The Oiregon Trail 



A Thesis Submitted for Degree of Master of Arts 

University of Wisconsin 

1918 

JONATHAN TRUMAN DORRIS 




Reprinted horn Journal oi ihe Illinois Slate Hiatoricai Societ ; 
Volume 10. No, 4, January 1918 



IFi'tnted by authority of the State of Illinois.] 



4>-> 






The Oregon Trail 



A Thesis Submitted for Degree of Master of Arts 

University of Wisconsin 

1918 



By 



JONATHAN TRUMAN DORRIS 




Reprinted from Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society 
Volume 10, No. 4, January 1918 



ScHNEFF & Barnes. Statk Printers 

Springfield, 111. 

1919 



I Printed by authority of the State of Illinois.] 



PREFATORY NOTE. 



THE OREGON TRAIL. 

By Jonathan Teuman Dokeis, 

A thesis submitted for the Degree of Master of Arts, Univer- 
sity of Wisconsin, 1918. 

I chose this subject for my master's thesis at the sugges- 
tion of Professor F. L. Paxson, under whose able direction I 
have endeavored to give a fair account of one of the most 
interesting events in tlie expansion of our great nation. Ex- 
cepting in the chapter on Government Aid and Protection, 
comparatively little attention has been given to things relat- 
ing to the Trail before 1842. The narrative, then, consists 
veiy largely of those elements of interest on the Trail during 
the years of 1842-1847. I have quoted from the sources very 
freely, hoping, thereby, to render the story more interesting. 

I desire to express my keen appreciation of the pleasure 
and privilege of preparing this work in so delightful environ- 
ment as the Wisconsin Historical Library. 

J. T. D. 



THE OREGON TRAIL. 



CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Chapter I. — The Eastern Termini 5 

A. The Clauses of the Emigration to Oregon 5 

B. The Western Missouri and Iowa Towns 8 

C. The Equipment 14 

D. The Organization of the Emigrants 15 

Chapter II.— The Trail to South Pass 21 

^4. The Eastern Termini to Grand Island — (Fort 

Kearney) 21 

B. Grand Island to Fort Ijaramie 25 

C. Fort Laramie to South Pass 33 

Chapter III. — South Pass to the Willamette \^alley 37 

A. South Pass to Fort Hall 37 

B. Fort Hall to the Columbia 42 

C. Down the Columbia into tlie Willamette Valley. . 4G 

D. ]\Jeek's Cut-otf and Barlow's and Applegate's 

Roads 49 

Chapter IV. — Government Aid and Protection 55 

A. Jefferson's Interest in the North West 55 

B. From Jefferson to 1840 57 

C. The Acquisition of Oregon and the Assurance 

of Protection in The Forties 03 

Appendix 74 

Map 78 



THE OREGON TRAIL. 



A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of Master of Arts, 
University of Wisconsin, 1918. 

By Jonathan Truman Doreis. 

CHAPTER I. 

The Eastern Termini. 
A. The Causes of the Emigration to Oregon. 

Prior to 1819 four countries claimed the region commonly 
known as the Oregon Country. They were Spain, Russia, 
England and the United States. In 1819 Spain relinquished 
her claim in a treaty with the United States in which she 
recognized 42 degrees as the northern boundary of her pos- 
sessions. Russia eliminated herself in the same manner in 
1824-25 in separate conventions with the United States and 
England by which she recognized 54° 40' as the southern ex- 
tremity of Alaska.^ 

England and the United States even before their treaties 
with Russia had agreed to a joint occupation of Oregon for 
a period of ten years. In 1827 this convention was renewed 
for an indefinite time with the provision that either nation 
could terminate the agreement on one year's notice.^ 

Active American interests in Oregon may be dated 
from the expedition of Lewis and Clark in 1804-6.^ 

Some five years after this John Jacob Astor established 
a trading post upon the Columbia.* From this time forth 
communication through trade existed between the Oregon 
Country and the Atlantic Coast region. Traders and trap- 
pers, following old Indian trails and the general route of 

* History of Oregon and California and Other Territories on the North Coast 
of North America, by Robert Greenhow, Boston 1845, second edition, chapter 15, 
page 314,315; chapter 16, page 341. 

»Ibid. p. 354. 
»Ibid. p. 284, 296. 

* Ibid. The text of the five treaties may be found 477-481 in Greenhow. 



6 

Lewis and Clark, beat out a line of communication between 
the valley of the Columbia and the valley of the Mississippi 
which became known as the Oregon Trail. Missionaries in 
time located in Oregon and augmented the interest in that 
region/' 

British interests in Oregon, on the other hand, were being 
fostered and extended by the Hudson Bay Company, which 
operated from Canada. The English traders, also, were ac- 
companied by missionaries whose interests in the final dis- 
position of Oregon were decidedly pro-English.* Traders 
and missionaries, then, representing both English and Amer- 
ican interests, were precipitating a crisis between their re- 
spective countries over the ownership of the Oregon Country, 
since their interests clashed in that region and since the pro- 
gress and development of the region necessitated the laws 
and the control of some one government there. Both the Eng- 
lish and the Americans were pressing claims to the entire 
region and demanding a settlement based on their respective 
claims.' 

The greatest concern in the United States over the set- 
tlenient of the Oregon question, as might be supposed, was 
in those states nearest the eastern terminus of the transcon- 
tinental line of communication with that country. In Mis- 
souri, perhaps, the spirit of a settlement based upon the 
ownership of the United States w^as strongest. Both of her 
senators'* during the later thirties and early forties were cham- 
pions of measures which provided for American control of 
the Columbia valley. England seemed disposed to hold on 
to the country and much anxiety prevailed in the United 
States over the probability of her securing all of it. Tliis 
anxiety became intense when it became kno\\Ti in 1842 that 
the Webster-Ashburton Treaty had been concluded settling 
the northeastern boundary between the United States and 
Canada without any understanding of the ownership of the 
region beyond the Rockies.' 



•'■ Greenhow. p. 360. 
« Ibid. p. 30-32. 
'See Greenhow, chaptef 18. 

"" Greenhow. p. 379-384. Senators Linn and Benton led in the program of the 
colonization and occupancy of Oregon by the U. S. 

' See Greenhow, chapter 18. especially pages 376-394. 



Citizens of Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Kentucky 
and other western and southern states demanded through 
memorials to Congress that the United States terminate the 
treaty of joint occupation with England and assert her claims 
to the territory. In these states public meetings and conven- 
tions for the purpose of declaring American ownership to 
Oregon were numerous. Such towns as Alton and Spring- 
field, Illinois, Bloomington, now Muscatine, Iowa, Cincinnati, 
Ohio, and St. Louis, Mo., held public meetings and adopted 
resolutions stressing the importance of the retention of Ore- 
gon. Emigration societies were also organized to encourage 
the settlement of Oregon with an American population, which 
would compel Congress to retain possession of the region 
and eliminate the English." 

Returning travelers from the Pacific had always given 
glowing accounts of the fertility of the soil, of the climate, 
and in general, of the favorable prospects of human habita- 
tion in the Oregon Country. From the time of Lewis and 
Clark's expedition much had been published, which had di- 
verted people's attention to that region. Sporadic attempts 
at colonization were made even before the forties.^' After the 
emigrations of the forties were well under way, the written 
material favorable to further emigration was voluminous. 

Added to the interest in Oregon due to international 
complications there were other conditions, not so remote in 
point of place, which influenced emigration. The United 
States experienced a severe panic in 1837, the evils of which 
continued to operate for a number of years. The West suf- 
fered most. Thousands of people were hopelessly in debt 
and in no wise able to see how they were ever to succeed where 
they were. In their despair they heeded the seductive ''Call 

,. , ""Greenhow, p. 376, 377. See also Oregon Historical Society Quarterly 
Vol. 9, March, 1908 — December, 1908, (Salem, Oregon) pp. 388-411. The Edin- 
burgh Review in July 1843 asserted that " 'However the political questions be- 
tween England and the UnUed States, as to the ownership of Oregon, may be 
decided, Oregon will never be colonized overland from the United States. The 
world must assume a new face before the American wagons make plain the 
road to the Columbia as they have done to the Ohio.' " Greenhow page 392 
tootnote. 

In Boston as early as 1829 was formed the American Society for encourag- 
ing the S'ettlement of the Oregon Territory. See general circular issued by that 
body to encourage emigration in 1831, in Oregon Pamphlets, vol. 1 and 3 

" The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft, vol. 29. History of Oregon, vol 1 
San Francisco, 1886. for account of Peoria party of 1839. In footnote of same 
volume, page 251, several estimates of the number of Americans in Oregon in 
1841 are given. 



of the Wild" and turned their faces toward the land "where 
rolls the Oregon." Economic conditions, or influences, then, 
were the chief factor behind this westward emigration/^ The 
legislation favorable to emigration pending in Congress in 
1842-43 was another factor in influencing many to go in 1843. 
The bill which was under consideration during the session of 
'42 and '43 and which the Senate did pass, provided for large 
land grants to emigrants to Oregon and for the establishment 
of a line of military posts for protection along the way.^^ 

Besides the hard times following the panic of 1837, other 
conditions favoring emigration were lack of sympathy with 
the institution of slavery among some people in *' Kentucky, 
Missouri and other border slave states." Climatic conditions 
in the Mississippi valley w^ere also conducive to the ''Oregon 
fever." Chills, Malaria, and other ailments were said to be 
foreign to Oregon.^* 

B. The Western Missouri and loan Towns. 

The region of the Great Bend of the Missouri, accustomed 
to only a mild visitation of travelers and traders in the twen- 
ties and thirties, became the recruiting ground for great com- 
panies of emigrants in the forties. In 1842 the emigration 
really began when about 100 men, women and children crossed 
the continent to Oregon; in 1843 a thousand others foUowed.^^ 
Over the country in wagons drawn mostly by oxen, with their 
wives and children, household goods, and sundry other things, 
and often driving their cattle before them, came hundreds of 
farmers, merchants, and men of other vocations on their way 
to the Columbia. Not only were the highways crowded by 
these pilgrims, but the river craft came in for their share of 
the transportation.'" The steamboats up the Missouri carried 
passengers who depended on fitting themselves out at one of 
the terminal towns. 

This eastern end of the Oregon Trail, then, may be re- 
garded as having several termini, where the emigrants ar- 
rived from the East, made their final preparations for the 

'-OreKon Historical Society Quarterly, vol. 1, p. 352, pages 140-144. 

^' See Peter H. Burnett. Recollections of an Old Pioneer. (New Torlc) 1880. 
p. 97. Burnett, having- a wife and six children, under the provisions of the 
bill would have received 1600 acres. 

"Oregon Historical Society Quarterly, vol. 1, p. ,';.'i2-5^. 

"Bancroft, vol. 29, pp. 391-395. 

"Francis Parkman, the California and Oregon trail, (New York) 1849, p. 10. 



journey, organized themselves into companies, bade farewell 
to civilization, and began their real exodns to that land which 
was to be their Canaan. 

The towns which witnessed the departure of, and gave 
the last aid to the emigrants were Independence, St. Joseph, 
Westport, Weston, Missouri," and Council Bluffs, Iowa. 
From these several points of advantage on or near the Mis- 
souri the caravans moved westward striking a common trail, 
which they pursued to the valley of the Columbia. 

The part which these frontier towns played in the com- 
munication between the States and the far west during the per- 
iod under consideration was very considerable. From the 
Great Bend of the Missouri another Trail — The Santa Fe 
Trail — had long been in use.^*' It was the line over which 
trafiic with the far Southwest was carried on. The prosperity 
which all of this overland trade brought to these towns was 
also very considerable. 

The exigencies of the journey to Oregon demanded much 
forethought and consideration preparatory to starting: the 
time consumed was about five months ; the route lay through 
a region uninliabited, except by the Indian and the wild beast ; 
very little in the way of provision could be found on the wslj, 
even water was scarce or unfit for drink for long distances; 
the wear and tear on the wagons and teams would be consid- 
erable ; and then the emigrant must take with him some neces- 
sities of civilized life to insure his comfort and success at the 
end of his journey. 

The time of departure, through necessity, was in the 
spring. Yet the start could not be made until the grass was 
of sufficient growth to furnish grazing for the cattle. In 
many instances the emigrants disposed of their property in 
the fall, winter, or early spring, and went to western Missouri 
to await the most convenient time to begin their journey, de- 
pending for the most part on outfitting themselves at one of 
the terminal towns. 

The inhabitants of these towns and of the immediate vi- 
cinity catered to the emigrant trade, endeavoring to supply 

" Reuben Gold Thwaites, Early Western Travels, 1748-1846, volume 30, Joel 
Palmer's Journal of Travels, Cleveland, 1906, p. 261. Also Joel Palmer's 
Oregon, Cincinnati, 1851, p. 12. 

»« Colonel Henry Inman, The Old Santa Fe Trail (New York, 1897). 



10 

every want and to render even' possible assistance. The 
newspapers were active in giving valuable information con- 
cerning the Oregon Country, the journey over the trail, and 
the necessary preparations for the journey. The Independ- 
ence Expositor announced in the spring of 1845 that "animals, 
provisions, and everything for complete equipment are to be 
obtained in abundance and on the most liberal terms in this 
country.'"" This same paper in February 1847, after giving 
the facilities in Independence for fitting out emigrants and 
explicit information concerning the character of the know- 
ledge necessary for the journey, gave a long list of mercantile 
establishments there which showed how well the business in- 
terests of the place were organized to care for the emigrants. 
At that time there were "47 blacksmith forges wdth between 
some four and five hundred employed, directly and indirectly 
in the manufacture of wagons. ' '^" The editor further stated 
that the farmers and merchants of Independence vied with 
each other in furnishing the best articles and commodities at 
the lowest rates.-' The newspapers advertised that emigrants 
would do well to wait until they arrived at the frontier be- 
fore fitting out, as they would save not only the carriage but 
profit by purchasing in a cheaper market than that farther 
East." 

As has been inferred, Independence was the first Mis- 
souri frontier community to profit by this traffic with the West. 
Here the traders and missionaries had made their last prepa- 
rations many years before the period of Oregon colonization. 
From here the first considerable company of emigrants, that 
of 1842, set forth. At Independence hundreds more assembled 
in the spring of 1843 preparatory to going to Oregon. As 
early as September, 1844, the Independent Journal stated that 
Independence would continue to be the annual rendezvous for 
the Oregon emigrants whose outfitting would cost $50000, 
" 'all of which our citizens may furnish.' " The same issue 
also stated that $150000 was expended annually at Independ- 
ence in outfitting Santa Fe traders." 

'* Oreg-on Historical Society Quarterly, vol. it, p. 310. 
^ Oreg-on Historical SC'Ciety Quarterly, vol. 11, p. 310-11. 

^ Ibid. From article taken from Independence Expositor for February. 
1847. 

"Oregon Historical Society Quarterly, vol. 4, p. 270. 
■a Prom Independence Expositor. 



11 

As already stated Independence did not enjoy a monopoly 
of the emigrant business. St. Joseph, a neighboring town on 
the east bank of the Missouri and about fifty miles farther 
north, figured very prominently as an outfitting place. The 
town had only 200 inhabitants in 1842, but by 1846 it had 
nearly 1000 people.-* In the spring of 1849 the population is 
given as 1900 with 19 well equipped stores with an aggregate 
stock of $400000.^**^ 

Beginning with 1844 St. Joseph became an important fit- 
ting out station." The prominent part the town took in the 
emigrant trade was largely due to its position. Those who 
took steamboat passage to the frontier often continued up the 
river to that point to disembark. The route from this place 
was more direct, too, than that from the vicinity of Independ- 
ence, for those coming from Iowa, Illinois, Northern Missouri 
and Ohio, and Michigan.-" Other advantages were attributed 
to St. Joseph also. Ox teams and other needs were easily ob- 
tained ; fewer streams were to be crossed in approaching the 
frontier.*^ 

Other Missouri border towns which deserve mentioning 
were Westport and Weston.^^ The former, with Independ- 
ence, is now a suburb of Kansas City. The old Santa Fe Trail 
led through Westport as well as through Independence. The 
rise of this town was due to the *' caprices of the Missouri 
river" which destroyed the landing at Independence; a stable 
landing being located further up the stream the boats went 
there. Westport, being a short distance from this landing, 
came to divert much trade from Independence.^^ Weston was 
on the east bank of the Missouri about midway between In- 
dependence and St. Joseph. The Weston Journal published 
there was very active in disseminating news concerning the 
Oregon country and facilities for emigration there. The 



" Oregon Historical Society Quarterly, vol. 1, 357. 

^■*b History Buchanan County and St. Joseph, St. Joseph Putalishinsr Co., page 
83. 

^'^ Ibid, p. 87. Fi'om March to September 1843, one hundred and fortv-three 
buildings were erected in St. Joseph. Ibid. p. 85. 

=^' Oregon Historical Society Quarterly, vol. 1, p. 354. 

"Ibid. Also see Thwaites Early Western Travels, vol. 30 (Palmer's Jour- 
nal) p. 261. 

^"Oregon Historical Quarterly, vol. 1, p. 354. 

2" Hiram Martin Chittenden, History of the American Fur Trade, 3 vol. (New 
York 1902), vol. 1, p. 463-4. 



12 

prospectus of this paper regularly contained a paragraph 
stating "that the patrons of the Journal may expect to find 
in its columns everything of interest which may be gathered 
either from public or private resources relating to a country 
(Oregon) of such vast extent, varied scenery and diversified 
soil and climate.'"" 

The most northern point of departure lor Oregon was 
Council Bluffs, lowa.^' A correspondent in the Weston Jour- 
nal for April 1845 wrote that all emigrants to Oregon should 
pass through Council Bluffs as the road that way was in excel- 
lent condition. The streams were bridged or had ferries, "so 
that no obstacle to cause an hour's det(Mition until the com- 
pany should reach the Bluffs existed ".^^ He also stated that 
the road west from that place was better than the lower route. 
By 1850 Council Bluffs came to have the largest transconti- 
nental travel.''" 

The scenes of activity presented by these border towns 
on the eve of the departure of the emigrants was picturesque. 
Here upon the western frontier of civilization, as it wore, 
assembled people from every state in the Union, especially 
from those v/est of the AUeghenies, representing every na- 
tionality of western Europe. The whole atmosphere seemed 
disturbed with energy and action. There seemed to be no 
idlers; but, on the contrary, every person seemed to be bent 
upon the speedy accom])lis[iment of something. Some men 
were purchasing wagons, yokes, harness, tenting; others were 
having wagons repaired and horses shod; farmers were mar- 
keting their products; dealers in stock were selling oxen, 
cattle, mules and horses; merchants were displaying their 
wares and supplying customers with necessities for the 
journey; blacksmith shops and forges were resounding with 
the preparation of conveyances for the emigrants : carpenters 
were building and enlarging houses to accommodate the ever 
increasing demands on the community ; traders were arriving 
from various western parts, augmenting the already varied 
picture. 



'«' Oregon Historical Society Quarterly, vol. 4, page 273, 
" Thwaites, Early Western Travels, vol. 30. p. 261. 
"' Oregon Historical Society Quarterly, vol. 4, p. 284. 
»Ibid. 354. 



