there were no doubt pushes, then periods of rest. Dangerous 8ndian territory would be a push. Some would take Sabbath rests. I made some rudimentary figures, not taking 8nto account difficulty factors. I got the figures out of my head: 2,170 miles 5mph(guess) 8 hours /day 40 miles/day 2,170 ÷ 40 = 54.25 55 day journey. 6 days per week = 9 weeks
People died of everything, especially children and women who got pregnant on the trip. No doctors, no antibiotics...women had a huge problem not wanting to get pregnant, since they were taught to never refuse their men. The problem was 9 months of being sick on the trail by the motion of wagons, like being on the ocean. Most women did have to walk 12 to 15 miles a day, no matter how they felt. Children who wandered off were usually left behind since looking for them for too long would endanger the whole wagon train...it happened all the time...
I'm a descendants of Renfro Valley Kentucky - The town split up over slavery and my relation moved on wagon train to California - A 4 yo girl got sick passed away they settled in southern Illinois while train moved on - My brother has her music box handed down in family but yes many got sick and passed away on wagon trains it was a 5 mo. journey to the far west
What interesting facts do you have about the Oregon Trail?
most of them were well off to pay the huge money to do the trip not like desperate busted out homeless people like most think like people escaping from the dustbowl in the depression. They were daring people so the arrivals ended up being pillars of the community.
Trading posts along the way were often based at spots like "portages" or bottoms of hills where they had to give off their best stuff. Many died or did not make it or stayed put such as at "the Dalles" Oregon instead of toughing it through the mountains. also many returned to the dalles not able to take the cold and rain in the Willamette valley the end point of the trail in Portland.
also the trail was often miles wide undulating all over the place not a single road like people picture. as they left the plains areas alot of not needed stuff ended up having to be thrown out along the trail as they entered more hilly terrain. The conestoga wagons were not really used at all to get to oregon they were heavy tonnage haulers only for flat areas more east.
It smelled really bad....
@@jaysilverheals4445 you beat me to it. I always tell people that the folks who traveled overland we're not broke. You had to have money to do that. They were basically greedy people that were looking for more money like the Donner party
Many, if not most, were failures at home. Bankrupt, criminals, anyone desperately needing a new life.
Plus wagons were often overloaded, and progressively along the trails more and more items were discarded.
The families also walked to collect "buffalo chips" for fuel for cooking. Probably a little foraging for native plants and small game along the way as well.
My Great, great, great Grandfather came across the Oregon Trail with his wife and 11 children in 1853. They settled in the Willamette Valley south of Salem and our family still has possession of 5 acres of land on the original homestead, where we hold annual family reunions, occasionally with an Oregon Trail reenactment complete with covered wagon and period clothing.
Dang, that's cool, and it sounds like a good time.
Very nice tradition. I wish I could experience something like that.
WOW!!!!!!!!
wonderful legacy, it's cool your family still commemorates it and holds the land
What a great way to celebrate your roots!
A number of the comments here seem to be surprised about the idea of walking the Oregon Trail. We need to remember that 180 years ago, the most common means for anyone to go from A to Z was to walk. To own a riding horse was above a middle class purchase. If farming, most common the family would have only a single animal. That being said, any draft animal will only do so much work in a day. If you take the horse and wagon six miles to town and back, that is a days work for the horse. So people walked to where they were headed. It was the norm. So for farm folks, who would have been the most common settler of the era, walking beside the wagon, or horses would be the norm, not the exception.
Believe it or not: Born in Southwest Germany 1968, i had to walk most of the time.
There was not enough money to pay transportation to school for my sister and me.
Once every two years we got to our hollidays per train.
We got our first car around 72, an old nearly broke down Renault 5.
I would have greatly appreciated any kind of Riding animal to go to school...😅
I can't say much to the wagon aspect of it but for riding a horse 20 miles a day if you ride 6 days a week. The long riders guild suggests the 7th day of rest for the horse. In a short one day shot 80-100 miles depending on the breed how heavy and skilled the rider was possible but the horse would need the next 4 days to recover. It's one of the reasons Arabs were so sought after. good speed amazing endurance and because they have one less vertebrae than other breeds their backs were quite strong. most breeds like thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses owe a lot of their abilities to breeding from Arabs.
