TRAIL
THE OREGON TRAIL
DEVIL S TOWER, WYOMING
AMERICAN GUIDE SERIES
THE OREGON TRAIL
THE MISSOURI RIVER TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN
Compiled and written by the
FEDERAL WRITERS PROJECT
of the
WORKS PROGRESS ADMINISTRATION
Sponsored by
OREGON TRAIL MEMORIAL ASSOCIATION, INC.
and published by
HASTINGS HOUSE Publishers NEW YORK
COPYRIGHT 1939 BY
OREGON TRAIL MEMORIAL ASSOCIATION, INC.
All Rights Reserved Including the Right to Reproduce
This Book or Parts Thereof in Any Form
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
BY J. J. LITTLE AND IVES COMPANY, NEW YORK.
FOREWORD
The Oregon Trail, third in the series of main-highway guidebooks
prepared by the Federal Writers Project, presents a story particularly
pertinent to our times.
The great migration westward came largely as a result of the ter
rific depression of 1837; a depression brought on by speculation in
railroads and canals and by overexpansion of industry. The great dif
ference between then and now is to be found in the fact that today there
are no longer western frontiers. Since we cannot migrate to undeveloped
land as a solution for our troubles, we are now cultivating our neglected
human and material resources. However, without a knowledge of the
period between 1800 and 1870 it is impossible to understand the trends
of our own times.
The American spirit of independence that carried thousands of emi
grants from the East to the Pacific Coast is still alive, and though the
problems to be solved require a new technique, the American people
are competent to find a satisfactory solution.
HENRY G. ALSBERG
Director of Federal Writers Project
WORKS PROGRESS ADMINISTRATION
F. C. HARRINGTON, Administrator
FLORENCE S. KERR, Assistant Administrator
HENRY G. ALSBERG, Director of Federal Writers Project
CONTENTS
FOREWORD v
NOTES ON THE BOOK xi
WHY A TRAIL TO OREGON? 1
MISSOURI-IOWA
Section 1. Independence to Council Bluffs, US 24, US 71,
and US 275 37
NEBRASKA
Section 2. Omaha to Kearney, US 30-Alt. and US 30 55
Section 3. Kearney to Ogallala, US 30 70
Section 4. Ogallala to Wyo. Line, US 30 77
WYOMING
Section 5. Nebraska Line to Laramie, US 30 83
Section 6. Laramie to Rawlins, US 30 88
Section 7. Rawlins to Idaho Line, US 30 and US 30N 93
IDAHO
Section 8. Wyoming Line to Pocatello, US 30N 103
Section 9. Pocatello to Twin Falls, US 30N and US 30 107
Section 10. Twin Falls to Boise, US 30 114
Section 11. Boise to Oregon Line, US 30 120
OREGON
Section 12. Idaho Line to Pendleton, US 30 123
Section 13. Pendleton to Portland, US 30 132
Section 14. Portland to Astoria, US 30 151
vii
viii Contents
ALTERNATE ROUTE, NEBRASKA-WYOMING
Ogallala, Neb., to Granger, Wyo., US 26, US 87, US 87E,
US 287, and unnumbered dirt road 162
SIDE ROUTES
A. Rock Springs, Wyo., to Jackson, Wyo., US 187 197
B. Pocatello, Idaho, to Jackson, Wyo., US 91, US 191,
Idaho 33, and Wyo. 22 202
C. Bridgeport, Neb., to Horse Creek Treaty Grounds,
Neb. 86 211
APPENDICES
Jefferson s Instruction to Lewis 215
Necessary Outfits for Emigrants Traveling to Oregon, by
Palmer 220
The United States, 1837-1860 (a chronology) 224
Bibliography 228
INDEX 231
ILLUSTRATIONS
1. Devil s Tower, Wyoming Frontispiece
FACING PAGE
2. Chinook Woman (The Chinooks called their neighbors Flat-
heads ) Catlin 20
3. Nebraska Settlers (1886) Neb. Hist. Soc. 21
4. Cavalry Escorting the Mail Bolmar 36
5. The Mail Smithsonian Institution 36
6. Independence Courthouse, Missouri (1855) 37
7. Wagon Trains (c. 1871) 52
8. Block House near Omaha 53
9. The Platte Ferry 68
10. Pony Express Station, Gothenburg, Neb. 69
11. Arapaho (c. 1868) 84
12. Green River Valley F. S. A. Rothstein 85
13. The Sand Hills 100
14. The Lonely Trail W. H. Jackson 101
15. Building the Union Pacific U. P. R. R. Museum 101
16. Union Pacific Workers (1867) U. P. R. R. Museum 116
17. Wagon Train (c. 1871) 117
18. Union Pacific Construction Train (1867) U. P. R. R.
Museum 132
19. Breaking Camp Leslies Weekly 133
20. Methodist Mission near The Dalles (1845) 133
21. Scalped Hunter (1869) Smithsonian Institution 148
22. The Columbia Gorge 149
23. Crossing the Plains Appletons Journal 164
24. Scottsbluff Kirsch 165
25. Settlers (1864) Neb. Hist. Soc. 180
26. Along the Trail 181
27. Map (Northwestern Explorations) Inside back cover
NOTES ON THE BOOK
The Oregon Trail is primarily a guidebook, but it is also history,
told, after the first chapter, in geographical rather than chronological
or topical sequence. The explorers Lewis and Clark, the fur trader
Manuel Lisa, the refugee Mormons, and the construction gang of the
Union Pacific Railroad are tied together by campgrounds near the same
place on the bank of the muddy Missouri. The first chapter gives the
background and paints in the broad outlines of the story; it also intro
duces some of the leading characters whose activities and trials are
related in their rich details, sometimes bizarre and occasionally tragic,
in the following sections.
When possible the story has been told through extracts from the
diaries and other writings of the actors and their contemporaries. Lewis,
Clark, and the men who accompanied them, tell of the satisfactions of
the explorer and also of the price paid for them in hunger, danger, and
physical discomfort; the reactions of the Indians to the white expro
priators appears in Clark s comments on little Sacajawea, the Shoshone
guide and interpreter, and in conversations reported by other overland
travelers. The nature of the wilderness, and of the traders who first
dared to face it, is made clear through the story of the Astorians, as told
by Irving, and the incredible, even though well-authenticated, epic of
Hugh Glass s nine-month pursuit of revenge. The very human quali
ties and motives of the migrants who captured the West are presented
through fragments from diaries, some of them never before published;
these make clear, as no abstract discussion could, that the pioneering
forefathers were not different from their descendants; they enjoyed the
overland journeys in exactly the same way that modern Americans enjoy
their holiday cruises and week-end ski trips. No motorist today is more
interested in his speedometer records than were the pioneers in those
of their ox-cart "roadometers."
No modern highway closely follows throughout any of the historic
trails between the Missouri and the Pacific Northwest; but these trails
were in many places merely broad courses and the routes changed from
year to year. US 30, the modern trail to Oregon, with its feeders
xi
xii Notes on the Book
and its alternate route through Nebraska and Wyoming, most nearly
follows the general course of the mass migration; almost every mile
of its roadbed covers ruts made at one time or another by covered
wagons.
Those reading the book as narrative are advised to turn to the Alter
nate Route description after finishing Section 3; the Alternate Route
covers the section of the Mormon and Oregon Trails generally used
before 1862, and Sections 4, 5, and 6 the short cut developed after that
time.
Only adventurous travelers should attempt to follow the last quar
ter of the Alternate Route; though it will probably be improved soon,
this section is now (1939) in very poor condition. The route can be
followed, however, to Muddy Gap near South Pass in central Wyoming;
this point is accessible from US 30 at Rawlins, Wyo., over paved
US 287.
In order to give The Oregon Trail to the public at a low price, with
a clarifying map and some illustrations, the wordage had to be lim
ited. This has meant that editing was highly selective, that material
not pertinent to the story of exploration and development was omitted.
Numerous advisers have given their time freely in checking the
material. But it is impossible that any book covering such a range of
history should be free from errors. If readers who find misstatements
will report them to the Federal Writers Project in Washington, cor
rections will be made in future editions.
The Oregon Trail contains no list of recommended accommoda
tions; a Government-compiled publication cannot enter this field.
Population figures are from the last Federal census (1930).
KATHARINE A. KELLOCK
Tour Editor American Guide Series
WHY A TRAIL TO OREGON?
THE HISTORY of the Oregon Trail is the history of how two mil
lion square miles of land, some of the richest in the North Temperate
Zone, came under the control of a weak new nation and made it one
of the mighty powers of all time. The process took place in a period
so brief that many men saw it all saw a vast wilderness explored,
acquired, settled, and united under one government. In 1800 half the
territory now covered by the United States was either a blank on the
maps or was decorated with imaginary topographical features and
names of Indian "kingdoms"; it was claimed by European powers
and inhabited by a few hundred thousand aborigines, most of whom
still had a late Stone Age culture. In 1880 the region was occupied
by more than 11 million citizens of the United States, and had been
charted and divided into political subdivisions with stable govern
ments; it had been spanned by two railroads, partly spanned by sev
eral others, and covered with a web of trails and telegraph lines;
the aborigines had been either exterminated or penned up in reserva
tions.
No other conquest in history has been accomplished with so little
military force and leadership, and few with so little organized direc
tion. Yet from the time, covering only a few weeks, when Napoleon,
idol of dictators, and Thomas Jefferson, philosopher of democracy,
had mutual interests and moved swiftly to realize them, the history
of the West is filled with the names of those whose ideas and activities,
at decisive moments, determined the course of events.
There were many trails to Oregon but their general direction was
determined by Lewis and Clark when in 1804-5 they traveled up the
Missouri to its headwaters, crossed the Continental Divide, and worked
their way down the Columbia River to its mouth. The next transcon
tinental travelers, the Astorians, went only part way up the Missouri
and swung southwest, crossing the Divide below what is now Yellow
stone National Park in order to avoid the hostile Blackfeet Indians;
1
The Oregon Trail
they followed the Snake River to reach the Columbia, where they re
traced the route of Lewis and Clark. West of the Divide much of their
route was later part of the Oregon Trail. By the 1830 s fur traders
had further shortened the distance to the Snake by leaving the Missouri
at the point where it turns north near Independence, Mo., which was
established in that period as a frontier supply post. Following the
Santa Fe Trail for a few miles they usually cut northwest to follow
the south bank of the Platte River and then the south bank of the
North Platte, swinging southwest through South Pass, which came
into use in 1824. From the pass they crossed to the Snake and more
or less followed the route of the Astorians to the Columbia. The fur
traders helped to blaze the way for the emigrant trains of the follow
ing decades.
The Oregon Trail in time developed numerous cut-offs, feeders,
and outlets. As congestion increased around Independence, half a
dozen places to the north of it developed as outfitting points. Some
emigrants followed a route on the north side of the Platte, traversed
in 1847 by the first Mormon party, and reached the main trail at
Fort Laramie. The Overland route left the Oregon Trail near the
junction of the North and South Plattes, taking a short cut to Fort
Bridger in southwestern Wyoming. Two cut-offs, the Sublette and the
Lander, crossed north of Fort Bridger to reach the Snake. The route
to Salt Lake City which was later extended to California turned
southwest at Fort Bridger; two other trails to California left the
Oregon Trail along the Snake River.
In many places the trail was 10 to 20 miles wide, succeeding wagon
trains making detours to avoid the dust and ruts of those ahead of
them; in other places passing wheels wore a single pair of deep ruts
that are still visible. Fort Laramie, Fort Bridger, and Fort Hall
established as trading posts rather than forts were goals that deter
mined the course of the trail in their neighborhoods.
The story of the Oregon Trail begins in the Middle Ages when men
were seeking a route to India. Newly discovered America was for a
time regarded as part of Asia, then as an annoying barrier on the
way to the Far East. The Spanish were the first to appreciate the fact
that the new land offered riches; within a few decades they had found
the culturally advanced native kingdoms in Mexico and in Central and
South America, had conquered and enslaved the inhabitants, and were
carrying fabulous fortunes back to Europe. The existence of America
Why a Trail to Oregon? 3
had been known for more than a hundred years before the nations of
northwestern Europe awoke to the fact that Spain and Portugal had
already pre-empted the Western Hemisphere.
But the Spanish were primarily conquerors, not colonizers; hence
they had made little attempt to establish themselves in the lands north
of Mexico where the inhabitants were largely nomads hard to tame
and still ignorant of the use and value of metals. Sir Humphrey
Gilbert and his half-brother, Sir Walter Raleigh, were the first northern
Europeans to attempt to take physical possession of land in the
Americas. Gilbert was lost at sea before he had an opportunity to
carry out his plans. Shortly afterward Raleigh succeeded in planting a
colony on Roanoke Island in what is now North Carolina. Though his
means were too limited to insure the success of the venture, which
ended tragically, he did bring the potential wealth of the country to
the attention of English merchants, with the result that 20 years later,
in 1607, two more English colonies were started in America, one suc
cessful and the other unsuccessful.
Two years before this, however, the Sieur de Monts, a careful and
far-sighted Frenchman, had made a successful settlement in eastern
Canada, the first in the region north of Florida. The French, the Eng
lish, the Dutch, and the Swedes then started colonization in earnest,
the English more aggressively than the others. The English soon cap
tured the Dutch and Swedish settlements, the inhabitants resigning them
selves to English rule without prolonged struggle because of the English
colonial policy that permitted a large measure of self-government and
extended considerable religious and social toleration as long as the col
onies returned profits to the proprietors and the Crown. This was the
"wise and salutary neglect" that suffered "a generous nature ... to
take her own way to perfection," as Edmund Burke phrased it in de
fending the colonies before the Revolution.
Settlement was the decisive factor in establishing political owner
ship of the lands along the Atlantic seaboard, just as it was later to
settle the question of ownership along the Pacific. The Spanish had
made small military settlements in Florida and they continued to hold
the region, except for a brief interval, until the end of the second decade
of the nineteenth century ; the French brought colonists to eastern Can
ada and held that region for 150 years; British supremacy between
the French and Spanish possessions was established by the number of
people who were persuaded to come over to live under British rule.
The Oregon Trail
The settlements of the French grew slowly, in part because of the
severe climate of Canada and in part because of the monopolies granted
in the fur trade, the most important industry of the area.
The first attempts to penetrate the interior of the continent north
of the region held by the Spanish were made by the French, who worked
west chiefly along the shores of the Great Lakes. Between 1654 and
1660 two particularly enterprising Frenchmen, Medard Chouart, later
Sieur de Groseilliers (whose name was translated "Mr. Gooseberry"
in Hudson s Bay Company records), and his brother-in-law, Pierre
Radisson, crossed to the western end of Lake Superior and wintered
on the shores of Lake Nipigon. Upon returning to Quebec, they ap
plied to the Governor for a license to trade for furs in the interior, but
he would grant it only on such exorbitant terms that they departed for
the West without it; when they came back to Quebec two years later
they were fined 10,000 for their illegal trading operations. After vainly
attempting to have their case reviewed in France, they approached Bos
ton merchants with a plan for reaching the rich fur country of the
interior by way of Hudson Bay; the Americans sent a ship north to
test the practicality of the idea but because of the lateness of the season
the master turned back.
The Frenchmen then went to England where they quickly reached
the ear of Charles II; the royal family, always much interested in any
scheme that offered high profits, gave backing to the enterprise. In
May, 1670, after the ketch Non Such had visited the bay and confirmed
the reports of the Frenchmen, a charter was given to the King s dear
cousin, Prince Rupert, and his associates "the Governor & Company
of Adventurers of England, trading into Hudson s Bay," a corpora
tion that has come down in history as the Hudson s Bay Company.
The King, his brother (later James II), and his cousin were among the
first stockholders. The charter, covering trading rights in the vast re
gion west of the country occupied by the French, gave to the company
complete feudal rights, including that of making war on infidels. The
company was also granted the territory, which was named Rupert s
Land, in which it was to operate; the payment to the Crown for this
enormous grant was to be two elks and two black beavers, paid an
nually whenever the sovereign should visit the land. The enterprise
was very profitable.
The French soon began to feel the effects of English competition
and attempted to end it, but with only temporary success; in 1713, when
Why a Trail to Oregon?
the Treaty of Utrecht was signed, the west coast of the bay went to the
British, and the French gave up all forts and posts near the bay. Not
long after this, however, an obscure Irishman began attacking the com
pany for its failure to find the Northwest Passage; its failure to ex
plore and develop the interior from which it was receiving furs at its
post on Hudson Bay; and for its failure to carry religion to the In
dians. He finally succeeded in so arousing public opinion that in 1736
the company sent out a small exploring expedition; it accomplished
little.
Meanwhile, French traders were slowly working westward along
the shores of the Great Lakes, though the French Government, em
broiled in European affairs, gave little encouragement to the mission
aries and adventurers who had dreams of extending French domain and
of finding a route to the Pacific Ocean. In 1673 Marquette and Joliet
explored the country south of Lake Superior, reaching the Mississippi
River; La Salle crossed from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi, rest
ing "upon the majestic bosom" in February, 1682, and descended it
to the Great Gulf. On April 9 he took possession for "Louis Le Grand,
Roy de France et de Navarre Regne." As Parkman said, "by virtue of
a feeble human voice, inaudible at half a mile," he claimed for France
"the vast basin of the Mississippi from its frozen northern springs to
the sultry borders of the Gulf; from the woody ridges of the Alle-
ghenies to the bare peaks of the Rocky Mountains a region of savan
nas and forests, suncracked deserts and grassy prairies."
Between 1731 and 1743 Pierre Verendrye and his sons also worked
their way westward and southward from Lake Superior into the Da-
kotas; some contend they reached the foothills of the Rockies, then
known as the Stonies. By the Treaty of Paris (1763), France lost Can
ada and her possessions east of the Mississippi, except the port of New
Orleans, to Great Britain ; all of Louisiana west of the Mississippi went
to Spain by cousinly arrangement, Spain supposedly holding Louisiana
for France in order to keep it out of British hands.
Among the British troops brought to Canada were many young Scots
who, facing the prospect of return to a poverty-stricken homeland, de
termined to remain in America. They were later joined by some Scot
tish Jacobeans. The Scots rapidly took over the fur trade along the St.