13 

A witness to all this wrote later an excellent acconnt of 
its picturesqneness.^* "The town of Independence was at this 
time a great Babel upon the border of the wildnerness. Here 
might be seen the African sla^'e with his shining black face 
driving his six-horse team of blood-red grays, and swinging 
from side to side as he sat upon the saddle, and listening to 
the incessant tinkling of the bells. In one street, just driving 
out of town, was an emigrant, who, having completed all his 
preparations, was about entering upon the great prairie 
wilderness, whistling as though his mouth had been made for 
nothing else. * * * 

''Here might be seen the indolent, dark-skinned Spaniard 
smclvjng a cigar as he leaned against the sunny side of a house. 
IFe wenrs a sharp conical hat with a red band; a blue round- 
about, wiih jittle brass buttons; his duck pantaloons are open 
at the side as high as the knees, exhibiting his white cotton 
drawers between his knee and his low half-boots. 

''Santa Fe wagons were coming in, having attached to 
them eight or ten mules, some driven by Spaniards, some by 
x4mericans resembling Indians, some by negroes, and some 
by persons of all possible crosses between these various races ; 
each showing in his dress as well as in his face some dis- 
tinctive characteristics of his blood and race, the dirty 
poncho always marking the Spaniard. The traders had been 
out to Santa Fe, and having sold their goods in exchange for 
gold dust, dollars and droves of mules, were then daily coming 
in ; the dilapidated and muddy condition of their wagons and 
wagon sheets, and the sore backs of their mules, all giving 
evidence of the length and toil of the joui'ney they had per- 
formed and were about to terminate. 

"Merchants were doing all in their power to effect the 
sale of supplies to emigrants. Some of the emigrants were 
hurrying to and fro, looking careworn, and many of them 
sad, as though the cloud had not yet ]:)assed away, that had 
come over their spirits as they had torn themselves from 
friends and scenes around which had clustered memories of 
the heart. One was seen just starting, calling out to his 



^' This bit of excellent description was written by Jesse Quinn Thornton in 
his Oregon and California in 1848, two volumes, (New York 1849.) See vol. 1, p. 
14-16. Mr. Thornton went to Oregon in 1846. Francis Parkman, California 
and Oregon Trail, pat^es 1-lS gives a g'ood description of Independence in the 
Spring- of 1846. 



14 

oxen and cracking his whip as though the world was at Ms 
control. Although some four or five children in the wagon 
were crying in all possible keys, he drove on, looking cheerful 
and happy, as though he was perfectly sure that ho was going 
to a country whore the valleys flowed with milk and honey." 
Such was the spectacle which the traveler witnessed in 
the frontier towns during the flourishing days of the Oregon 
Trail. 

C. The Equipment. 

The instructions and guides for emigrants were explicit 
and inclusive to the finest detail in giving the kind and char- 
acter of the outfitting. The wagons were such as experience 
had found to be the best. *'The running gear should be made 
of the best materials and it should also be of the most excel- 
lent workmanship. The wagons should have falling tongues, 
as they have a decided advantage over any other kind for this 
trip,^' * * * rpj^g wagon sheets, instead of being painted, 
should merely be daubled, as painting makes them break, and 
the bows should be well made and strong. It is best to have 
sideboards, and to have the upper edge of the wagon body 
l)ovelled outwards, so that the water running from the sheet 
may, when it strikes the ])ody, bo shod down the sides. It is 
well, also, to have the liottom of the bed bevelled in the same 
way, to preclude any possibility of the ai)proach of water to 
the inside. With your wagon thus prepared you are as 
secure as though you were in a house."'" Every thoughtful 
man always took with him a chest of tools, nails, bolts and 
sundry other things for repairs. 

The wagons, in most part, were drawn by oxen. Horses 
and mules were sometimes used, but experience proved 
that oxen were more reliable, being sure-footed and more 
willing to go througli difficult places. Moreover, they fared 
far better for food along the way. Cows w^ero recommended 
to serve all the purposes of oxen, and in addition they would 
furnish a wholesome beverage along the journey." 

Since there were no stations along the route where pro- 
visions could be obtained, it was necessary that an ample 

" Georj.,'0 Wilkes, The History of Oregon. (New York 1815), p. 67-69; Orc- 
ron Historical Society Quarterly, vol. 3. pp. 418-41!t. 
-* Wilkes. History of OreKon. p. fi7. 
'-'Palmer's Oregon, pp. 142-."?: Wilkes Oregon, p. t;s. 



15 

supply be provided at the point of departure. ' ' One hundred 
and fifty pounds of flour and fifty pounds of bacon must be 
allowed to each person. Besides the above, as much rice, corn 
meal, parched corn meal and raw corn, peas, dried fruit, 
sugar, tea, coffee, and such necessary articles of food as you 
can find room for, should by all means be brought along." 
* * * A few beef cattle or fat calves should be taken to kill 
on the way, as before you fall in with the buffalo you will 
need fresh meat.'"^ 

Little furniture was recommended to be taken. There 
were instances, however, where some fine pieces, often im- 
ported, were brought along, the owners finding it necessary 
to leave them along the trail to lighten their burdens, A few 
trunks for clothes chests were always advised. 

Other articles necessary were a water keg and a tin can 
for milk. <<* * * ^ few tin cups, (abjure all crockery), tin 
plates, tin sauces, a butcher's knife, a shovel and a pair of 
pothooks will go very far to completing your culinary 
arrangements, and a small grindstone to keep them in edge 
will also lend a valuable assistance to this department. * * * 
Rifles, fowling pieces, pistols, powder, * * * and all the de- 
structive articles of warfare upon game ' ' were provided. The 
clothing taken ''should be of the same description used in the 
middle states, and enough should be taken to last a year. Care 
should be taken that, amongst the rest of your wardrobe, a 
half dozen or a dozen pair of strong shoes should not be 
forgotten."*" 

Besides the above the emigrant, since he was most likely 
to engage in agriculture in Oregon, took some necessary 
farming utensils, seed for sowing and planting, and cattle. 
Horses were taken also, but it was not wise to use them to 
draw wagons unless the loads were light." A wagon drawn 
by four yoke of oxen might start with a load of 2,500 r)ounds. 
Each day's rations, of course, would reduce this weight. 

D. The Organization of the Emigrants. 
The matter of the organization of the emigrants presents 
a very interesting aspect of the Oregon emigration. This 

** Palmer ad\-ised 200 pounds "flour and 75 pounds bacon. See his Oregon, 
p. 143. 

•'^Wilkes, Hist, of Orftg-on, p. 69. 
"Wilkes, History of Oregron, p. 69. 
** Palmer's Oregon, p. 142. 



16 

phase of the movement really began in the home communities 
of the emigiants by the organization of emigrating societies. 
The first of these, tlie Amei-ican Society for the Enconrage- 
ment of the Settlement of Oregon, was formed in Boston, 
]\rassachusctts, in 1829/- This effort to make good tlio claims 
of the Ignited States to Oregon by occupation through actual 
settlement, was too early to produce immediate results. In 
1888, at Lynn, Massachusetts, was formed a similar society, 
with the additional ])Ui'])ose of converting the natives of 
( Oregon. 

So active was interest in the settlement of the Oregon 
question and emigration to the Columbia from 1838 to 1843 
that numerous emigi-ating societies were organized all over 
the country. At their meetings "books, speeches and letters 
about Oi'egon were read and discussed and information re- 
garding Oregon disseminated".*^ Even agents were sent out 
to secure adherents. The work of these organizations in the 
movement of Oregon emigration and in the acquisition of 
the Columbia Valley by the United States was a very import- 
ant factor in the achievement of these two things." 

Some of these societies were iocaP"^* in character and ex- 
isted solely for the purpose of ])romoting emigration and 
influencing companies to go under their auspices. Other 
societies were transient in character and were formed as a 
controlling and governing instrument for companies enroute 
to Oregon. Examples of the latter were the Oregon Emi- 
grating Society of Bloomington. Iowa, 1843; the Oregon 
Emigrating Society fornted ])y the great band of emigrants 
of 1843, as they left the Missouri frontier; and the Savannah 
Oregon Emigrating Company, Savannah,"' Mo., 1845. Some- 
times a com])any was formed in the community where the 
members lived, the oiganization o])erating only while the so- 
ciety was forming and moving to the ))lace of general ren- 
dezvous on the frontier, where the emigrants joined others to 

■« Oregon Paniplilels, vol. 1 No. 3. 

^'Orepon Historical Society Quarterly, vol. 16, rP- 205-227 drives a g-ood dis- 
fUK.sion of the "Orog-on Rmiprrating: Companies." 

**Tlic* .society at I^ynn published a journnl from October 183S to August 1839. 
called "The Oregonian and Indian -Advocate'V which ".spread out before the public 
generally information respect ins the country west of the Rock Mountain.s". (See 
pape 27 of the journal). This ma.uazino is a very illuminatins- publication of 
the interest In Oregon at the close of the thiilies. 

■" Such were the two at Boston and T.^ynn. 

'"The constitutions of two of the.sc .societies are given in the appendix. 



17 

form a new company. This was the case with the Blooming- 
ton, Iowa, Society of 1843. 

In the formation of the "moving societies" there was a 
serious problem of getting the emigrants reconciled to the 
military discipline which the exigencies of the journey made 
necessary. Democracy and individualism were distinct char- 
acteristics of the AVest, and obedience to military authority 
was'not popular at all. As a result, the regulations of the com- 
panies were rather civil in character while the emigrants were 
in the states where they were really amenable to the state 
laws, and the making and operation of rules of a military 
order deferred until after the frontier was crossed and the 
companies were in the region where no legal authority 
existed. 

The organization of the traveling companies is well illus- 
trated in the emigration of 1843.*^ Companies like that or- 
ganized at Bloomington,*® Iowa, and emigrants who were 
members of no societies met at the general rendezvous, about 
twenty miles a little southwest of Independence, to take steps 
toward perfecting an organization which was to operate 
during their journey across the vast unorganized territory to 
the Cohmabia. On Ma}^ 18th the emigrants held a meeting 
and appointed committees, one of which was composed of five 
men, *'to draw up rules and regulations for the journey." 
"The meeting then adjourned to meet at the Big Springs on 
Saturday, the 20th of May." May 20th, at Big Springs, the 
committee of five reported and, amid much speech making and 
wrangling over different measures of control suggested, the 
"Resolutious of the Oregon Emigrating Society" were 
adopted.*" 

The resolutions provided for an elective council of nine, 
a majority of whom were to adjudicate all differences and 
infractions of the regulations of the company which might 
arise on the journey. A captain was to be elected as "supreme 
military commander of the company." His duties were not 
only executive, but he also had the power to veto decisions of 
the council of nine, whose decisions could only be passed over 

" A g-ood account of which may be found in Wilkes' History of Oregon, pp. 
69-73 and in Peter H. Burnett's Recollections of an Old Pioneer. New York, 1S80. 
pp. 101-102. 

** The town is now called Mu.=icatine. 

■" See Appendix II. 



18 

his veto by the council's again passing upon the matter. An 
orderly sergeant, also elected, was to have charge of the roll 
of the company and to have strict control over the guard 
necessary to protect the com])any enroute. It is significant 
that the resolutions deferred tlie election of officers "until the 
company meet at the Kansas River," some sixty-five or sev- 
enty miles beyond Independence. 

By June 1st the emigrants were across the Kansas and 
read}^ to elect their officers. They had now been on their 
journey some ten days since leaving the rendezvous. The 
manner of election was very unique and even ludicrous. A 
writer in the New Orleans Pioayune, November 21, 1843, who 
witnessed this election, gives tlie following account:^" 

"* * * The candidates stood in a row behind the con- 
stituents, and at a given signal they wheeled about and 
marched off, while the general mass broke after them 4ick-a- 
ty-split, ' each man forming in behind his favorite, so that 
ever>' candidate flourished a sort of tail of his own, and the 
man* with the longest tail was elected! These proceedings 
were continued until a captain and a council of ten_ [nine] 
were elected; and, indeed, if the scene can be conceived, it 
must appear as a curious mingling of the whimsical with the 
wild. * * * These men were running about the prairie in 
long strings; the leaders — in sport and for the purpose of 
puzzling the judges — doubling and winding in the drollest 
fashion ; so that the all-important business of forming a gov- 
ernment seemed verv much like the merry school boy game 
of 'snapping the whip.' It was really very funny to see the 
candidates for the solemn council of ten [nine] run several 
hundred yards away, to show otf the length of their tails, and 
then cut a half circle, so as to turn and admire their longi- 
tudinal popularity in extenso themselves. * * *" 

Another problem of organization, vei^^ serious in the 
consequences of its solution, Avas the matter of keepins: the 
emigrants together in companies."' There were many things 
to encourage disintegration. The strong individualism in the 

'"OreRon Historical Society Qviarterly, vol. 1. p. 399. (from the Xew Orleans 
Picayune, November 21, 1843). 

" The problem of military and civil control \\:i.« sometimes met b.v providing 
for two forms of eovernment iii the con.«!titution. Thi.s was so in the oonptitiition 
of the Savannah Orep:on ETniprating- Society. At the head of the civil was a 
president whose authority ended when the rendevzous was reached. Then a com- 
mandant, captain and Puhordinate.s were elected to hold ofRce the remainder of 
thp i"iirney. 



19 

pioneer was conducive to defections; disappointed office 
seekers, too, were often stirring up disaffection. Sickness, 
burials, breakdowns, straying of cattle, and other disturbing 
elements often made progress very slow. The larger the 
company the more numerous were such occurrences. Com- 
panies like those of '43, '44 and '45, which started from the 
rendezvous and organized as one body, found their numbers 
too large to move as one body.^^ The emigrants in 1843, owing 
chiefly to the large number of cattle which some insisted on 
taking, divided on June 9th into two columns and proceeded 
as two companies, one of which became distinguished as 'Hlie 
cow column.""^ In 1844 several large companies left the 
frontier. The largest, composed of three divisions which had 
formed a military organization some eighty miles west of 
St. Joseph, because of delays and dissatisfactions broke up 
into three companies and proceeded independently of each 
other." 

The Oregon Company of 1845 separated into three bodies, 
each of which elected its own officers." It was agreed, how- 
ever, that the captain and pilot who had been elected by the 
whole company on the start should be retained and travel on 
in advance. It was further agreed that the companies should 
take weekly turns of traveling in advance, and a common 
treasurer was also agreed upon. Nevertheless these plans 
did. not work as expected. In time it was advised that com- 
panies should never exceed six or eight wagons. ^^ 

As one may easy see, the operation of the emigrant gov- 
ernments was no simple and easy matter. Executive authority 
was invested in a ''president," captain, commander-in-chief, 
general, colonel, or whatever might be the title under which 
the chief officer was elected." Where the company Avas large 
there were captains and subcaptains and other subordinate 
officers. The latter were sometimes appointed. The superior 
officers determined, with the pilot, "the course to be taken 

"^ Oregon Historical Society Quarterly, vol. 1. p. 360. 

"'Wilkes History Oregon, p. 74; Burnett Recollections, Old Pioneer, p. 103. 

Resolutions provided that no family could take more than three loose cattle to 
every male. 

51 Oreg-on Historical Society Quarterly, vol. 2, p. 13o-152. Remin of John 
Minto. This same thing happened with another large company in 1.844 which 
on the way separated into two companies. Ibid. vol. 1, p. 27.5. 

•■''• Oregon Historical Society Quarterly, vol. 16, pp. 223-224 ; Thwaltes, Palmers 
Journal, p. 43. 

'"'Oregon Historical Society Quarterly, vol. 1, p. 361. 

" Ore.gon Historical Society Quarterly, vol. 16, pp. 224-227. 



20 

each day, decided on the site for camp and the disposition of 
the emigrants and their effects during the night, maintained 
order and discipline, and presided over the meetings of the 
company. ' ' The subordinates looked after details. The execu- 
tive council, which consisted of from nine to thirteen men, 
functioned '' prima ril\- in offei-ing counsel to the commanding 
officers in determining the general policy to be pursued 
by the emigrant government and in reviewing proposed 
legislation." 

Meetings for the good of the companies were held and 
business attended to usually by committees, who were some- 
times paid for their services, in order that efficiency might 
be had. 

A company usuallj' adopted a code of by-laws, which 
were often modified and enlarged. For this purpose a ma- 
jority vote was all that was necessary. An amendment of the 
constitution sometimes required a two-thirds majority. 

On the whole it may be said that the emigrants showed 
evidence of a marked degree of ability in organizing govern- 
ments to suit emergencies of a peculiar character and under 
the most adverse conditions for successful operation. They 
showed that they had learned well the lessons in government 
which they had been taught in the great school of democracy 
of the republic of which they were citizens. The West, to 
which these pilgrims were going, came later to solve problems 
of state government far in advance of the Atlantic states. 



21 



CHAPTER II, 

The Tkail to South Pass. 

A. The Eastern Termini to Grand Island. 

Prom the points of departure on the Missouri there were 
two main roads which converged on the Platte River near 
Grand Island. The first of these, in time and importance, was 
the trail from Independence which ran along the south bank 
of the Kansas River for a hundred miles or more. After 
crossing the Kansas this road ran in a northwestern direction 
across and up streams emptying into the Kansas until it came 
to the Platte. The second branch of the trail,^ which came into 
use later, ran west from Council Bluffs, Iowa, up the Platte, 
where it united with the route from Independence. There 
were branches of minor importance from other places on the 
Missouri, which joined these two routes before reaching 
Grand Island.^ 

The emigrants' route from Independence to the Platte 
passed through a region traversed by many streams, which 
made progress very slow. To make conditions still worse the 
rainfall during the spring and early summer was very great, 
thereby making these streams very difficult to cross. The 
company of 1842 was 27 days in going from Independence to 
the Platte, an average of hardly 10 to 12 miles a day. Water 
seems to have been the chief difficulty with all the companies 
while in this territory.^ The emigrants of 1843 arrived at the 
Kansas River the forenoon of May '26th. On the morning of 
the 27th a committee was appointed to make arrangements 

* By the end of the forties the road from Council Bluffs was in sreneral use. 

* There are Instances whei'e emi&i-ants kept the north bank of the Platte for a 
long distance. The Mormons in 1847 never crossed to the south side until they 
reached Fort Laramie. Another company going to California in 1852 kept the 
north bank as far as Independence Rock. For latter, see "TruinbulVs Travels," 
P. L. Paxson, Wisconsin Historical Proceedings, 1913. 

* The information at hand concerning the experiences of the emigrants con- 
sists mainly of diaries and letters, written on the trail and after arriving in 
Oregon, and other accounts and reminiscences published after the emigrations. 
Medorem Crawford's diary, Oregon Historical Sources, vol. 1, is the only diary 
of 1842 extant. 



22 

for crossing, as the stream could not be forded. The commit- 
tee refused to accept the proposition of a Frenchman living 
near to use his platform, or ferry, and began to construct a 
raft, which was not ready until the 29th. The Frenchman, 
however, came to terms with a body of the emigrants, who 
began to cross on his platform, which sank on the 28th and 
floated down the river. This accident came near drowning 
several women and children. The general crossing began on 
the 29th and was concluded on the 31st. Thus five days were 
consumed in crossing the Kansas and a sixth, June 1st, spent 
m the election of officers/ 

The crossing of streams was a very serious business and 
required all the ingenuity at the emigrants' command. 
''Where logs were available they were hollowed out and 
calamaran rafts made so as to fit the wheels of the wagons. 
Sometimes tlie best wagon boxes would be selected and calked 
and used as flatboats. Where buffalo skins were plentiful they 
were stretched around the wagon box to make it air tight. In 
later stages of the journey, after the streams became more re- 
liable, it was a common practice to raise the wagon beds sev- 
eral inches above the bolsters, if the depth of the stream re- 
quired it, couple several teams into a train with the most re- 
liable in front on a lead rope," and, with drivers along the 
downstream side of the other teams, to drive safely to the 
opposite side.^ After 1849 there were fairly good ferries at 
the most important crossings. 