In 2008 I was working for the forest service in Oregon and worked on parts of the original Oregon Trail, specifically the Barlow Road. You could still see rope burns on trees where the Pioneers lowered their wagons down steep slopes without the horses and you could see wagon wheel marks in rocks. Very cool stuff.
Wow!!! That is pure history, I love stuff like that!!
That’s amazing
*When lowering them they would tie the two back wheels together as an improvised brake.*
Many years ago I went out west with my sister and we drove up to Casper Wyoming to drive out the Oregon trail on the back roads. She had a Jeep and wants just itchin to take it out. It was so cool. I have so many awesome pictures from that ride. We wrote it all the way to Independence Rock
Life was So hard back then
A great book, if you have an interest in the Oregon Trail is ‘The Wake of the Prairie Schooner,’ by Irene Paden. Full of great stories, first hand interviews. The book was written in the mid thirties. Great photos, diary entries, maps. This book took her many years to write. She and her family would spend summers camping and exploring and interviewing people along the route. A wonderful book - I recommend it highly.
They did walk, but occasionally they got tired and rode in the wagons.
One 12 year old girl bragged in her diary that her parents rode some,
while she walked all the way, on one particular day.
Although not the Oregon trail, my Grandmother traveled from Kansas City MO to Denver CO in a wagon train as a girl. Not that many generations ago!
Nice
G'day,
The method here in Oz, when descending a steep hill, was to cut down a Sapling, tie it to the Back Axle, and then go down with the "Drag" of the Sapling being pulled across the Ground serving to retard the descent.
For heavier loads and steeper hills, cut down a bigger, heavier Sapling to serve as a "Drag".
The practice was probably fairly common, globally.
Certainly, when the first Aerodynamicists were attempting to describe an Aircraft in Stable Level Flight..., the Equation which they settled onto was, and is,
"Lift = Weight & Thrust = DRAG...
(!).
The Brake-Blocks built onto the Wagons were Wood with Leather facings, pressing via a Foot-operated Lever onto the Steel Wheel-Rims...; they were more use when parking, than to try slowing a heavy Wagon on a steep "pitch".
The Sapling Drag method STILL works, for Bicyclists on a steep descent, to avoid overheating and wearing through the Brake Blocks.
Just(ifiably ?) sayin',
Such is life...
Have a good one.
Stay safe.
;-p
Ciao !
@@WarblesOnALot My father did the same when cutting trees for lumber and heating in the 1930s, through in his case, he was logging on the mountains of Appalachia. In Appalachia the practice was to remove the wheels completely and have the horses drag the wagon down the Mountainside. Then unload the wagon, jack it up, put the wheels back on to haul the logs through the valley below the Mountainsides. Steep hillsides discouraged the use of wagons with wheels on the actual mountainside, but once down the mountainside the wheels came in handy (as they did with the horses hauling the wagons up those same mountainside for the next load of lumber).
Yes, my Granddad traveled by covered wagon as a young teenager from the prairies of Illinois to the plains of Kansas with his family. He didn't like Kansas; he said it was too flat and when he was a little older he went back to Illinois. I've always wondered how he could tell any difference between the flat prairie of Illinois and the flat plains of Kansas!
There were also a good amount of people who didn't have money for either of those and took handcarts, pulling them with their own strength. I've participated in reenactmentments were we spent several days pulling them. We would go about 10 miles/day before setting up camp around 3 or 4 pm. It was actually more doable then it sounds. I can understand why there are accounts where some people basically said crossing the plains was uneventful, they just walked a lot one summer
In my hometown, Oregon Trail wagon ruts run right across the #8 fairway at our local golf course. The trail runs through our valley and is marked and you can follow it for miles, to Fort Hall, also the Hudspeth Cutoff is right there where they turned South off the trail to go to the Salt Lake Valley. Interesting and historic area.
Yes, Soda Springs, Idaho!
@@richardhill3122 Yep, My Father in Law lives in Downey!!
Yes, I worked with Idaho OCTA. We marked all the trails and cutoffs in Eastern Idaho.
Former Pocatello guy here. I still miss the Ross Park Drive-In with it's delicious Taco-spaghetti and the Mess. Best food that was ever served in cardboard french fry trays!