Lawrence River; one of them, Alexander Henry, spent the years 1760-66
in the Middle West, exploring for some distance north of Lake Su
perior toward the Hudson s Bay Company domain. By 1770 the aggres-
The Oregon Trail
sive newcomers were beginning to divert trade from this powerful rival
and a conflict had begun that did not end until 1821. In 1783-4 some
of the Scots, led by Benjamin and Joseph Frobisher and Simon Mc-
Tavish, organized the North West Company, and established a post at
Grand Portage, on the northern shore of Lake Superior, as the center
of their trading activities. Other Scots, among them Alexander Mac
kenzie, formed a rival company, but because competition was expensive,
the differences between the groups were ironed out in 1787, the second
group joining the North West Company. An extensive organization was
developed, with an army of partners, sub-partners, clerks, interpreters,
and boatmen, that met at a grand annual rendezvous on the Great Lakes,
later celebrated in song and legend.
In addition to being a trader, Alexander Mackenzie was an explorer.
In 1789, while his penny-pinching partners objected to his expense ac
counts, he traveled with two canoeloads of Indians and French Cana
dians down the river that now bears his name to its mouth on the Arctic
Ocean. In 1792, still against the will of his partners, and therefore with
out notifying them, he left his post in central Canada, accompanied by
one Scot, two French Canadians, and two Indians, went up the Peace
River, crossed the Divide on July 17, 1793, and shortly afterward
reached the Pacific Coast. Mindful of the grumbling partners, he imme
diately returned to his post in central Canada.
In 1798 several members who disliked the dominating McTavish left
the North West Company to form the New North West Company, known
as the XY, which in turn became so aggressive that order in the fur
country was disrupted, the traders of the Hudson s Bay, the North West,
and the XY Companies demoralizing the Indians with liquor to gain
their trade and instigating Indian attacks on one another. Mackenzie
joined the XY in 1801.
In 1796 David Thompson, a young English surveyor, had been sent
out by the North West Company to survey the 49th parallel west of
the Great Lakes in order to determine whether the company posts were
in Canada or the United States. During the winter he visited the Man-
dan village on the great bend of the Missouri near which Lewis and
Clark were to spend the winter of 1804-5. Later, in 1806, he was sent
out again and went through the Rockies to the head of the Columbia,
where he wintered in 1808-9.
Since the sixteenth century the Spanish had been sending expedi
tions north to explore what is now Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona.
Why a Trail to Oregon?
After the cession of Louisiana to Spain in 1763, Spanish traders began
to work their way up the Mississippi, and in 1793 a Spanish trading
company was granted a license to explore and trade along the Missouri
River; the company s activities lasted only four years but they extended
to the Dakotas.
The English were slow to penetrate inland, making little attempt
to look beyond the Appalachians, though a few, such as Maj. Robert
Rogers, whose story was told by Kenneth Roberts in Northwest Passage,
could not forget the dream of a northern route to the Orient. After the
Treaty of Paris of 1783, which gave the United States the country east
of the Mississippi between Canada and Florida, settlers began to move
across the mountains in large numbers.
Thomas Jefferson, who was notable for the diversity of his interests
even in an age when many believed that it was possible for one man
to cover the full range of knowledge, was early fascinated by the vast,
little-charted area beyond the Mississippi River. In 1783 Jefferson sug
gested to George Rogers Clark that he lead an exploring expedition
through it; and he expressed the belief that England had colonization
designs for the region, even though it belonged to Spain. Nothing came
of the plan, so three years later Jefferson, while Minister to France,
encouraged John Ledyard, a Yankee who had traveled around the world
with Capt. James Cook, to attempt to explore the western country by
traveling across Siberia, proceeding to the west coast of North America,
and penetrating inland toward the Missouri. But Ledyard was arrested
by the Russian authorities when near the Pacific shores, and sent back
to Europe.
In 1793 Jefferson, as a vice-president of the American Philosoph
ical Society, made arrangements for a French botanist, Michaux, to at
tempt an overland journey to the Pacific by way of the Missouri River,
and persuaded members of the society to subscribe to a small fund for
the expedition ; the botanist, however, became embroiled in French poli
tics and the plan was abandoned. The report of Capt. Robert Gray of
Boston, who had visited the mouth of the Columbia River in 1792, con
vinced Jefferson of the existence of the legendary River of the West
with headwaters close to those of the Missouri, which would provide a
nearly complete water route between the Mississippi River and the Pa
cific Ocean. He constantly studied maps and reports. In 1801, the year
in which the account of Alexander Mackenzie s successful trip across
8 The Oregon Trail
Canada to the Pacific was published, Jefferson became President of the
United States.
Just when Jefferson determined to use his official position to further
the realization of his long dream of finding a route to the Pacific Ocean
is unknown. But he knew that the idea was also cherished by Meri-
wether Lewis, because in 1793, when Jefferson was trying to send the
French botanist west, Jefferson s neighbor, Lewis, then only 19, had
begged to be permitted to go with the party. Doubtless they had often
discussed the problems and joined in conjectures before Jefferson, about
to assume the Presidency, asked Lewis to leave the Army and become
his secretary.
Between 1800 and 1802 Napoleon, in a series of secret negotiations,
had coerced the stupid Charles IV of Spain into retroceding Louisiana
to France in return for a small Tuscan kingdom for Charles son-in-law
and the promise that the territory should not be alienated to any other
power. The public transfer of New Orleans, planned to take place in
October, 1802, was deferred because of an uprising in Santo Domingo.
Though news of the agreement was not made public, the diplomatic
grapevine brought it quickly to Jefferson.
In the summer of 1802 Jefferson quietly sent Lewis to Philadelphia,
scientific headquarters of the country, to learn the "technical language
of the natural sciences, and readiness in the astronomical observations."
The ruthless energy of Napoleon and the colonial ambitions of his
minister Talleyrand were well known to Jefferson and his advisers. The
transfer of Louisiana from Spain to France filled them with consterna
tion, particularly because of the increasing swarms of settlers that
poured over the mountains into the Northwest Territory, Kentucky, and
Tennessee; the Mississippi River provided the main marketing outlet for
their products. To add to the tenseness of the situation, word arrived
in 1802 that the Spanish Intendant at New Orleans, still in command
as the French had not yet taken possession, had arbitrarily closed the
port of New Orleans to products from the United States. Jefferson en
deavored to keep his followers under control but could do nothing to
quiet the rule-or-ruin Federalists, who screamed for war and demanded
the seizure of New Orleans. He conferred with the Spanish Ambassador,
who knew of no orders from Spain on the matter, and sent official rep
resentations to Madrid. Jefferson also wrote to Robert Livingston, his
Minister to France, on the need of negotiations with the French to safe
guard the interests of the United States in New Orleans.
Why a Trail to Oregon?
On January 18, 1803, a month after Congress met, Jefferson sent a
secret message to Congress, asking for funds for exploration west of the
Mississippi; as a pretext for the message he used the expiration of an
act establishing governmental trading posts among the Indians and the
need of extending it. This message was exceedingly tactful; it pointed
out the necessity for acquiring more land for white settlers east of the
Mississippi by domesticating the Indians and proving to them that they
needed less land to live on, and it pointed out the advantages of rais
ing the standard of living of the aborigines to increase their consump
tion of manufactured goods. It went on to remark that it might be worth
while for Congress to find customers for the private traders deprived of
incomes by the extension of the act and the establishment of more gov
ernmental trading posts among the Indians in the United States, and
that there were numerous tribes along the Missouri who should be able
to pay for goods with valuable furs. It added that if a few men, 10 or
14 with an officer, were sent up the Missouri they could report on these
trade prospects and might also find a short portage to the Columbia,
which would provide a commercial route for the Pacific trade free from
competition with the French and Spanish traders who were along the
Mississippi and lower Missouri. The men needed for the enterprise could
easily be spared from the military posts, and their army pay, continu
ing while they were away, would lessen the amount of money that would
have to be appropriated for the expedition; $2,500 was the sum sug
gested. Congress made the appropriation and by midsummer plans were
well under way for the start. (Jefferson had expected the expedition to
leave in the spring, having underestimated the time it would take to
collect supplies and select men.)
At the time Jefferson made his proposal for this expedition, the Fed
eralists were carrying on a campaign against him that has seldon^ if
ever, been equalled in America for virulence ; word from Spain that the
Intendant had acted without authority in closing New Orleans did not
stop their attempts to instigate war and to discredit the President. When,
shortly afterward, Congress, at the President s request, authorized nego
tiations to buy an outlet at the mouth of the Mississippi, their rage went
beyond all bounds. Why buy what could be seized? The President ap
pointed James Monroe as special envoy to assist Robert Livingston in
conducting negotiations, in part because there were instructions for Liv
ingston that were too delicate to be trusted to paper, and in part be-
10 The Oregon Trail
cause Monroe was trusted by the westerners, whom the Federalists were
trying to alienate from the Jeffersonian leadership.
Monroe sailed on March 8, 1803. Jefferson and Madison in last min
ute conferences had formulated the lines of negotiation. The envoys
were to attempt to buy the Floridas and New Orleans; if acquisition
of the Floridas were impossible, the acquisition of New Orleans and
some territory near it on the east bank of the river should be attempted ;
if the second offer failed also, the envoys should attempt to purchase
some land on which the United States could build its own port of de
posit at the mouth of the Mississippi; and if Napoleon rejected all
offers to buy, the envoys were to attempt to negotiate a treaty permitting
goods to pass freely through New Orleans.
There was dramatic neatness in the series of events that determined
the future of the United States Charles IV s move to provide for a
son-in-law; the Negro Toussaint s successful resistance of Napoleon s at
tempt to suppress the Santo Domingan revolt, which diverted Napoleon
from his plans for immediate extension of the colonial empire; and the
virulent attacks of the Federalists, which forced Jefferson to act swiftly
in clearing up the question of a trade outlet on the Mississippi. Acting
on hurried instructions from Jefferson, Livingston had approached
Talleyrand on the subject of obtaining New Orleans, pointing out that in
case of war with England a bit of extra money might be useful to France
and that the sale of New Orleans would free France from the need of
defending her American possessions. Talleyrand, scornfully dismissing
the proposal, said that his master was planning to send a minister to
Washington to negotiate a treaty covering American relations in Louisi
ana. Shortly after this, at a diplomatic reception, Livingston heard Na
poleon address the British Minister in terms that indicated he had sud
denly determined to fight, whether England wanted to or not.
In making his plans for war, Napoleon remembered Livingston s
proposal, which Talleyrand had apparently not feared to communicate
to his master. On April 11, knowing that he could not trust Talleyrand,
Napoleon abruptly summoned Barbe-Marbois, his young Minister of
Finance, who was friendly to the Americans and also faithful to the
First Consul, telling him, "I renounce Louisiana. . . . Have an inter
view this very day with Mr. Livingston." That day Talleyrand asked
Livingston, who believed he was joking, whether the United States
would like to have all Louisiana and what it would pay for it. Monroe
arrived in Paris that night. Late the following evening Livingston was
Why a Trail to Oregon? 11
asked to visit Barbe-Marbois home. After various preliminaries Barbe-
Marbois quoted Napoleon s statement : ". . . let him give you one hun
dred million of francs . . . and take the whole country." The price
and the proposal staggered Livingston; Barbe-Marbois added quickly
that he thought the sum suggested was too high but that sixty million
francs ($15,000,000) seemed fair and he would like an immediate de
cision. Livingston protested that the whole thing was impossible; that
neither he nor Monroe had authority to negotiate such a purchase or
to pledge such a sum. Barbe-Marbois was friendly but firm, reminding
him that Napoleon was mercurial in temperament and it was quite pos
sible the offer might be withdrawn if it were not speedily accepted ; the
terms were all or nothing. Both Livingston and Monroe, to whom he re
ported the conversation, were impressed by the warning, but neither
knew how tenuous was the string offered to them.
Word of the offer reached the Consul s brother, Joseph; he took it
immediately to Lucien Bonaparte, who had negotiated the transfer of
Louisiana from Spain to France and shared Talleyrand s imperialistic
dreams. Lucien and Joseph dashed post-haste to their brother, who was
in his bath when they arrived; they ranted without effect, the Consul
splashing them with bath water to show his contempt. But he realized
the danger of the Chambers finding out about the offer and pressed
Barbe-Marbois to obtain a decision. Still the Americans hesitated, the
magnitude of the deal and their lack of authority to handle it terrify
ing them. They knew Jefferson s desires, however, and on May 2 with
great trepidation completed the purchase; the price to be paid was
80,000,000 francs, 20,000,000 of it going to satisfy claims of American
citizens against the French. Later they exulted a bit at their own daring,
appreciating the fact that they had more than doubled the size of the
United States.
The news reached Jefferson late in June but was not made public
until July 14. The President, though delighted, was troubled by the
unconstitutionality of the affair, while the Federalists raged, fearing
the result of acquiring more land to be peopled by agrarians. But the
national pride was touched and the treaty was ratified. The size of the
area bought was uncertain; though the United States later asserted that
the purchase included the Oregon country, it was unable to establish
any claim to land west of the Rockies by the deal with Napoleon.
Thus the Lewis and Clark expedition, secretly authorized to extend
the "external commerce of the United States" but announced to the
12 The Oregon Trail
Spanish and French authorities as an "innocent literary journey," be
came in part a legitimate enterprise needing little camouflage.
Jefferson, who had studied every available map and report on the
country west of the Mississippi, himself drew up the plans for the ex
ploring expedition. It was to proceed up the Missouri, find the head
waters of the Columbia, and travel down that stream to the Pacific
Ocean; it was to confirm Indian tales reported by early travelers about
the Shining Mountains at the head of the Missouri, report on climate,
topography, and inhabitants of the country; and it was to find out what
men of other nations were entering Louisiana and Oregon to trade.
(See Jefferson s Instructions in APPENDIX.) In addition to Jefferson s
lists of points on which he wanted information, Lewis carried others
prepared by eminent scientists of the American Philosophical Society,
including printed English vocabularies with spaces for the Indian equiv
alents.
The equipment was carefully planned; besides the usual supplies
of food including soup cubes clothing, ammunition, scientific in
struments, and medical supplies (the list of which is surprisingly mod
ern and comprehensive when examined today), the explorers carried
large quantities of goods to be presented to the Indians medals,
plumed hats, gaudy military coats, garters, and even odds and ends for
"women of Consideration."
Jefferson had desired that at least the co-leader of the party should
be a scientist well trained in many fields. He came to the conclusion,
however, that the primary qualification for both leaders should be ex
perience in handling Indians and in meeting wilderness conditions.
Lewis chose his long-time friend, William Clark, a younger brother of
George Rogers Clark; no choice could have been more fortunate, the
two men complementing each other and working in perfect harmony.
Lewis left Pittsburgh in August, 1803, and, meeting Clark at Louis
ville, proceeded to St. Louis, where they recruited a staff to accompany
them on their journey, had boats built, and added to the supplies. The
party started up the Missouri on May 14, 1804, "in the presence of many
of the neighboring inhabitants and proceeded on under a jentle brease,"
according to Captain Clark, whose orthography is convincing argument
against the preciosity of spelling rules. That the explorers had no false
modesty about the importance of their expedition is shown by Captain
Lewis notes as the party was starting into the unknown territory after
the winter spent among the Mandans: "The little fleet altho not quite
Why a Trail to Oregon? 13
so rispictable as those of Columbus or Capt. Cook, were still viewed
by us with as much pleasure as those deservedly famed adventurers ever
beheld theirs. . . . We are now about to penetrate a country at least
two thousand miles in width, on which the foot of civilized man has
never trodden. ... I could not but esteem this moment of my depar
ture as among the most happy of my life."
The long journey up the Missouri to the Mandan village was a
course of training in which the party of what Clark called "robust
healthy hardy young men" was disciplined, tested for loyalty and en
durance, and forged into a working unit. At the end of the winter the
misfits and malcontents were weeded out and sent back to civilization
with some of the boatmen, the most trustworthy carrying "Sundery
articles to be sent to the President of the U.S." horns of mountain
rams, animal skins and skeletons, plants, Indian clothing and utensils,
a parcel of roots "highly prized by the natives as an efficatious remidy
in cases of the bite of a rattle Snake or Mad Dog," a tin box containing
insects and mice, a "liveing burrowing Squirel of the praries," four
live magpies, and a living prairie hen; the list is a commentary on
the range of Jefferson s interests.
Throughout the journey the explorers worked hard to satisfy the
President s mighty curiosity, the petty officers as well as the leaders sit
ting down each night, in rain, snow, or fair weather, to bring their
journals up to date. Apparently the only question that they dared not
risk attempting to satisfy was the one asking "What is the State of the
pulse in both (Indian) Sexes, Children, grown persons, and in old age,
by feeling the Pulse Morning, Noon & Night &c.?"
While at winter quarters on the Missouri the leaders faithfully car
ried out Jefferson s instructions to make friends among the Indians;
sent firm but tactful warnings to British trappers that the country now
belonged to the United States and that the Indians must not be made
hostile to American traders; spent hours collecting countless scraps of
gossip based on hearsay and experience concerning the country they
were to face ; and hired the half-breed Charbonneau, chiefly for the sake
of Sacajawea, one of his wives, who was a stolen Shoshone "Squar"
(squaw), and could act as an "interpeter" beyond the mountains. The
"Squar," starting out with a newborn child on her back, became one
of the most esteemed members of the party, bearing difficulties uncom
plainingly, nursing the sick, interceding for the party when among her
kin, advising on routes, and saving lives by teaching the white men
14 The Oregon Trail
how to dig for roots and utilize other resources of the harsh mountain
country. The deep affection Clark developed for her appears in the of
ficial Journals, in which he sometimes called her "Janey."
The charming Original Journals of Lewis and Clark exhibit the
fine judgment of the two commanders that enabled them to carry out
their mission with the loss of only one man and he of a "Billiose
Chorlick" early in the journey. They met handicaps and barriers
precipitous passes in very high mountains, volcanic deserts where game
and water were lacking, and rivers choked with rocks and rendered
dangerous by falls much of which the reports of Mackenzie and others
had not led them to anticipate; yet they managed to reach the Pacific
Coast in safety in the dismal mid-November rains of 1805, too tired
and starved for much rejoicing, eager only to make some kind of shelter
and find food.