The emigrants suffered much from terrible rain storms 
early in their journey. A writer in the emigration of 1846 
wrote, "May 27 — A terrific thunder storm roared and raged, 
and poured its flood throughout a great portion of the night. 
But for the protection against the violence of the wind, af- 
forded by the bluff's on one side and the timber on the other, 
our tents would have been swept away by the storm. * * * The 
river (Big Blue) since last night has risen several feet, and 
there is now no hope of fording it for several days."" 

But water was not the only discomfort wliich the emi- 
grants encountered before reaching the Platte. The Indians 

••History of Oregon, Georg-e Wilkes (New York 1845) pp. 72-73. This com- 
pany was until June 19th in reaching the Platte. 

* Oregon Historical Society Quarterly vol. 2, p. 368. 

•Edwin Bryant, What I Saw in Oregon (New York, 1848). p. 60. For a very 
literary picture of these storms see Thornton's Oregon and California, vol. 1. 
ch. 2 and 3. 



through whose territory the trail ran, soon began their thiev- 
ing and intimidations. Most of the emigrants were unaccus- 
tomed to the savages and manifested fear at their presence. 
On June 6th Wilkes reports that the Osage and Caw Indians 
in their accoutrements of war visited the emigrants and 
begged food. They were given a calf and some bread; but 
when they were gone two horses were missing." Thornton 
speaks of the natives as being miserable and destitute and 
professional beggars. He reports hiring a Kansas chief to re- 
strain his people from stealing.^ 

Besides the trouble occasioned by swollen streams, rain 
storms, and bad Indians, serious difficulties often arose over 
conditions among the emigrants themselves. For example, 
the company of 1843, after crossing the Kansas, organized by 
electing Peter H. Burnett Captain. He adopted rules, which 
he found impracticable to enforce, and because of dissension 
and opposition resigned seven days after his election, and per- 
mitted William Martin to be chosen his successor. That was 
not the only trouble. ' ' Some of the emigrants had only their 
teams, while others had large herds in addition, which must 
share the pasture and be guarded and driven by the whole 
body. ' ' The discontent growing out of the delay and problem 
occasioned by so many loose cattle, with other elements of 
discord, caused the company to divide at the crossing of the 
Big Blue into two columns. ''Those not encumbered with 
or having but few cattle attached themselves to the light 
column with Martin as captain; those having more than four 
or five cows had of necessity to attach themselves to the cow 
column, with Jesse Applegate as captain.^ Hence the cow 
column, being much encumbered with its large herds, had to 
use greater exertion and observe a more rigid discipline to 
keep pace with the more agile consort. ' ' 

Bryant, of the emigration of '46, reports a division of the 
company as originally organized due to disaffection, — *4t be- 
ing too numerous and cumbrous for convenient progress. 
Thirty-five wagons moved forward, and the remainder sep- 

^ Wilkes, History Oregron, p. 73. 

» Thornton, Oregon and California, vol. 1, pp. 39-40. 

» Oregon Historical Society Quarterly, vol. 1, pp. 371-72 : "A Day with the 
Cow Column in 1843" by Jesse Applegrate. See also Burnett, Recollections, pp. 
101-102. 



24 

arated from them.""' A little later he tells of a serious alter- 
cation between two Oregon emigrants, one of whom owned a 
wagon and the other the oxen which drew the wagon. The 
latter insisted on removing his oxen from the wagon, the 
owner of which naturally objected. The standing committee 
appointed to adjust such matters was unable to reconcile the 
parties, who were prevented at a late hour of the night from 
settling their diflficulty with violence and blood. On the fol- 
lowing morning the men of the company were summoned to 
assemble "for the purpose of adopting measures for the pre- 
vention of similar outbreaks, disturbing the peace and threat- 
ening the lives to an indefinite extent, of the party." Since 
the malcontents with some twenty other wagons were bound 
for Oregon, a proposition was unanimously carried to sepa- 
rate them from those bound for California. "The Oregon 
emigrants immediately drew their wagons from the corral and 
proceeded on their way."" Thus occurred a second division 
of the company since organization. 

Births and deaths were frequent concomitants to travel- 
ing, which, of course, caused delay and anxiety. Crawford 
tells of the death of a sixteen months' old girl and the sub- 
sequent serious illness of her mother, which caused the father 
and mother to turn back leaving their little daughter buried 
on the plains. ^^ The emigrants of '46 buried a woman of sev- 
enty before reaching the Platte. "At 2 o'clock p. m., a fun- 
eral procession was formed, in which nearly every man, 
woman, and child of the company united, and the corpse of the 
deceased lady was conveyed to its last resting place, in this 
desolate but beautiful wilderness. Her coffin was lowered into 
the grave. A prayer was offered to the Throne of Grace by 
the Rev. Mr. Cormvall. An appropriate hymn was sung by 
the congregation with much pathos and expression." After 
a funeral discourse, another hymn, and the benediction, "the 
grave w-as then closed and carefully sodded. * * * The inscrip- 
tion on the tombstone, and on the tree beneath which is the 
grave, is as follows: 'Mrs. Sarah Keyes, Died May 29, 1846; 
Aged 70.' '"^ 

" A division of the company had occurred at the time of orRanization before 
reaching the Kansas, Brvant, 31. 
"Bryant, pp. 68-69. 
" Crawford's Journal, p. 8. 
" Thornton, vol. 1, p. 55 ; Bryant, p. 64. 



25 

Thornton for May 19 says, "An event occurred, which 
ought to be chronicled in due form in our journal of adven- 
tures. At 10 'clock on the previous night, Mrs. Hall became 
the mother of twin boys. Dr. Eupert, the attending physician, 
gave his own name to one of them, and the name of our worthy 
leader, Col. Wm. H. Eussell, was given to the other. While 
we moved forward to a new encampment, Mrs. Hall and her 
husband and a few friends remained behind 'to hunt cattle,' 
alleged to have strayed. Eleven wagons, belonging to James 
P. Reed, George Donner, Jacob Donner, and Mr. Hall, the 
latter containing the little fellows, came up to us where we had 
remained in camp on account of these interesting young 
strangers. ' '^* 

By the time the emigrants had reached the platte they had 
passed through many of the experiences which attended emi- 
gration from the Missouri to the Pacific. To those narrated 
might be added the seeing and killing of the first buffalo 
and antelope, the scarcity of wood as they approached the 
Platte, being obliged to burn buffalo chips to cook, the break- 
ing down of wagons, and sundry other incidents. 

The trail from the south always struck the Platte near 
G-rand Island. "This is a beautiful island, lying in the center 
of the stream (very wide at this place) seventy-five miles in 
length, and covered with the finest timber, while not a solitary 
tree grew on the south side of the river * * ^"^'^ It was near 
Grand Island that the government located the first military 
post west of Fort Leavenworth on the route to Oregon, 
which was called Fort Kearney. 

B. Grand Island to Fort Larmnie. 
The trail from Grand Island to Fort Laramie, a distance 
of nearl^^ 350 miles, lay along the Platte River and its North 
Fork. "The Great Platte is one of the most remarkable rivers 
in the world, and when considered with a view to the facility 
its level banks afford for intercommunication with our Pacific 
territories, its value is immense." It rises in latitude 42i/^° 
degrees near the South Pass, flows in an easterly direction 
for nearly a thousand miles and empties into the Missouri in 
the same latitude. "Like the Nile, it runs hundreds of miles 

" See page 29. 
"Wilkes. Oregon, p. 78. 



26 

through a sterile wilderness, and like the Nile it unrolls its 
strip of green across the vastness of the desert, and is the 
father of all the vegetation near it." The Platte is very shal- 
low and not navigable, even for canoes in places. *^Its banks 
are low and sandy, its waters muddy like the Missouri, and 
its current very rapid. ' ' Being shallow it is easily forded ex- 
cept when rains swell the stream." * * * *'Its average breadth 
is about two miles, and its centre is frequently diversified with 
most beautiful islands, * * * covered with the finest trees 
whose rich and clustering foUiage contrast splendidly with the 
sand hills and wide prairie plains on each side. On each side 
of the river, and at the distance of about three miles from 
either bank, run a continuous line of sand hills. From the 
foot of these, to the water's edge, is spread a sheet of lively 
verdure, and on the other side, the boundless level is only lost 
in the line of the horizon.'"' 

The scarcity of trees along the Platte made it difficult for 
the emigrants to cook their food. They, therefore, made use 
of the buffalo chips along the route and other debris, con- 
sisting mostly of dead \\illows and drift waste, to build their 
fires. ^' 

Along the valley of the Platte, which is only about fifteen 
miles wide, the emigrants cattle found their food. The sand- 
hills were about three miles through and often contained 
oases of verdure and pools of water where buffalo were likely 
to be found. During the dry weather the pools disappeared 
and the buffalo, as well as other animals, came to the river for 
water, making numerous paths at right angles with the 
stream, which the emigrant trains crossed as they pro- 
gressed.^* 

Along this road and in this environment the emigrants 
wended their way. ' * The greatest inconvenience attendant on 
its travel * * * is the unconquerable propensity it occasions 
in one to sleep in the day time. The air is so bland, the road 
so smooth, and the motion of the vehicle so regular, that I 
have known many a teamster to go to sleep v\^hile his team 
stood winking idly in the road without budging a step. The 
usual custom * * * was for each wagon in turn to drive cau- 

" Wilkes, Oregon, p. 78. 

»' Ibid. 

»Wllke«, Oregon, p. 79. 



27 

tiously around the sluggard and leave him to have his nap 
out in the middle of the road. It would sometimes happen that 
the sleeper would not awake for two or three hours, and when 
he arrived that time behind in camp, he would either swing 
around in a towering passion, or slink out of the reach of our 
merciless taunting, heartily ashamed. ' '^^ 

Yet a day's journey along the Platte was not so monoto- 
nous and uninteresting as the above bit of description would 
indicate. There was variety and color enough to thrill even 
the most phlegmatic. Take for example, a day with the cow 
column, which was one of the two companies of the emigrants 
of '43. At 4 a. m. the sentinels on duty fire their rifles, which 
immediately arouses the whole camp to action. The women 
and children busy themselves with preparing breakfast, while 
the men go out in every direction to drive in the thousands of 
cattle which ran loose during the night. Some of these have 
strayed a long way off and are not easily found. *'In about 
an nour five thousand animals are close up to the encamp- 
ment, and the teamsters are busy selecting their teams and 
driving them inside the corral to be yoked. The corral is a 
circle one hundred yards deep, formed with wagons, connected 
closely with each other ; the wagon in the rear being connected 
with the wagon in front by its tongue and oxchains. It is a 
strong barrier which the most vicious ox cannot break, and in 
case of an attack of the Sioux would be no contemptible en- 
trenchment. ' ' 

By 7 o'clock breakfast is eaten, the oxen yoked and 
hitched, the tents struck, and the signal for the start ready to 
be given.^° The sixty wagons ''have been divided into fifteen 
divisions or platoons of four wagons each, and each platoon 
is entitled to lead in its turn." The pilot stands ready to 
lead the way and a band of hunters are mounting to forage 
for game during the day. Everything and everybody is ready 
to start: "the clear notes of a trumpet sound in front; * * * 
the leading divisions [platoons] of the wagons move out of the 
encampment and take up the line of march; the rest fall into 



''Wilkes, Oregon, p. 79. 

^° The description of this day's experiences along the Platte is an abridgment 
of "A Day with the Cow Column in 1843" by Jesse Applegate, Oregon Historical 
Quarterly, vol. 1, p. 371-383. The author has used considerable freedom with his 
own expressions. 



28 

their positions;" and the hunters canter away to the hills 
and plains beyond where the buffalo and antelope may be 
found. 

From the summits of the hills, unobscured by the pure 
and transparent air, the hunters look down upon the wonder- 
ful panorama beneath. The verdant valleys and pools below ; 
the broad Platte in the distance, studded with many wooded 
isles; the great expanse of prairie, widening out until it 
seems to touch the sky far away ; and the slowly moving cara- 
van, all present a scene of intense interest and unique pic- 
turesqueness. The caravan is likelj'- to hold the attention the 
longest. In the lead is a company of horsemen, Avho are ap- 
proaching a stream which they must ford. The whole cara- 
van comes to a halt until the horsemen find a crossing. Then 
all is motion again. The wagons, four abreast, "form a line 
three quarters of a mile long." After them follows a drove 
of horses, which have learned that noon and night are feeding 
times. In the rear moving only at the vigilant insistence of 
the drivers, whose vexations are legion, come a large herd of 
cattle cropping at every bit of vegetation within their reach. 
The hills, the valleys, the Platte and its islands, the prairie, 
the horsemen, the canvas covered wagons drawTi by several 
yoke of oxen, the drove of horses, and the great herd of cattle 
of every stripe and color with a band of active mounted men 
urging them forward, make a picture worth beholding. The 
scene is still more worth the seeing when a fleet-footed ante- 
lope flees across the plain, a herd of buffalo grazes undis- 
turbed or rushes over the prairie, or a band of Indian war- 
riors appears on the horizon. Here are a thousand souls with 
all their earthly possessions, traveling in a very primitive 
fashion, two thousand miles and more across a vast region 
where the Indian and the wild beast are the sole^' occupants 
to the most western extremity of the habitable part of the 
globe — the kinsmen of that energetic tribe of mankind who 
for eons of time have been expanding civilization to the re- 
mote parts of the world ! 

The pilot and his aids have ridden far enough in advance 
to choose and prepare a place where the caravan is to stop at 
noon. When the place is reached, the wagons are drawn up 

** Excepting the few traders and their forts. 



29 

four abreast, the oxen unhitched to drink and graze, and the 
emigrants' meals prepared and eaten. "Today an extra ses- 
sion of the council is being held to settle a dispute that does 
not admit delay." The plaintiff and the accused are heard, 
the witnesses are examined, the evidence is weighed, and the 
decision of the judges is rendered, deciding the case "accord- 
ing to its merits. ' '" 

At one 'clock the caravan is in motion again, and, as the 
time of day seems to invoke, "a drowsiness has fallen appar- 
ently" over man and beast, and the caravan moves more 
slowly than ever. ' ' But a little accident breaks the monotony 
of the march. An emigrant's wife, whose state of health has 
caused Doctor Whitman to travel near the wagon for the day, 
is now taken with violent illness. The Doctor has had the 
wagon driven out of the line, a tent pitched and a fire kind- 
led."" 

Evening iBnally comes and the caravan arrives at the 
place chosen for the night's corral. The pilot leads "the train 
in the circle he has pre^dously measured and marked out. * * * 
The leading wagons follow him so nearly around the circle 
that but a wagon's length separates them. Each wagon fol- 
lows in its track, the rear closing in on the front, until its 
tongue and ox-chains will perfectly reach from one to the 
other," the hindmost of the train closing the gateway. The 
oxen are left within the circle and their chains and yokes used 
to fasten the wagons securely together. Fires are built of 
buffalo chips, dried vegetation, and what little wood is at 
hand, the tents pitched, supper prepared and eaten, and prep- 
arations made for the night. By this time the wagon and 
doctor left by the wayside have come in with the wife a 
mother, and at once all anxiety regarding her condition is at 
ease.^* 

"All able to bear arms in the company have been divided 
into three companies, and each of these into four watches; 
every third night it is the duty of one of these companies to 
keep watch and ward over the camp, and it is so arranged that 
each watch takes its turn of guard duty through the different 
watches of the night. Those forming the first watch tonight 

"Oregon Historical Society Quarterly, vol. 1, p. 378 — The Cow Column. 
'' Oregon Historical Society Quarterly, vol. 1, p. 379 — Cow Column. 
^* Oregon Historical Society Quarterly, vol. 1. p. 3S0 — Cow Colmnn. 



30 

will be second on duty, then third and fourth, which will bring 
them through all the watches of the night. They begin at 
8 o'clock p. m. and end at 4 o'clock a. m." 

The evening meal is now over, and the corral is cleared 
of cattle and horses. With many it is now a time of leisure. 
Children are romping about the circle, women are chatting and 
mending clotliing, the council is holding an evening session, 
the lads and lasses are courting or dancing upon the green to 
the music of the violin, the cattle and horses are grazing out- 
side the corral, and the whole caravan presents a scene of sat- 
isfaction after a successful day's journey. When the time for 
the watch comes the fires are put out, good nights are said, 
the sentinels are stationed at their posts and the whole train 
is wrapped in repose. 

One of the greatest objects of interest to the emigrants 
in the Platte River Country was the buffalo, or bison. This 
interest arose from three angles: first, and most important, 
the animal was a valuable source of food of a most nutritious 
and delicious character; second, the frequent appearance of 
large numbers of buffaloes, sometimes in herds of thousands, 
always engaged the travelers ' attention ; and third, the excite- 
ment which the buffalo hunt furnished was a diversion and 
recreation which the men and often the women enjoyed. The 
killing and eating of the first buffalo was always chronicled as 
an important event. Sometimes the slaughter of these ani- 
mals was great and shamefully Avasteful. Antelope, too, were 
found on the prairie, but in small numbers compared with the 
buffalo. They were so wild and fleet-footed that the matter of 
killing them was very difficult. They, however, furnished a 
very wholesome diet on manj^ occasions. The chase of the an- 
telope was another agreeable sport for the hunter s.^^ 

Perhaps the most distressing incidents of the journey to 
Oregon were bodily injuries, due to accidents, and sickness. 
Such human misfortunes are bad enough under normal con- 
ditions; but in a hot and dry region, often approaching the 
features of a desert, far away from skillful, medical and sui'- 
gical aid, and in a moving caravan, the misfortinie is ten times 
greatei'. Bryant reports a case of a boy fallin>>- off a wagon 

"Oregon Historical Society Quarterly, vol. 1, p. 260-261; vol. 2 pp. 145-150; 
Crawford's Journal, p. 9; Wilkes. Oregon, pp. 75; 79-SO; Parkman p 72-79 • 
Bryant, pp. 85-95; Burnett, p. 104. 



31 

tongue and of the wagon 's crushing one of his legs. After nine 
days Mr. Bryant, who had a smattering of the knowledge of 
medicine, was summoned to treat the boy, whose limb had lain, 
since the accident, wrapped in a sort of trough. By this time 
gangrene had developed and even amputation was useless, 
as the lad could not possibly live. 

The hysterical pleading of his mother prevailed upon a 
Frenchman, who claimed some surgical ability, to amputate 
the limb. The man tied a string tightly about the leg above 
the knee and, using a knife and a handsaw, performed the op- 
eration. The boy died immediately and his mother, brothers 
and sisters were frantic with grief. The father, too, who lay 
at the time prostrate in his tent with rheumatism, caused by 
wading in water while taking calomel, was sorely distressed. 
And this was not all. There were many others sick of fever 
and needing medical attention not available. The unwell often 
augmented the seriousness of their condition by unwisely 
taking large doses of medicine.^® 

The distress and misery occasioned by sickness and 
death during the early and middle forties, however, were 
nothing in comparison to the awful years of 1849-50, when 
tens of thousands came rushing pell-mell over the trail re- 
garding neither the laws of nature nor the laws of man, with 
only one ambition and that to get to the El Dorado of gold in 
California by the shortest route and in the quickest manner 
possible. Space permits only mention of the awful condition 
among the emigrants of those years, when the cholera deci-. 
mated their ranks in a most frightful manner. Then death 
came rather quickly and often men were left alone along the 
trail to die, while their companies hurried madly on. Burials 
were hurried and many deceased were often covered in one 
grave.^'^ 

When a death occurred during the years to which this 
account properly belongs, the deceased was buried and the 



2« Bryant, pp. 86-91 (Emis. 1816), 

^Hundreds bound for California in 1819-1850, becoming discouraged, turned 
back to the states. Osborne Cross, in cYiRVf^e of the regiment of mounted rifle- 
men in 1849, estimated that 20,000 persons were ahead of him on the route to 
California and many more in his rear. He reported that the large numbers 
and the sameness of their wants made it impossible for the regiment to be of 
much assistance to them. See Osborne Cross, Oregon Expedition, (Washington, 
1851). Same in Sen. Exec. Doc, 31 Cong. 2d Sesa., vol, 1, (1850-51). 