The trail goes right through Boise. Outside of town where it goes through the desert, it's not really like one definable trail with wagon ruts, but a general linear area a mile or so wide, criss-crossed with lots and lots of ruts in various stages of erosion and overgrowth. It's a living thing. It's almost like a forest you can't see because of all the trees.
Generally the wagons were typical small,farm all pupose wagons(4'x9 ' app.). There wasn't room to ride or sleep inside. All would have walked except very small kids, the sick or elderly. The inside was completely filled with food, household goods & farm necessities. Horses were not used so much as oxen & occasionally mules. Both did not require a diet like horses, were stronger, did not tire as easily & in the case of mules, more sure footed. A long journey by foot but, it was accomplished..one step at a time.
And Oxen could survive on graze that would starve a horse. Thus most wagon masters told people to trade in they horses and mules for oxen. One observation was a mule or horse wagon train would speed ahead of any oxen train for about a month. After about a month the Oxen train would first pass dead horses and mules and then the rest of the horse or mule train.
Horses were faster then mules or oxen, but needed additional food mostly in the form of grains (oats, corn, wheat etc.) to survive on the trail. Thus the stage coaches and express wagons used horses or mules (Mules were preferred, cheaper to feed and better endurance over a horse), but such wagons would switch horses or mules at stations set up for such switches, and the tired horses or mules given grains to eat and a few days of rest till it was time for they to return on a return stage coach or express wagon (These stations were kept supplied by oxen hauled wagons with hay, oats, corn, wheat etc). When you read of the use of horses by the German Army in WWII, in combat situations those horses lasted about four weeks till they had to go back for a long rest or die (and given how starved the horses were used, the remaining meat on them was almost useless as a food for the troops).
Thus till the Steam Engine was invented, oxen was the main way to haul freight any distance. Horses and mules were faster, but did not have the endurance of oxen AND oxen could haul more then a team of horses or mules.
By the time of Western Movies, railroads had replaced most Oxen and steam and later gasoline tractors were known (Through not that common till the 1930s, and horses would remain the main source of "power" on the farm till the 1960 US Census, when tractors were finally found to provided more "power" on the farms in the US then horses).
On the soil in the American Midwest, horses and mules had replaced oxen by the 1870s, but oxen stayed the main source of "Power" on New England farms till replaced by tractors, mostly due to the extra pulling power oxen have over horses and mules, extra power needed to ploy the heavy soil of New England.
One last comment on horses, mules and oxen. In the years before the horse was domesticated, horses were slowly disappearing for Cattle and Bisons were better at processing grass into fat for later use by the animal. Thus horses were being pushed out land they needed to graze by the more efficient Bison and cattle. Man domesticated them just in time, or horses would have gone extinct. That is how much more efficient oxen and its cousins are in using grass as a food source and why, except when speed was needed, or you had "light" soil, oxen were preferred over horses and its relatives for most farm work or any serious hauling till the steam engine came into widespread use in the mid 1800s.
The wagons weren't designed for riders. All walked alongside as comments reveal. What is not discussed is that each wagon had a "lazy board" at the side front which could be slid out to enable one person to sit on it while the oxen driven wagon moved. The Arizona Historic Museum has a glass plate image of a female teamster walking alongside a freight wagon in her long black dress. Tough competent women then, not the mousy squeakers of today.
I saw a wagon for the first time the other day and it was huge. I didn't realize how huge they were until I saw one in person.
Well think about it🤔 It’s basically an older version of a camper!
@@J-Mac8 That was going where no grocery stores existed.
@@michaelplunkett8059 yeah your surroundings are your groceries!
@@michaelplunkett8059 Towns had general stores and dry goods distributors, but away from town, your options were more limited and you had to eat whatever food you had access to.
My grand mother remembered before there were cars and electricity.
I didn't realize there were two distinct types of wagons, so I'm thankful for this video. I've driven across the Great Plains (and other areas) many times, and sometimes I think about what it would have been like to travel there "during the old days". I recall reading some years ago that there is actually a type of tour in which customers ride a considerable distance in wagons, and essentially duplicate the conditions of those days.
I used to live about a hundred or two hundred yards from where the trail passed. The ruts were all gone, but it was fun being that close to where history had passed. I'm sure that people occasionally walked off the trail a little ways and crossed my yard while they were hunting.