After leaving the coast in March, 1806, the party was divided near
what is now Missoula, Mont. Clark swung south to come down the Yel
lowstone, and Lewis went north with a very small party to explore the
Marias River. At the northern limits of his side trip Lewis killed one
of a band of Blackfeet who were making off with his horses and sup
plies; the tribesmen never forgot this act, and carried on relentless
warfare against the whites until after many decades the whites had
almost exterminated them. The two parties united at the mouth of the
Yellowstone and made the return trip to St. Louis with speed, arriving
there September 23, 1806. The men wept with joy when they again saw
a cow, symbol of civilization. The people of St. Louis, Sgt. John Ord-
way reported, "gathred on the Shore and Hizzared three cheers."
Patrick Gass, a sergeant, was the first to publish his Journal, be
cause both Lewis and Clark were immediately given responsible admin
istrative positions and had little time or skill to prepare the polished
accounts they thought the material deserved. The condensed Lewis and
Clark Journals, edited by Nicholas Biddle and Paul Allen, appeared
in 1814; the publisher made only $154.10 net profit. In spite of the
meager circulation of these books, they did in time stir many restless
minds and stimulate interest in the Far West.
When Jefferson told Congress that the Missouri country would pro
vide new customers for the traders, he spoke better than he knew. In
the winter of 1808 Manuel Lisa, an experienced trader born of Spanish
parents in New Orleans, organized the St. Louis Missouri Fur Com
pany, and turned over to it a post he had established in 1807 at the
Why a Trail to Oregon? 15
mouth of the Bighorn River, in what is now Montana. In 1810 Andrew
Henry, a member of the firm, crossed the Divide and built a small post,
known as Fort Henry, on the North Fork of the Snake River. Before
Lisa s death in 1820 the company had aroused the envy of other busi
nessmen by its profits.
The second important fur-trading venture was made by John Jacob
Astor, who had come to the United States from Germany in 1784. He
had early entered the fur business, beginning with beating and dress
ing, progressed to the collection of pelts from hunters in rural New
York State, and eventually dealt with the traders of Montreal. Astor
had long been annoyed by the fact that many of the furs he bought in
Canada, and paid duty on, had been collected by North Westers south
of the International Line; he had been planning ways and means of
invading this part of the field when, first, the Louisiana Purchase and
then the Lewis and Clark reports stirred him to action. He planned to
establish posts in the Middle West and at the mouth of the Columbia
River, from which he could carry furs direct to the Orient, the prin
cipal fur market, with an advantage over the Canadian traders who,
because of the monopoly held by the East India Company, had to send
their furs to the Far East by way of London.
The American Fur Company was incorporated in April, 1808, and
the Pacific Fur Company in June, 1810. Washington Irving told the
story of the enterprise, from Astor s viewpoint, in Astoria (1836).
Utilizing his wide acquaintance among the Canadian traders, Astor per
suaded three veteran Nor Westers, including Alexander McKay, who
had accompanied Mackenzie to the Pacific Coast, to join him as part
ners in the Oregon enterprise. He also brought in Wilson Price Hunt,
who had had some experience in fur operations around St. Louis. The
partners and clerks were divided into two parties, one to go around the
Horn in the Tonquin with supplies for the post, and the other, under
the leadership of Hunt, to go overland to the Columbia, establishing
friendly relations with the Indians on the way and selecting sites for
trading posts.
Both parties set out in 1810 but were dogged by calamity and mis
fortune. The members of the group that went by sea quarreled with
the martinet who was the ship s captain, and with one another. The boat
finally reached the mouth of the Columbia late in March, 1811, where
the calamities of the voyage were crowned by the loss of eight men
as a result of the captain s error in judgment in attempting to enter
16 The Oregon Trail
the river. The land crew, including clerks and partners, left the ship
to establish Astoria and on June 1 the captain took the ship up the
coast for trade. Lacking any understanding of the Indians, he created
enmity that resulted in the complete destruction of the ship and everyone
aboard.
Astoria had been left in charge of Duncan McDougall, one of the
Nor Westers. The fort had been built and trading had begun when the
land party, led by Hunt, straggled in by small groups after a series of
misadventures, chiefly resulting from Hunt s lack of experience in the
wilderness. There were now approximately a hundred men at the post,
a number that lessened the danger of Indian attack but did not add to
the harmony. On July 15 David Thompson, surveyor for the North
West Company, completed his methodical progress down the Columbia
to find to his chagrin that the Americans had reached the river ahead
of him. In London the representatives of the North West Company, un
aware that Astor had stolen a march on them, were petitioning for
exclusive trading rights along the Pacific Coast between Alaska, occu
pied by the Russians, and California, held by the Spanish.
In the meantime, on June 18, 1812, the United States had declared
war against Great Britain. Astor, who had heard of the London activi
ties of the North West Company, was working frantically but in vain
to obtain naval protection for his Pacific post. Word of the war arrived
in Astoria on January 15, 1813, one of the Astor party having picked
it up from members of a North West expedition along the Columbia.
The Astorians became discouraged; they were certain that Astor would
be unable to send a supply ship that would take away the considerable
number of pelts they had collected. The Nor Westers who visited them
encouraged the feeling and made McDougall regret that he had em
barked on such an amateurish enterprise. Astor had managed to send
a ship, but his plans were again dogged by bad luck; the ship did not
arrive until after the partners had sold the collected furs to the North
West Company, rather than risk sending them overland. The Nor
Westers returned in the fall, triumphantly exhibiting the message dated
May 9, 1813, saying that a British frigate was on its way to "destroy
everything that is American on the N.W. coast." McDougall then took
it upon himself to sell all the property of the Pacific Fur Company to
the North West Company; the terms were not as illiberal as some of
McDougalFs critics have contended. While the Astorians were winding
up their affairs the British frigate arrived and on December 12 took
Why a Trail to Oregon? 17
possession of the country and the post for Britain. While the sale was
a lucky stroke for the Astor company, it was later an embarrassment
to the United States in claiming the territory by priority of settlement.
The War of 1812 did not last long, being unpopular in the United
States to such an extent that some of the New England States threat
ened to secede from the Union; England was also willing to end hos
tilities because her attention was deeply occupied with European af
fairs Napoleon was insecurely held on Elba. Negotiations following
the war resulted in the settlement of the boundary between Lake Su
perior and the Oregon region, but the Oregon question was evaded by
an agreement made in 1818, on "joint occupation" for a period of 10
years. In the following decade the Russians accepted a southern boun
dary at 54 40 (the Alaskan Line) on the coast and the Mexicans a
northern boundary at 42 (the present Oregon-California Line). The
joint occupation agreement on Oregon was later renewed but from
1818 on, nationals and officials of both Great Britain and the United
States, as well as those of other countries notably Spain and Russia
kept wary eyes on the country, watching one another s activities and
waiting for situations that could be turned to their advantage. In the
two decades before migration of settlers to Oregon began, the country
was visited by a stream of spies, some of whom were naval and army
officers ingenuously pretending to be sportsmen, health seekers, or jour
nalists.
Astor s plans for capturing the fur trade of the Great Lakes and
the upper Mississippi had been hampered by the War of 1812, but some
of the terms of the peace negotiations were to his advantage. In 1816
Congress passed an act, largely through Astor s efforts, excluding for
eigners from participation in the American fur trade except in sub
ordinate capacities. While this nominally ended the activities of the
British south of the International Line, considerable poaching was car
ried on. British agents did not scruple to carry to the Indians the liquor
forbidden by law in the trade, and made continuous efforts to prejudice
the aborigines against United States traders and stir up attacks on them ;
these were the same tactics used by the British companies against one
another.
The cutthroat competition between the North West and the Hud
son s Bay Companies reached a crisis in 1818. Early in the century the
Earl of Selkirk, moved by the suffering of the landless Scots, had
bought a controlling interest in the Hudson s Bay Company in order
18 The Oregon Trail
to obtain land for settlement along the Red River of the North. The
Nor Westers, very much opposed to settlement in the area they de
pended on to provide buffalo meat for their inland staffs, carried on a
warfare against the settlers and the Hudson s Bay Company officials
that resulted in several deaths in 1818. At this point, with Parliamentary
interference imminent, officials of the two companies, exhibiting the
British ability to compromise in the face of a crisis involving profits,
began to work for the amalgamation of the two groups.
The North West leader in the movement was Dr. John McLoughlin,
a nephew of the veteran Nor Wester, Alexander Fraser; he had mar
ried the capable half-breed widow of Alexander McKay, who was killed
in the explosion on the Astor ship. The companies were united in 1821
under the name of the older company. In the summer of 1824, in rec
ognition of his ability, McLoughlin was made Chief Factor of the De
partment of the Columbia, which embraced the country west of the
Rockies between Russian Alaska and Mexican California.
The North West Company had done little to develop trade in this
area, though it held Astoria (Fort George) and maintained several
posts. McLoughlin set out almost immediately for his new post, closely
followed by the energetic George Simpson, field Governor of the new
Hudson s Bay Company. The Governor made the journey from York
Factory on Hudson Bay to Fort George on the Columbia in 84 days,
proof not only of his energy but also of the efficient organization of
the Hudson s Bay Company and the control it had over the Indians
of Canada.
The new Chief Factor and the Governor soon decided that Astoria
was in a poor position; the Governor wanted to move the headquarters
north to the mouth of the Fraser River, but McLoughlin preferred to
keep it on the Columbia and his desire prevailed. He selected the new
site, naming it for the British commander Vancouver whose expedition
had gone up the river in 1792 just after the Bostonian, Captain Gray,
had entered the mouth. Fort Vancouver became the capital of the coun
try between Alaska and Oregon. Under George Simpson the Hudson s
Bay Company developed a policy of withholding liquor from the In
dians (within British territory) and of conserving the fur-bearing ani
mals by limiting operations whenever signs of depletion appeared.
McLoughlin quickly established respect for the company among the
Indians, thus making trading operations orderly and reasonably safe.
When Fort Vancouver was established in 1824 it was placed on the
Why a Trail to Oregon? 19
north bank of the Columbia because the realistic Hudson s Bay Com
pany Council had come to the conclusion that when the Oregon question
was settled there would be a compromise; the company, and Great
Britain, hoped to hold the land north and west of the Columbia River,
which embraced more than half of the present State of Washington.
McLoughlin was told that he must, as far as possible, make the De
partment of the Columbia independent of outside supplies by raising
foodstuffs around his post. This he undertook to do at once.
In 1816 Astor s American Fur Company began to be active in the
Great Lakes and the upper Mississippi fur trade, making its headquar
ters at Mackinac Island. By 1822 its business had expanded to the point
that a Western Department was established with headquarters at St.
Louis and activities covering the Illinois, the middle Mississippi, and
the Missouri areas.
In the same year the Missouri Republican carried this advertisement:
"To enterprising young men. The subscriber wishes to engage one hun
dred young men to ascend the Missouri river to its source, there to be
employed one, two, or three years. For particulars enquire of Major
Henry . . . who will ascend with, and command, the party. . . ." It
was signed by William H. Ashley. Many of the men assembled by
Ashley in this enterprise appear sooner or later in every history, no
matter how brief, of the American fur trade. Among them were Jede-
diah S. Smith, the trailmaker who was the only praying Methodist
among the wild and reckless fur-trading crew; Andrew Henry, who
had built the post on the Snake in 1810 and had survived a sanguinary
struggle with the Blackfeet; William Sublette, who in 1826 with Smith
and David Jackson bought out Ashley s interests in the fur company,
that later provided the only serious opposition to the Astor operations
and gave trouble even to the Hudson s Bay Department of the Colum
bia; Jim Bridger, canniest of all western scouts, explorer of the Great
Salt Lake and a creator of folklore; Thomas Fitzpatrick, who was a
leader of the party that early in 1824 discovered, or rediscovered, South
Pass, through which went most of the early travelers; fitienne Provot,
another trailmaker; Hugh Glass, whose duel with a grizzly bear is a
classic of the early West; James Beckwourth, the gaudy liar whose au
tobiography long filled small boys with envy; Mike Fink, the tough
keelboatman whose exploits passed rapidly into legend; Carpenter, who
was killed by Mike; and Talbot, who in turn killed Mike.
In 1821-22 the Astor interests had had the governmental trading
20 The Oregon Trail
posts abolished; this gave the trade completely to private concerns, re
sulting eventually in a virtual monopoly for the Astor interests east of
Oregon. Long before that had been achieved, however, private competi
tion had thrown the Indian tribes into turmoil similar to that which had
forced the Hudson s Bay-North West Company merger. Rival groups
plied the Indians with banned liquor, and stirred them up against other
tribes, against the traders of other companies, and even against factions
within their own companies, by bewildering them with contradictory
statements all inculcating contempt for white men and white govern
ment. Though the monopoly of the Hudson s Bay Company in Canada
and in the Oregon country had a quieting effect, making the country
fairly safe for the passage of small groups of white persons, the Astor
monopoly increased the tension because of the intracompany competi
tion. Another result of the rivalries was the early exhaustion of the fur
field, since conservation was impossible under the circumstances.
Rufus Sage, who traveled through the West before the great migra
tion began, came to the conclusion that vice was all the white men had
given to the Indians. One early traveler reported that an Indian chief,
noting the conduct of the white men with the Indian women, asked in
nocently whether there were any white women; another reported that
an Indian had asked him seriously whether the whites were not delib
erately debauching them with intent to weaken them. An emigrant wrote
that the only English words some tribes knew were "Whoa," "Gee,"
and "God damn," which they used as polite greetings; he added that
one company that asked Indians where there was good camping ground
was told that there was plenty of grass nearby for the "Whoa-haws"
but no water for the "God-damns."
Almost from the beginning the relations between the whites and the
Indians were strained, the people of the two races having different ethi
cal values and material standards. Joseph Whitehouse of the Lewis and
Clark expedition summed up the friendliest white attitude toward the
Indians: "they are or appear as yet to be the most friendly people I
ever Saw but they will Steal and plunder if they can git an opportu
nity. . . . Some of them & indeed most of them have Strange & un
common Ideas, but verry Ignorant of our forms & customs, but quick
& Sensible in their own way & in their own conceit &c &c."
The first white men in a region were greeted with curiosity and were
often welcomed because of the gadgets they brought. Nonetheless, even
when the welcome was warm and friendly, the white men were ex-
Catlin
CHINOOK WOMAN
The Chinooks called their neighbors !
- I ./*-.*. .^2i$>. -if*.-" ^ , v *;.
NEBRASKA SETTLERS (1886)
Neb. Hist. Soc.
Why a Trail to Oregon? 21
asperated by the aborigines, chiefly because of the Indian attitude to
wards private property. Among all tribes there was a limited amount
of personal property, and title to it was respected within the tribe. Non-
tribal property was legitimate loot in the complicated game of skill
that played a large part in Indian warrior life. Scoring rules for the
game were intricate; so many points went to the man who could steal
such property, the number dependent on the value of what was taken.
War was a sporting event. Many points went to the man who took a
prisoner ; if the attempted capture resulted in death, it was still counted
provided the scalp was obtained, because the Indians believed that body
and spirit were one. Killing with a tomahawk was more meritorious
than killing with an arrow because it involved greater physical risk.
A great hero was a man who could touch an enemy before he killed
and scalped him. Enemies were those who had scored unfairly against
the tribe or who had humiliated its members.
Training in theft was given from the earliest years, property within
the tribe being used for this vocational guidance. The small boy caught
stealing was thoroughly shamed by his parents as a bungler. The In
dian who could slip into the Lewis and Clark camp and make off with
a knife or a kettle was merely a clever fellow, in the eyes of his tribes
men; and the Indians did not understand why the visitors should par
ticularly resent this if they had been lax about guarding their prop
erty. Had the whites stolen in return, the Indians would have regarded
it as wholly natural. Friendly chiefs were quite willing to force the
return of stolen odds and ends if the visitors could point out the un
skilled person who had taken them.
The whites, misunderstanding this attitude, frequently beat Indians
for theft, not realizing that the Indians considered death less humili
ating. Once a tribal member had been beaten, his tribe felt that it could
save face by nothing short of capturing dead, if necessary as many
of the beater s fellows as possible; and since all white men looked alike
to them, they avenged themselves on the first party to appear after the
humiliation.
On the other hand, the Indians had a deep sense of justice and of
gratitude. McLoughlin controlled those in his area by punishing of
fenders whose guilt could be clearly demonstrated, rewarding those
shown worthy of trust, caring for the sick among the Indians as faith
fully as he cared for ailing whites, and by observing Indian taboos and
22 The Oregon Trail
demanding that the Indians observe his; the Indians called him the
White-Headed Eagle. Fort Vancouver was never attacked.
McLoughlin, however, could not entirely prevent the Indians from
selling to his rivals, because of the agreement on joint occupancy of
the Oregon country, renewed in 1827. In 1826 American traders, prob
ably belonging to the aggressive Ashley company, had been so suc
cessful in underselling the second Hudson s Bay expedition into the
Snake River country that Peter Skene Ogden, its leader, reported he
was happy to return to Fort Vancouver without serious loss. When
American traders came to the area by sea or land the Chief Factor
received them cordially but used all his influence to make their quests
for furs fruitless. The competition of one ingenious Yankee, Capt. Wil
liam McNeill, who arrived in 1832 with a shipload of such gay novel
ties as jumping-jacks, wooden soldiers, and whistles which seemed far
more desirable to the Indians than the Hudson s Bay staples was sup
pressed only by the purchase of the ship, its cargo, and the captain s
services for the Hudson s Bay Company.