32 

wagons of the train made to pass over the grave to obliterate 
any sign of it; so that the Indians or wolves might not molest 
the corpse, the former for any clothing or anything else which 
might be of interest to them. Sometimes rocks were piled 
high over the grave; yet these precautions were not always 
effective.^" 

Signs of death existed all along the trail. Especially was 
this true along the Platte. As the years wore on, the bleached 
bones of cattle, horses, buifaloes, and even human beings, be- 
came more numerous, until, if there had been no other indi- 
cations of the trail, an emigrant could have easily found his 
way across the desert by the bones of the dead. A very unique 
custom developed among the emigrants of writing messages 
upon the white bones communicating something of importance 
to those coming in the rear.^* 

Befoie arriving at Fort Laramie on the North Fork it 
was necessary for the emigrants to cross the South Fork some- 
where above its junction with the northern branch of the 
Platte. They never had any special place for crossing, but 
forded the stream wherever a jjlace seemed to invite them. 
The river at the crossings was from one-half mile to one and 
a half miles in width and, unless a rise had come, was usually 
forded without any serious mishap. Often, however, quick- 
sand along the stream made crossing very dangerous.^" 

As the emigrants neared Fort Laramie, they always 
passed a natural phenomenon which never failed to receive 
their attention and comment. This was a conical mound 
about 200 feet high with a chimney projecting some 75 or 100 
feet from its summit, making in all a " Chimney Rock, ' ' stand- 
ing 300 feet above the plain. This freak of nature Avas a bluff 
worn away by the elements. The emigrants often sighted it 
thirty-five or forty miles away.^^ 

After leaving Grand Island Fort Laramie was the most 
important place on the trail. This post of the American Fur 
Company was situated on tlie Laramie River near its junc- 

» Bryant, California, p. 80. At other times .Mnooth piece.s of boards and piecos 
of paper with communications written on them were plaot-fl wherp tbev migrht be 
found. Ibid. 

""Crawford. Journal, p. JO; Cross. Journal, pp. 32-33. 

"Cross, Journal, p. 37: Bryant. California, pp. 100-102. "Courthou.'ie Rock' 
ten miles below Chimney Rock nnd -'Scotts Bluff" two d-ivs lAurnev above wer<- 
al.so objects of interest. 



33 

ture with the Platte. It was of quadrangular shape, enclosing 
an area of about three quarters of an acre. Its walls were 
made of sundried bricks and defended by two watch towers 
placed at the most advantageous positions. On three sides of 
the court and next to the walls were the compan^^'s offices, 
storerooms, and shops; on the other side was the main build- 
ing of the fort two stories high. The post was in the country 
of the Sioux and Crows, some of whose tents were always 
near. This point of advantage was chosen in 1847 as a mili- 
tary post to protect the route to Oregon.^^ 

C. Fort Laramie to South Pass. 

From Fort Laramie on, the difficulties and trials of the 
emigrants increased rapidly. The Indians were more hostile, 
the route more difficult, the cattle more footsore and jagged, 
the provisions scarcer, the wagons less serviceable, and the 
people themselves more fatigued and care-worn. From here 
on, accidents were very numerous and deaths more frequent. 
There was yet nearly twice as far to go. 

The Cheyennes and Sioux in the upper Platte region had 
become so hostile that an engagement occurred between them 
and the whites in 1841, in which several were killed on both 
sides. The first body of emigrants, those of 1842, found little 
encouragement in this news. They were in no condition for 
hostility with anything, "Division and misunderstandings 
had grown up among them. They were already somewhat 
disheartened hj the fatigue of their long and wearisome jour- 
ney ; and the feet of their cattle had become so much worn as 
to be scarcely able to travel." Being assured of the lack of 
grass and the scarcity of butfalo beyond, and the improba- 
bility of their being able to take their wagons over the moun- 
tains, they disposed of many of their wagons and cattle at the 
fort, ' ' * * * taking in exchange coffee and sugar at one dollar 
a pound, and miserable old worn-out horses which died before 
they reached the mountains. ' '^^ 

As inferred above, Fort Laramie served as a sort of 
resting place for the emigrants where they replenished 



^ Bryant, p. 109. At the juncture of the North Pork and Laramie River was 
another post called Fort Platte. 

'"Fremont, Expeditions, pp. 40-53; FVeraont, Memoirs, p. 113, 



34 

their stores of provisions, bought fresher horses and mules, 
and repaired their wagons. The place resembled civilization 
more than any other which they saw after leaving the fron- 
tier. Provisions here were very dear, however, and only bare 
necessities were purchased.''^ 

The trail from Laramie to South Pass lay along the North 
Fork of the Platte by the foothills of the Black Hills on the 
left to the Sweetwater, a stream that floAved into the North 
Fork; tlTence it went up the Sweetwater past Independence 
Rock and through South Pass. The road now became more 
broken and mountainous ; it was soon to pass over the divide 
of the continent into the region where the waters flowed to 
the Pacific. The soil, full of mineral, was parched and almost 
void of vegetation. Limestone, gray, yellow, and red sand- 
stone, and gypsum marked the way. 

So much travel came to produce a great deal of dust 
which the fierce winds kept in a whirl, so that the dust found 
its way into everything possible. At times it was almost suf- 
focating. To make matters worse the Avater became so im- 
pregnated with mineral that it often caused illness. The emi- 
grants also drank large quantities of milk from the cows, that 
Avere often in a feverish heat and otherAA^ise in a bad state of 
health, which doubtless helped to cause sickness. To make 
matters Avorse gnats and mosquitoes bit both man and beast 
most frightfully. Calomel seems to have been the chief medi- 
cine. This the travelers took in large doses and often under 
the most unfavorable conditions. One can hardly imagine a 
more distressing condition than a person sick unto death, 
lying in a canvas covered wagon, with the hot sun beating 
doAvn upon it and tlie dust fogging everywhere, Avith not even 
a pure cold drink of Avater to be had, or a competent physi- 
cian at hand, a thousand miles away from civilization in a 
desert land.^^ 

The oxen faired even Avorse than the emigrants. At 
Laramie many Avere A^ery footsore and nearly exhausted. The 
character of the road from the fort onlv added to their bur- 



"Bryant, California, pp. 111-114; Thornton. Orej^on, pp. 111-114. Burnett. Old 
Pioneer, p. 112: "Coffee .$l.,nO a pint: brown susr.-ir, the same; flour unbolted, 25 
cents a pound; powder, $1.50 a pound; lead. 75 cents a pound; percussion caps, 
$1.50 a box; calico, very inferior, $1.00 a vurd." 

''John C. Fremont. Expeditions p. 130; Bryant, California, pp. 121-129: 
Thornton, Oregon, p. l?l-2. 144-155; Oreg-on Historical Society Quarterly, vol. 2 



pp. 159-163, 



35 

dens. As a result many of these faithful animals succumbed 
to their tortures and Avere left worn-out and dying along the 
way/® 

Early on the journey the emigrants discovered that they 
had many articles they could never carry with them to Oregon. 
Before one reached South Pass he might see household fur- 
nishings thrown by the wayside to lighten the burden of botli 
man and beast. Pieces of splendid furniture, often imported, 
intended to grace homes in Oregon, were left to the destruction 
of the elements. ^^ Wagons, too, became unserviceable and were 
left behind. The dying of oxen and the leaving of furniture 
made fewer wagons needed. Many in pretty good condition, 
therefore, were often left. Repairing, of course, was done 
by using parts of these discarded vehicles.^® 

Yet there were times when hardships were forgotten, ap- 
parently, and pleasure was allowed to have its way. The em- 
igrants of 1843 had what one called a ''grand complimentary 
ball to the Rocky Mountains" just before crossing the South 
Pass.^® The Independence of the great country to which these 
pilgrims belonged and whose might and glory their work was 
to increase, was sometimes celebrated in the vicinity of South 
Pass. A company of Americans crossing the continent in an 
earlier day happened to be near a great rock not far from the 
north bank of the Sweetwater on July 4. There they cele- 
brated in frontier fashion the birth of their country, christ- 
ening the rock ''Independence" and leaving a record of their 
act indelibly carved on its side.*° 

Those going to California in 1846 celebrated this national 
holiday in appropriate fashion. They formed a procession 
around the corral, listened to the reading of the Declaration 
and an address from their commander, after which they 
feasted, gave toasts, and sang songs.*^ 

The South Pass was not so difficult as it was once sup- 
posed to be. The ascent from the plains up the North Fork 
and the Sweetwater was gradual and the Pass, which was 

=<« Bryant. California, p. 124, 132; Thornton. Oregon, p. 139. 

" Fremont. Expeditions, p. 21. 

" Crawford, Journal, p. 14. 

^"Wilkes, Oreg-on, p. 81. 

*^ Tills me,ssive landmark is an isolated elevation near the Sweetwater, and is 
about 120 feet high and a mile in circumference. The emigrants took delight 
in carving their names upon it. Fremont, Expeditions, p. 56. 

« Bryant, California, p. 120; Thornton, Oregfon, p. 120. 



36 

more than 7000 feet above the sea, reached without any serious 
difficulty. This gap in the mountains was found to be some- 
thing like 19 miles wide and rather easily traversed. The 
emigrants emerged from tho farther end to find themselves 
where the waters flowod to the Pacific Ocean. *^ 



*" Bryant California, p. 132; Fremont, Expeditions, p. 60. The South Pass 
wa^ at least 950 miles from the point of departure on the frontier. Ibid. 



37 



CHAPTER ni. 

South Pass to the Willamette Valley. 

A. South Pass to Fort Hall. 
From South Pass two routes ran, uniting on the Bear 
River. One extended westward across the two Big Sandys 
and the Green Rivers to the Bear ; the other extended south- 
west, also crossing the Sandys and the Green, to Fort Bridger, 
just north of the Uintah Mountains. From this fort it ran 
in a northwestern direction to the Bear, uniting there with 
the other branch of the trail. From this juncture the trail 
followed the Bear to a point near the Snake River, to which 
it then crossed, touching that stream near Fort Hall. Here 
the route struck a tributary of the Columbia River. (See 
map.) 

In this region the trail was in such high altitudes that, 
although it was still July and August, the nights were so cold 
that ice more than an inch thick often formed. The climate, 
therefore, was very much diversified. At times the dust and 
heat were suffocating and at other times cold, rains and tor- 
nadoes produced great discomfort.' Sickness and death con- 
tinued to claim their victims. One journal tells of the death 
of first the father and then the mother of seven children, two 
of whom received bad injuries from accidents about the same 
time. The condition in which these children were left was 
pitiful in the extreme. The little orphans were cared for, 
however, until the caravan arrived at Dr. Whitman's, who 
adopted them.'' 

The trail was now very rough and often at such angles 
that ascent and descent were very dangerous. Sometimes the 
oxen had to be unhitched and the wagons guided by hand 
down the steep inclines. Once in a while a vehicle turned 

' Thornton, Oregon, pp. 144-155 ; Bryant, California, p. 139 ; Crawford, Jour- 
nal, p. 14. 

*S. A. Clarke, Pioneer Days in Oregon. (Portland 1905), vol. 2, pp. 502- 
510; Oregon Historical Society Quarterly, vol. 2, p. 159. 



38 

over or broke down. The road, of course, was even worse for 
the oxen than that east of the Pass, and the emigrants con- 
tinued, to leave them to die by the way.^ 

The emigrants often passed and repassed each other, and 
companies increased in size as occasions occurred. There 
was a tendency, however, for companies to become smaller 
after lea^dng Fort Laramie and the Platte, owing to the in- 
creasing difficulties of travel. Many times the emigrants met 
parties returning from Oregon and California, who dissem- 
inated information concerning the route ahead and reported 
favorably or unfavorably concerning the region from which 
they were coming. 

Fort Bridger, on the southern route from the Pass, had 
been established in 1843 purposely for the emigrant trade. 
The Founder, James Bridger, in a letter ordering goods, dated 
December 10, 1843, said: 

" 'I have established a small fort with a blacksmith shop 
and a supply of iron, in the road of the emigrants, on Black's 
Fork of the Green River, which promises fairly. They, in 
coming out, are generally well supjjlied with money, but by 
the time they get there are in want of all kinds of supplies. 
Horses, provisions and smith work, etc., bring ready cash 
from them, and should I receive the goods hereby ordered, 
will do a considerable business in that way with them. ***'"* 
This post was, indeed, of much assistance to the emigrants for 
many years as a place where supplies and repairs were 
obtained.® 

From Bridger the first route to California west of South 
Pass left the Oregon Trail, and there both Oregon and Cali- 
ornia emigrants often met traders and travelers from Cali- 
fornia.^ Many emigrants, however, did not take the longer 
road by Fort Bridger, but continued straight on to the Bear 
River. Likewise did many emigrants to California, as the 
trail from Bridger was more difficult and uncertain.' 

'Thornton, Oreg^on, p. 151. There is mention of much unnecessary fast driv- 
ing to get or to keep ahead, which was hard not only on the wagons but death to 
the oxen. Oregon Historical Society Quarterly, vol. 2, pp. 210-11. 

* Chittenden. Fur Trade, Til, p. 972. 

'Oregon Historical Society Quarterly, vol. 2, p. 165; vol. 7, p. 86; Bryant, 
California, p. 142. 

•Bryant, California, p. 143. See Map. 

' This shorter cut from the Pass was fifty or sixty miles nearer ; but for 
more than forty miles between the two Sandys there was no water ; therefore, 
many preferred the route by Bridger as it insured water. 



39 

The buffalo country was left behind as the trail entered 
South Pass.® Many saw their last buffalo on the Sweetwater. 
By the forties game had ceased to be plentiful in the moun- 
tains along the route.® The trappers and fur traders were 
largely responsible for this. There remained, however, some 
elk, deer, goats, antelojDes and other smaller animals to fur- 
nish food for the travelers and Indians. Wild ducks and 
other fowls, too, were killed to eat. Fortunately the moun- 
tain streams yielded a good supply of trout; and after the 
emigrants reached the Snake River they found salmon very 
plentiful. Wild berries, roots and other forms of plant life 
were another source of food in this region. 

The emigrants, notwithstanding their fears to the con- 
trary, generally found the Indians of the mountains peaceably 
inclined toward them. They usually secured their good will 
by giving them presents and by trading them one thing or 
another for food and often for horses. Many of these Indians 
were obliged to spend all their time searching diligently for 
berries, roots, seeds and other forms of the vegetable king- 
dom, which constituted by far the greater portion of their 
food." 

The Bear River valley afforded very good pasture for the 
cattle, and in this vicinity the emigrants often rested and re- 
cuperated their own and their oxen's strength for the more 
difficult journey down to the Columbia. Fremont speaks of 
seeing oxen on this river in excellent condition, looking as 
fresh as they did on the Missouri." 

The scenery through which this part of the trail ran 
was magnificent. The mountains, towering above with their 
snow covered peaks; the deep passes and awful precipices; 
the many colored and strangely shaped rocks ; the extinct vol- 
canoes; the sparkling waters of the rivers and brooks; the 
loud waterfalls and mysterious springs; the invigorating 
atmosphere ; and above all the clear, ethereal sky, excited the 
emigrants 's admiration and wonder and inspired them to 
greater and nobler deeds ! 



* Fremont, Expeditions, pp. 143-4 ; Bryant, California, p. 144. 

» Fremont, Expeditions, pp. 133, 135, 140 ; Crawford, Journal, p. 14 ; Oregon 
Society Historical Quarterly, vol. 2, p. 210-11, 215-16. 

M Fremont. Expeditions, p. 134; Crawford, Journal, p. 15; Oregon Historical 
Quarterly, vol. 2, pp. 213-222. 

"Fremont, expeditions, pp. 133-4. 



40 

Near the place where the Bear turns southward in its 
course to the Great Salt Lake, there were numerous springs. 
In fact, these phenomena were common in this vicinity. But 
those known as the Great Soda Springs, near the bend of the 
Bear, always received special attention because of their large 
proportions and the gases which they emitted.^^ 

As the trail to Oregon emerged from the mountains 
through which the Bear River runs, the emigrants descended 
into the valley of the Columbia, or at least the region drained 
by its tributaries. This extraordinary event was usually ac- 
companied with some expression of triumph and satisfaction. 
One narrator writes as follows: ''We soon arrived at the 
waters of the Portneuf, and from this point reined up our 
panting steeds to gaze upon the valley of the Saptin [Snake 
or Lewis], which lay at last before us. In an instant every 
head was uncovered and a cheer rang back into the gorge to 
the ears of our companions, which made every team strain 
and every wagon crack with renewed exertion. It is impos- 
sible to describe the enthusiasm which this event created in 
our party. * * * Jim Wayne, who was always about when 
anything of moment was afoot, was one of the foremost to 
reach the point of sight, and there with his bugle * * * he 
planted himself, receiving every wagon with 'Yankee Doodle,' 
'Hail Columbia' or 'Star Spangled Banner,' and only pausing 
in the tunes to wave the instrument in the air, in innumerable 
sweeps, to the measure of the answering shouts. "^^ The 
frowning barriers of the Eocky Mountains were now in the 
rear of the emigrants and they were at the threshold of their 
promised land. 

It was only a matter of three or four days' traveling from 
Soda Springs to the Snake River and Fort Hall, a trading 
post of the Hudson Bay Company. Three miles above this 
post the government located a military post in 1849. Fort 
Hall resembled very much the American Fur Company's 
post on Laramie River. The commander. Captain Grant, 
was always ver\^ hospitable to the emigrants, who rested at 

" Cross, Oregon Expeditions, pp. G6-67 : Thornton, Oregon, pp. 104-157 ; Wilkes, 
Oregon, p. 82. 

Near this bend of the Bear another route turned off to California, passing 
in its course Great Salt Lake. See Map 

"Wilkes, Oregon, p. 82. 



41 

his post arid replenished their stock of provisions and 
repaired their wagons." 

The trail from Fort Hall was so difficult that it was gen- 
erally believed before 1843 that it was useless to try to take 
wagons through to the Columbia. Apparentl}^ the Hudson 
Bay agents at the fort discouraged the effort. The emigrants 
of 1842 exchanged the running gears of their wagons for pro- 
visions and went on with what goods they could take packed 
on horses and mules. 

When the great caravan of 1843 arrived at the fort, and 
the question arose as to the possibility of getting the wagons 
through to the Columbia, Captain Grant told the emigrants 
that he did not see how it could be done. ''He had only 
traveled the pack trail, and certainly no wagons could follow 
that route, but there might be a practical road found by leav- 
ing the trail at certain points. ' "'^ Doctor Whitman, however, 
assured them that they could take their wagons through and 
urged them to do so.^^ His counsel prevailed and the wagons 
went through, setting a valuable precedent for emigrants of 
succeeding years. 