Or going to relieve themselves...
@@stephenlitten1789
My great, great grandfather may have takin' a dump in their yard.
Probably dead bodies buried around the place too.
@@fastsetinthewest I'm not sure. Digging in that soil was horrible. I think they would have been more likely to pile rocks over a body. Maybe there were some spots where digging was more feasible. In that case, I'm sure there were some bodies.
This was very interesting it had to be a hearty bunch that made this voyage.
People today couldn't do it they couldn't handle what the young and older pioneers handled.
They were a bunch of tough people back then.
Interesting. I grew up in a town called "Conestoga" in PA. It is an Indian tribe name of the larger tribe the Susquehanna Indians. The wagons were reported to be built in this area. My mother and father restored on many years ago for a museum. I did not know of the horses being called Conestoga horse. Thanks for the video. FYI Conestoga wagons do not have a seat for driving the horses and generally were guided by a person walking.
If you’re ever in Casper Wyoming go to the interpretive trails museum, it’s awesome… In depth on everything you ever wanted to know about the Oregon, Mormon, California trails, and the Pony Express… 🎅🏻🏴☠️🏔
Independence Rock is a must see. So many peoples' names engraved along with the date.
@@philbrooks5979 I second this. It's one of my favorite places on the trail, in fact that whole area along the Sweetwater is beautiful. Just the geology of such a huge granite dome would have been worth the stop even without the historical aspects. It was great walking up the backside of the rock to the top, reading the inscriptions, then sitting for a while and enjoying the view. FWIW, we were there on a perfect May day and the mosquitoes were already getting bad, I guess due to its proximity to the river. Bring some bug repellant. I also recommend nearby Devil's Gate and Martin's Cove.
Tmdwu
When I was on Extreme Makeover Home Ed in 2006 my 3yr old son was given a 100+yr old wagon that was made into a bed for him. It is fantastic. We now have it set aside for when we have grandchildren one day.
Oh wow I am glad I turned out well for you.
I am glad you kept it
@@stephaniehowe0973 thank you. I am blessed though I’m paralyzed and in pain 24/7 but my boys (and new daughter in law! Are worth it
I don't believe Conestoga wagons were used on the Oregon Trail. They were too long and heavy for crossing the Rockies, Blues and Cascade mountains, Prairie Scoones and farm wagons were used on the Oregon Trail where Conestoga wagons were much more suited for the Santa fe Trail and other less mountainous terrain. I guess it's possible a few of them may have been able to make the trip over the mountains, but certainly were not one of the two said "main types".
Some years back we were in, I believe, Idaho on way to Yellowstone. There was a "covered wagon museum". Gave us some idea of how it went. As I recall, we were told that people walked next to the wagons. Boys were tasked to count the wheel rotations so to see how many miles gone. The roads outside of St. Louis (Gateway to the West) were littered (as shown in a brief part of this video) with chairs and other belongings that were jettisoned. There is an early John Wayne movie, "The Long Trail", I think, that shows the travelers coming to a bluff, and taking the wagons apart, getting the parts lifted, and then the wagons put back together again. Hard to believe that some of the children of the travelers lived to see autos and airplanes.
The Big Trail
The youngest children who survived lived into the early half of 1900's. One of them even had story published on what they remember.
Yes, there would be a handkerchief tied to one of the spokes to mark the rotation. Someone figured out the math for the count of turns in a mile. There was a "roadometer" invented to do it automatically.
I read that "Prarie Schooner" was an actual Wagon equipped with mast spar and sails using the prevalent WIND to power its movement over the flat land of the prairie. As I understood it the "Conestoga" Wagon was a BOAT it could cross rivers with a dry cargo. A full team was SIX horses, while most families found it hard to assemble two or four OXEN as prime movers.
I'm not sure if you're joking, but prairie schooners were not equipped with sails. There are so many reasons why that would not have worked, not the least of which is the fact the emigrants traveled west, which would have been INTO the prevailing winds on the prairies and high plains, which typically blows from west to east. Much of the route is not flat at all. They had to deal with many extreme ascents and descents, in some cases so steep the wagons had to be winched up the grades and lowered down the other side. Even the flattest portions were through tall grass, mud, or over rutted, rocky soil. Not exactly conducive to sailing.
