Dangers on the Oregon Trail - Primary Sources
A variety of dangers on the Oregon Trail threatened the pioneers on an almost daily basis.
Oftentimes, life on the American frontier gets romanticized far beyond its realities. Take the Oregon Trail for example. When people hear the words, “Oregon Trail” there is a tendency to imagine brave men and women with chiseled features stoically marching across the plains undaunted by trials and tribulations they faced. We think of long lines of perfectly white-topped wagons peacefully rolling along a well-worn road. Of course it is a perfect 70 degree day and there is plenty of green grass abounding in all directions. At night, after making good progress on the trail, we can almost smell the aroma of supper as emigrants ate near the warm heat of a crackling campfire and discussed plans of the future. While some of these visions in our mind’s eye might have some truth, the reality of life on the trail was far different.
One of the best parts of writing books like History of the West with Jemmey Fletcher: Tyrant’s Road, is spending time researching a particular historical time period. While conducting research for the book, I came across a great source in the form of a book titled The Great Platte River Road by Merrill J. Mattes. Since it was first published in 1969, The Great Platte River Road has won numerous national awards for its contribution to history. Early in the book, Mattes lays out many of the dangers on the Oregon Trail that emigrants faced. Mattes referenced countless primary sources on the subject, many of which can only be accessed through museums. While the Mattes’ book is not the only resource used for Tyrant’s Road, his book does account for the majority of the primary sources in this article.
As with any historical time period, if you are interested in learning about the dangers on the Oregon Trail, the best way to learn is by reading the accounts of people who actually experienced it. Here are just a small sample of journals on the subject of dangers the pioneers faced. Readers might recognized that a few of these were actually used and included in Tyrant’s Road.
Teachers may appreciate this PDF to help analyze the primary sources with their students.
Disease
As most people already know, by far the biggest danger on the Oregon Trail was disease, and the number one deadly disease was cholera. Cholera is a disease pioneers likely got from drinking bad water, and once the water was contaminated with the disease people died quickly and painfully. One journal entry that captures the speed at which cholera killed and the pain it left in camps was recorded by John Clark in 1852.
“We pitched our tents but soon found we were in a distressed crowd. Many Oregon families. One woman & two men lay dead on the grass & some more ready to die of cholera, measels & small pocks. A few men were digging graves, others tending the sick. Women & children crying, some hunting medicine & none to be found scarcely; those that had were loathe to spare. With heartfelt sorrow we looked around for some time until I felt unwell myself. Ordered the teams got up & move forward one mile so as to be out of hearing of crying & suffering.”
Gun Accidents
If you have read Tyrant’s Road, you might be aware of how quickly gun accidents could have shattered the lives of a wagon train. Unfortunately, gun accidents were very common on the trail for a variety of reasons. Not only were there many guns in most camps, but fatigued and distracted people handling them. Secondly, sources of the time say that flintlocks were not safe and should not be taken. For those of you unfamiliar with black powder guns you might like this video about how to shoot one.
The gun featured in the video is a percussion cap gun, and these were the guns pioneers were encouraged to take. Flintlocks on the other hand must be carried at “half-cock” because the frizzen must be closed to hold the priming powder. If the lock of the gun was faulty, it could go off at any time and cause accidents as the do the following entries by pioneers.
“Mr. S— in attempting to draw the gun out of the wagon accidentally cocked it and it went off, lodging the contents in Mr. Twiddie’s knee.” - Eastin, 1849
“An emigrant died near Scott’s Bluffs…his jaw was shot away when a loaded pistol fired from his breast pocket.” - McBride, 1850
“A young Jermin shot himself accidentally…the ball passed through his breast and lodged against his shoulder blade. The poor fellow fell, rolled and hollowed. Bled like a hog. He lived but a few hours.” - John Wood, 1850
Animals
As people with experience handling animals can attest, anytime you are dealing with livestock you have to expect the unexpected. Animals can be unpredictable and when animals weighing over half a ton decide to explode, the results can be life-threatening. So, when you imagine a wagon train of 20 wagons, each with a few draft animals apiece, some beef cattle and horses thrown in, in addition to the emigrants themselves, you can just about imagine all of the broken bones and bumps and bruises pioneers got from animal wrecks. Numerous people were run over by wagons or trampled by stock. Sometimes, the accidents turned deadly. Here is G.W. Thissell’s description of a time when the train’s herd of oxen stampeded:
“The cattle swayed from side to side, bellowing and goring each other. All hands were called out on guard. With one wild and mad rush, 250 head of oxen went crashing over the wagons, trampling one man… to death, and wounding several others.”
River Crossings
Another of major danger on the Oregon Trail was the river crossings. River crossings were highly dangerous for a variety of reasons. Again, imagine all of those unpredictable animals we just mentioned, and now throw them into a rushing river. With water splashing, wagon yokes jingling, and people hollering, it was just a recipe for disaster. Also, rivers in the 1800s were not like rivers are today. Almost all rivers were larger, more violent, and more unpredictable. Even with that being said, you can still get a sense of how dangerous river crossings would have been by watching these reenactors cross the Snake River at Three Island Crossing.
Crime
Another of the lesser known dangers of the Oregon Trail would have come from the pioneers themselves. Remember, the trip from Independence to Oregon or California was around 2,000 miles and would have taken several months. Almost always the emigrants joined together for the purpose of making the trip. So, take dozens of strangers, throw them in a difficult (if not life and death) situation, and then realize there is no formal system of law and order, and you can imagine how things boiled over at times. Although violence was not uncommon, Mattes does state that “Under the circumstances, the vast majority (of pioneers) behaved admirably.”
That being said, there were cases of crime on the trail at times ending in violence. Here are several journal entries recording various instances.
“All his clothes were burnt with the exception of his shirt… It had quite a number of holes in it, where he had been shot and stabbed, and it was all covered with blood.” - Richard Hickman
“Two men who prepared their outfit in company at Independence, had frequent quarrels in regard to their traveling and camping arrangements. Going into camp near Chimney Rock, the quarrel was renewed….in the heat of passion, thew drew out their hunting knives and closed in for mortal combat. In a few minutes one fell and almost instantly died; the other, fainting from loss of blood, was carried in the shade of a tent where, within an hour, he too expired; and with the grim irony of fate, at sunset they were laid side by side in the same grave.” - John Steele
The Oregon Trail was also filled with danger from weather and Native Americans. In fact, some call the trail the nation’s longest graveyard with over 65,000 people suspected to have died en route. Still, despite the threats, over 400,00 people made the journey to the West Coast and it left an enduring mark in the history of America. So, next time you find yourself dreaming of trekking across the country in a covered wagon, remember it wasn’t all glitz and glamor.