Occasionally Dr. McLoughlin smothered competition with courtesy;
in 1828 Jedediah Smith limped into Fort Vancouver after having lost
part of his men and all his furs among the Umpquas of southern Ore
gon. The Chief Factor had personal sympathy for Smith, a brave man,
but he acted largely as an overlord for the Hudson s Bay Company
when he sent an expedition to punish the Umpquas and recover the
furs; no molestation of whites would be tolerated in his domain. Gov
ernor Simpson, who was visiting the post, approved the purchase of
the furs at market price to save Smith from the dangers of transporta
tion overland with a small escort, at the same time making it clear that
in doing so the company was trusting Smith to keep out of the Oregon
area in the future. The praying Methodist did not violate the obligation.
In the meantime, however, more serious attacks on McLoughlin s
territory were developing. The English colonies had been settled by
protestants against authority in church and state, protestants against
unfavorable economic conditions, and protestants against the dullness
and monotony of life in settled communities. The great majority of
the settlers were people who had different values from those who stayed
at home, counting physical risk and hardship a small price to pay for
adventure, fortune, or freedom to do as they pleased. Some found what
they had sought; others did not, and they moved restlessly on from
place to place. People dissatisfied with Massachusetts had settled Con-
Why a Trail to Oregon? 23
necticut and New Hampshire; people dissatisfied with Connecticut and
New Hampshire had settled Vermont and upper New York; people
dissatisfied with New England and nearby States had settled Ohio.
People who had left the seaboard for Kentucky, Tennessee, and the
Northwest Territory had moved across the Mississippi River soon after
Louisiana was acquired, many abandoning fertile farms they had
cleared, because of some undefined dissatisfaction and the vague belief
that Utopia must exist somewhere west.
All explorers, nearly all pioneers, and certainly all the fur traders
belonged to this restless breed, though many who write of their adven
tures do not understand their heroes; they judge them by their own stay-
at-home values and waste "heroic," "intrepid," "hardy," "valiant," and
like words on them until the adjectives are meaningless. When, after a
hard winter in a hut along the Missouri, Lewis wrote that the moment
of departure for the untrodden wilderness was among the happiest of
his life, he was voicing the feeling of all who followed him westward.
Time and again the traders and mountain men vowed that they were
through with hardships and were going back to the security of the set
tled East; but the first person who asked them to return to the moun
tains was sure to start them west again. Those who returned to the
East, even briefly, spread unrest and stirred up the adventurous blood
dormant in most of the descendants of the first pioneers.
In the early decades of the nineteenth century a large part of the
population of the United States was in a particularly disturbed state of
mind. The more perfect union envisioned by the Constitution had not
abolished taxes or created idyllic communities; the new factories, belch
ing forth smoke and cinders, provided many new comforts but did not
pay wages that enabled the hands to buy them in quantities; farmers
were receiving lower prices for their products because of competition
from the newly settled lands; the blow dealt to the spiritual authority
of the churches by the Revolution had robbed many of their feeling of
spiritual security; and the ideas let loose by the French Revolution,
widely aired by those who had fled to America to escape the reactionary
regimes of the post-Revolutionary period, added to the mental ferment.
Messiahs appeared daily, offering mesmerism, socialism, vegetarian
ism, love-communism, Millerism, dress reform, transcendentalism, and
countless other panaceas for social, economic, and religious ills. Al
most every prophet gained at least a few followers, some a great many.
The Journals of Lewis and Clark and of other explorers, the diaries
24 The Oregon Trail
and letters of travelers and journalists, turned public attention to the
Far West. European philosophers, poets, and novelists had long been
romanticizing the American wilderness and, to some extent, the pio
neers. James Fenimore Cooper, however, was the first American to
idealize the frontiersmen. Washington Irving began the literary exploita
tion of the Far West. The romantic attitude gradually spread downward
from the literate to the illiterate, and restless migrants who had never
read a book in their lives began to see themselves as participants in
heroic drama and to act and pose accordingly.
One of the first to advocate emigration to the Oregon region was
Hall J. Kelley, a teacher in a school near Boston, who began writing
letters and memoranda to the newspapers on the subject in 1818, bas
ing his statements largely on his own interpretations of what Lewis and
Clark had reported. In time he organized emigrant meetings, addressed
memorials to Congress for aid, and eventually founded an Oregon Emi
gration Association to travel west in 1832. His first appeals were
commercial and agrarian; but as the clergy, fearful of losing more
parishioners, and factory owners, determined not to have their cheap-
labor market diminished, began to attack him and his propaganda, his
writings became somewhat socialistic.
Kelley interested the well-to-do Nathaniel Wyeth in the scheme.
Wyeth clearly indicated the state of mind of the average emigrant when
he wrote: "I cannot divest myself of the opinion that I shall compete
better with my fellow men in new and untried paths than in those
which require only patience and attention." But Wyeth early discov
ered Kelley s impracticality and determined to lead his own expedition,
but as a fur trader, not a settler. His plans were like those John Jacob
Astor had made earlier; a ship would carry supplies for the Indian
trade to the Columbia and Wyeth would travel overland to meet it. In
late October, 1832, Wyeth reached Fort Vancouver after many difficul
ties resulting from his lack of experience; his ship had not arrived.
Dr. McLoughlin, liking the young man, took him into the Hudson s Bay
mess with his usual hospitality, but at the same time warned him frankly
that he would do all he could to oppose his business venture. Wyeth
did not learn for many months that his ship had been wrecked and that
it was useless for him to remain in Oregon.
In 1832 Capt. Benjamin de Bonneville also arrived in Oregon, osten
sibly as a fur trader but, judged by the maps and reports he made and
by recently discovered pay-roll records, actually as a United States se-
Why a Trail to Oregon? 25
cret intelligence officer. The Adventures of Captain Bonneville, written
by Washington Irving from Bonneville s notes, was read by many peo
ple, who in 1837, the year the book was published, were sharing the
results of the disastrous financial crash that had been caused by mad
speculation in public utilities and unsound public and private financing.
To them the West began to seem a place of refuge, offering unlimited
land without mortgages.
It was a rule of the Hudson s Bay Company that an employee reach
ing the end of his term of service must return to the point of enlist
ment for discharge. A number of French Canadians employed in the
Department of the Columbia asked McLoughlin s permission to settle
near Fort Vancouver when their time was up; they liked the country
and had taken wives from local tribes. Ignoring the company regula
tion, the doctor sent them down the Willamette and aided them with
tools and supplies; he did this partly from kind-heartedness and partly,
perhaps, because he had an idea that settlement south of the river by
loyal Canadians might enable him to hold the country. As the settle
ment expanded and the number of half-breed children increased, he
became anxious to provide education and religious training. He several
times asked headquarters to obtain a clergyman for the post, but none
was sent in spite of promises.
In 1831 four members of the Flathead tribe had journeyed to St.
Louis to ask for instruction in the white man s religion, having heard
from a wandering band of Canadian Iroquois of the superior efficiency
of the "medicine" of the "black robes" (priests). Their action aroused
such interest in religious circles that in 1833 the General Conference
of the Methodist Episcopal Church appointed the efficient Jason Lee
"Missionary to the Flatheads." Lee rapidly organized a small party of
assistants and, learning that Nathaniel Wyeth was returning to Oregon
to make another attempt to compete with the Hudson s Bay Company,
obtained permission to travel overland with the Boston merchant. In
July, 1834, the party reached the Snake River, where Wyeth established
a small post, which he named Fort Hall; the party reached Fort Van
couver on September 16. McLoughlin greeted them cordially, in spite
of his knowledge of Wyeth s intentions, and was soon advising Lee that
it was dangerous to establish a mission among the Flatheads and that
he had a congregation ready for his ministrations along the Willamette.
In giving this advice the Chief Factor spoke as a Hudson s Bay man,
26 The Oregon Trail
eager to keep the Americans well south of the Columbia. Lee accepted
the advice and almost at once set out to build his mission.
Despite Dr. McLoughlin s disapproval, Wyeth built a post close to
Fort Vancouver, but he was no match for his entrenched rival and after
a very discouraging struggle he left the field.
Another arrival at Fort Vancouver in 1834 was Hall Kelley, who
had traveled from Boston by way of California. During his first visit
Wyeth had told Dr. McLoughlin of Kelley s activities and the doctor,
ordinarily kind and courteous, had worked up an intense hatred of the
man who was trying to stimulate what was, in the Factor s opinion, an
invasion of a country he had developed. When Kelley arrived, penni
less, almost alone, and preceded by a report that he had stolen horses
in California, the doctor permitted him to live at the post but treated
him as a pariah. Kelley lingered miserably until 1836, his hatred of
McLoughlin increasing daily. When Kelley returned to Boston his
stored-up venom found outlet in a bitter pamphlet in which he accused
the doctor of tyranny and of activities inimical to the American cause.
This pamphlet was called to the attention of the Secretary of State, who
at once arranged to have a Captain Slacum investigate the situation on
the Columbia. Slacum s report, which was not free from bias, aroused
considerable feeling in the United States.
In the meantime, more missionaries had arrived along the Columbia.
Other religious people besides the Methodists had been moved by the
Flathead plea; in 1834 an interdenominational board appointed the
Rev. Samuel Parker and Dr. Marcus Whitman to study the needs. In
1835 the two men traveled with fur traders to the annual rendezvous
in the Green River Valley of western Wyoming. When they reached the
valley Dr. Whitman had seen enough Indians to be convinced that he
need go no farther before reporting to the board that the aborigines
needed religious attention. Parker traveled on with only a few Indians,
arriving at Fort Vancouver on October 16 immaculately dressed and
wearing a plug hat, as was his wont. The Chief Factor, though some
what worried by the advent, was courteous as usual; but this missionary
was not to be diverted to the Willamette Valley. After looking over
sites for missions he left Vancouver for Boston by way of the Pacific.
Not long after Parker s departure for reinforcements, the Hudson s
Bay Company answered the doctor s six-year-old prayer for a clergy
man; the Rev. Herbert Beaver arrived from London with his wife and
within a short time managed to set the post by its heels. Neither the
Why a Trail to Oregon? 27
clergyman nor his wife had anything but scorn for the Indians and
they disapproved of the Hudson s Bay contract marriages, going so far
in their dislike of inter-racial marriage as to snub the doctor s wife,
who was a half-breed and married by contract. The situation was made
increasingly tense by the severely critical letters the clergyman wrote
to London; it culminated in 1838, when the doctor lost his temper and
caned Mr. Beaver. The act was unfortunate for Dr. McLoughlin be
cause the Beavers, after their return to England, helped to work up
opposition to the Chief Factor s activities. Up to this time the doctor
had been accorded great respect from headquarters. He had extended
his posts to the north and east, was raising enough foodstuffs to enable
him to have a surplus for exportation, and was also trading in the
Sandwich Islands.
About the time Mr. Beaver put in his delayed appearance, Dr. Whit
man and the Rev. Henry Spalding arrived at Fort Vancouver with their
wives the first white women to make the overland trip. Dr. McLough
lin treated the party hospitably and, when they insisted on going at
once to found missions near Walla Walla and on the Clearwater River,
gave them what assistance he could, by permitting them to replenish
their exhausted supplies from his stores; he warned them, however, of
the danger of isolating themselves inland near the treacherous Cayuses.
In the meantime Jason Lee had called for reinforcements, and in the
summer of 1837 two ships arrived with supplies and more missionaries,
bringing the total in the Willamette Valley to 60.
The Chief Factor watched their arrival with mixed feelings; the
Protestant missionaries had made slight progress, their type of religion
having little appeal for the natives. Indian converts had been few and
the French Canadians, who were Roman Catholics, had held aloof. The
doctor began to hear rumors that the Americans were turning their at
tention to real estate and politics and were considering the setting up
of a provisional government. As the failure to win the Indians became
more apparent, the missionary group became concerned to show some
other results to their financial backers. In 1838 Jason Lee determined
to visit the East and place a memorial before Congress asking that
Oregon be made a part of the Union.
In the same year the Chief Factor took his first vacation away from
the Columbia since he had arrived there in 1824; he went straight to
London to lay before his chiefs his plans for the extension of Hud
son s Bay activities. In addition to obtaining permission to trade into
28
The Oregon Trail
Russian Alaska, with Russian consent, he was also authorized to make
settlements south of Puget Sound, as a means of reinforcing Britain s
claim to the territory that is now the State of Washington.
In May, 1840, not long after McLoughlin s return to his post, Jason
Lee reappeared, by way of the sea, at the head of a party of 52 persons.
When the doctor asked why they had come, Lee assured him that they
were to work in the mission. Not long after this, however, it became
quite apparent that many were interested in settlement rather than in
missionary work. Long afterward the Chief Factor was to learn that
Lee on his trip east had traveled widely on lecture tours, mixing his
discussion of Indian needs with large doses of propaganda on the de
sirability of Oregon as a place of settlement. No professional imperialist
could have been more enthusiastic than Lee about the justness of seiz
ing Oregon for the United States. Lee s speeches and the Journal of his
travels, published in 1838, did much to spread the Oregon fever. The
question of the ethical propriety of Lee s imperialistic activities has
provided meat for a hundred years of argument ; he had accepted much
help from the doctor in establishing his mission, with full knowledge
that McLoughlin would have opposed him if his announced purpose
had been commercial or imperialistic. It is probable that Lee was less
sensitive than Jedediah Smith and that to him McLoughlin was merely
a symbol representing Britain, which the average American believed
should be outwitted by fair means or foul.
Less easily condoned was the act of the Reverend Mr. Waller, who
deliberately pre-empted land by the Falls of the Willamette that Mc
Loughlin had taken possession of in 1830 and where he had blasted out
a millrace. McLoughlin gave notice of the claim when Waller started
to build, but permitted the Methodist as a tenant to erect a small build
ing, even giving him some lumber. Later Waller and others ignored
the doctor s claim entirely and did all in their power to take from him
the spot to which he had planned to retire.
In 1841 Governor Simpson, then Sir George, arrived at Fort Van
couver on an inspection trip. McLoughlin had been permitted far more
freedom than were most Chief Factors, but he knew that in allowing
the missionaries to establish themselves so strongly he had betrayed
company policy. Though Sir George was noncommittal, it was clear
that he was not satisfied.
The Hudson s Bay Company was well aware that there was a grow
ing sentiment in the United States for the seizure of Oregon; in fact,
Why a Trail to Oregon? 29
American claims disputed title to all the West Coast country up to
the Russian boundary. The American claim rested in part on the fact
that Robert Gray had visited the mouth of the Columbia in 1792,
though it was Vancouver s lieutenant who, in the same year, had ex
plored the river for a hundred miles and verified its course; it also
rested on the explorations by the Americans, Lewis and Clark. The
British, however, could show that they had been developing the country,
had made some settlements, and had established civil rule for British
subjects in the territory. The weakness of the American claim was ap
parent and the missionary-imperialists in the critical years were frank,
in the States if not in Oregon, in stressing the need of rushing settlers
in to attain predominant numbers for the United States. Conservative
members of the Government had resisted the shouts of jingoes for mili
tary penetration of the Oregon country, as they had resisted pleas for
forts near the Rockies to protect the fur traders. Settlements, however,
were rapidly increasing between the Mississippi and Indian territory,
particularly since the depression of 1837 had added to the popular
unrest.
In May, 1841, a group of people assembled at Independence, Mo.,
for migration to California; they had been collected largely by John
Bidwell who had heard stories of the country from a traveling French
man. Most of the would-be emigrants became discouraged and withdrew
from the party, which became so small that the remainder joined some
trappers, including Thomas Fitzpatrick, on their way to Green River,
and a party of Roman Catholic priests, including Father Pierre DeSmet,
who were journeying to the Flathead country at last to answer the call
for "black robes." When the priests left them at Soda Springs, the
party, now consisting of 64 people, was split; half of them, fearing to
attempt the uncertain California route, followed the better-known trail
to Whitman s mission at Walla Walla and then went down the Columbia.
In 1842 the real march on Oregon began. In this year the imperi
alists, led by Sen. Thomas H. Benton of Missouri, had succeeded in
having an official trail-exploration expedition sent as far west as the
Wind River Valley; this was led by Benton s new son-in-law, J. C.
Fremont. Fremont s report, issued early in 1843, roused wide enthu
siasm ; in 1843 he again went out and he spent most of the two following
years exploring foreign land Oregon and the Mexican possessions in
what is now the United States. His reports of these expeditions became
the chief guidebook of later emigrants. At the time Fremont was mak-
30 The Oregon Trail
ing his first trip, a party of about a hundred started for Oregon under
the leadership of Dr. Elijah White, a member of the Willamette mis
sion who had quarreled with Jason Lee but was returning with the
peculiar Federal title of "Indian subagent for Oregon." McLoughlin s
agent at Fort Hall sent a guide to lead them to the Willamette. This
party did not pass Fort Vancouver, but McLoughlin later helped many
of its members by extending credit at the company commissary to them.
In the following year nearly half the members of the White party moved
on to California; their arrival had, however, stimulated the Americans
in the Willamette Valley to form a loose civil government for them
selves. The British subjects in the valley first joined the movement, but
withdrew when they discovered the nationalistic character of the ac
tivities.
At the time the organization meeting was held nearly a thousand
persons were assembling at Independence,, Mo., and preparing to start
west. White in 1842 had brought news of this assembly and also orders
to Dr. Whitman that part of his missions were to be closed because
the board was tired of the dissension among the workers and disap
pointed in the number of conversions. Whitman and his colleagues de
termined to disregard the instructions. In the fall of this year Whitman
suddenly decided to rush east, regardless of the weather. After a quick
trip across the mountains, he went straight to Washington to urge his
ideas on Government officials, asking for forts to protect emigrants along
the Oregon Trail; he then visited New York, where he met Horace
Greeley and filled him with enthusiasm for the disputed territory; and
finally he went to Boston to consult with his board. Almost immedi
ately he started west again, lecturing as he went, to join the travelers
at Independence and turn them toward Oregon.
About 875 persons straggled into Oregon in November and Decem
ber of 1843; like those who preceded them, they were assisted in vari
ous ways by the Hudson s Bay Chief Factor of the Columbia. In the
following year the settlers reorganized and strengthened their provi
sional government, and welcomed 1,400 more arrivals. Still Dr. Mc
Loughlin extended credit to the straitened newcomers, who promised
repayment in wheat and other commodities to be produced on the new
lands; it is possible that he yet hoped to redeem himself in the eyes
of his superiors by making Fort Vancouver the export center for the
territory.