@@RMB42 Reference to a small company using "Wind Wagons" not the big settlers wagons.
There were as many different kinds of wagons that moved west than there are different cars on the freeway today. Many were unique, built by a local blacksmith in the town they were leaving behind, who often modified other designs and even made up their own. Every shape and size from the Mormon Handcart to the 21 mule borax wagons. It is true, however, most of the time people chose to walk alongside rather than ride as the wagons were packed with belongings and provisions for the trip.
A lot more studebaker's than you see today.
We pulled into Salem on July 4th, 1967 in a Pontiac. I was 10. Wouldn't want to live anywhere else on this planet. Nowhere does a perfect day like Oregon.
My great-great wagon-trained from Illinois to Oregon in 1845. His family wagon-trained from Kentucky to Illinois (part of the Indiana Territory at the time) in 1816.
It's fascinating to learn about the specific features of each wagon and how they impacted the journey along the Oregon Trail.
It’s often forgotten now, but in the early 19th century Europeans especially Brits were on the move around the world, they loaded their possessions into covered wagons and traveled into the wilderness seeking out new farmlands. So not just in the US and Canada, but also Africa especially South Africa and Australasia. The Industrial Revolution had resulted in a population explosion and food shortages, with the effect of increasing the value of farm land. I’m British, but my ancestors traveled North out of the cape colony and into Natal.
I'm amazed how deep the wagon wheel ruts are especially around South Pass and Pilot Butte in southwestern Wyoming.
In Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House on the Prairie--the entire family rides almost all of the time (in fact she asks to run alongside once and Ma says no, why is not explained--since this is actually a memory from when Laura is about 4 years old, she probably couldn't keep up.) Anyhow their mattresses are stowed in the wagon the kids seem to camp out comfily enough on them.
But the girls were quite young and Ma was pregnant with Carrie
@@3piper And many of LIW 'memories' are fiction. Pa was really kind of sorry and not quite the happy fiddleplaying guy on tv.
*It turns out **_"Pa"_** was really an angel sent to help travelers.*
@@savinghistory642 Where do you get that Pa was "kind of sorry?" Historically, the Ingalls were usually a little above average economic class of the places they lived, and Pa was often in a position of some civic leadership. These are historical facts, not just from the books. By pioneer standards they were actually quite successful.
Hollyweird... ☆
Oxen were the preferred animals to pull the wagons. Horses needed the right grasses to feed and had to be corralled at night so they didn't wander off or get stolen by natives. Oxen would eat anything. Prairie schooners were often chosen because the bottoms were canvased and treated for waterproofness as well as being lighter for river crossings. My wife and I walked a portion of the Oregon trail this past year where it crossed the Missouri river. It was incredible to see an original ferry and ruts still left from the wagons.
According to the numerous diary accounts I’ve read in several different books all the wagon’s bottoms were covered with tar to make them waterproof for fording streams
Of course this meant that before they forded a stream they were reapplying because of the cracks that would have happened while traveling between streams. That meant it wasn’t a simple matter of coming to a crossing and heading right across. There was always a time of preparation.And in the interim of waiting anxiety that they needed to get everyone across. It was often a real nervous time for them. There was so much they had to think about and plan ahead for. I am in awe of their bravery.
@@SusanOltmans1st very intresting. 2ndly "with the power flex seal I"cut the are ETA in half.
and
we can even save the tar to make black tar heron for Portland....or ourselves.
This is very interesting information. Thanks for posting
Mormon Mesa, west of Mesquite, is interesting in that it has remnants of both the Santa Fe, and Mormon Trail. Even in the desert, time is slowly erasing these features.
where is that ?
Mesquite Nevada?
@@kristic4472
YES, on the southern tip of Nevada.
My ancestors settled near there. Mormon Mesa is seen either side of I-15 for about 20 miles between Glendale and Mesquite Nevada.
I had an uncle, Edwin Marshall (1882-1856) who would struggle with his team to take water up to cattle grazing up on Mormon Mesa. He almost lost his wagon and team off a cliff! It had to be a gift of God that he survived!
