After
months of research for my historical novel Deserter, Rebel, Renegade ( https://www.amazon.com/dp/1070510645 ) which begins on a Civil War Battlefield
and travels along the Oregon Trail to San Francisco and Angels Camp, California, I learned some fascinating facts.
Of
the estimated half-a-million people who journeyed to Utah, Oregon and
California on the Oregon Trail, roughly one out of ten died and was buried on/alongside the trail or left beside the trail. The Oregon Trail may safely be called a 2,170 plus-mile graveyard.
Except
for a few graves such as Mary Homesley’s grave west of Fort Laramie, Wyoming, grave
markings are long gone. In fact many were never marked. A larger concern was preventing predatory
animals from digging up the deceased. Piling rocks (if
available) on top of the grave was one solution. This wasn’t always practical.
In
my novel, I used another common method. A grave was dug in the middle of the Trail in front
of the wagon train. After the burial (and funeral or memorial if time permitted), the wagons moved forward. The gravesite
was packed down by heavy wagon wheels and the hooves of oxen, mules &
horses. Any scent that would attract animals was eliminated. Impossible to
imagine how that affected family members.
The trek
from a jumping-off place such as Independence, Mo. took four to six months. On
“Day One,” excitement and optimism were rampant. But reality quickly set in. Sometimes
the trip west was exhilarating and fun. But mostly it was drudgery. Most folks didn’t ride in
their wagons. They walked…an average of 10-15 miles a day alongside their wagons
and animals (children generally barefoot.) The travelers wanted to save their animals from overwork. The animals would be needed at their destination to help build the home and plant crops. Although it's estimated over 50% of the pioneers traveling west returned back east.
In
addition, being pregnant in the 1800s was always a scary and sometimes fatal
event. The previously
mentioned Mary Homesley gave birth to a son while on the Trail. Left in a
weakened state by the birth, a case of the measles added further stress.
Crossing the Platte River to reach Fort Laramie, she and her infant son fell in the
water. Although rescued, Mary was severely chilled. She passed away the next
day. Her daughter, Laura, who was a toddler at the time, gave an interview at age
76. She still vividly remembered the details. The story of the accidental
discovery of Mary’s grave and how it looks today is worth a read. https://www.wyohistory.org/encyclopedia/grave-mary-homsley
By
far, the biggest killer on the Trail was cholera. The wagon trains frequently
camped in previously, well-used campsites next to streams and rivers. These
“prime” campsites became littered over the years with trash and garbage. There
was no sanitation. Rivers and streams became breeding grounds for disease,
especially cholera.
Pioneers understood cholera was highly contagious and killed quickly. But they didn’t
understand the water they drank and used to wash their chapped faces and blistered hands
was the source of the devastating illness. Whole families could be taken away
as cholera ran its course.
Thankfully
in 1869, the Transcontinental Railroad was completed. Trains allowed people to
travel to the Pacific Ocean from Omaha in four days instead of four to six months. Thereafter use of the
Trail declined and was soon abandoned.
My
hat’s off to those pioneers who made the journey on the dusty trails to
the western states. That was an epic voyage that took faith,
grit and pure determination to live a better life.
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