An emigrant of 1844 told of a conversation full of mean- 
ing which he heard between a fellow traveler and Captain 
Grant. The former asked the latter whether he thought the. 
emigrants could take their wagons through to the Columbia. 
The latter 's ''* * * reply was in substance: 'Mr. Cave, it's 
just about a year since a lot of people came here just as you 
have done and asked me the same question. I told them "no; 
that we found it very difficult to pass the narrow trails with 
our pack ponies." They went on, just as you will do; just as 
if I had not spoken a word, and the next I heard of them 

they were at Fort Walla Walla. You Yankees will 

do anything you like.' ''^^ The captain said more, perhaps, 
than he knew; not many years hence the Yankees were the 
sole possessors of the Columbia. 



" "Flour was $40 a barrel, coarse brown sugar, 50 cents a pound, and all 
other prices were equally high". Thornton, Oreeon, p. 160 ; also Wilkes, Oregon, 
p. 83 ; Crawford, Journal, p. 15. 

" Oregon Historical Society Quarterly, vol. 5, p. 77. 

" The first wagon ever taken to Oregon was driven over the Oregon Trail 
in 1836 by Whitman. See William Barrows, Oregon, the Struggle for Possession 
(Boston, 1884), Ch. 16. 

" Oregon Historical Society Quarterly, vol. 2, pp. 217-218. 



42 

B. Fort Hall to the Columbia. 

The trail from Fort Hall lay along the south bank of the 
Snake Eiver to a point below Salmon Falls, where it crossed 
the Snake and ran along at a distance from its north bank 
to the Boise River, which it crossed and continued past Boil- 
ing Spring to Fort Boise. Here the trail crossed the Snake 
again and a little farther on the Burnt River, a tributary of 
the Snake. At this point it left the Snake River, which makes 
a great curve to the north before it conies to the Columbia, 
and ran in a northwestern direction to the Columbia. Across 
this path lay the Blue Mountains, which the trail ascended to 
Grand Round, a magnificent valley about 100 miles in circum- 
ference embossomed among the mountains. The trail then 
descended these mountains from Grand Round to the Umatilla 
River, following the course of this stream to the Columbia.^** 
(See map.) 

From Fort Hall the route became more impassable. Here 
the wagon road ended until the emigration of 1843. Dry val- 
leys abounding in sagebrush had to be crossed. The wagons 
of '43 had much difficulty in getting through this undergrowth. 
This part of the journey had to be made in the fall, as it was 
far along the trail; when in such high altitudes the weather 
was likely to be very disagreeable. If the journey was not 
made quickly, winter was certain to overtake the travelers. 
The delays and mishaps of this last part of the trail before 
arriving at the Columbia were only those which one might 
expect from the mountainous character of the country.'^ The 
knowledge of the difficulties of the passage from Fort Hall 
to the Columbia and down the Columbia to the Willamette 
Valley influenced some Oregon emigrants to take a more 
southern route after leaving the Pass.^° The same influence 
caused others bound for Oregon to decide for California and 
to turn off before reaching the Blue Mountains to that 
country. 

In this region the emigrants did considerable trading 
with the natives, whose stock in trade consisted chiefly of 
salmon, fresh and dried, the camas root and vegetables. The 
emigrants' principal articles of barter were ammunition, 

"The emigrants of 1812 seem to have passed over the mountains to the right 
of Grand Round. 

"Palmer's Journal in Thwaites, pp. 90-110; Wilkes, Oregon, pp. 85-89. 
^ Meeks Cut-off and Barlow's and Applegates' Roads 



43 

clothing and fish hooks. The most highly valued garment to 
the natives was a shirt, and as a result many emigrants 
hardly had a change of shirts when they arrived in the Willa- 
mette Valley. Fish hooks were like small coins, or change, in 
the states ; they came in very handy for small purchases.^' 

The Snake abounded in salmon, which the Indians very 
dexterously caught with spears of their own contrivance. The 
salmon were dried and preserved for periods when the waters 
no longer contained that fish. This article of food was to the 
natives of the Snake and Columbia what the buffalo was to 
the Indians on the plains. It was likewise of the same im- 
portance to the emigrants along these rivers that the buffalo 
was along the Platte. The chief difference was that the 
Indians furnished the salmon. The fish was abundant at the 
falls of the rivers. Salmon Falls obtained its name for this 
reason. The camas root was a valuable article of food eaten 
with salmon. It was to salmon with the Indian as bread was 
to meat with the white man. The Indians also attributed 
medicinal qualities to this root.^^ 

Boiling Springs were as interesting to the emigrants on 
the Snake as the Great Soda Springs were on the Bear. These 
springs, five in number, contained water hot enough for culin- 
ary purposes. A fish could be boiled in a few minutes and at 
the same time be seasoned by the mineral in the water.^^ 

The emigrants found Fort Boise only a recruiting station 
for the larger and more important post of the Hudson Bay 
Company at Fort Hall. At this lower post they often obtained 
some provisions. Emigrants of 1845 paid $20 per hundred- 
weight for flour, which had been brought all the way from 
Oregon City.^* 

When the emigrants passed over the Blue Mountains into 
the Umatilla Valley they found a class of Indians who seemed 
to be fairly well along toward civilization.-® They had better 
physiques, were better clad, were less inclined to fish and 
hunt, and were more disposed to farm and trade than Indians 
generally were. Missionaries had been working for a number 
of years among these natives and with considerable success. 

^ Oreg-on Historical Society Quai'terly, vol. 2, pp. 219-226; vol. 5, pp. 79-80; 
Palmer's Journal in Thwaites, pp. 105-116; Crawford's Journal, p. 19. 
22 Ibid. 

^ Palmer's Journal, in Thwaites, p. 97. 
2* Ibid., pp. 98-9. 
^»Ibld., pp. 107-112. 



44 

The emigrants, therefore, of the middle forties were able to 
obtain some provisions from them. Palmer says in his 
journal (1845): ''They brought wheat, corn, potatoes, peas, 
pumpkins, fish, etc., which they were anxious to dispose of for 
cloths, calico, nankins and other articles of wearing apparel. 
They also had dressed deer skins and moccasins. They had 
good horses, which they would gladly exchange for a cow, 
esteeming the cow as of equal value. ' '^" 

At last the emigrants arrived on the south bank of the 
Columbia. "* * * There was something inspiring and ani- 
mating in beholding this [river]. A feeling of pleasure would 
animate our breasts akin to that filling the breast of the mar- 
iner, when after years of absence, the shores of his native 
land appear to view. We could scarce persuade ourselves 
but that our journey had arrived at its termination. We were 
full of hope, and as it was understood that we had but oae 
more difficult part of the road to surmount, we moved forward 
with redoubled energy' * * *."^^ 

Not very far east of Fort Walla was the Whitman 
mission station called Waulapu. With another man by the 
name of Parker, Marcus Wliitman had started to Oregon in 
1835 as a missionary to the Indians for the American Board 
of Foreign Missions. At the Green River Whitman turned 
back to bring out other helpers for the proposed mission sta- 
tion. Parker continued to Oregon and chose the site men- 
tioned above for the mission. In 183G Whitman married, and 
with his wife and another newly married couple, Rev. H, H. 
Spalding and wife, went to Oregon and began his labor among 
the Cayuse Indians. Spalding's station, Lapwai, was not far 
from Waulapu. ( See map. ) " 

In the fall and winter of 1842 Dr. Whitman returned 
east by a circuitous route far to the south of the Oregon Trail 
on business for his mission. When he reached the states in 
the spring of 1843, he found much excitement over the Oregon 
question and preparations underway for a great emigration 
that year.^" 

2« Palmer's Journal, in Thwaites. p. 108: also see Wilkes, Oregon, p. 88. 
(emig. 1843). 

" Palmer's Journal, pp, 115-16. 

"* Mowry, W. A., Marcus Whitman and the Early Days of Oreg-on, (New York, 
1901), p. 69-70. 

* Marshall, Wm. I., Acquisition of Oregon and the Long Suppressed Evidence 
about Marcus Whitman in 2 vols., (Seattle, 1911), vol. 1, pp. 110-120, 126-130. 



45 

After visiting Boston, Whitman returned to the frontier 
and accompanied the emigrants over the trail to Oregon. His 
journey to the Green River in 1835 and his pilgrimage over 
the same route to Oregon in 1836, as well as his skill as a 
physician, made him a valuable personage among the emi- 
grants of 1843, who sought his counsel often. He labored 
unceasingly to ameliorate the hardships and sufferings of the 
people throughout the entire journey, and his services were 
highly beneficial. As he had taken his wagon as far as Fort 
Boise in 1836 and later to the Columbia, he assured the emi- 
grants that they could take their wagons through to Oregon. 
And it was largely due to his advice that the Hudson Bay 
Company's agents at Fort Hall did not get wagons in 1843 
as they did in 1842. 

Whitman 's station was a place where the emigrants often 
replenished their supply of provisions after crossing the Blue 
Mountains and reaching the Umatilla and Columbia. Every 
emigration from 1842 to 1847, inclusively, felt the beneficence 
of his mission, and many times when aid was sorely needed. 
Spalding's mission, too, often aided the pilgrims. The emi- 
grants of 1842 rested at Waulapu and secured provisions be- 
fore they proceeded down the Columbia. Likewise did those 
of 1843. The rear of the caravan of 1844 remained with Whit- 
man until spring; and Palmer (1845) says that Mr. and Mrs. 
Whitman met his company with a wagonload of supplies 
while they were encamped on the Umatilla. 

In 1847, however, serious trouble developed between the 
Indians in the vicinity of the mission and the whites. The 
emigrants of that year had a plague of the measles as they 
neared the end of their journey. About fifty of this emigra- 
tion remained at the mission, and, as might be expected, the 
measles spread among the savages, many of whom died from 
exposure. The Indians, of course, blamed the whites for the 
misery and death which the disease caused, although Dr. 
Whitman did all he could to mitigate their suffering. Since 
1842 the Indians had asked pay for the land occupied by the 
whites and requested that boundaries be fixed. Their de- 
mands had never been granted. The disaffection crystallized 
late in 1847, when one Joe Le"wis, an Indian half-breed, and 
some other renegades excited the natives to attack the mis- 
sion suddenly and massacre the whites. They killed Whit- 



46 

man and his wife and a number of emigrants, and held in 
eapti^aty a still larger number of emigrants. The captured, 
however, were later rescued. Thus Dr. Whitman came to his 
death at the hands of those whom he had served faithfully for 
eleven years. The Spaldings at Lapwai were warned in time 
to escape.^" This, for a time, was the end of the Protestant 
missions in this region. The amount of credit really due 
Marcus Whitman for his part in the settlement of Oregon will 
probably never be satisfactorily determined. It can not be 
denied, however, that his wagon trip to Oregon in 1836, his 
service to the emigration of 1843, and the aid which his mis- 
sion gave the passing emigrants of 1842-3-4-5-6 and 7 give 
him a prominent place in the early history of Oregon.^^ 

C. Down the Columbia into the Willamette Valley. 

The last ]jart of the trail ran along the Columbia River 
to the Willamette Valley. This route was beset with difficul- 
ties equal to or even greater than any the emigrants had thus 
far encounten^l. The high bluffs and mountains, reaching to 
the very bank of the river, were almost impassable. Then 
there were many streams emptying into the Columbia, with 
high, steep banks and rapid currents, which the emigrants had 
to ford or ferry. Furthermore, the currents and rapids of 
the Columbia made the voyage down that stream exceedingly 
perilous. '^^ 

So fraught with dangers was this last part of the journey 
that many of the emigrants of 1843 were persuaded by those at 
the mission and Fort Walla Walla to leave their wagons and 
to sell their cattle, receiving orders from the Hudson Bay 
Company's agent at the fort for other cattle at Vancouver, 
These with their other belongings went dow^n the river in 
canoes. 

There were a few who, after disposing of their wagons, 
put what possessions they could on their horses and drove 
their cattle through. The main part of the caravan, however, 
kept their wagons and drove to the Dalles.''''' 

=» Bancroft. Oregon, vol. 1, pp. 648-655. 

" A keen controversy arose a few years ;v^o over the part Whitman had In 
"Saving Oregon". See Wm. I. Marshall's Acqui.sition of Orog-on and the Lonp 
Suppressed Evidence about Marcus Whitman ; also Nixon. O. \V. How Marcus 
Whitman, saved Oregon. Chicago J895. Bourne in Historical Critici.=:m. Scrih- 
ner's 1901 gives good evidence on the auostion. 

'2 Palmer's Journal, pp. 116-120. 

"Bancroft, Oregon ^. p. 406-4-18: Cl:uke, Pioneer Dny.s in Oregon, 11. i). 18:!; 
Wilkes, pp. 89-90. 



47 

Farther than the Dalies wagons were not driven before 
1845. Here the Cascade Mountains presented a formidable 
barrier to wagon transportation. The emigrants of 1843 who 
drove to the Dalles built rafts large enough to carry six or 
eight wagons, and on these floated down the river to the 
Cascades.^* Their cattle were driven across the stream and 
down its north bank to Vancouver where they recrossed to the 
south side.^^ Others of this company remained at the Dalles 
and the Cascades until those who went ahead returned with 
boats from Vancouver to take them down the river.^^ This 
number consisted mostly of those who came from Walla Walla 
in canoes. 

A part of the emigration of 1844, following the advice 
of Peter H. Burnett, from whom they received a letter at Fort 
Hall, sent a party to the Willamette for aid. This proved a 
wise thing to do, for they were sorely in need of help when 
they arrived at the Dalles. Here the^' received a boat load of 
snpi^lies from Vancouver and Oregon City." A member of 
the Caravan of 1874, writing in the Oregon Historical Society 
Quarterly, says that, when they reached the Dalles a division 
of opinion arose as to the best route to follow into the Wil- 
lamette Valley. Some desired to go down the Columbia by 
boat, while others proposed to cross to the north bank of the 
Columbia and proceed to Vancouver. They chose the former 
method. Their wagons were taken to pieces and loaded on 
the boats, while their cattle were driven across the river and 
down its north bank to Vancouver, where they wei'e driven 
over the river again.^* 

The emigrants were nearly always in very poor circum- 
stances when they arrived at Vancouver and Oregon City. In 
fact, if it had not been for the aid rendered them by the 
missions and Indians after crossing the Blue Mountains and 
the further aid from the Hudson Bay Company's agent, _Dr. 
McLoughlin, many would never have arrived in the Willa- 
mette Valley. Of course, after 1843 some assistance was 
given by those who had already settled in Oregon. 

'* A child was born on one of these raffs before it reached the Cascades. 

■•"••Wilkes, p. 89. 

"'Ibid. The sufferings of these before leaving the Cascades were awful. 
At one time many were T'educed to eating boiled rawhide and hempseed. Dr. 
McLoughlin sent food to them twice, which doubtless saved many from starva- 
tion. Bancroft. Oregon, pp. -lOS, 412. 

'' Oregon Historical Society Quarterly, vol. 2, pp. 218-239. 

'^Hugh Cosgrove in Oregon Historical Society Quarterly, vol. 1, p. 265. 



48 

The assistance which Dr. McLoughlin gave the emigrants 
deserves special mention, as he was the agent of the great 
English company which operated in that quarter of the world 
and which naturally hoped to see England's claims to Oregon 
made good. The emigrants, before arriving at Vancouver, 
were prejudiced against the Hudson Bay Company, whose 
policy really was to discourage emigration from the states 
to Oregon; but its chief agent, out of the goodness of his 
heart, gave the emigrants much valuable aid. He gave them 
credit for supplies, consisting of food, clothing and other 
immediate needs. He furnished them seed for the spring 
so\nng and loaned them boats to assist them in getting to 
their destination. Manj^ of those whom he aided, however, 
were very ungrateful and some even failed to pay their obli- 
gations to him when due. "An immigrant of 1844, Joseph 
Watt," says: *' 'When we started to Oregon we were all 
prejudiced against the Hudson Bay Company, Dr. McLough- 
lin, being chief factor of the company for Oregon, came in 
for a double share of that feeling. I think a great deal of 
this was caused by the reports of missionaries and adverse 
traders, imbuing us with a feeling that it was our mission to 
bring this country'' under the jurisdiction of the Stars and 
Stripes. But we found him anxious to serve us, nervous at 
our situation on being so late, and doing so much without 
charge — letting us have of his store, and waiting, without in- 
terest, until we could make a farm and pay him from the 
surplus of such farm, the prejudice heretofore existing began 
to be rapidly allayed. We did not know that every dollar's 
worth of provisions, etc., he gave us, all advice and assist- 
ance in every shape, was against the positive orders of the 
Hudson Bay Company. * * * In this connection T am sorry 
to say that thousands of dollars [60,000] virtually loaned by 
him to settlers at different times in those early days was 
never paid, as an examination of his books and papers will 
amply testify.' "^® 

The fertile valley of the Willamette River, between the 
Cascade and the Coast "Ranges, received the thousands of 
emigrants who went to Oregon in the early and middle forties. 
(See map.) Here they settled, organizing a provisional gov- 

" Katherine Coman, Economic Bes'inninfrs of the Far West, 2 vol. (Xcw 
York. 1912) IT, pp. 159-60. 



49 

ernment as early as 1843, and laid the foundations of a great 
commonwealth on the Pacific Coast. 

D. Meek's Cut-off and Barlow's and Applegate's Roads. 

Near Fort Boise a part of the emigration of 1845 was 
met by Elijah Wliite, the Indian sub-agent of Oregon, return- 
ing to the states on business for the provisional government 
of Oregon. Earlier in the year, in consequence of a subscrip- 
tion of $2,000 by the citizens of Oregon to be used in pro- 
moting a road over the mountains for the emigrants of 1845, 
White had tried and failed to find a pass over the mountains 
connecting with an extinct trapper's trail leading from the 
Malheur or Powder Rivers by Mount Jefferson into the 
Willamette Valley. He advised the emigrants at Boise, it 
appears, that such a road existed and that it would shorten 
their journey some 150 miles and at the same time lessen 
their hardships, as it was much more easily traversed than the 
old trail over the Columbia.*" 

Stephen Meek, the emigrants' guide, believed from pre- 
vious experience in that region that this shortcut to the 
Willamette was much more practical than the main route 
and persuaded 200 families to follow him.*^ He led this com- 
pany up the Malheur River and over the mountains to the 
Humboldt River. The journey was most disastrous. The 
struggle over the mountains hurt the oxen severely; there 
was little grass and water, the latter being so full of mineral 
that it was nauseous ; and the days were hot and the nights 
so cold that ice often formed. The country through which 
they passed was barren — so barren that the Indians seemed 
not to inhabit it. The consequences were that the emigrants 
found themselves in a terrible condition. The mountain 
fever and dysentery caused several deaths, while many cattle 
died for want of grass and water. Despairing of ever reach- 
ing the Willamette by this southern route, the wanderers 
turned north to pursue the shortest road to the Columbia 
River. The route taken lay between the John Day and 
Des Chutes Rivers. 



*• Bancroft, Oregon, I, p. 484. 

"^ Meek had had a long- experience in the West, having^ gone to California 
in 1833-34, been in the ^Villamette Valley in 1841, and having- piloted the emi- 
grants of 1842 from Fort Laramie. Thwaites. vol 30, Pohnei-'s Journal, p. 40, 
(footnote). 