If you go south off the Mormon Mesa you'll end up in Lake Mead IF there's any water left in it!
when you are on highways in CO look before you reach the elevation passes. there are still many markers saying where the wagon trails went and still the dirt roads over rocky passes you can see from the highways. It's a miracle people stayed alive!
I haven't heard much of the Oregon trail. I've read more about the Santa Fe trail which was shorter.
Oregon Trail (especially 2) game taught quite a bit. Who knew video games were educational!
I just found your channel it popped up in my feed. I like the historical videos!
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Just started watching 1883- I highly recommend it!
Read a book called blood meridian. 1883 is so good tho. I get Arthur Morgan vibes from it
In addition to wagons, early pioneers used handcarts to travel out west. Many of the pioneers who went to Utah on the Mormon trail pushed/pulled handcarts that contained all of their belongings. Handcarts were much cheaper than wagons and didn't need horses to pull them. Many of the inhabitants of Utah can trace their family trees back to these handcart pioneers.
There were also more than a few who started the Oregon trail with wagons but because of damage to their wagons and/or death of their oxen had to remake their wagons down into a cart to haul the rest of what they could over that last brutal part of the trail. Tough people.
You didn’t mention that MOST wagons were pulled by oxen. If you were fortunate, you had mules. Horses were used only seldom, and mostly for saddle.
I was going to point this out as well. Ox were good for pulling and eating if need be.
There are ads during that time showing what was use and commonly needed for the travel.
Certainly on the southern routes, a large percentage of the folks moving west went by handcart. Large wheels and with minuscule load compared to the horse or ox drawn wagons, they were affordable and worked well enough over level prairies. For perspective, as you fly across the country, every 45 seconds is pretty much what the pioneers could cover in a day. They had no particular schedule beyond avoiding bad weather with the seasons.
My great great grandmother came across to Idaho in a hand cart company. Wagons and horse teams were a luxury they couldn't afford.
They walked. All that way. That is crazy. Think I'd have stayed put on the east coast, thanks.
East Coast wasn't nice back then, pandemics in cramped cities. Real ones.
"Im feeling wagon sick....can you rub my belly??" .....Dropped that in there like a bomb.....lol
My great grandfather, 10 years old when my great great grandparents came across the Oregon trail in 1864 walked from Rock Island Illinois to Toledo Oregon. One of the wagon train members shot an Indian woman. When the Indians caught up with the train, they took the individual in question and skinned him alive while they made the rest of the travelers watch. (This was the Shedd Wagon Train, and the community of Shedd Oregon is named after Captain Frank Shedd).
I saw a schooner in a museum, and it was the neatest thing.
It was said that no child ever asked, “Are we there yet?” Because they knew their father would say, “So help me, if you ask me again, I’m gonna turn this wagon schooner around….”
Once on the trail, there was nowhere to change horses/oxen. You soon learned to travel as light as possible to save your animals from dying of exhaustion. These trails were littered with things people realised they just had to leave behind, otherwise they just weren’t going to make it. The animals didn’t need driving, they were led by the bridle and everyone walked. And wherever possible, the travellers spread out so as not to be choked by the dust from the wagon in front. People were used to walking everywhere and long distances too, so travelling to another part of the continent mainly on foot, was considered normal.
I've driven horse and carts. Unless you are on paved road, it's a rough ride.
Glad to see clips from "The Big Trail".
I live right next to the Chisholm trail in Texas, thought about driving a herd of cattle up it numerous times.
Then we could listen to your tales as you tell us about your troubles on the old Chisholm Trail
E as Conestoga wagon? Eram de Lancaster na pennsylvania, sec 18, e estas idas para o Oregon eram em wagons menores e puxadas por Mulas e Horses. Interessante esta história sec 19.
I remember watching recent Western thriller ‘Meek’s Cutoff’ about travelers on the Oregon Trail, and despite being a good film it does seem like they walked the entire journey.
Interesting video. Thank you. The other reason to walk was that people needed to get their 10,000 steps in to keep fit.
My American History teacher in 11th grade had some choice things to say about Manifest Destiny... RIP, Mr. Forand.
Many walked beside or ahead of their wagon checking for rocks etc. Rattlesnakes were thus a constant danger the further west they got Donners took cut off espoused by a phony land agent
Hastings got a lot of hate and even death threats. He even tried to paint himself as the victim.