In 1845, which saw the arrival of more than three thousand immi-
Why a Trail to Oregon? 31
grants, the provisional government was fully established. In the same
year the Hudson s Bay Company forced the resignation of its Chief
Factor on the Columbia; after winding up his affairs he moved south
in an attempt to regain the land he had laid claim to 15 years before
and in the expectation of some repayment from the many newcomers
he had helped. Many of the settlers had not paid their debts to the
Hudson s Bay Company and McLoughlin s later years were embittered
because he had to use his lifetime savings to reimburse the company.
Though he soon became a citizen of the United States, his land claim
was not recognized until five years after his death.
A leader of one 1845 section was Joel Palmer, whose Journal,
published in 1847, gave sound advice to future emigrants (see AP
PENDIX).
By 1846 the boundary controversy had become acute; Folk s cam
paign slogan "Fifty-four forty or fight" and the Mexican War had
whipped the United States into a state of imperialistic belligerency.
War between the United States and Great Britain seemed so inevitable
that the representatives of the two countries hastily brought the 30-year
negotiations to an end with a compromise extending the international
boundary westward along the 49th parallel to the Strait of Georgia.
The same force settlement that had brought Oregon territory
into the Union was already bringing in the Southwest; by 1853 war
and purchase had rounded out the present boundaries of the United
States.
The acquisition of vast western lands swelled the stream of migra
tion to all parts of the West. By 1848 the Oregon Trail was deeply
rutted. The discovery of gold in California in that year drove it deeper
into the prairies, for it carried the great bulk of the gold seekers at
least to a point west of South Pass.
Much maudlin sympathy has been wasted on the pioneers; few of
them asked for it. They were taking part in one of the great mass
movements of history and they knew it, as is shown by the diaries
they kept under difficult conditions, by the letters they wrote to the home
town newspapers and to friends, and by the efforts they made to leave
their names on various rocks along the way. To many the journey was
an exhilarating picnic, with gossip, chatter, love-making, sightseeing,
and adventure providing them with something to boast about for the
rest of their lives. If the hardships were greater than they anticipated,
the majority was undismayed. Cholera epidemics along the trail in
32 The Oregon Trail
1849, 1850, and 1852 took heavy toll, as such epidemics did in cities.
On the whole the emigrants had such good health on the trail that
hordes of sick and anemic persons journeyed to the Missouri to travel
at least for a time with the parties. Had the emigrants stayed at home,
the average annual death rate would have been 500 in every 20,000;
probably the death rate on the trail from natural causes was lower
than at home. Most deaths not resulting from epidemics were the result
of rashness or carelessness. Loaded guns in the hands of amateur fron
tiersmen were a leading cause of accidents.
Every party had some members who were sure that they could find
shorter and better routes than could experienced guides; the tragic ex
perience of the Donner party (see SECTION 7) took place because the
members acted on advice given in a letter written by a man of whom
they had never heard.
As Army posts were opened along the way, the officers became in
creasingly annoyed by the foolhardiness of the travelers; finally, to
save themselves the labor of rushing about rescuing the foolish, they
forcibly though without authority organized the trains under military
rules and passed them along under escort.
While many of the emigrants feared the Indians and were always
alert, others could not be made to take reasonable precautions against
surprise. The Indians stole when they could and caused occasional
deaths during raids, but they were not serious menaces until the sixties,
when they began to realize that the invaders were driving away and
killing off the buffalo and other animals on which the natives depended
for their food and clothing. By this time, moreover, the Indians had
become thoroughly disillusioned of any hopes that the whites would
keep the land treaties. By these agreements the whites took the best
lands and gave the Indians the worst; in addition comparatively little
of the promised compensations in money and goods ever reached the
aborigines. Even the Army officers sent to quell uprisings when the
Indians became desperate, reported, with a stern sense of justice, that
the natives had just cause for their frantic last stands. For many years
the forces sent against the Indians were inadequate, but when at length
the Government undertook to finish the job of expropriation, the results
were swift and final.
Great hardship was caused by the settlers determination to carry
their prized possessions with them. Many a cherished chest and spinet
on the West Coast was carried overland at the price of semistarvation.
Why a Trail to Oregon? 33
By 1850 the immigrants were beginning to clamor for quick mail
service and better transportation, but it was 1859 before an overland
stage went as far west as Colorado. The Pony Express, which gave
the first fast mail service to California, was inaugurated in 1860;
though it lasted only 16 months and ruined its promoters, it provided
the country with one of the most exciting series of relay races in his
tory. In 1861 a telegraph line connected the Pacific Coast with the
East. After much talk about building a railroad to the Far West, the
Federal government accepted the responsibility. A Congressional act
permitted the Central Pacific to built eastward from Sacramento and
the Union Pacific to build westward from Council Bluffs until their
lines should meet, with a bait of princely land grants to stimulate
rivalry between the two companies for distance covered. The most
formidable engineering difficulties were encountered at the western end,
but the building of the Union Pacific was a far more dramatic enter
prise; it was carried through at a time when many of the Indian
tribes of the plains were actively and fiercely hostile. On May 10,
1869, at Promontory, Utah, a golden spike was driven into a cross-tie
of California laurel, celebrating the junction of the rails pushed from
the East and the West, and the completion of an iron span across
the continent.
Wagons continued to follow the Oregon Trail until late in the
eighties, but the days of pioneer travel were over and the physical
frontier was almost gone. Many who went west remained only a short
time, then turned back to settle in the Middle West, or to resettle in
their native States east of the Mississippi. Relatively few of the immi
grants found the quick wealth and happiness they had sought. Through
the years the migrations grew steadily smaller; they have not yet
stopped, though there is no free land today.
The biological genes transmitting the characteristics that drained
Europe of much of its vitality and made the United States an empire
extending from coast to coast have not been bred out.
THE OREGON TRAIL
US 30
The Missouri River to the Pacific
2,110 miles
Alternate Route
Nebraska- Wyoming
570.4 miles
CAVALRY ESCORTING THE MAIL
JJolm
Sin Ithsoti iaii Institution
THE MAIL
rsE
The United States Illustrated
INDEPENDENCE COURTHOUSE, MISSOURI (1855)
Missouri-Iowa
Independence, Mo. Kansas City St. Joseph Council Bluffs, Iowa
(Missouri River) ; 218.1 m. US 24, US 71, and US 275.
Burlington Route and Missouri Pacific R.R. roughly parallel route between Kansas
City and Council Bluffs.
Paved roadbed.
Accommodations chiefly in towns.
". . . from this river is time reconed & it matters not how far you,
you have come, this is the point to which they all refer, for the
question is never, when did you leave home? but, when did you
leave the Mississouri river?"
Mrs. Frizzell, Across the Plains to California in 1852.
"Last spring, 1846," wrote Francis Parkman in The California and
Oregon Trail, "was a busy season in the city of St. Louis. Not only
were emigrants from every part of the country preparing for the journey
to Oregon and California, but an unusual number of traders were
making ready their wagons and outfits for Santa Fe. The hotels were
crowded, and the gunsmiths and saddlers were kept constantly at work
in providing arms and equipment for the different parties of travellers.
Almost every day steamboats were leaving the levee and passing up the
Missouri, crowded with passengers on the way to the frontier.
"In one of these, the Radnor, .... my friend and relative, Quincy
A. Shaw, and myself left St. Louis on the twenty-fifth of April on a
tour of curiosity and amusement to the Rocky Mountains. The boat was
loaded until the water broke alternately over her guards. Her upper
deck was covered with large wagons of a peculiar form, for the Santa
Fe trade, and the hold was crammed with goods for the same destina
tion. There were also the equipments and provisions of a party of
Oregon emigrants, a band of mules and horses, piles of saddles, and a
multitude of nondescript articles, indispensable on the prairies.
". . . . In five or six days we began to see signs of the great western
movement that was taking place. Parties of emigrants, with their tents,
and wagons, were encamped on open spots near the bank, on their way
to the common rendezvous at Independence."
Section 1. Independence to Council Bluffs (Missouri River),
218.1 m. US 24, US 72, and US 275.
INDEPENDENCE, m. (949 alt., 15,296 pop.), is a pleasant resi
dential and manufacturing suburb of Kansas City, Mo., lying about
five miles south of the Missouri River and a dozen miles west of the
mouth of the Kansas. There is little in its appearance today to suggest
37
38 The Oregon Trail
that it was at one time the busiest town in the United States west of
St. Louis.
A few settlers appeared in the area after 1808, when little Fort
Osage was established some miles to the east; it was chiefly a Govern
ment trading post. Missouri became a State in 1821 but Independence
was not organized until 1827, after the Indians occupying the territory
had been sent (1825) west of the State Line, and Fort Leavenworth,
some miles up the Missouri, had been garrisoned.
Traders and trappers from the United States were roaming toward
the Rockies soon after the Louisiana Purchase was made. A few pene
trated to Santa Fe, then under Spanish rule, though the Mexicans were
attempting to obtain independence. These early traders in the Southwest
were treated with suspicion and hostility by the Spanish. In the fall of
1821 a party of 20 traders and trappers went up the Arkansas, crossed
to and explored the headwaters of the Rio Grande, and in the following
summer returned to Missouri by a route to some extent approximating
the later Santa Fe Trail; this was called the Fowler expedition for
Jacob Fowler, second in command, who reported the results of the
explorations. Not long after this expedition started out William Beck-
nell, a trader, returned from Santa Fe with the report that the Mexicans
were free from Spanish domination and eager for trade with the United
States. In 1825-27, through the effort of Thomas Hart Benton, an
expansionist and Missouri s first Senator, three United States commis
sioners were sent out to survey a trail to the Southwest; since the
area that is now New Mexico was then Mexican territory, they did not
work beyond the United States boundary, but as far as they went they
laid out the Santa Fe Trail. Though the route nominally started at
Fort Osage, Independence soon became the headquarters of the South
west traders. It maintained its importance in this capacity until after
1868, when construction of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Ry. began.
This area, rather than St. Louis, became the jumping-off -place for
the West and the Southwest because traders could avoid 250 miles of
travel over mire and rough roads by traveling up the Missouri River to
the point where it made a sharp bend at the beginning of its long swing
north. By 1830 the town had a busy blacksmith shop and other facilities
needed by those setting off on long journeys overland through unsettled
territory.
The earliest traders along the Santa Fe Trail used pack horses, but
they soon acquired mules, which were abundant in Mexico and had a
reputation for sturdiness, sure-footedness, and ability to carry heavy
loads. Later traders found oxen even better for the purpose. The first
wagons used on the Santa Fe Trail were made in Pittsburgh, Pa., but
"Murphy wagons," originally made by a man of that name in St. Louis,
soon became popular. Later Samuel Weston and other local men manu
factured trail wagons, and in the last years of the prairie-schooner traf
fic there were wagonmakers in a number of nearby towns.
Missouri-Iowa 39
A loaded wagon weighed from three to seven thousand pounds. Ten
or twelve mules, or six yoke of oxen, were needed to pull each wagon;
reserve animals were driven with the train to take the places of those
that gave out.
In the thirties and forties a trip or two to Santa Fe was the popular
means of occupying the "Wander jahr" before young men settled down
to business and family life; those who could afford it went as traders
and the rest took employment with the trains. The skilled employees
were the packers and drivers, who received each month between $25 and
$50 and "found." Wealthy young men often accompanied the trains as
tourists, paying for their own equipment and sometimes paying also for
protection on the route. Yet others accompanied the trains for only a
hundred miles or so.
Josiah Gregg, the trader who made his first trip on the trail, as a
health seeker, in his Commerce of the Prairies (1844) related that
"among the concourse of travellers at this starting point, besides
traders and tourists, a number of pale-faced invalids are generally to be
met with. The Prairies have, in fact, become very celebrated for their
sanative effects more justly so, no doubt, than the most fashionable
watering-places of the North. Most chronic diseases, particularly liver
complaints, dyspepsias, and similar affections, are often radically
cured; owing, no doubt to the peculiarities of diet, and the regular
exercise incident to prairie life, as well as to the purity of the atmos
phere of those elevated unembarrassed regions. An invalid myself, I
can answer for the efficacy of the remedy, at least in my own case.
Though, like other valetudinarians, I was disposed to provide an ample
supply of such commodities as I deemed necessary for my comfort and
health, I was not long upon the prairies before I discovered that most
of such extra preparations were unnecessary, or at least quite dispen
sable. A few knick-knacks, as a little tea, rice, fruits, crackers, etc.,
suffice very well for the first fortnight, after which the invalid is gen
erally able to take the fare of the hunter and teamster. Though I set
out myself in a carriage, before the close of the first week I saddled
my pony; and when we reached the buffalo range, I was not only as
eager for the chase as the sturdiest of my companions, but I enjoyed
far more exquisitely my share of the buffalo, than all the delicacies
which were ever devised to provoke the most fastidious appetite."
At the time Gregg wrote his book, the transient population of In
dependence had been augmented by emigrants, missionaries, tourists,
journalists, and traders bound for Oregon and, in some cases, for Cali
fornia. After 1838, when Washington Irving s books on the West were
becoming popular and Jason Lee made his lecture tour through the
States bordering on the Mississippi, the Oregon fever burned higher
annually. One of Lee s converts, Thomas J. Farnham, a lawyer who
a few years earlier had migrated from Vermont to Illinois, became
very enthusiastic; he was going to trade in the Oregon country and
40 The Oregon Trail
take possession of it for the United States. He reached Independence
early in 1839 with others who wanted to join him in the venture, and
was elected leader of the company, which called itself the Oregon Dra
goons and carried a flag embroidered by Mrs. Farnham with the slogan
"Oregon or the Grave." The group was poorly equipped, each member
having contributed only $160 to the enterprise. Despite the fact that
there were no experienced hunters in the party, the supplies were suf
ficient for only 400 miles of travel; Farnham had believed they could
live on game. (The naive belief that the trip overland could be made
with limited facilities and equipment was not singular to this group;
many of the tragedies of the trail resulted from ignorance of the fact
that a man had to be reasonably well-to-do to make the journey.)
Farnham s experiences are described in his Travels in the Great Western
Prairies (1841).
Each year thereafter emigrants straggled into Independence and
the towns farther north, alone or in small groups; some reached the
town early in April, and joined those who in the previous year had
arrived too late to start. May was considered the best month for de
parture. Because of the danger of Indian attacks and lootings, emi
grants and other travelers usually endeavored to find or organize a
party in the Missouri outfitting towns with which they could travel.
Despite the seriousness of the business of making the last arrange
ments, of buying equipment and foodstuffs, of having wagons repaired
and horses shod, and of finding suitable fellow travelers, there was
generally a festive air along the Missouri in the spring. The newcomers
collected information and misinformation, made friends and enemies,
changed proposed destinations, and behaved in general as though they
were on a picnic. The children frolicked and the women cooked, sewed,
gossiped, and did the family washings.
When a wagon train had been assembled, a quasi-military organi
zation was formed. Instructions were given by Capt. R. B. Marcy in
the Prairie Traveler: "After a particular route has been selected to
make the journey across the plains, and the requisite number have ar
rived . . . their first business should be to organize themselves into a
company and elect a commander. The company should be of sufficient
magnitude to herd and guard animals, and for protection against In
dians. ... In the selection of a captain, good judgment, integrity of
purpose and practical experience are the essential requisites. . . . His
duty should be to direct the order of march, the time of starting and
halting, to select the camps, detail and give orders to guards, and,
indeed, to control and superintend all the movements of the company.
An obligation should be drawn up and signed by all the members of
the association, wherein each one should bind himself to abide in all
cases by the orders and decisions of the captain and to aid him by
every means in his power .... and they should also obligate them-
Missouri- Iowa 41
selves to aid each other, so as to make the individual interest of each
member the common concern of the whole company."
A typical pact made by emigrants is found in Silas Newcomb s
Journal (1850-1):
"At a meeting of a Company of Californians on the Banks of the
Missouri, May 6th, 1850, the following Preamble and Resolutions were
unanimously adopted:
"Whereas we are about to leave the frontier, and travel over In
dian Territory, exposed to their treachery, and knowing their long and
abiding hatred of the whites; also many other privations to meet with.
We consider it necessary to form ourselves into a Company for the
purpose of protecting each other and our property, during our journey
to California.
"Therefore Resolved, That there shall be one selected from the Com
pany, suitable and capable to act as Captain or Leader.
"Resolved, That we, as men, pledge ourselves to assist each other
through all the misfortunes that may befall us on our long and dan
gerous journey.
"Resolved, That the Christian Sabbath shall be observed, except
when absolutely necessary to travel.
"Resolved, That there shall be a sufficient guard appointed each
night regularly, by the Captain.
"Resolved, That in case of a member s dying, the Company shall
give him a decent burial."
The reason for this last pledge is easily found. In 1830 Asiatic
cholera had, with the aid of a Mecca pilgrimage, spread into Europe,
and by 1832 had appeared to a serious extent in American port cities,
particularly New Orleans. By 1833 it had moved up the Mississippi and
some of its tributaries. The bacteria causing the disease live in human
discharges and are transmitted chiefly through infected water and food
stuffs. Europe was experiencing a second serious cholera epidemic in
1847-8, when a wave of emigration to the United States brought thou
sands eager to settle in the lands newly acquired in the Far West. Many
of these European immigrants brought cholera with them, and infected
those who followed them up the Mississippi and down the Ohio. By
the middle of June, 1848, Dearborn County, Ind., with a population of
two thousand, was burying 14 people a day. In January, 1849, more
than a hundred victims of cholera were landed at St. Louis; in that
year 4,500 to 6,000 died of the disease in that city alone. Fleeing west
ward from the plague-stricken city, the emigrants carried the disease
with them. In 1849 nearly sixty thousand people passed through Inde
pendence and other outfitting towns north of it along the river, most
of them with California as their goal. They carried death across the
country.