50 

But the emigrants ' condition became worse, and to many 
it seemed that man and beast would perish together in the 
desert. Meek, being blamed for the disaster, feared for his 
life, and with some of his friends fled from the main caravan 
and hurried down the Des Chutes. Being overtaken by the 
main body, he again fled to save his life and arrived at the 
Dalles in advance. Here Meek, after much solicitation, suc- 
ceeded in getting a few horse loads of food taken to the emi- 
grants, who, when this aid arrived, were on the Des Chutes 
River, thirty-five miles from the Dalles, ''their provisions 
nearly exhausted and the company weakened by exertion, and 
despairing of ever reaching the settlements." The emigrants 
were where a crossing of the river was imperative and at 
the same time most hazardous. ''The means finally resorted 
to for the transportation of the families were novel in the 
extreme. A large rope was swung across the stream and 
attached to the rocks on either side; a light wagon bed was 
suspended from this rope with pullies, to which ropes were 
attached ; this bed served to convey the families and loading 
safely across ; the wagons were then drawn over the bed of the 
river by ropes. The passage of the river occupied some two 
weeks." 

These pilgrims finally arrived at the Dalles about the 
middle of October, having lost twenty of their number by 
disease. As many more died after their arrival from the 
same causes, and many others were so weakened and broken 
in body and spirit that they never regained their former 
vitality and energy. Their arrival at the Dalles was preceded 
only a few days by the main body over the old route. 

When the emigrants of 1845 arrived at the Dalles they 
found the conveyances for transportation down the Columbia 
so inadequate for their large numbers that some planned to 
take their wagons over the Cascade Mountains into the Willa- 
mette. This number, however, Avas very small, as the task was 
generally believed too hazardous to undertake. The first pro- 
moter of this road and the one after whom it received its 
name was Samuel K. Barlow, captain of one of the com])anies 
and among the first to arrive at the Dalles. The Barlow 
family, which included thrae grown sons, and some others. 



'-Thwrtitcs. Patmri's Jonrii."!. pn. 121-124; Bancroft. Oregon. I, pp. 511-516. 



51 

making a company of seven wagons in all, started on their 
transmontane journey about the first of October. After somp 
effort one of the party and his wife gave up the task as im- 
possible and returned to the Dalles. 

The remainder of the company, determining to win at all 
costs, continued their efforts. Twenty-three other wagons 
joined the Barlows later, making about twenty-nine wagons 
which dared to drive over the mountains rather than risk the 
voyage down the Columbia. They found the way so difficult, 
however, that they sent their cattle back to the Dalles to be 
driven through east of Mount Hood. They were obliged, 
also, to send back to the Dalles for food. Winter came early 
in the mountains, food was scarce, the stock strayed, and the 
Indians stole at every opportunity. The emigrants, fearing 
the rainy season, finally arranged to leave their wagons and 
baggage guarded in the mountains and to send the women 
and children through on liorses to the Willamette. They had 
hardly done this when rain, which soon turned to snow, set 
in. The sufferings of man and beast now became fierce. The 
snow covered the vegetation, so that the horses had to eat 
from the poison laurel. The people were poorly clad and it 
appeared as if they would soon be reduced to eating horse 
and dog meat. Their whereabouts, however, were known in 
the Willamette Valley and, fortunately, a relief party from 
Oregon City met them when help was most needed. Barlow 
found it necessary, however, to leave the wagons and much 
of the baggage under guard in the mountains, at a rude struc- 
ture which he called Fort Deposit. It was near the end of 
the year when the last of his company arrived in the Willa- 
mette Valley." 

The Oregon provisional government in 1846 authorized 
Barlow to find a pass in the Cascades through which the emi- 
grants might drive their wagons. He succeeded in reaching 
Fort Deposit and brought his own wagons through, and so 
improved the route that some of the emigrants of 1846 drove 
over it. The descent of the mountains, however, was so steep 
that they had to tie tops of trees to their wagons to hold them 
back. 



** Oregon Historical Society Quarterly, vol. 3, pp. 71-81 (History of the 
Barlow Road by W^illiam Barlow) ; Thwaites, Palmer's .lournal, pp. 128-1,'57. (Pal- 
mer accompanied Barlow) : r.ancroft, Oregon, I, pp. 517-.522. 



52 

By 1846 interests in the Willamette Valley were such that 
settlers in the vicinity of Oregon City and settlers in the 
Upper Willamette and in the Umpqua Valley were advocating 
a road into their respective localities." Those of Oregon City 
in that year had the satisfaction of seeing Barlow's Road 
improved so that emigrants came over it that fall. By this 
time a keen rivalry had developed between the communities 
of the Lower and the Upper Willamette for preferment among 
expected emigrants to Oregon. Each tried to divert emigra- 
tion to it. The inhabitants of the Upper Willamette and of 
the Umpqua desired a southern route into Oregon, not only 
to hasten the development of that region, but also, in the 
event of a war with England, to provide a military route 
over the Cascades far south of the Columbia. The Barlow 
Road might not prove adequate for the transfer of troops 
across the mountains; and again, it would be better to have 
a route leading into the valley far away from British influ- 
ences near the Columbia. 

The determination to open up a southern route caused a 
company, at the expense of the citizens of Polk County, to set 
out in May, 1846, to undertake the enterprise. Owing to the 
desertion of some of its members, this party accomplished 
nothing. A second company of fifteen men, including the 
leader of the first, Levi Scott, and the promoters of the enter- 
prise, Jesse and Lindsey Applegate, set out the latter part 
of June of the same year to locate a southern road from 
the Bear River to the Upper Willamette Valley. 

The explorers went up the Willamette across the Umpqua 
River in a southeastern direction to the Humboldt River, 
passing Lakes Klamoth, Modoc and Goose. Their route then 
ran up the Humboldt to Thousand Springs. F.rom the Springs 
most of the party proceeded to. the Bear River, while Jesse 
Applegate and some others went across to Fort Hall to per- 
suade "the emigrants of '46 to take the southern route to the 
Willamette. The road thus marked out took the name of 
Applegate. This trail which the Applegates were ready to 
recommend was fraught with many difficulties. The party 



■" Bancroft, Oregon, 1, p. 532. The government of Oregon had authorized Thos. 
McKay to locate and construct a toll road over the mountains to Fort Boise 
in time for the emigration of 1846. He had failed. Stephen Meek petitioned 
the authorities to construct a road from the Upper Willamette to Boise. Peti- 
tion rejected. Ibid. 



53 

in exploring it had suffered many privations. For nearly 
two days at one time they had gone without water. One of 
their number succumbed and remained behind in the shade 
of some rocks while his companions continued to search for 
water. When water was found it was often so alkaline that 
one could not retain it. Yet, through this barren waste along 
and north of the Humboldt these men advised caravans of 
emigrants to go. 

Jesse Applegate believed the southern route superior to 
the northern and urged the emigrants at Fort Hall to take 
it. He proposed to guide them through and expected to avoid 
for the most part the alkali desert through which he had 
passed. He was mistaken, however, in believing that this 
road was shorter than the old trail. His argument influenced 
about one hundred wagons to turn off at the fort and take 
the Applegate Road. The promoter of this route and some 
companions were to go before and mark out the trail, while 
two of his party, who had gone to the Bear River, were to 
meet the emigrants at Thousand Springs and guide them 
safely through to the Willamette. 

These emigrants endured many hardships on the way, 
some of "which were due to their own carelessness. The 
Indians stole their cattle and shot poisoned arrows from be- 
hind rocks at them. One company had an engagement with 
the natives, in which one white man was killed, another 
wounded and several Indians killed. The spurs of the Cas- 
cades often required sixteen to twenty yoke of oxen to draw 
one wagon up a sharp acclivity. Such barriers to progress 
made it impossible for one hundred wagons to keep together 
in a single body. In the Rogue River Valley those in the rear 
received provisions from the exploring party which was 
ahead. The fall rains caught a large number in the Umpqua 
A^alley. As a result their suffering became great ; often they 
had to wade water ; famine overtook them ; and their condition 
became deplorable. Notwithstanding the aid which they 
received, many abandoned their wagons and much of their 
property. Some left their cattle guarded on the Umpqua, and 
it was February before many got out of the valley.*^ 



■^Bancroft, Oregon, I, pp. 542-565; Thornton, Chapters IX to XII, gives a 
detailed and graphic account of the experiences of these emigrants. 



54 

The rivalry between the promoters of the Barlow and the 
Applegate Roads became very keen. Agents for the former 
route met emigrants of 1847 at the Green River to urge them 
to continue on the old trail to the Dalles. Levi Scott was 
also near Bear River to guide those who might desire to take 
the southern route. The representatives of the northern road 
sent letters to the emigrants near Green River, *'in which they 
[the emigrants] were counseled to starve, whip, and even kill 
any person advising them to take the southern road. A cir- 
cular was distributed containing an exaggerated account of 
the calamities suffered the previous year, and recommending 
the Barlow road." These circulars made no mention of the 
hardships endured by those who took the northern route. As 
a result only forty-five wagons of the enormous emigration 
of 1847 took the Applegate road.'" These arrived in good 
season and in good condition, while those who took the north- 
ern route to the Dalles suffered many privations. 

The hostilities of the Cayuse Indians in the winter of 
1847, which threatened to close the northern route, and Scott 's 
success in guiding his party over the southern road caused 
the Oregon Legislature to pass an act for the improvement of 
the latter, ''making Levi Scott commissioner and allowing 
him to collect a small toll for his services." This road con- 
tinued in favor." 



^ From four to five thousand emigrants went to Oregon in 1847. Bancroft. 
623-4. 

♦'Bancroft, Oregon, I, pp. 567, 623-4. 



55 



CHAPTER IV. 

Government Aid and Protection. 

A. Jefferson's Interest in the North West. 

Even before American Independence Thomas Jefferson 
had manifested a keen interest in exploring the region beyond 
the Mississippi to determine whether or not the sources of the 
Missouri and the sources of another stream rising in the 
Rock Mountains but flowing into the Pacific Ocean, were not 
very near together. Such belief had long existed in the minds 
of many and much speculation had been entertained as to 
the benefits to be derived from discovering an almost continu- 
ous water course from the Mississippi to the Pacific. As 
early as 1783 Jefferson proposed to George Rogers Clark that 
he lead an exploring party to ascertain the facts regarding 
the interior of this region/ 

Again in 1786 while he was minister to France, Jefferson 
made overtures to another adventurer, a certain John Led- 
yard, that he explore the western part of North America. His 
proposition was accepted and plans were made for the party 
to begin its work from Nootka Sound and proceed eastward 
across the continent. Ledyard was finally arrested in Si- 
beria at the instigation of the Empress of Russia and nothing 
came of this plan.^ 

Jefferson's next effort to have the Great North West re- 
vealed was during his secretaryship in Washington's cabi- 
net, when he detailed a scientist by the name of Andre Mich- 
aux to explore the parts drained by the Missouri system and 



' Reiiben Gold Thwaites. A Brief History of Rocky Mountain Explorations, 
(New York, 1904), Chapter IV; Katharine Coman, Economic Beginnings of the 
Far West (New York, 1912, vol. I, pp. 231-234). 

' Thwaites, Rocky Mountain Travels, ch. IV. Ledyard was the first of the 
Americans to propose an expedition to the northwestern coast of North America. 
His first attempt was in 1783-4. Russian Fur traders caused his arrest in 1788 and 
his subsequent banishment from the borders of Russia. See Appleton's Encyclo- 
pedia of American Biography by James Grant Wilson and John Fiske (New 
York 1900) III. p. 655. 



56 

to learn whether another stream rising near the sources of 
the Missouri did not flow into the Pacific. But again he was 
disappointed; complications growing out of the Genet epi- 
sode frustrated these plans. 

Jefferson seemed destined to play even a greater role 
in the fortune of the West than any one of the projects men- 
tioned above would have given him. The year 1803 found 
him president of the United States and the greatest factor in 
concluding negotiations for the acquisition of the region com- 
monly known as the Louisiana Purchase. Now this nation 
builder could carry out to his heart's satisfaction his desire 
of twenty years' standing to have the vast undeveloped ter- 
ritory lying west of the Mississippi River explored and its 
interior revealed to the world. Even before the consuma- 
tion of the purchase, Jefferson planned to send an exploring 
party into the region, and by May 1804 a company under the 
command of Captain Meriwether Lewis and Lieutenant 
William Clark' was at the mouth of the Missouri River un- 
der instructions from the president to explore the waters of 
the Missouri and even to penetrate through to the Pacific 
Ocean. In general, the party was to obtain detailed informa- 
tion, from observation and otherwise, of the various geo- 
graphical features, the possibilities for commerce, and the 
most valuable facts concerning the natives of that quarter. 
They were especially instructed to treat the Indians " *in 
the most friendly and conciliatory manner' " and to encour- 
age amicable intercourse between them and the states.* 

This expedition lasted through the years 1804-5-6, and ex- 
tended along the Missouri to its source, thence across the 
Rockies to the Columbia, and down that river to the Pacific. 
A full account of it was soon published, and for the first 
time the world was given a comparatively authentic descrip- 
tion of the Missouri River Country and the Columbia Valley. 

In 1805 Jefferson sent another exploring party under 
Z. M. Pike to the Upper Mississippi. By April 1806 Pike 
had complied with his instructions and returned to St. Louis. 
After about three months he was again at the head of another 



" The younger brother of George Rogers Clark. 

* Elliott Coues, History Lewis and Clark Expedition (New York 1893), I, 
Memoir of Meriwether Lewis, pp. xxiii-xxxiii. 



57 

expedition directed this time to explore the interior of Louisi- 
ana. Pike's two expeditions furnished abundant information 
about the region beyond the Mississippi. Councils with the 
Indians were held and imuch done to cultivate a conciliatory 
attitude on the part of the natives of the regions visited.^ 

To Jefferson, then, and to the government belongs the 
greatest credit for really opening up and revealing for the 
first time the interior of the Far West. This early work was 
of inestimable value to all who, for pleasure or gain, desired 
to operate in that vast undeveloped territory. 

B. From Jefferson to 1840. 

Soon after the explorations mentioned above a consider- 
able fur trade developed between the states and the West in 
the direction of the Columbia Valley. The general line of 
communication was the difficult and circuitous path taken by 
Lewis and Clark. After the Second War with England the 
population began to flow toward the Missouri Eiver Valley* 
With this western expansion interest in the direction of Ore- 
gon increased. With this increasing interest a desire for a 
safer and more direct route to the Pacific Coast region came 
to demand the attention of the government. It was believed 
that a path further south, up the Platte, and through a pass 
near the source of that river, would prove more practicable. 

Pursuant to this need, Calhoun, Monroe's Secretary of 
War, detailed Stephen H. Long in 1819 to command an expe- 
dition to explore the region in question. Long's party really 
was a scientific branch of a military expendition sent out un- 
der Colonel Henry Atkinson in 1818 for the purpose of estab- 
lishing a military post near the mouth of the Yellowstone. 
The military detachment was poorly managed and never got 
any further than the region of Council Bluffs. Its only 
achievement was the establishment of a military post of some 
eight years' duration near the present site of Omaha.® 

^ Z. M. Pike, An Account of an Expedition to the sources of the Mississippi 
and through Western Parts of Louisiana, (Philadelphia 1810). 

" See Edwin James, Expedition to the Rock Mountains under command of 
Major Stephen H. Long, (Philadelphia 1823) ; American State Papers, Military 
Affairs, II, p. 324 ; Niles Register, XVI, p. 344 ; Thwaites Rocky Mountain Ex- 
plorations, p. 211, footnote. 

Calhoun in a letter to Benton, Dec. 19, 1819, thought that a post near the 
mouth of the Yellowstone would probably be established in the summer of 1820. 
See American State Papers, Military Affairs, II, p. 32. 

Atkinson's men wintered 1818-19 at Camp Martin near the mouth of the 
Kansas. The failure of this expedition to accomplish its purpose caused much 
unfavorable criticism by the public.' 



58 

Long's party left the vicinity of the union of the Platte 
and the Missouri in the early summer of 1820. Their in- 
structions were " 'to explore the Missouri and its principal 
branches and then in succession, Red River, Arkansas, and 
Mississippi above the mouth of the Missouri/' " The expe- 
dition was ** Ho acquire as thorough and accurate knowledge 
as may be practicable, of a portion of our country, which is 
daily becoming more interesting, but which is as yet imper- 
fectly known.^' " The company explored the Platte to the 
mountains, thence turning south divided into two divisions 
and followed the Arkansas and Canadian Rivers to the Mis- 
sissippi. 

This expedition was very popular. Many thought it 
would open up considerable trade with China via Mississippi, 
Missouri, and Columbia Rivers. The account edited and pub- 
lished by Edwin James, the Botanist and Geologist of the 
party, gave valuable additional information of the region 
south of the route pursued by Lewis and Clark. This knowl- 
edge gave a new impetus to emigration to and communica- 
tion with the Oregon Country.'" 

The Missouri, even after Long's expedition, continued 
for a time to be the chief route of commerce between the 
North West and the States. The Indians of this region were 
usually hostile to the traders, who often sustained great losses 
from their depredations. In 1823 Colonel Henry Leaven- 
worth lead a considerable military force against the Aricara 
Indians on the Upper Missouri. The expedition, however, 
accomplished very little. Two years later General Henry 
Atkinson was sent with a detachment of soldiers to conclude 
treaties with the Sioux, Mandans, Crows, and other tribes on 
the Yellowstone. This effort was much more successful than 
the former. The maneuvers of the soldiers and the bursting 
of shells from the howitzers so overawed the Indians that they 
readily concluded treaties with Gen. Atkinson. The troops 



'James, Expedition to the Rock Mountains, 1; also Thwaites Western 
Travels, vol. XIV. S. H. Long's Expedition, vol. 1, in Preliminary Notice. 

* Ibid. See also Chittenden, the American Fur Trade of the Far West, vol. 
II, p. 563; "'The expedition ordered to the mouth of the Yellowstone, or rather 
to the Maudan Village, is a part of a system of measures which has for its objects 
the protection of our northwestern frontier and the greater extension of our 
fur trade.' " 

•Thwaites, Rocky Mountain Expeditions, pp. 215-217; Niles Register, vol. 16, 
p. 320; Oregon and Texas, Selections of Editorial Articles from St. Louis Bn- 
auirer, 1818-19, by Thos. H. Benton, pp. 14-27. 



59 

escorted a large party of traders from the Yellowstone to the 
States. Atkinson did not see the wisdom of establishing a 
military post on the Yellowstone ; instead he recommended 
the sending of military expeditions into that country every 
three or four years. ^° 

With these last two expeditions the Government ceased 
for a period of ten years to give any real aid or protection to 
private enterprise in the Far West. During this time a policy 
of protecting the western frontier matured. The predominant 
opinion of the decade was that expansion would stop a short 
distance west of the Mississippi River. The state documents 
of the time give numerous recommendations by those in a 
position to know, concerning the establishment of military 
posts and roads along a line of demarcation between the 
Indian country and the states. This disposition on the part 
of the Government to recognize a dividing line, to be more or 
less constant, between the Indians and the whites, led to the 
establishment of a line of forts from the place where the 
St. Peters flows into the Mississippi to a point on the Kia- 
michi branch of the Red River. Forts Snelling, Leavenworth, 
Towson, Gibson and Jesup, therefore, became the cliief bases 
of operations against the Indians. In this manner the Gov- 
ernment confined its operations to the settled area of its do- 
main and established a zone of security along the frontier." 