The major factor regarding wagons is weight. Apart from food, water and clothing, most of the things hauled in wagons were made of Iron. With anything of wood being removed. This was that wood was available at the and of the journey, whereas things if Iron were not. The portion of this video where furniture was strewn alongside the trail was the result of being overburdened by things that could be built after thy got to their destination. Only food and water could be overloaded as that weight drops off daily. If a wheel broke, the hub and tire were saved, after a spare wheel was installed. On steep downhill inclines, no one would be in the wagon seat and a block and tackle would be rigged to the rear axle.to slowly be let out,as wagon brakes would slip on the iron tires. Or if too steep for a block and tackle, you could use your draft animals faced backwards to slowly bring the wagon down.
The nineteenth century was hell.
I had distance relatives that were attacked and some killed by Indians on the east coast. I discovered this when I did a family tree project for school back in the 70s
Might have been some of my ancestors that attacked them
Lots of relatives were best when kept at a distance .
Actually, the answer is arithmetic. Every pound of people in the wagon detracted from the useful that could be carried. That load had already been stripped to the bones and the wagon overloaded with consumable cargo (food, water, etc). Under such circumstances, causing a beast of burden to suffer your weight unnecessarily was generally considered to be inhuman.
Love the 1800’s techno music.
real reason is their bones denounced the buckboard bounce and the cactus hurt their toes.
Buttons and bows !
@@davidthelander1299 correct i think Annie Oakley sang the song.
@@albertangeloro5832 Dinah Shore sang this in the movie I think. Also, Bob Hope did a comedy skit with this theme. It was very funny.
@@davidthelander1299 thanks btw, was the movie about Annie Oakley?
Wonder what happened to the wagons and horses when they got to their destination. Was it like the rental car business where cars need to be driven back to where they are needed?
Often they'd remain in use on farms or other local transport needs, or they'd be taken apart and the wood planks and even nails were reused for building houses and barns and anything else needed.
Mary answered this rather well. The horses were still needed for farm work
and to go into town as needed. I remember one man said that his ancestors
used the wagon sheets to cover the floor. Ships made the trip both ways.
Wagons often only once.
They were privately bought & kept at journey's end. They were not rented.
They needed those animals for raising crops, unless they were moving to the bigger cities. I guarantee the first thing they did when they got to there destination, was built a shelter and start preparing the ground for seed and busting ass getting those fields planted.
It's where the first 'used car lots' were born and the first guys with cheap toupees learned to wind the odometer backwards (on the horses and the wagons).
I don’t think we really appreciate how tough those people had to be to go across country in a wagon. I can only imagine the hardships they had to endure. Think about it, there were no rest stops, there was no guarantee for food or water, no McDonald’s along the way and no Holiday Inn at the end of the day for a good nights rest not to mention a nice hot shower.
Nice picture of Oregon Butte
I still want to play the ore trail vid game my kids played in school! In elk city ore u cam see the wagon wheel ruts!
My Stepmom was related to the Applegates. Applegate trail, Applegate river, Town of Applegate.
My stepmom was related to Satan.
3/4 of the way through this video the poster finally gets to the point.
Since I retired in Oklahoma oil can think of the settlers that first came here! 1890 was the big Oklahoma Land Rush! But I think about life living in one of those things for months on end what an exciting and scary year that would be!!
By 1890 , they had murdered enough native people to take over their land.
A cigar is called a “stogie “, because the tobacco leaves were transported in a Conestoga wagon.
3:32 - Real reason: wagons were heavily loaded and had no suspension for the extremely bumpy trail.
Not flat floored wagons s cargo didn't slide around is brilliant design engineering and a simple solution.
The larger of the two wagons looks very much like a wain an English wagon as in the John Constable picture "The Hay Wain".
Charles' Wain is over the new chimney and yet our 'orse not packed. The Plough star configuration used to be called Charles or Carl's Wain.
There's a period cartoon of a stagecoach with a wheel off, luggage scattered all over and the passengers standing around. Underneath it says "worse things happen at sea". It was a comment on the state of the roads.
Now my understanding was the Conestoga was only used where there was already established roads. It was too heavy for the frontier.
Kids of today will never know what is was like then , It all just get lost in time .