The early symptoms of cholera often pass unrecognized and many
who thought they were escaping from the disease had already con-
42 The Oregon Trail
traded it; they polluted the campgrounds along the Platte, and those
who came behind them picked up the bacteria far from the stricken
centers. The onset of the acute stage of the infection is sudden and ter
rifying; some who started the day s journey on the trail, apparently in
good health, were writhing with pain by noon, and were in graves by
sundown. Lacking any knowledge of the cause of this horror, fellow
travelers, pressing handkerchiefs to their noses, fled from those who
became ill, often leaving people to die alone. Some who fled were like
wise deserted in a day or two. "It is sometimes just a case of Death
snapping his finger at you and you are gone," wrote one forty-niner.
The disease spread to the Indians, who, believing that the whites were
poisoning them, retaliated by senseless attacks. In 1849 cholera was
carried as far west as the Mormon Ferry on the North Platte. The epi
demic was not so acute in 1850-1, but there was a resurgence in 1852.
Mercifully, the period of suffering with cholera was brief; though
the death toll on the trail can never accurately be estimated, it was
probably lower there than in some of the worst-infected cities and the
death rate did not raise a barrier of fear against further migrations;
even in the epidemic years many thousands made rollicking starts from
the frontier.
Those who left it in the neighborhood of Independence followed the
Santa Fe Trail for about 40 miles, passing through Westport and cross
ing into the Indian lands. They then turned northwestward and crossed
the Kansas somewhere in the neighborhood of the present Topeka.
There the caravans usually stopped to consider plans and reorganize
their companies. Some would-be emigrants had had enough of frontier
life when they reached this point, and turned back. From Kansas the
trail early called the Oregon and later the California continued
northwestward in the general direction of Grand Island in the Platte
River, at intervals meeting feeders from other towns along the Missouri.
The inhabitants of Independence early attempted to divert the flow
of business from other settlements that were growing up near the river.
By 1846 they had laid a rock road to the bank of the Missouri and
established stores near the wharf.
The year 1850 saw the first overland mail and stagecoaches leave
this town for Salt Lake City, by Government contract with Samuel H.
Woodson; in the following year a summer service was extended to Cali
fornia. The coaches first ran on a monthly schedule; in the early sixties
the overland stage left each day. The Missouri Commonwealth for July
1860, described the new mail and passenger coaches as "in elegant style,
each arranged to convey eight passengers. The bodies are beautifully
painted and made water-tight, with a view of using them as boats in
ferrying streams." There were six mules to each coach. The mail was
guarded by eight armed men.
Until after the railroads had been built there was a steady stream
of private vehicles on the trail in summer; a few emigrants of the
Missouri-Iowa 43
gold-rush period rode horseback, traveling without wagons, and others
pushed or pulled their belongings in carts.
The rush in the "fifties was so great that supplies often ran low and
prices advanced. Repeated orders were sent to St. Louis but river boats
bringing provisions also brought additional people eager to begin the
westward trek. Cargoes arrived here for points along the trails as well
as for local consumption and for the caravans. On the riverbanks were
unloaded boxes, barrels, hogsheads, and crates filled with sugar, dry
goods, bacon, rice, dishes, and glassware; there were also barrels of
liquor from Kentucky and 9ccasional casks of brandy from France.
Local freighting finally became so heavy that Independence men formed
a company to build a railroad from the landing to the town. The train
used on this road consisted of Independence-built flatcars drawn by
mules, and it ran along three or four miles of hand-hewn hardwood
rails. In the late fifties river commerce turned to the new City of Kansas,
which offered a better landing place; and Independence gradually lost
its commercial importance.
Mormonism was introduced into Independence in 1830, when five
elders of that faith arrived to spread their gospel among the Indians.
Discouraged in their attempt, they sent one of their number back to
report defeat. But Joseph Smith had a vision in which he saw Inde
pendence as the City of Zion, and sent other elders into the Ohio and
Mississippi Valleys to seek converts and bring them here. Smith him
self with other officials of the church arrived in the summer of 1831
and bought 40 acres of land. Two years later the Mormon Evening and
Morning Star reported that Mormons and their families living here
numbered more than 1,200, about a third of the total population of the
county. Many gentiles resented the influx, and their bitterness increased
as the Mormon influence grew. There were minor persecutions; the Mor
mon newspaper editor was tarred and feathered; then came mob vio
lence, and in 1834 the Mormons agreed to move to Clay County. But
they found themselves equally unwelcome in other parts of Missouri;
in 1838 Gov. Lilburn Boggs asked Gen. John B. Clark to take command
and subdue the Mormons. After further imprisonments and disturb
ances, the Saints left the State and in time built up Nauvoo, 111., as
their headquarters.
In COURTHOUSE SQUARE is the brick JACKSON COUNTY COURTHOUSE,
part of which was erected in 1836. While Independence is the seat of
Jackson County, the courthouse here serves only the eastern part of
the county; that in Kansas City serves the western part.
The FIRST JACKSON COUNTY COURTHOUSE (open weekdays 8 a.m.-
6 p.m.), 107 W. Kansas Ave., was built in 1827 at the southeast cor
ner of Lynn St. and Lexington Ave. The building cost $150, and is of
white-oak and walnut logs cut by a slave. Weatherboarding, put on the
west end to preserve the structure, and a porch have been added.
Construction on the AUDITORIUM, south side of W. Walnut St. be-
44 The Oregon Trail
tween S. River Blvd. and Grand Ave., was begun in 1926; it belongs
to the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. When
the building is completed its cost is expected to exceed $1,500,000. The
structure, of massive proportions, was designed by Henry C. Smith
of Independence. The circular main arena, with a seating capacity of
seven thousand, is topped with a large elliptical, unsupported dome.
West from Independence on US 24.
KANSAS CITY, 9 m. (963 alt., 399,746 pop.) (see MISSOURI
GUIDE).
Railroad Station. Union Station, 24th and Main Sts., for Chicago & Alton
R.R.; Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific R.R.; Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe
Ry.; Chicago, Burlington & Quincy R.R.; Kansas City Southern Ry.; Missouri,
Kansas & Texas R.R.; Missouri Pacific R.R. ; St. Louis-San Francisco Ry.; Union
Pacific R.R.; Wabash Ry.; Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Ry.; Chicago Great
Western R.R.; and Kansas City, Kaw Valley & Western R.R.
Accommodations. Numerous first-class hotels with standard rates.
Points of Interest. Municipal Auditorium, Liberty Memorial, Nelson Gallery of
Art and Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, and Livestock Exchange.
Kansas City embraces the early town of Westport, which was built
just east of the Missouri Line, four miles south of the Missouri River.
Westport is now bounded by Main, Thirty-fifth, and Forty-seventh Sts.
Westport Avenue, once part of the Santa Fe Trail, is a short distance
south.
Before settlers arrived at this place it was a camping ground of
traders. In 1831 the Rev. Isaac McCoy entered a claim for a tract of
land here and in the following year John C. McCoy, his son, opened a
store and platted the townsite.
John McCoy was canny in opening a store at this point, since the
Santa Fe Trail ran by his door and he could cater to the most urgent
needs of those returning from Santa Fe and the wilderness and catch
some of the outfitting overflow from Independence. The first consign
ments of goods came to McCoy through Independence; but he soon
found a rocky ledge along fairly deep water in the Missouri within a
few miles of his land, and in the fall of 1832 the John Hancock chugged
up to land goods there.
Four years later Missouri was increased by two million acres by
"extinguishing the Indian title" to the triangle formed by the Missouri
River, the western extension of the State s northern boundary, and the
extension of the western boundary. This addition to slave territory was
immediately thrown open to settlement and both Westport and Inde
pendence, at the inverted apex, benefited by the rush of immigrants.
Before many years local workshops were turning out wagons, harnesses,
saddles, tents, covers for prairie schooners, yokes and bows for oxen,
candles, and other commodities.
Missouri-Iowa 45
The gold rush brought on a further boom; here, as elsewhere along
the river, stores of foodstuffs and equipment were quickly exhausted.
Orders rushed to St. Louis and other wholesale markets could not be
filled rapidly enough to meet the demand. The goods available sold at
fantastic prices as the fortune hunters sought to hurry their departures
in order to overtake and pass those who had already left for California.
In the fall of 1849 cholera broke out among Mormon immigrants
camped on the edge of the town; soon afterward many Westport in
habitants became victims of the disease and others left the town, never
to return. For a time the normal activity of the area was paralyzed.
In spite of the competition being offered by the City of Kansas,
Westport continued to thrive and was particularly prosperous between
1855-60. It was incorporated in 1857.
The HARRIS HOME (open on request), 4000 Baltimore Ave., West-
port s social center in the early 1850 s, was removed in 1922 from its
original site at the corner of Main St. and Westport Ave. This build
ing was used as a nursing home for wounded Civil War soldiers on
both sides after the Battle of Westport.
The REARDON HOME (private), 4260 Clark Ave., is one of the oldest
structures in the former Westport. It was built of logs by an early-day
blacksmith for his Irish bride. The logs have been covered with weather
boards.
The JOSEPH STEGMILLER HOME (private), 708 Westport Rd., was
built in the early 1850 s by one of the pioneer wagonmakers.
The SITE OF THE DEATHPLACE (1881) OF JIM BRIDGER, the trapper
and scout, at the northwest corner of Westport and Pennsylvania Aves.,
is now occupied by a red-brick liquor store. Bridger settled late in life
on a farm that was here.
The SITE OF THE HARRIS HOUSE, a widely known hostelry run by
Col. and Mrs. John Harris, is at Fortieth and Main Sts. Among its
famous guests was John C. Fremont, who in 1843 started on his sec
ond western exploring expedition from nearby Kansas Landing on the
Kansas River.
Fremont, who was born in 1813, had as a lad gained many friends
by his alert mind and personal charm; one of these friends obtained
an appointment for him in the U.S. Topographical Corps, where he
became a protege of the distinguished Frenchman, Jean Nicholas Nicol-
let, whom he accompanied in 1838 on an exploring expedition to the
western tributaries of the Mississippi. This expedition gave him social
entree in Washington during his work on the Nicollet report. He soon
met Jessie, the delightful and intelligent daughter of the Missouri war-
horse, Sen. Thomas Hart Benton, and the young people before long
evaded Benton s opposition to what seemed an undistinguished match
by eloping. Benton swallowed his resentment and immediately began
to further his expansionist dreams by promoting his son-in-law s ex
ploration ambitions. In 1842 the young man was sent on a preliminary
46 The Oregon Trail
reconnaissance along the Platte River to the Rockies; the object of his
activities, as conceived by the powerful Benton, was to provide a guide
book for settlers who would take possession of Oregon for the United
States, and maps for the use of military expeditions that might be
needed to complete the work if the settlers failed.
When Fremont returned from this journey he found to his dismay
that it was beyond his powers to write the kind of report that he and
Senator Benton wanted one that would stir the imagination as had
Irving s Adventures of Captain Bonneville (1837). His 18-year-old wife,
an unusually gifted person, supplied the skill he lacked; Fremont dic
tated to her daily and his report was published by Congress early in
1843, about the time he left on his second expedition, which was to carry
him to Oregon and California. The report added to his prestige in the
Capital. His wife and her parents traveled west to St. Louis with him,
and before continuing his journey he asked her to open all mail ad
dressed to him. He was still completing his preparations here in West-
port when he received a letter from his wife, sent by special messenger ;
without explanation it told him to leave immediately. Fremont s faith
in Jessie was such that he did not question the command; writing
"Good-bye. I trust and GO," he hastily set out the next morning on the
two-year expedition that was to determine his future career and help
to fulfill his father-in-law s schemes. Not until after his return did he
learn that Jessie had sent her peremptory letter because she had opened
an order from the War Department instructing him to return immedi
ately to Washington to explain why he was taking a howitzer with him
into Oregon and into Mexican territory. Jessie attributed the order to
jealousy on the part of Fremont s chief, who, she believed, wanted to
send his son as leader of the glory-giving western expedition.
Francis Parkman also lived at the Harris House while preparing to
go west in 1846. Parkman wrote: "Westport was full of Indians, whose
little, shaggy ponies were tied by the dozen along the houses and fences.
Sacs and Foxes, with shaved heads and painted faces; Shawnees and
Delawares fluttering in calico frocks and turbans; Wyandottes dressed
like white men, and a few wretched Kanzas wrapped in old blankets,
were strolling about the streets or lounging in and out of the shops and
houses." He then added this observation: "Whiskey, by the way, cir
culates more freely in Westport than is altogether safe in a place where
every man carries a loaded pistol in his pocket."
On US 24 (Independence Ave.) in downtown Kansas City is the
junction with US 71-69; R. here on US 71-69, which leads north, cross
ing a free bridge over the Missouri River. US 71 (L) leaves US 69 (R)
in North Kansas City, swinging northwest toward the Missouri River.
At TRACY, 41.2 m. (777 alt., 169 pop.), is a junction with Mo. 92.
Left on this paved road and across the Missouri River, in the center of which
is the Kansas Line, 6.8 m. At 7 m. is the FORT LEAVENWORTH MILITARY
RESERVATION.
Missouri-Iowa 47
Soon after the establishment of Fort Atkinson (see SECTION 2) , the first mili
tary post of importance along the Missouri River, the War Department came to
the conclusion that the post should have been placed nearer Independence, then
the outfitting point for those setting out for the West. Fort Leavenworth was estab
lished on March 7, 1827, and the older fort to the north was abandoned three
months later. In the early decades of the post s existence, the chief function of
its commander was to police the nearby Indian reservations. Later he occasionally
provided military protection for trading expeditions. Fort Leavenworth, now the
seat of the Command and General Staff School of the U.S. Army, is garrisoned
by demonstration troops of several branches of the Army.
Grant Avenue is the main thoroughfare of the reservation. Behind the old, wide-
spreading trees that line the streets are well-kept lawns and clusters of trim build
ings.
Frontier garrisons were often lax in discipline. The situation became so criti
cal here that on April 28, 1832, Gen. Winfield Scott ordered: "Every soldier or
ranger who shall be found drunk or insensibly intoxicated after the publication
of this order will be compelled, as soon as his strength will permit, to dig his
grave at a suitable burying place large enough for his own reception, as such grave
cannot fail to be wanted for the drunken man himself or for some drunken com
panion."
In 1834 the efficiency of the fort was increased by the arrival of the First
Dragoons, which had been organized the preceding year at Jefferson Barracks in
Missouri. This was the first cavalry regiment of the Army and was formed as an
experiment; Congress had been reluctant to establish many military posts in the
West, and the infantry could not be moved with the speed requisite for the pur
suit of well-mounted nomads. Military advisers had come to the conclusion that
demonstration parades of a well-equipped cavalry regiment might impress the
Indians living in remote places with the might of the Federal Government and
frighten them into keeping the peace. The Dragoons left Fort Leavenworth on
May 29, 1835, and followed the Platte to the Rockies. The commander held coun
cils with the Otoe, the Omaha, and the Pawnee, admonishing them that they must
behave; their leaders were placated with presents. Other conferences were held
in Colorado. The troopers returned to this post in the fall in good condition after
a 1,600-mile journey on horseback.
Later the fort became the principal point of departure for troops and supplies
being sent to posts farther west, and was stocked with large numbers of horses,
mules, oxen, and wagons. It was an outfitting point for troops during the Mexican
War. A host of officers later well known acquired their training during service at
this post.
Although Congress originally designated Fort Leavenworth as the temporary
capital of the Territory of Kansas, it heeded objections of the Secretary of War
that suitable quarters were not available. Andrew H. Reeder, first Territorial Gov
ernor, arrived here October 7, 1854, on a river steamer, Polar Star, accompanied
by his secretary and the U.S. Attorney for the Territory.
At the south end of Scott Ave. is the COMMAND AND GENERAL STAFF SCHOOL,
housed in Sheridan, Grant, Sherman, and Wagner Halls.
The STONE WALL, part of the defenses erected by Col. Henry H. Leavenworth,
is near the junction of Scott and Grant Aves.
On the northwest corner of McPherson and Riverside Aves. is the U.S. PRISON
ANNEX, formerly the U.S. Military Prison and Disciplinary Barracks, opened in
1875 for military prisoners, who had previously been confined with civilian convicts.
The walls and buildings are of gray stone quarried on the reservation. During
the World War this prison confined a large number of prisoners who had been
convicted of publicly opposing the Government s participation in the war and
refusing on non-religious grounds to obey the Selective Service Act; it also con
tained a number of people convicted of espionage.
In 1929 the prison was placed under the jurisdiction of the Department of
Justice, which had once previously (1895-1906) used the building as a Federal
48 The Oregon Trail
prison. The old prison, now an annex of the LEAVENWORTH FEDERAL PENITENTIARY,
is used principally for the confinement of narcotic addicts.
The NATIONAL CEMETERY (open 9 a.m.-4 p.m.), Biddle Ave., contains
hundreds of neatly aligned small stone markers over the graves of soldiers who
served in various American wars. Here is the GRAVE OF GEN. HENRY H. LEAVEN-
WORTH, the fort s founder, who died July 21, 1834, while leading an expedition
against the Pawnee. His body was first buried at Delhi, N. Y.
South from the military reservation on US 73E.
LEAVENWORTH, 9.7 m. (760 alt., 17,466 pop.) (see KANSAS GUIDE).
After the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Bill in 1854, large numbers of squat
ters moved across the river to settle on this spot; the land, which had been part
of the Delaware Indian territory, was to have been platted and sold to the highest
bidders, a fact that the newcomers did not realize until after they had organized
a company and platted the town. Leavenworth was not legally organized until
1857. In the meantime William H. Russell, Alexander Majors, and W. B. Waddell
had organized a freighting company with headquarters here, close to Fort Leaven-
worth. This soon became the leading firm of its kind operating in the West, owing
its prosperity in large part to contracts for freighting military supplies. Business
boomed in 1857 when the firm obtained the contract to transport supplies for the
troops sent to Utah Territory. The freighting operations alone would have brought
local prosperity. The streets were constantly filled with dust raised by the moving
freight trains, and with shouting, free-spending teamsters.
The members of the freighting firm were ambitious; in April, 1859, when the
banks of the river were again filled with frantic hordes of gold seekers, this time
with wagons labeled "Pike s Peak or Bust," they enlarged their services to include
stage transportation to the mining area. In May, Russell, of the freighting firm,
united with John S. Jones and others to establish the Leavenworth and Pike s Peak
Stage and Express, with weekly service over a route running almost directly west.