At no time, however, did interest in Government protec- 
tion of the transcontinental communication with Oregon 
cease. On the contrary, this policy continued to have strong 
adherents among statesmen. In 1821 a committee of the 
House had recommended that a military post be established 
on ''the most northwestern point upon the Missouri," and 
also one at the mouth of the Columbia.'^ This report empha- 
sized the almost water route between the Mississippi and the 
Pacific and estimated that twenty men in ten days could make 
it possible for loaded wagons to pass easily over the moun- 
tains. In January of the same year Congressman Floyd of 
Virginia introduced a bill in the House providing for the 
occupation of Oregon, the extinguishment of the Indian title 

"Chittenden, II, ch. IIT and IV; also American State Papers, 19th Cong., 
1st Sess Doc 117. 

"American State Papers, Military Affairs, vol. Ill, pp. 615, 828; vol. IV. 
pp. 219, 371, 631; vol. V, pp. 373, 729; vol. VI, pp. 149-153; vol. VII, pp. 974-986. 
1002. 

*=* American State Papers, Miscellaneous, II, pp. 629-634. 



60 

and a provisional government in Oregon. The measure never 
got any further than a reference to a committee of the whole 
after the second reading. A second bill by the same author 
met a similar fate, being tabled January, 1823.^^ 

A third bill, introduced by Floyd January, 1824, provid- 
ing for a military colony in Oregon, a territorial government 
when expedient, and the donation of a section of land to 
actual settlers in Oregon, was received more favorably. 
While it was under consideration the President laid before 
the House an estimation of the cost of an expedition from 
Council Blulfs to the Columbia. The measure passed the 
House the following December and went to the Senate for 
consideration, where it was finally tabled, in spite of the able 
championship of Senators Benton and Barbour.^* (March, 
1825.) 

President Monroe, in his last annual message to Con- 
gress, December, 1824, recommended the establishment of a 
"military post at the mouth of the Columbia, or at some other 
point in that quarter within our acknowledged limits, to pro- 
mote intercourse between our Western States and Terri- 
tories. * * *'"^ Likewise did President Adams, in his first 
annual message, suggesting also, "the equipment of a public 
ship for the exploration of the whole North West 
coast. * * * ' "® Floyd promptly followed Adams ' recommenda- 
tion with a bill, authoriz^ing, among other things, the Presi- 
dent to erect forts west of tiie mountains and garrison them, 
and to send an exploring party to the Columbia under mili- 
tary escort. The measure failed to pass on the third read- 
ing by a vote of 29 to 75.'^ 

The contests over these bills gave considerable publicity 
to the various phases of the Oregon question and the matter 

" Bancroft's Oregon, I pp. 350-359 ; Annals of Congress, 16th Cong., 2cl Sess., 
pp. 941-959. 

"Bancroft, Oregon, I, pp. 360-365; American State Papers, Military Affairs, 
II, pp. 623-4. 

A House report for April, 1824 contained a letter by Gen. Thos. S. Jesup, 
recommending a line of posts across the continent from Council Bluffs to protect 
traders and to prevent the English from operating in the territory of the U. S. 
See House Reports, 18th Cong., 1st Sess., II, p. 110. 

In 1823 John Jacob Astor wrote the Secretary of State, on solicitation, re- 
garding the need of government posts in Oregon. He had asked for such pro- 
tection in 1813 which was promised, but never given. See American State Papers, 
Miscellaneous, II, pp. 1007-1112. 

1* House Miscellaneous Doc, 53d Cong., 2d Sess., vol. 37; Messages and 
Papers of the Presidents, II, p. 262. 

" Ibid., p. 313. 

"Bancroft's Oregon, I, pp. 367-8. It was not until 1838 that a bill similar 
to Floyd's was introduced again. 



61 

of protecting the interests of American citizens in tlie unor- 
ganized public domain. The debates contained long and de- 
tailed accounts of the resources of the Columbia Valley, the 
Pacific Ocean off the coast of Oregon, and the region of the 
Upper Missouri. The information, which was turned into 
argument, was obtained from reports of travelers, traders, 
explorers, and Government investigations. Those in favor of 
the measures emphasized the trpxie advantages which would 
be realized from such Government aid as was contained in the 
proposed legislation. They argued that the establishment of 
a Government trade route up the Missouri and its tributaries, 
over the mountains, down the Columbia, and across the Pacific 
to the Orient, would produce great profit to the Nation. Fur- 
thermore, they declared that it was the Government's duty 
to protect its citizens from molestations at the hand of the 
Indians, and especially the British. The strong arm of the 
government, they maintained, should protect and encourage 
American enterprise wherever it pursued a legitimate course 
in the territories of the United States. Yet, with all the ardor, 
which such a program could summon, not enough support was 
rallied to eifect the desired legislation.^^ 

It is, indeed, significant that Congress did nothing during 
the twenties and thirties to gratify the desire that substantial 
Government aid and protection be given American enterprise 
in the region in question. The reasons might be summarized 
as being due to:" (1) The existence of extreme partisanism 
and the growing feeling of sectionalism in the country — "The 
Era of Hard Feelings"; (2) the lack of interest in Oregon on 
the part of many, due to its remoteness and the vast undevel- 
oped expanse of seemingly uninhabitable territory between 
it and the states; (3) belief that such aid would be class 
legislation; (4) the improbability of the Government's ever 
receiving returns commensurate with the necessary invest- 
ment; (5) the existence of the treaty of joint occupation with 
England; and (6) the general belief that the Great Bend of 



"See Annals of Congress for 1822-23, pp. 355. 390, 411. 583. 602, 678. 691, 
696, 700 ; also Pamphlet, Proceedings in the United States Senate on the Bill for 
the Protection of the Fur Trade in answer to Mr. Barton's Publication of July 
1824, by Thos. H. Benton; also Abridgment of the Debates of Congress, VIll 
(1824-25) pp. 183-198. 203-213. 

" Ibid. 



62 

the Missouri River was the western limit of civilization — 
that the region beyond was to remain the Indian country, a 
semi-arid desert waste and mountainous region, unworthy of 
civilized effort. It took more than a quarter of a century of 
effort before any legislation was passed to protect those in- 
terests operating between the western frontier and Oregon. 

Nevertheless there were some acts of the executive 
branch of the Government during the thirties which deserve 
mentioning, since they can be construed as benevolent to 
private enterprise in Oregon and the intervening territory. 
In 1835 the Secretary of War sent Colonel Henry Dodge with 
an expeditionary force of about 120 men to explore the region 
south of the Missouri to the mountains. He left Fort Leaven- 
worth in May and returned in September, exploring the 
Platte River country to the mountains and the Upper Arkan- 
sas. The Secretary reported that the expedition was "em- 
ployed in exhibiting to the Indians a force well calculated to 
check or to punish any hostilities they may commit," and to 
add to the general knowledge of that region. Many councils 
were held with the Indians and much done to conciliate the 
warlike tribes and to impress upon them the necessity of their 
respecting the interests of the whites among them. Dodge 
recommended in his report **one or two good positions for a 
military post, should it ever be the policy of the Government 
to establish one in this portion of their territories."^" 

A complaint that settlers in Oregon were subjected to 
hardships at the hands of the Hudson Bay Company caused 
President Jackson to direct W. A. Slocum of the naval service 
to proceed to Oregon to investigate conditions. Slocum vis- 
ited the Columbia in 1837, remaining only a short time, but 
long enough to give some material assistance and encourage- 
ment to Americans there. His report contained valuable in- 
formation regarding the Oregon country.^' 



^ Sen. Doc, 24th Cong., 1st Scss., I, p. 43; Colonel Dodge's Journal. House 
Doc. No. 181, 24th Cong., 1st Sess. ; American State Papers, Military Affairs, V, 
p. 373. 

Col. Dodge, the year before, had been sent from Ft. Gibson with about 
.500 dragoons to escort traders over the Sante Fe Trail. House Exec. Doc. No. 2. 
23d Cong., 2d Sess. As early as 1829 the government had set a pi'ecedent for 
giving cavalry and military aid to the Santa Fe Trade. George A. Forsyth, 
Story of the Soldier, (New York 1900). p. luO. 

» Bancroft's Oregon, I, pp. 100-103, 140-142: Slonim's Report, Hou.sc Repoit 
Supplement, 25th Cong., 3d Sess. 



63 

C. The Acquisition of Oregon aiid Assurance of Protection 

in the Forties. 

By the close of the thirties and the beginning of the 
forties the Oregon question began to assume such proportions 
that Congress was obliged to reopen the consideration of 
measures concerning the control of the Columbia and the pro- 
tection of American interests there, as well as measures per- 
taining to communication with that region. Private enter- 
prise, unaided by the Government, had continued to exploit 
the North West; missionaries had braved the wilds to carry 
Christianity to the natives of the Columbia. Business inter- 
ests of Americans and English were clashing beyond the 
Rockies. A considerable population from the states had 
trekked over the mountains and were demanding the protec- 
tion of the United States Government in their extremities. It 
was clearly evident that the fate of Oregon must soon be 
decided.^^ 

So earnest was the public that the Government bring the 
treaty of joint occupancy to a close and protect Americans 
going to and in Oregon that petitions, memorials and resolu- 
tions praying congressional action began to be sent to "Wash- 
ington from all parts of the country. On January 13, 1840, 
citizens of Elizabethtown, Ky., petitioned Congress to plant 
a colony in Oregon, to ''cut" a road from the Missouri across 
the mountains to Astoria, and to place garrisons at conven- 
ient places , along the route to protect emigrants from the 
Indians." Petitions of like character were received from 
citizens of Indiana and Missouri early in the same year.^" The 
State Legislature of Illinois went so far as to pass resolutions 
for the speedy settlement of the title to Oregon." The citizens 
of Oregon, too, petitioned Congress in 1840 to extend the 
jurisdiction and laws of the United States over that region.'' 

As early as 1838 Senator Lewis F. Linn of Missouri had 
forced the Senate to consider a bill providing for the occupa- 
tion of Oregon with a military force, a fort on the Columbia, 



" The first petition from the citizens of Oveg-on was in 183S. It asked that 
the laws of the United States be extended beyond the Rocky Mountains. 

25 Sen. Doc. 26th Cong-.. 1st Sess.. No. 172; Oregon Historical Society Quar- 
terly, vol. 3, p. 393. 

2* Sen. Doc. 2^th Cong-., 1st Sess., Nos. 40, 244. 

25 Ibid. No. 93. 

2«Ibid. No. 514. 



64 

and the establishment of a port of entry in that country." The 
measure, after reference first to the committee on military 
affairs and later to a select committee, who returned it some- 
what modified to the Senate, failed to pass (February, 1838), 
Linn's second bill secured no more favorable reception.^® The 
passage of Linn's bills, it was believed, would have endan- 
gered our relations with England over the Maine boundary. 

In March, 1840, Linn introduced a third bill. This was 
in response to a recommendation by the Secretary of War 
in compliance with a resolution of the Senate, directing the 
Secretary to give his opinion of the expediency of establishing 
a line of military posts from the Missouri to the mountains 
to protect trade and to facilitate communication with Oregon. 
This bill, besides protection, provided for the appointment of 
an Indian Agent for Oregon and the donation of 1,000 acres 
of land to each male settler over 18 years old. The contro- 
versy over the Maine boundary prevented action on this bill 
also, as it did on still another bill a little later providing for 
the extension of a portion of the laws of the tlnited States 
over Oregon.^® 

Beginning with 1841, the President's messages began 
once more to include recommendations for the establishment 
of military posts along the route to Oregon. President Tyler, 
in his annual message of that year, asked Congress to give 
special attention to "that portion of the Secretary's (war) 
report which proposes the establishment of a chain of mili- 
tary posts from Council Bluffs to some point on the Pacific 
Coast within our limits. * * * giving protection to our fron- 
tier settlements, and of establishing the means of safe inter- 
course between the American settlements at the mouth of the 
Columbia and those on this side of the Rocky Mountains. 
* * * ' '^" Linn responded at once by introducing a bill in the 
Senate, similar to his former measures. This he followed in 
January with a resolution requesting the President to give 

" Bancroft's Oreg-on, I, pp. 370-71. 

™ Ibid. pp. 372-373. Five thousand copies of this bill were printed and cir- 
culated to create public sentiment. The Foreign Committee of the House at the 
same time reported adverse to the expediency of establishing a territorial govern- 
ment in Oregon, giving Maine situation as the reason, 1,000 copies of this report 
were circulated. Ibid. 

™ Bancroft's Oregon. I, pp. 375-378. Linn's fourth bill was prompted by a 
report that England had extended the laws of Canada over Oregon. Further ef- 
forts by Linn in January and August, 1841, were .lust as fruitless. Ibid. 378. 

'" House Miscel. Doc, vol. 4, Messages and Papers of the Presidents, 53d 
Cong., 2d Sess., p. 3265. 



65 

England the one year's notice to terminate the treaty of 1827. 
The Maine boundary was still in the balance and action was 
once more deferred. 

The next year several important things, emanating in one 
way or another from the Government, happened, all of which 
materially augmented the interest in Oregon. The first de- 
serving consideration are the explorations in the Columbia 
Valley by Lieutenant Charles Wilkes in 1841. Wilkes was 
authorized by Congress in 1836 to explore parts of the Pacific 
Ocean, including the coast of Oregon and the Lower Columbia. 
His report, which he delivered before the National Institute, 
Washington, in 1842, gave much information about the Colum- 
bia River as far inland as Walla Walla.^^ 

Another act of considerable consequence was the appoint- 
ment of Elijah "^^Hiite as Indian Agent in Oregon. White was 
to go immediately and encourage as many emigrants as pos- 
sible to accompany him. With about one hundred men, women 
and children he left Independence, Mo., in the early summer 
of 1842 and arrived among the settlements on the Columbia 
in the autumn of the same year. This was undoubtedly one 
of the most important preliminary movements which deter- 
mined the speedy occupation of the Columbia Valley by 
Americans. White's band was the vanguard of thousands 
who trekked over the trail to Oregon during the next few 
years. The Government had now, for the first time, a resident 
agent in that country and seemed to approve of a considerable 
emigration thither.^^ 

Perhaps the most important event in the history of 
Oregon and the West in 1842 was the appointment of John 
C. Fremont ''to explore the country between the Missouri 
Eiver and the Eocky Mountains." This action was author- 
ized by ''the Topographical Bureau with the sanction of the 
Secretary of War."^^ The real purpose of Fremont's expedi- 
tion seems to have been known to only a few. It was not iintil 
long after that it was declared to be "in aid of and auxiliary 



31 See Synopsis of the United States Exploring- Expedition, 1838-1842, delivered 
before the National Institute, Washington, by Charles Wilkes, pp. 34-40. Another 
account is. Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition, 1838-42, by 
Charles Wilkes, five volumes, (Philadelphia, 1844), II, eh. 9-15. 

3^ See White's report to the Commissioner of Indian affairs, April 1, 1843, 
Exec. Doc, 28th Cong-., 1st Sess., I No. 2, p. 450. 

3' John C. Fremont, Memoirs, (Chicago and New York 1887), pp. 69-72. 
President Tyler -was averse to any aid to westei^n emigration. Ibid. 



66 

to the Oregon emigration." Benton was back of this move- 
ment to aid emigration to the Columbia. Fremont himself 
says in his memoirs that the purpose of the expedition **was 
to indicate and describe the line of travel and the best posi- 
tions for military posts; and to describe and fix in position 
the South Pass in the Rocky Mountains. ' "* 

Fremont, with about twent}^ companions and Kit Carson 
as guide, left Missouri in the early summer of 1842 and re- 
turned to St. Louis in October. The route taken was that 
commonly taken by the Oregon emigrants. The work per- 
formed was of a scientific nature and such as to contribute 
materially to the knowledge of the region traversed. Benton, 
in his Thirty Years' View, says: '** * * The exploration 
of Lieutenant Fremont had the double effect of fixing an im- 
portant point [South Pass] in the line of the emigrants' 
travel, and giving them encouragement from the apparent 
interest the Grovernment took in their enterprise.'"' 

The ap]^ointment of an Indian Agent to Oregon and the 
sending of Fremont to explore the route to the South Pass 
were acts of the Government sufficient to encourage those 
desiring to emigrate to Oregon. 

A fourth act of the Government in 1842, interpreted in 
the light of its sequel, was a crucial one in the history of 
Oregon. It was expected that the ministers who were con- 
Huding a settlement of the northeast boundary between 
Canada and the United States would also arrange the boun- 
dary on the northwest. "When it became known that the 
Webster-Ashbui'ton Treaty left the Oregon question unsettled, 
a storm of indignation and disappointment went over the 
country. Eesolutions from bodies of citizens and state legis- 
latures began to implore Congress to terminate the treaty of 
joint occupation of Oregon and to protect and aid American 
interests in that country. President Tyler, in his annual 
message in December, apologized for the neglect of Oregon 
by explainiTig that its inchi^^ion in the negotiations of the 
other matter would have created complications injurious to 
the settlement of the Maine boundarA*. PTe further expressed 



'* Freraon't Memoirs?, pp. 69-72. 

»»Thos. H. Benton. Thirty Years in the U. S. Senate. 1820-1850. (Xew York 
1858,) II, p. 478. Fremont made his report to his superiors. March 1, 1843. 
The Senate ordered 1000 c-opif^s pnhlished for distribution. 



67 

Ms intention of urging upon England "the importance of its 
[Oregon boundary] early settlement."*" 

Soon after the provisions of the Webster-Ashburton 
Treaty became known Senator Linn began to urge the enact- 
ment of a bill providing for a line of militar}' posts, not to 
exceed five in number, from the western frontier to the mouth 
of the Columbia ; large grants of lands to settlers, their wives 
and children; the appointment of Indian agents in the West; 
the organization of a judicial system between Iowa and 
Oregon ; and for an appropriation of $100,000 to carry on the 
work. The best talent in the Senate was enlisted in the de- 
bate. Benton ably aided Linn. The argument for and against 
the measure was very much the same as that given in the 
debates on the previous measures by Linn and Floyd." The 
bill passed the Senate February, 1843, by a vote of 24 to 22 
and went to the House, where it failed. 

The interest in the progress of events relating to Oregon 
in 1842-43 was intense. Many petitions suggesting legislation 
for that region were received in Washington. Members of 
Congress received letters from all over the country, particu- 
larly from the western states, urging them to support meas- 
ures favorable to American interests in the Columbia Val- 
ley and the intervening territory. Senator Linn, who died in 
October, 1843, received hundreds of such letters up to the time 
of his death. During the session of 1843-44 memorials con- 
tinued to implore Congress to legislate in favor of American 
interests west of the Eockies.^^ 

The events of 1842, and especially Linn's bill of '42- '43, 
led many to believe that the Government was now determined 
to aid in the colonization of the Columbia Valley. Though 
Linn's measure was not passed by the House, '^the emi- 
grants assumed it to mean protection." It was the generous 
provisions of this proposed legislation, which seemed certain 
to be enacted, that encouraged the great emigration in 1843.^" 

In this same year the Government sent Fremont on a 
second expedition ''to connect with the first expedition at the 

'« Sen. Doc, 27th Congr.. 2d Sess., Ill, p. 5. 

"See pag-es 133-136. Benton's Thirty Tears' View, ir pp. 'I6S-478 gives a is^ood 
account of the debate on this bill. 

^Bancroft's Oregon, I, pp. 381-84. 

"Burnett's Recollections, p. 97; also Greenhow's Oregon, pp. 338-91. 