How many people found 'nice enough' places along the way and never made it to Oregon?
Only seven can be proven and then the inbreeding started and didn't end well.
WOW, I'LL BET IS BUMPY! John P.
It took you four minutes to explain the lack of springs made it uncomfortable to ride in wagons. Lame.
always have a couple of good shoes.
Would imagine that they wore out more than one pair in those thousand mile plus “ hikes”
Our country was built by Horse, mules, donkey's and Ox. Those animals suffered helping man.
You mean they didn't have wagons with leaf spring suspension and modern shock absorbers?! Darn that had to be a rough ride, no wonder they walked!
Good video
I discovered (on You Tube I believe) that the drivers of the Conestoga wagons were referred to as "Stogies" & their cigars came to be known by the same name. Can you verify?
What about rainstorms?,
2:29 Bluto alert. That's Red Flack in The Big Trail, the character that became Bluto on the Popeye cartoon.
Imagine if you told someone who made this journey that someday you'd be able to go from St Louis to Oregon in few hours what they would say
DON'T GO UP TO THE MOUNTAIN TOP WITHOUT ME(C)2006
Getting ready to look at 1883 right now
Mother,
My apologies for the cursive being difficult but the trail is riddled with stones and passage is bumpy. The country is splendid and the travelers are hearty. I will write again as I am excited to participate in the Antifa rally when we arrive in Oregon later this year.
Your son,
Ebenezor
How convenient to have a big, empty land fairly negotiated for... no wait!!
They walked the Oregon trail?
Yes. Your wagon was not a rv. It was packed with food, tools, firearms, gun powder, seed for crops and personal ltems. There are eight in your family. Maybe two people ride in wagon. The rest are walking. If you were flush, one person might ride a saddle horse. At night you sleep in a tent.
Today's generation wouldn't make it 5 miles
And that is just flat out prejudice…
(Unless you are talking about Karen’s).
Underestimating what the current generation is capable of has been happening for millennia… and been wrong for just as long.
I TOTALLY agree with you
We are not as robust as our ancestors,for sure,but adapt or die!
If they had cell reception and somewhere to plug their chargers in they'd be fine.
Ok boomer
It took until 3:35 before the title question was answered at all
Hi What's up Guys.
Cool 😎
You completely missed the main reason. The Oxen or horses were pulling enough weight so they didn't need to pull people who could walk.
I would be interested in a discussion of how far they would travel, let's say daily.
It would vary by terrain, there were no doubt pushes, then periods of rest. Dangerous 8ndian territory would be a push. Some would take Sabbath rests.
I made some rudimentary figures, not taking 8nto account difficulty factors. I got the figures out of my head:
2,170 miles
5mph(guess)
8 hours /day
40 miles/day
2,170 ÷ 40 = 54.25
55 day journey.
6 days per week =
9 weeks
Double that and you're getting closer to the 150 day average, depending on health and weather.
More like 2.5 to 3mph and 20 miles in a day. Plus or minus 5 miles depending on terrain and weather.
No shocks
Did a lot of people die from dysentery on the Oregon Trail?
People died of everything, especially children and women who got pregnant on the trip. No doctors, no antibiotics...women had a huge problem not wanting to get pregnant, since they were taught to never refuse their men. The problem was 9 months of being sick on the trail by the motion of wagons, like being on the ocean. Most women did have to walk 12 to 15 miles a day, no matter how they felt. Children who wandered off were usually left behind since looking for them for too long would endanger the whole wagon train...it happened all the time...
I'm a descendants of Renfro Valley Kentucky - The town split up over slavery and my relation moved on wagon train to California - A 4 yo girl got sick passed away they settled in southern Illinois while train moved on - My brother has her music box handed down in family but yes many got sick and passed away on wagon trains it was a 5 mo. journey to the far west
@@charlierenfro2450 I THOGHT IT WAS AROUND 4-6 Month trip ?! Not half a decade
@@nebulaspaceagency143 Your correct I meant to say 5 mo chalk it up for another senior moment lol
Only if the Terry in question was particularly short tempered
Does the Conestoga horse still exist?
It would be really old by now.
@@grantm6514 And probably worth a fortune to someone.
For the same reason General Custer wore Arrow shirts.