At first the coaches traveled in pairs for protection; the first ones westbound
reached Denver in 19 days. Soon the firm obtained the Missouri River-Salt Lake
City mail contract and transferred its stages to the Oregon Trail; coaches bound
for Denver left the route at Julesburg (see SECTION 4).
Early in 1860 the Central Overland California and Pike s Peak Express Com
pany, an outgrowth of the Russell, Majors, and Waddell firm, was chartered by
the Kansas Territorial Legislature.
Horace Greeley in his Overland Journey thus describes the establishment at
Leavenworth: "Russell, Majors & Waddell s transportation establishment, between
the fort and the city, is the great feature of Leavenworth. Such acres of wagons!
such pyramids of extra axletrees! such herds of oxen! such regiments of drivers
and other employees! No one who does not see can realize how vast a business
this is, nor how immense are its outlays as well as its income. I presume that
great firm has at this hour two millions of dollars invested in stock, mainly oxen,
mules and wagons. (They last year employed six thousand teamsters, and worked
45,000 oxen.)"
The new stage company gradually bought up competing lines. Having a prac
tical monopoly on all overland transport and freighting, Russell was anxious to
obtain an overland mail contract from the Government for daily service. To do
this, he felt that it was necessary first to demonstrate the practicality of the central
route he proposed to use. The idea of the Pony Express (see below} was there
fore hit upon. Sen. W. M. Gwin of California, whose constituents were in favor
of a central rather than a southern mail route, was the most important backer
of the plan. The Central Overland California and Pike s Peak Express Company
was operated successfully for two years, but the costly Pony Express demonstra
tion and the company s failure to obtain the overland mail contract sent it into
bankruptcy. In March, 1862, Ben Holladay bought the line at public sale. He reor
ganized the firm and named it the Overland Stage Line.
North from Tracy on US 71.
Missouri-Iowa 49
ST. JOSEPH, 76.1 m. (814 alt., 80,935 pop.) (see also MISSOURI
GUIDE)., generally known as "St. Joe," is built on the bluffs above the
Missouri River. Joseph Robidoux, later an employee of Astor s Ameri
can Fur Company, opened a trading post here in 1803. Prior to the
Platte Purchase in 1836, "Uncle Joe," as Robidoux was called, had
practically no competition and few neighbors; after the Indians had
been expelled he had both. In 1842 he platted the town and named it
for his patron saint.
St. Joseph soon became the leading freight depot in the district de
spite the fact that the trails between the town and the junction with the
Oregon Trail lay through rugged country with few watering places. The
town increased rapidly in size, being one of the chain that shared pros
perity as outfitting points for westbound travelers.
Eleaser Ingalls Journal (1850-1), in describing the community he
found here, voiced a complaint made of all the river towns: "St. Joseph
is quite a village, and doing quite a great deal of business at this time ;
but the way they fleece the California emigrants is worth noticing. I
should advise all going to California by the Overland Route to take
everything along with them that they can, as every little thing costs
three or four times as much here as at home. The markets are filled
with broken down horses jockeyed up for the occasion, and unbroken
mules which they assure you are handy as sheep. It is the greatest place
for gambling and all other rascality that I was ever in. We had to stand
guard on our horses as much as if we were in the Indian Country. It
is said that one or two men have been shot by the Emigrants, while in
the act of stealing."
In the same year Silas Newcomb wrote: "This place contains some
two thousand five hundred inhabitants and at present is a very busy
place on account of the California emigration which seems to centre
here; hills and dales are white with their camps. Many have crossed
the river and encamped on the west side in the Indian Territory. Find
all classes well represented here and to find a drunken Indian at every
square is nothing uncommon. Place contains four good sized Hotels,
about twenty Stores and the residue is made up of groceries, bak
eries, &C."
By 1851, when the gold fever was abating, the community s busi
nessmen began shipping supplies overland to the thousands who had
recently passed through on their way to the Pacific coast. Many herds
of cattle were driven from this town across the country to California,
where they were rested and fattened before being placed on sale. From
the early freighting business developed the present wholesale activities
of the city.
On February 13, 1859, Joseph Robidoux drove the last spike, a
golden one, according to the fashion of the day, to complete the Han
nibal & St. Joseph R.R. line whose advent gave impetus to the town s
development.
50 The Oregon Trail
In St. Joseph on the evening of April 3, 1860, a rider, generally be
lieved to have been Johnny Frey, mounted a pony in the Pike s Peak
stable and started westward, thereby inaugurating the Pony Express.
At about the same time Harry Hoff took off from Sacramento, Calif.
(see above). This first relay race to the West required 10 days. The St.
Joseph Gazette of April 4, 1860, described the event: "Yesterday eve
ning at 7:00 and fifteen minutes, the first carrier of the Pony Express
left the office of the company in this city. ... At the hour of starting,
an immense crowd had gathered around the Express office to witness
the inaugurating of the novel and important enterprise Mayor Thomp
son, in a few remarks to the spectators, briefly alluded to the signifi
cance of the Express from our city over the Central Route. Mr. Majors,
being loudly called for, responded in a speech characterized by his
usual practical manner of thought, in which he reviewed the rapid
changes which have taken place in the condition and prospects of the
West, predicting that the day is not far distant when other and power
ful communities will spring up in the shadow of the mountains, a region
lately regarded as wild and sterile beyond the power or desire of recla
mation . . . But a dozen years ago the entire season was thought
scarcely time enough to make the trip from Missouri to California, and
companies of a less number than fifty, armed and organized, were
deemed too weak to venture on the perilous route. Now a single man,
aye, a defenseless woman, so far as Indians were concerned, need fear
no ev,il." (Mr. Majors could not foresee the uprisings of the following
decade.)
Another St. Joseph newspaper of the same date, the Weekly West,
contained the following: "The rider is a Mr. Richardson, formerly a
sailor, and a man accustomed to every degree of hardship, having sailed
for years amid the snow and icebergs of the Northern ocean. He was
to ride last night the first stage of forty miles, changing horses once
in five hours; and before this paragraph meets the eyes of our readers,
the various dispatches will have reached the town of Marysville on the
Big Blue, one hundred and twelve miles distant, an enterprise never
before accomplished, even in this proverbially fast portion of a fast
country."
Most old-timers, however, agreed that the Weekly West reporter was
in error as to the identity of the rider.
During the 16 months of the Pony Express service, such men as
Bob Haslem and Jack Keetley carried the mail. There were about 180
riders; relay stations were usually about 9 to 15 miles apart. Some of
the riders were attacked by Indians and had narrow escapes; several
keepers of relay stations were killed, but only once was a mail pouch
lost and not recovered. Letters had to be written on thin paper, and
transcontinental delivery for the thinnest cost $5. In 1861 the service
came to an end upon the completion of the first transcontinental tele
graph line.
Missouri-Iowa 51
One of the most picturesque tourists who ever traveled west through
St. Joseph was Richard Burton, English scholar, adventurer, diplomat,
and later the translator of the Arabian Nights. During his travels in the
Near East, Burton had developed a lively curiosity about polygamy and
came to America in 1860 chiefly for the purpose of visiting the "City
of the Saints," which became the title of his report of the journey. As
a traveler of wide experience in primitive lands he was equipped for
every emergency; in addition to the usual supplies he carried a rifle, a
brace of revolvers, a Bowie knife, a whistle for stopping railway trains
as was the custom in rural England of the day, reference books, an air
gun to entertain the aborigines, opium to relieve the tedium of the
plains journey, and patent notebooks; he also carried a top hat, a
morning coat, and a silk umbrella to enable him to call on Brigham
Young in formal attire.
The EUGENE FIELD HOME (private), 425 N. llth St., is a two-story
gray-brick house, where the poet and his bride lived when he was editor
of the St. Joseph Gazette (1876-80).
The JOSEPH ROBIDOUX HOUSE (private), 219-25 Poulin St., is part
of Robidoux Row; here the founder of St. Joseph lived at the time of
his death in 1868. It is a long story-and-a-half brick structure with a
stone foundation.
The JESSE JAMES HOUSE (open daily 9 a.m. -5 p.m.; adm. 10$),
1318 Lafayette St., is a small shabby one-story frame cottage. Here, on
April 3, 1882, the outlaw was killed by Bob Ford. James had been
living here under the name of Howard.
North of St. Joseph US 71 is united with US 275-59. At 90 m.
L. from US 71 on US 59-275.
At 164.1 m. US 275 crosses the Iowa Line and runs through an
area of large vineyards. About September acres of blue Concord grapes
are seen from the highway.
COUNCIL BLUFFS, 218.1 m. (984 alt, 42,045 pop.) (see IOWA
GUIDE).
Railroad Stations. 1115 W. Broadway for Chicago & North Western Ry., Union
Pacific R.R., and Wabash Ry.; 1216 W. Broadway for Illinois Central R.R.; 1201
S. Main St. for Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Ry., and Chicago, Milwaukee, St.
Paul & Pacific R.R.; 900 S. Main St. for Chicago Great Western R.R.; and 407
Eleventh Ave. for Chicago, Burlington & Quincy R.R.
Accommodations. First-class hotels with standard year-round rates.
Points of Interest. Mormon Trail Memorial, Father DeSmet Memorial, and
Lewis and Clark Monument.
Council Bluffs is one of the most important railroad transfer points
in the United States. Manufacturing plants here produce a wide range
52 The Oregon Trail
of articles, including playground equipment, apiarists supplies, artifi
cial limbs, batteries, candy, and wheels.
In 1804 Lewis and Clark held council with the Indians on a bluff
some distance up the river and called the area Council Bluff. In 1827
Francis Guittar was appointed agent of the American Fur Company to
establish a post here that was called Hart s Bluff.
Father Pierre DeSmet in 1838 wrote of the place: "We arrived
among the Pottawattamies on the afternoon of May 31. Nearly 2,000
savages, in their finest rigs and carefully painted in all sorts of pat
terns, were awaiting the boat at the landing. I had not seen so imposing
a sight nor such fine-looking Indians in America." The Jesuit mission
ary and his companions went at once to talk with the half-breed chief,
Billy Caldwell, who was happy to have the white teachers come among
his people. For three years a mission was operated here.
A military post, Fort Croghan, was established on the site in 1842
to keep the Indians in order while they were being removed to lands
farther west. Few were left when the vanguard of the Mormons arrived
in the early summer of 1846. After an Illinois mob had killed Joseph
Smith, the Mormons at Nauvoo lived under constant threat of violence.
Brigham Young, who soon became their leader because of his executive
ability, was convinced that it was useless for the Latter-Day Saints to
attempt to establish themselves permanently in the East or the Middle
West; so he made plans to evacuate the settlement on the Mississippi
and salvage what he could of the local property by sale. He sent scout
ing groups ahead to examine routes through Iowa, and at the end of
February, 1846, started off with the first of the emigrants men, women,
and children. The weather was bitterly cold and the people suffered
greatly ; but, comforting each other and sure that they were acting under
divine guidance, they managed to maintain an amazing cheerfulness.
As they plowed through the snow and mud, a brass band led by the
English Captain Pitts provided lively music. Their provisions were lim
ited, but the inhabitants of the scattered settlements showed tolerance
toward them and paid willingly for evening entertainment by the band.
Young established several relay stations along the route in Iowa, leav
ing small groups to plant crops for the provisioning of later Mormon
migrants.
When the vanguard reached this place it was too late in the season
to start the overland trip to an undetermined goal. Young therefore de
cided to spend the winter in this area and prepare for the arrival of
other refugees. A second factor entering into his decision was the for
mation of the Mormon Battalion ; soon after the group had arrived here
a U.S. Army captain visited them to recruit for the Mexican War. Young
made an agreement that the Mormons should enlist but merely perform
guard service in California and not be sent to the front. He was forced
to this decision by the dire need of his followers, who had limited op
portunities for employment that would add to the community funds.
WAGON TRAINS (c. 1871)
BLOCK HOUSE NEAR OMAHA
Missouri-Iowa 53
The headquarters of the Mormon colony here was near the old fort
at a place called Miller s Hollow; this later became a semipermanent
Mormon relay station and was called Kanesville for Thomas L. Kane,
a U.S. Army officer who was long helpful to the Saints. The community
was also known as Winter Quarters, as was the camp on the west side
of the river at this point (see SECTION 2). Ruling over the commu
nity was Orson Hyde, priest, editor, lawyer, and one of the leaders
among the Twelve Apostles of the Church.
During the California gold rush of 1849, westward travel over the
trail on the north side of the Platte increased greatly, and Kanesville
became one of the jumping-off -places. The Mormon population in this
district reached its peak in 1848, but there were still several thousand
here in 1852, when word came that all the faithful should go on to
Utah. Farms, cabins, and stores were immediately sold to the incoming
settlers, often at a great sacrifice. A few Mormons remained to provide
assistance to the Saints who had been recruited abroad to fill up the
Promised Land.
After the Mormon departure, Kanesville was for a time without gov
ernment, for the Mormons had ruled not only the church but also the
town. The remaining inhabitants adopted the name of Council Bluffs.
In 1863 the town was chosen as the eastern terminus of the Union
Pacific R.R. Actual construction of the railroad to the West was begun
in 1866. By 1870 five railroads had made connections with the Union
Pacific here.
Thomas Beer (1889- ) , best known for his Mauve Decade (1926)
and a biography of Stephen Crane (1923), was born here. Amelia Jenks
Bloomer (1818-1894), active in the women s rights movement, lived
in the town from 1855 until her death. Mrs. Bloomer, an advocate of
dress reform, while serving as editor (1848-54) of The Lily advertised
a costume designed by Elizabeth Smith Miller. The public has since
associated her name with the baggy lower part of the costume, dubbed
"bloomers."
In Council Bluffs is the junction with US 30- Alt. Left on it, cross
ing the Missouri River on the Douglas St. toll bridge (car and driver
15$, passengers 5$ each) ; in the middle of the river is the Nebraska
Line.
Nebraska
Omaha (Missouri River) Fremont Grand Island Kearney North
Platte Sidney Kimball Wyo. Line; 460.8 m. US 30-Alt. and US 30.
Union Pacific R.R. and United Air Lines parallel route throughout.
Union Pacific, Chicago & North Western, Interstate Transit, and Burlington Trail-
ways buses follow route.
Accommodations available at short intervals in eastern section, less frequently in
western section; hotels chiefly in cities.
Road hard-surfaced throughout.
Change between Central Standard and Rocky Mountain time at western limit of
North Platte.
US 30 is the chief east-west road traversing Nebraska. The eastern
two-thirds of it follows the long curves of the Platte River on the north
bank; at the confluence of the North and South Platte Rivers US 30
crosses to the north bank of the South Platte, follows it for a time, and
then runs almost directly west. The Platte, which one writer described
as "a thousand miles long and six inches deep" and Washington Irving
called "the most magnificent and most worthless" of streams, was im
portant in western history because it formed a natural guide for the
emigrant routes.
The east-bound Astorians (1812-13) were the first known white men
to follow the north banks of the North Platte and Platte Rivers to a
point below Grand Island; there they obtained a canoe from the In
dians to complete the wearisome journey they had been pursuing on
foot with a single pack horse. Ashley s men (1824-25) traveled along
the north bank of the Platte, and switched to the north bank of the
South Platte, as US 30 now does, instead of following what later became
the major emigrant trail.
The Long party (1819-20) approached the Platte River from the
south near the center of the State and followed the south banks of the
Platte and South Platte Rivers. Wyeth s party (1832-33), on its way
west, also reached the Platte near the center of the State.
The first large group of emigrants to travel west along the north
bank of the Platte and of the North Platte were the Mormon Pioneers
of 1847. Thousands of Mormons and non-Mormons followed the route
in the next decade. The Oregon Trail was south of the Platte, and most
of its feeders from the Missouri reached the river near Grand Island;
it followed the south bank of the North Platte to Fort Laramie in
Wyoming, where the Mormon Trail joined it.
In only a few places where natural conditions forced traffic into
a single track were the emigrant trails anything but broad general
courses. Succeeding parties drove to the right or left of tracks left by
54
Nebraska 55
earlier trains, in order to avoid dust, to find grass and fuel, or to find
drinking water and camp sites unpolluted by their predecessors. Every
train had a few companies that attempted short cuts, hoping to reach
the day s camp first and occupy the best places. After the big migration
had begun, those who started late constantly attempted short cuts, fear
ing that the hordes ahead of them would pre-empt all the desirable land
before they arrived; some of the worst tragedies of the trail were the
result of these breaks from the beaten path.
US 30 runs through one general type of country prairie ; and there
is little if any contrast between the undulating hills of eastern Nebraska
and the flat land of the central and western sections. The highway
touches the edge of the sand hills west of Gothenburg.
Section 2. Omaha (Missouri River) to Kearney, 191.1 m. US 30- Alt.
and US 30.
US 30-Alt. leads west from the Nebraska Line, m. Below the
bridge rolls the "Big Muddy," useless from the standpoint of modern
navigation, though the channel is now being deepened in the hope of
making the stream again navigable. Between its banks at this point
passed the white traders and explorers who gradually toiled farther and
farther upstream until they arrived at the western end of what is now
North Dakota. Up this river went Meriwether Lewis and William Clark
with the party that was to make the first and second transcontinental
journeys across the broadest part of North America. Up and down the
river went Manuel Lisa and Andrew Henry on the earliest trading ex
peditions carried on west of the Mississippi by citizens of the United
States; and up this river went the Astorians. The stream has also borne
most of the other men famous in the western fur trade, from Ashley,
Smith, and Fitzpatrick to Hugh Glass and Mike Fink.
The Missouri, like the Mississippi, changes its course with a fre
quency that is exasperating to those who hopefully built on its banks.
The lower part of Council Bluffs, Iowa, was swampy river bottom less
than a century ago; a third of the blunt peninsula that is the north
eastern part of Omaha is still under the jurisdiction of Iowa, though
cut off completely from that State by the river and surrounded on the
other sides by Omaha.