68 

South Pass * * *" and "* * * to examine the broad region 
south of the Columbia Eiver."'° Thus, with Wilkes' explora- 
tions there would be *'a connected survey of the interior and 
western half of the continent."" To insure protection from 
the Indians, Fremont obtained a howitzer from the arsenal 
at St. Louis. This made the expedition seem military rather 
than scientific and caused the authorities at Washington to 
send orders to Fremont to return to the capital to explain 
his action. Fortunately Mrs. Fremont prudently delayed the 
order and hurried her husband on his mission. 

This expedition took a course somewhat farther south of 
that of the first. It explored an area including the sources 
of the Platte and Arkansas Rivers in the region which is now 
Colorado, then went on through South Pass to the Salt Lake 
country, where further explorations were made. From Salt 
Lake Fremont went on to the Columbia, where he was the 
guest of Dr. McLoughlin at Vancouver, November, 1843. 
From the Columbia, Fremont explored the heart of the region 
southward as far as the most southern part of California. 
From there he pursued a northeastern direction to Salt Lake, 
thence eastward to the sources of the Arkansas, which stream 
he followed for a time, leaving it for a more direct route to 
Western Missouri. He arrived in St. Louis in August, 1844, 
and soon went to Washington, where in March, 1845, he com- 
pleted and gave his report to the public, 10,000 extra copies 
being ordered by Congress for distribution. 

The service which this intrepid explorer performed, not 
only for his own country, but for the world, was incalculable. 
His two expeditions furnished much scientific information 
concerning the West. Moreover, the presence of a Grovern- 
ment force at times near the chief route of communication 
between the states and Oregon could not but have a salutary 
effect upon the emigrants. 

While Fremont was concluding his second expedition and 
preparing his report Congress was considering legislation for 
the benefit of Oregon. Missouri sent David R. Atchison to 
succeed Senator Linn, deceased. Atchison followed the good 



*» Benton's Thirty Years' View, p. 579; Fremon't Memoirs, p. 165. 
■"Fremont's Memoirs, p. 276. 

Fremont's other expeditions, 1845, 1848, 1853, are little concerned with the 
Oregon Trail and interests in Oregon. 



69 

example of his predecessor by introducing a bill in the first 
session of the Twenty-eighth Congress similar to Linn's bill 
of 1843. The arrival of an agent from England, however, to 
negotiate the settlement of the Oregon difficulty caused action 
to be deferred. A second bill by Atchison to establish a gov- 
ernment in Oregon failed to get a third reading. During the 
same time the House considered a measure to extend the civil 
and criminal code of Iowa over Oregon as far north as 
54° 40'; but nothing came of it other than the printing of 
10,000 copies for distribution.*- 

President Tyler, in referring to Oregon in his annual 
message of 1844, said that "military posts at suitable points 
upon the extended line of travel would enable our citizens to 
migrate in comparative safety. * * * These posts would 
constitute places of rest for the weary emigrant, where he 
would be sheltered securely against danger of an attack by 
the Indians, and be able to recover from the exhaustion from 
a long line of travel." Yet, with the President urging pro- 
tective legislation, with the Secretary of War suggesting 
suitable places for garrisons, with committees of both houses 
of Congress reporting bills providing all the protection 
needed, and with resolutions of conventions and state legis- 
latures asking the national legislature to aid and protect the 
emigrants, it was impossible to get a majority of both the 
House and the Senate to favor a law embodying even a part 
of the program for Oregon. The House did succeed in pass- 
ing a bill to organize the Territory of Oregon, February, 1845. 
This measure replaced a bill by xitchison in the Senate; but 
that body let it fail for the want of time. Another measure 
**to protect the rights of citizens in Oregon," passed the 
House, April, 1846, but failed in the Senate. This last mea- 
sure was in response to a petition from the provisional gov- 
ernment of Oregon that the Government protect American 
citizens in that country.^^ 

^2 Bancroft's Oregon, I pp. 3S4-3S6. 

ern mlmh?rT%f.l^\n''^^°'^- ^ P? 386-87 Interest in Texas influenced south- 
ern members often to oppose legislation for Orea-on, Ibid. In December 1845 
Stephen A. Douglas introduced a bill in Congress for a national Mghway to the 
Tit. £ouis!l8^8T)f'p. ?96. ^''^ ^i^h^^<i S"^"h Klliott, Notes taken in'^sl^ty Yeai^ 

is^^^tf® ^^^?^House Report. 27th Cong., 3d Sess., Doc. 426, No 31- Cong Globe 
1844-5, pp. 17, 155 237. 277; Sen. Doc, 28th Cong., 2d Ses.s . No. 56 The' reports 

i Un^ n^^nlf7n^^^^^' ^?'\^^^r^- ^^^^^ ^^^^ ^" recommend the establishment of 
a line or posts on the route to Orefiron. 



70 

The War Department, being executive in character, could 
respond more easily to the demand for protection on the route 
to Oregon. In May, 1845, Colonel S. W. Kearny was ordered 
to proceed from Fort Leavenworth to the South Pass with 
five companies of dragoons, numbering about 250 men. The 
soldiers were well armed and took with them two howitzers. 
Here was an armed force sufficient to overawe the Indians and 
impress upon them the danger of molesting the emigrants. 
This expedition was purely military in character, though its 
purpose was to cultivate peace among the savages. The 
troops returned to Leavenworth after an absence of ninety 
days, by going down the Arkansas and over the Santa Fe 
Trail. 

Kearny reported that the Indians "were distinctly told 
that the road opened by the dragoons must not be closed by 
the Indians, and that the white people traveling upon it must 
not be disturbed, either in their persons or property." The 
savages were instructed in the destructive qualities of the 
howitzers by witnessing the discharge of the two pieces, which 
filled them with amazement. The report further stated that 
''although we did not see as many Indians on our march as 
we had desired, yet the fact of our having been through their 
country is, no doubt, at this time well known to every man, 
woman and child in it. And as those were the first soldiers 
ever seen by those upper Indians, and as those who saw them 
were much struck with their uniform appearance, their fine 
horses, their arms and big guns (howitzers), it is most prob- 
able in their accounts to those who did not see us, they have 
rather exaggerated than lessened our number, power and 
force. ' " ' 

Kearny thought that no army post should be established 
near Fort Laramie, as was recommended, as the advantage 
would not be commensurate with the expense. In fact, his 
report seems to discourage the location of military posts any- 
where on the route to Oregon. He advised, instead, that 
military forces similar to his be sent out every two or three 
years to keep the Indians quiet and to remind them of the 
effectiveness with which the dragoons could operate in any 



"See Sen. Doc, 29th Cong., 1st Sess., I, No. 1, p. iilO for Kearny's report. 
Mention also In NUes Register, vol. 69, p. 3*3. 



71 

part of their country." This act of the Grovernment was in- 
deed protection for the emigrants, who must have been greatly 
encouraged to see a strong detachment of soldiers along the 
trail, whose purpose was to warn the savages to let them 
alone. 

The year 1846 witnessed the settlement of the title to 
Oregon and the passage of an act providing for the establish- 
ment of a line of military posts along the route to the Colum- 
bia. In April Congress authorized the President to abrogate 
the convention of 1827,'" and the following August the com- 
missioners fixed the boundary at 49°. 

On May 19 Congress passed ''An Act to provide for rais- 
ing a regiment of mounted riflemen, and for establishing 
military stations on the route to Oregon. ' '" The main provi- 
sions of the measure were the raising of one regiment of ten 
companies for duty at the posts ; the appropriation of $76,000 
for the expense of mounting and equipping the regiment ; and 
the additional appropriation of $5,000 to defray the expense 
of each post which the President might see fit to establish, 
and to purchase locations from the Indians. 

It was not until the spring of the following year, how- 
ever, that a move was made to carry out the provisions of 
this act. "March 31 a call was made on the State of Mis- 
souri for a regiment of mounted volunteers, a part of which 
was to be employed in establishing military posts on the route 
to Oregon."*® The war with Mexico, however, caused the 
entire regiment to be ordered to New Mexico. The Secretary 
of War then made a requisition upon Governor Edwards of 
Missouri for "a battalion of similar troops" to establish the 
long wished for posts. One company of artillery, two of 
mounted men and two of infantry soon set out from Missouri 
to locate and begin the erection of the forts. Two posts were 
located, ''one near Grand Island, where the road to Oregon 
strikes the Platte, and the other at or near Fort Laramie."*** 

The Missouri battalion began work in 1847 on the post 
near Grand Island, which they called Fort Kearney. Not 

^ Kearny recommended that the whole unorganized territory west of the 
Mississippi be put under martial law. 

«U. S. Statutes at Large, 29th Cong-., 1st Sess., vol. 9, p. 110. 

«Ibid.. p. 13. 

** Sen. Doc, 30th Cong., 1st Sess., No 503, (The report of the Secretary of 
War, December 2, 1847) 

•Ibid. See Nlles Register also. vol. 72. p. 370. 



72 

much was accomplished that year toward its construction, 
but the following year the troops returned and continued the 
work. Besides locating the two posts and beginning work 
on the first, these troops did excellent service in operating 
against the Indians in that region. 

But the task of establishing the posts on the route to 
Oregon moved slowly, as it had ever done. Eeports of Indian 
massacres in Oregon caused the President in 1848 to order a 
regiment of mounted riflement in Mexico to Jefferson Bar- 
racks, and from there to proceed to Oregon. The soldiers, 
however, took advantage of a privilege to resign and the 
regiment was depleted. Vigorous measures were used to 
recruit the regiment and several more companies were quickly 
raised. Two of these proceeded westward and relieved the 
Missouri Volunteers who were at Fort Kearney.^" The late- 
ness of the season prevented the sending that year of any 
relief to Oregon over the trail. By the winter of 1848 three 
buildings had been erected at Fort Kearney for the two com- 
panies, with a bakery, stables and a large storehouse.^^ 

Early in 1849 a regiment of mounted riflemen proceeded 
from Ft. Leavenwortli to complete the work of establishing 
the line of posts to Oregon." After resting and overhauling 
their equipment at Fort Kearney, the regiment went on to 
Forth Laramie where two companies remained, occupying the 
old fort buildings which the government had purchased." 
During the summer the soldiers erected a hospital and maga- 
zine and got other buildings under way of construction. The 
remainder of the regiment went on to Oregon, leaving two 
companies to establish a post near Ft. Hall, and arrived 
at Vancouver early in October. Owing to the scarcity of for- 
age near Ft. Hall the post there was abandoned and one lo- 
cated near the Dalles instead.^* 

This regiment of riflemen was the first military force 
to travel the entire route to Oregon. Its mission was success- 

"Exec. Doc, 30th Cong., 2d Sess., vol. 1, pp. 79, 162. 

"Exec. Doc, 31st Cong., 1st Sess., vol. 3, p. 225. 

" Congress did pass an act for a territorial government in Oregon, August, 
1848, ana In September of the same year, a rnilitai-y escort accompanied the 
newly appointed governor and marshall of the territory from Ft. Leavenworth 
over the Sante Fe Trail and along the Gila River to California. In November 
1848 two companies of soldiers sailed from New York for service in Oregon, 
arriving there the next May and locating at Fort Vancouver and at Fort ' 
Steelacoom on Puget Sound. 

'"'Exec. Doc, 31st Cong., 1st Sess., vol. 3, p. 225. 

"Exec. Doc, 31st Cong., 2d Sess., vol. 1, p. 5. 



73 

fully performed; the posts were finally established and pro- 
tection provided for the emigrants throughout the entire 
length of the Trail. It should be borne in mind, however, 
that the expeditions of 1845, 1847, 1848, and 1849 moved in- 
dependently of the emigrant trains. There were times, of 
course, when the soldiers and travelers met and passed each 
other. The presence and operations of the military forces 
on the route, nevertheless, served as a valuable protective 
agency to the emigrants. The Indians could easily discrim- 
inate between United States soldiers on duty and companies 
of emigrants passing through their land, and they knew they 
could not molest the latter without danger of punishment by 
the former. Fort Laramie was especially well located since 
it was in the country of the Sioux and the Crows, who were 
the most hostile to the movements of the emigrants. 

By 1849-50, then, the government had a line of military 
posts on the route to Oregon from Fort Leavenworth on the 
Missouri to Fort Vancouver on the Columbia. The interven- 
ing posts were at Fort Kearney, Fort Laramie, and the post 
at the Dalles. There were posts also at Astoria and Steela- 
coom.^^ The United States was now the sole possessor of the 
Columbia Valley, and had given Oregon a territorial govern- 
ment to replace the provisional one, which the settlers had 
formed several years before. The government had also estab- 
lished post roads in Oregon, and in 1849 Congress had 
authorized the Secretary of War to furnish arms and ammu- 
nition at the cost to the government to persons emigrating to 
Oregon, California, and New Mexico.^*^ The Trail to Oregon 
was now under government protection, even though the aid 
came slowly and was not entirely adequate to the emigrants' 
needs. 



53 Sen. Doc, 32d Cong., 1st Sess., vol. 1, p. 145. 

55 United States Statutes at Large, 29th Cong., 2d Sess., (vol. 9), pp. 200, 418; 
Iljid.. 31st Cong., 1st Sess. (vol. 9) p. 496. 



74 



APPENDIX I. 



(Organization of Emlgratinir Company, BloominBton, now Muscatine, Iowa, 1843.] 

"Saturday April 1, 1843.' 

"The meeting was organized by calling David Hender- 
shott to the chair, and Silas A. Hudson as secretary; when 
a motion of James G. Edwards the report of the committee 
read in part on Saturday last, was ordered to be read in full. 

"Mr. Hight, from the committee on correspondence, 
made the following report : 

"Your committee of correspondence beg leave to report 
that they have written to Independence, Missouri, and to 
Columbus, Ohio, and have requested information, and also 
have proposed to join at some point this side of the mountains. 
Your committee have also thought it proper to submit a set of 
resolutions for your consideration, which ought to govern the 
company. It is expressly understood that we emigrate to 
Oregon for the purpose of settlement; men of families are 
requested to join; we have already engaged a physician and 
expect a chaplain to accompany the enterprise. 

"Organization of the Oregon Emigration Society. There 
shall be elected one captain, four sergeants, and as soon as 
the company shall arrive at the gap of the Rocky Mountains, 
and consists of not less than one hundred men, they may 
choose one first and one second lieutenant. The captain and 
the four officers next in rank shall direct all the movements, 
and make all arrangements for the society for their march; 
and they shall act as directors, and shall qualify candidates 
and receive them as such at their distinction. They shall have 
charge of the funds of the company; shall choose their own 
clerk, who shall keep a regular account of all moneys expended 
and the amount on hand ; and the directors shall report to the 
company monthly. The clerk shall keep a regular journal 

i Oregon Historical Society Quarterly, vol. 3, p. 892 



of the march. No negroes or niuiattoes shall be allowed to 
accompany the expedition under any pretention whatever. 

"Equipment — Eifle guns, to carry from thirty- two to sixty 
bullets to the pound, and a tomahawk and knife, $16; 1 
chopping axe, spade, etc., $2; 100 pounds side bacon, $3; 1 
barrel flour and 1 peck of salt, $2.25; ^ pound cayenne 
pepper, 1 barrel beans, $1; 1 canteen and 1 blanket, $5; 1 
tent to every six men, $150 ; 1 pony or mule, $60 ; teams and 
horses to be shod, and spare shoes ; i/^ barrel, iron hooped, to 
each wagon, for carrying water, $1.50. To each wagon, 3 sets 
plow irons; 1 cradling scythe to each wagon; all mechanical 
tools to be taken ; $20 cash to be deposited with the directors 
for company use. 

** Every man ought to carry with him a Bible and other 
religious books, as we hope not to degenerate into a state of 
barbarism. 

*'The whole amount necessary for each man, without a 
horse, will be about $65. 

"As soon as fifty men shall have joined and been in- 
spected, and found competent, they shall choose their officers 
and then agree as to the time of taking up the line of march. 
We shall pass through Mount Pleasant, and to the agency, 
and thence the best route to Council Bluffs. 

''Mr. Edwards moved that the report be adopted and 
printed, which was agreed to; when, on motion of General 
Hight, the meeting adjourned to meet on Saturday, April 
8th at 2 o'clock p.m." 



76 



APPENDIX II. 



Rules and Eegulations for the Government of the Oregon 
Emigrating Company.^ 

Resolved, Whereas, we deem it necessary for the govern- 
ment of all societies, either civil or military, to adopt certain 
rules and regulations for their government, for the purpose 
of keeping good order and promoting civil and military dis- 
cipline. In order to insure union and safety, we deem it 
necessarj^ to adopt the following rules and regulations for 
the government of the said company: 

Rule 1. Every male person of the age of 16, or upward, 
shall be considered a legal voter in all affairs relating to the 
company. 

Rule 2. There shall be nine members elected by a ma- 
jority of tbe company, who shall form a council, whose duty 
it shall be to settle all disputes arising between individuals, 
and to try and pass sentence on all persons for any act for 
which they may be guilty, which is subversive to good order 
and military discipline. They shall take especial cognizance 
of all sentinels and members of the guard who may be guilty 
of neglect of duty or sleeping on post. Such persons shall 
be tried and sentence passed upon them at the discretion of 
the council. A majority of two-thirds of the council shall 
decide all questions that may come before them, subject to 
the approval or disapproval of the captain. If the captain 
disapproves of the decision of the council, he shall state to 
them his reasons, when they shall again pass upon the ques- 
tion, and if the same decision is again made by the same 
majority, it shall be final. 

Rule 3. There shall be a captain elected who shall have 
supreme military command of the company. It shall be the 

' Oregon Historical Society Quarterly, vol. 3, page 407 ; Willies, History, 
Oregon, Part II, p. 70. 



77 

duty of the captain to maintain good order and strict dis- 
cipline, and, as far as practicable, to enforce all rules and 
regulations adopted by the company. Any man who shall 
be guilty of disobedience of orders shall be tried and sen- 
tenced at the discretion of the council, which may extend to 
expulsion from the company. The captain shall appoint the 
necessary number of duty sergeants, one of which shall take 
charge of every guard, and who shall hold their office at the 
pleasure of the captain. 

Rule 4. There shall be an orderly sergeant elected by 
the company, whose duty it shall be to keep a regular roll, 
arranged in alphabetical order, of every person subject to 
guard duty in the company, and shall make out his guard 
details by commencing at the top of the roll and proceeding 
to the bottom, thus giving every man an equal tour of guard 
duty. He shall also give the member of every guard notice 
when he is detailed for duty. He shall also parade every 
guard, call the roll and inspect the same at the time of mount- 
ing. He shall also visit the guard at least once every night 
and see that the guard are doing strict military duty, and 
may at any time give them the necessary instructions respect- 
ing their duty, and shall regularly make report to the cap- 
lain every morning and be considered second in command. 

Rule 5. The captain, orderly sergeant and members of 
the council shall hold their offices at the pleasure of the com- 
pany, and it shall be the duty of the council, upon the appli- 
cation of one-third or more of the company, to order a new 
election for either captain or orderly sergeant, or new mem- 
ber or members of the council, or for all or any of them, as 
the case may be. 

Rule 6. The election of officers shall not take place until 
the company meet at Kansas River. 

Rule 7. No family shall be allowed to take more than 
three loose cattle to every male member of the family of the 
age of 16 and upward. 



p 



n /, 



'u 




.JIAHT I^OOaaO HHT '50 «IAM 




MAP OF THE OREGON TRAIL. 



79 



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80 

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