OMAHA, m. (1,040 alt., 214,006 pop.) (see NEBRASKA
GUIDE).
Railroad Stations. Union Station, 10th & March Sts., for Union Pacific R.R.;
Burlington Route; Chicago & North Western Ry.; Chicago Great Western R.R.;
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul, & Pacific R.R. ; Rock Island Ry.
Points of Interest. Creighton University, Omaha Municipal University, Joslyn
Memorial Art Gallery, Douglas County Courthouse, South Omaha Stockyards, and
others.
56 The Oregon Trail
The early journalist, J. Hanson Beadle, wrote in the Undeveloped
West: "Omaha was laid out in 1854, soon after the organization of
Nebraska Territory, and for several years gave little promise of future
greatness; in fact, it was quite outrun by the little settlement of Flor
ence, six miles north, of which the Omahas now speak patronizingly
as a very pretty suburb , destined in their sanguine view to be the
Spring Grove or Brooklyn to their future Gotham. . . . Omaha con
tained, in 1860, two thousand people; in 1864, four thousand; then the
Union Pacific got fairly under way, and in three years the population
doubled. A census taken by the city authorities a few days before my
arrival (June, 1868) returned the population at 17,600, and the next
year they made it 25,000. One year thereafter came a fearful epidemic
and swept away 12,000 of these at least, that strikes me as the easiest
explanation, for the National Census of 1870 only credited Omaha with
some 13,000 people. . . .
"The growth of Omaha was encouragingly rapid; but the Western
mind is queerly constructed, and great on anticipation. The air is light,
dry and healthy, and the world looks big west of the Missouri; every
man feels that the range of all outdoors is his pasture, and is hopeful
as a millionaire if we have a few corner lots, and ten dollars in his
pocket. Hence magnified reports, and glowing promises of more rapid
growth in the next two years; ancf thousands of young men in the
Northern and Eastern States imagined that all they had to do was to
come to Omaha, and fortune would shower her favors on them. There
was an immense immigration in 1868, of just such material as a new
State does not want, and for every clerk s or bookkeeper s position
there were a hundred applicants. . . . But each of the disappointed
wrote to his friends or to the press, and for the rest of that year Omaha
was the best abused city in the West. . . ." (For Omaha s fulfillment
of the early hopes, see NEBRASKA GUIDE.)
Right from Omaha 5 m. on US 73 to the SITE OF WINTER QUARTERS, in
the Florence section of Omaha. When the first section of the Camp of Israel, as
the Mormons called their emigrant train, reached the Missouri in midsummer of
1846, it camped on the Council Bluffs side of the river to make preparations for
the long trip west (see SECTION 1). Brigham Young, one of the most farsighted
leaders in the history of mass migrations, was planting a colony at Kanesville to
provide shelter and foodstuffs for the later emigrants. As other Saints arrived he
sent them across the Missouri to form a camp here; one of the chief advantages
of establishing a camp on the western bank was that the crossing of the broad
river with wagons, cattle, and people always a problem would be over when the
first spring day favorable for travel should arrive.
The winter of 1846-7 was unusually severe, and a lack of proper food caused
scurvy and other diseases. Some Saints were smothered to death by snow that
crushed the roofs of their dwellings.
Early in 1847 the Pioneers, as the first party was called, had completed their
preparations. On April 7 a small band set out for a rendezvous on the Elk Horn,
25 or more miles west. In the following week there was a busy rushing back and
forth between this camp and Winter Quarters; the personnel of the advance party
changed daily.
Nebraska 57
Appleton Harmon wrote on April 13: "Brother Kimball said to me last night
that he wanted that I should git readey and go with the Pioneers & drive an ox
team for him. I consulted my Father, left my wife and child in as good circum
stances as I could which was but poor as best got my clothes readey and started
about 4 A.M. in company with Br Everett Jacobs & traveled 4 miles camped in
hollow for night."
On April 14 William Clayton, Clerk of the Camp of Israel, wrote in his
Journal:
"This morning severely pained with rheumatism in my face. ... At 11:00 a.m.
Brigham and Dr. Richards came. Brigham told me to rise up and start with the
pioneers in half an hour s notice. I delivered to him the records of the K. of G.
and set my folks to work to get my clothes together to start with the pioneers.
At two o clock I left my family and started in Heber s carriage. . . . We went
about 19 miles and camped on the prairie."
The spring of 1863 saw the last Mormon wagon train leave Florence. The
place was also used by the forty-niners as an outfitting station and camping place.
US 73 continues north to FORT CALHOUN, 15.8 m. (100 alt., 309 pop.),
a sedate, tree-shaded community on a bluff above the Missouri. It is near this
spot that in 1804 Capt. Meriwether Lewis and Lt. William Clark held a confer
ence with Indians and named the place Council Bluff. John C. Calhoun, Secretary
of War, in 1818 planned to send a military expedition up the Missouri to advance
the interest of the fur traders by enforcing the law forbidding foreigners that
is, British subjects to trade for furs in the United States (see WHY A TRAIL
TO OREGON?), and to push trade to the Pacific. The expedition, under Col.
Henry Atkinson, reached this place in September, 1819, and established what was
called Camp Missouri. A grandiose plan for military penetration to the Columbia
was eventually dropped and in 1820 the camp was moved a mile south and became
a permanent army post, Fort Atkinson. After the fort had been abandoned in
1827, the settlement disappeared for nearly 25 years; when a new one appeared
it was named in honor of Calhoun.
Right from Fort Calhoun on Court St. 0.5 m. to the SITE OF FORT ATKIN
SON, now a farm. There are no traces of the fort, which during its brief life had
barracks for a thousand men, a brickyard, a limekiln, a sawmill, a gristmill, and
other facilities.
US 30-Alt. follows Dodge St. in Omaha.
As the highway moves westward the tracks of the Union Pacific R.R.,
which curves southward to leave the city, again near it. The building
of this railroad was one of the dramatic flourishes in the history of the
United States. Though there had been agitation from the late 1830 s on
for the construction of a railroad to connect the East with the Pacific
Coast, and though there was general agreement that the Federal Gov
ernment should help to finance it, action was long delayed by sectional
jealousies and political logrolling. A survey of possible routes was au
thorized in 1853. It was not until 1862, however, when southern oppo
nents of northern routes had been removed from Congress by the seces
sion of the southern States, that a route was finally decided on and the
Pacific Railway Act was passed. Two years later a second act increased
the munificent subsidies to the builders and gave the Government merely
a second mortgage on the road.
The Union Pacific Railroad Company was to build westward to the
borders of Nevada and the Central Pacific Railroad Company was to
build eastward from the Pacific Coast to meet the Union Pacific. The
58 The Oregon Trail
Union Pacific was granted a two-hundred-foot right-of-way, land for
all necessary buildings, and the right to take earth, stone, timber, and
"other materials" from the public lands for construction purposes. In
addition, "for the purpose of aiding construction . . . and to secure
the safe and speedy transportation of mails, troops, munitions of war,
and public stores thereon," the company was granted "every alternate
section of public land ... to the amount of five alternate sections per
mile on each side of said railroad, on the line thereof and within the
limit of ten miles on each side of said road." The Government also
issued bonds of $1,000 each at the ratio of 16 bonds to a mile. Because
of the higher cost of construction in the mountains, the number of
bonds issued per mile to the Central Pacific Company for some sec
tions of the route was doubled or trebled. The Union Pacific obtained
4,846,108 acres of land in Nebraska alone.
The building of the Union Pacific began in earnest on July 10, 1865,
at the time the Indians were becoming frantic in the face of white inva
sion (see WHY A TRAIL TO OREGON?); the road builders were
special targets of attack. According to the chief engineer of the road,
"every mile had to be surveyed and built within range of the rifle and
under military protection."
The thousands of railroad workers were housed in tents and port
able shacks; every few weeks the shelters and facilities were packed
upon freight cars and moved westward to the end of the completed
section. And in their wake followed gamblers, whiskey vendors, sneak
thieves, and unattached women, who earned for the camp the nickname
of Hell-on-Wheels. Occasionally the portable community left behind it
the germ of a settlement, such as Cheyenne or Laramie; but for the
most part only a series of rubbish dumps and trampled ground re
mained to mark its progress across the plains.
Rivalry soon developed between the workers of the two companies ;
the westward line advanced 250 miles in 1866, 240 miles in 1867, and
425 miles in 1868. When the two sets of rails met at Promontory, Utah,
on May 10, 1869, the whole country had been whipped into a state of
frantic excitement by the race.
The railroad companies were in excellent position to profit by the
settlement of the area, because the acres nearest the long thin strip of
rails were, inevitably, the ones most desired by pioneers; those nearest
railroad stations brought top prices. The companies were little discom
moded by the proviso designating alternate sections as public lands
open to settlement under the Homestead Act of 1862; dummy home
steaders and obliging local officials usually remedied the Congressional
obtuseness on this point. The boom literature of the homesteading pe
riod of the West makes the more recent Florida boom literature seem
sedate.
Many settlers who had cherished visions of fine landed estates en
gendered in the days when "Vote yourself a farm" was a political cam-
Nebraska 59
paign slogan, rushed west without carefully investigating the fertility
and advantages of the advertised areas; their disillusionment was pro
portionate to the magnitude of their dreams.
WATERLOO, 21.2 m. (1,122 alt., 432 pop.), is on the west bank
of the Elkhorn River. The place was laid out in 1871 and named by
the Union Pacific R.R. for the Belgian battlefield.
VALLEY, 24.8 m. (1,140 alt., 1,039 pop.), was first named in
1867 by John Sanders for himself. The town was later called Platte
Valley by the citizens, but when it was incorporated the first part of
the name was accidentally omitted, and the name became simply Valley,
though the precinct is still called Platte Valley. Railroad officials called
the place Valley Station because it was the first station established on
the Union Pacific in the valley of the Platte River. At Valley are stock
and feed yards ; here cattle in transit to Omaha are fed and watered.
At 38.4 m. is FREMONT (1,195 alt., 11,407 pop.), a college town
and agricultural trading center on the north bank of the wide, muddy
Platte River just opposite Fremont Island. The city is a distributing
center for the rich Elkhorn Valley farm land. It once gave promise of
becoming an industrial town, but the hopes of the citizens on this point
early disappeared; nonetheless the town has poultry-packing plants,
creameries, and incubator factories.
On August 23, 1856, the first claim stake was driven for "Pinney,
Barnard, & Co. s Town Site." Since no surveyor s chain was handy when
the town was laid out, a rope, which may have stretched, was used.
That, at least, has been offered as the explanation of some for the ir
regularities in the first plat. The town was named Fremont in honor
of John C. Fremont, who was then Republican candidate for the Presi
dency; it is said that this was the company s answer to some Democrats
25 miles to the west, who had named a town Buchanan. Fremont had
many admirers among the settlers because of his valuable maps and
reports. A resolution passed in 1856 by the Fremont Town Association,
which developed from the earlier company, provided that two lots be
given anyone erecting a hewn-log house 16 by 20 feet and a story and
a half high within the following six months. The association agreed to
furnish timber for the cabins, as well as firewood for a year.
The town prospered even before the railroad arrived. It was on the
military road between Omaha and Fort Kearney a fact commemo
rated in the name of the town s main street Military Avenue and
provided a convenient supply point for soldiers and emigrants. During
the Pikes Peak gold rush of 1858-9 there was a steady stream of
through travelers. Merchants were able to make extra profits as dis
appointed miners sold their outfits cheaply on their way home; these
could be resold at high prices to the next westbound group.
Encouraged by the prospect opening before their city when the
Union Pacific R.R. routed its line through Fremont in 1866, the citi-
60 The Oregon Trail
zens established the Fremont Tribune. In 1869 the rails of the Sioux
City & Pacific R.R. joined those of the Union Pacific at this point. This
was an occasion for bell ringing, parades, and speeches on the future
of Fremont and the Elkhorn Valley. Of even more importance was the
building of the Elkhorn Valley R.R. branch, which was begun in 1870.
The town was incorporated a year later.
Here is MIDLAND COLLEGE, coeducational, so named because it is
near the center of the country. The institution, established at Atchison,
Kan., in 1887, was the only college founded directly by the Board of
Education of the General Synod of the Lutheran Church, now the United
Lutheran Church in America. In 1919 the campus and buildings of
the Fremont Normal School and Business College were purchased by
the college, with the help of liberal subscriptions from Nebraska Lu
therans and Fremont citizens. The present 10-acre campus holds six
buildings.
It was not far from Fremont that the Mormon Pioneers made their
final arrangements for the overland trip. The company included 143
men, 3 women, and 2 children. They had 72 wagons, 93 horses, 52
mules, 66 oxen, 19 cows, 17 dogs, and a number of chickens, in addi
tion to supplies of food, clothing, agricultural and craft implements,
books, musical instruments, and furniture. For real as well as psycho
logical security the party carried one cannon. The men were organized
into companies with "Captains of 100 s," "Captains of 50 s," and "Cap
tains of 10 s," following good biblical precedent, as they started west
"to find a home where the Saints can live in peace and enjoy the fruits
of their labors," and where they would "not be under the dominion of
gentile governments, subject to the wrath of mobs," as Clayton wrote.
Clayton carried on the duties assigned to him, though suffering acutely
from the "rheumatism" in his face.
BARNARD PARK, formerly called Dead Man s Park, was the cemetery
of the settlers.
FREMONT CITY PARK was planned when the town was laid out. In
it are two monuments, one honoring Abraham Lincoln and the other
commemorating Fremont soldiers killed in the World War.
At Fremont US 30-Alt. joins US 30, which crosses the Missouri some
miles north of Omaha.
At 42.4 m. (L) are the wooded FREMONT STATE RECREA
TION GROUNDS (adm. free; camping facilities; fishing permitted
4 a.m. -1 Op.m.). Here are 15 sand-pit lakes stocked with bass, crappies,
sunfish, catfish, and bullheads. Signs indicate the varieties of fishes
found in each lake and the legal limits of each catch.
At 43 m. (L) is the NEAPOLIS MARKER, a white stone monument
almost obscured by bushes ; it is a reminder of the establishment of the
capital of Nebraska Territory at Neapolis, two miles south of this point,
in January, 1858.
In spite of the slow steady rise of the land from east to west the
Nebraska 61
country through which US 30 runs in Nebraska has a monotonous
flatness that is depressing to people born among the hills and mountains
of the East and West. But overland travelers of early days were grateful
for the easy passage it offered. They even spoke of these plains with
affection because on westbound journeys they usually crossed them at
the time of the year when the grass was fresh and green and meadow
larks were crying their triumphant "Spring is here." The people who
chose to settle along the Platte and force livings from the land had to
face extremes of heat and cold, floods, prairie fires, blizzards, hail
storms, drought, lack of wood, and great loneliness. Only the hardiest
remained. The little towns along the route, the solid farm buildings,
and the occasional schools and public institutions are the results of
unremitting toil. The groves about farmhouses and the trees in public
parks and along streets are not gifts of nature; every single one has
been coaxed and coddled into growth.
AMES, 45 m. (1,231 alt., 500 pop.), was named for an official of
the Union Pacific R.R., probably Oakes Ames. About 1880 the Standard
Cattle Company had a cattle-feeding station here.
For about a mile between Ames and North Bend the highway runs
past tall trees.
NORTH BEND, 53.2 m. (1,275 alt., 1,108 pop.), was settled on
July 4, 1856, by several Scottish families from Illinois. Not far from
this place Clayton decided that his facial "rheumatism" came from a
decayed tooth. He asked Brother Luke Johnson to pull it, but before
this could be done the amateur dentist was told to take the Revenue
Cutter to a nearby lake for the use of Pioneer fishermen. (The Revenue
Cutter was a bullboat, a tub-shaped craft made of leather. "Brother
Johnson drives the team which draws the boat," Clayton explained,
"and rides in the boat as in a wagon.") Clayton decided to go with the
fishermen and on the trip discussed the possibility of constructing an
instrument to measure mileages. The Pioneers were eager to leave
signboards for the benefit of the Saints behind them; the guesses on
distances traversed had been so divergent that Clayton, to obtain
exact mileages, had resorted to the tedious device of counting the revo
lutions of a wagon wheel. There was no time to draw the tooth when
the fishermen returned, and the clerk spent another sleepless night and
day before he could again ask Brother Luke s services. Unfortunately
the nippers extracted only half the tooth and Clayton had to endure
many more days of pain.
SCHUYLER, 68.2 m. (1,350 alt., 2,588 pop.), seat of Colfax
County, was named, as was the county, for Schuyler Colfax, Vice Presi
dent of the United States in 1869 when the town was platted. Schuyler
was the first shipping point on the Union Pacific for cattle driven north
from Texas.
62 The Oregon Trail
At SI. 8 m. is a junction with a country road.
Right on this road is the COLUMBUS POWER HOUSE of the Loup River Project
(see below], 1.8 m., where three turbines under a 112-foot head of water develop
39,900 kilowatts.
COLUMBUS, 86 m. (1,447 alt., 6,898 pop.), seat of Platte County,
was founded in 1856 by a group from Columbus, Ohio. It was settled
10 years before the Union Pacific R.R. reached this point and was a
stopping point for emigrants traveling on the north bank of the Platte.
The population is in part of German, Swiss, and Polish descent.
Most of the town s 26 industrial plants are typical of those found
in midwestern towns of this size. A SHOE FACTORY makes wooden-soled
shoes for use in packing houses, foundries, steel mills, and other places
where leather and composition soles disintegrate rapidly. At the LIVE
STOCK SALES PAVILION a sale is conducted every Saturday, beginning
at 1 p.m. and often lasting until midnight.
The town, which is on the Loup River near its confluence with the
Platte, is the headquarters of the LOUP RIVER PUBLIC POWER DIS
TRICT PROJECT, first called the Columbus-Genoa Project. In 1936
the State s three major power and irrigation projects were co-ordinated
into what has been called a little TVA, extending 200 miles across cen
tral Nebraska. The main purpose of the Loup River Project is power
development; it is intended to augment a system supplying Columbus,
Fremont, Norfolk, Lincoln, Omaha, Sioux City, and other points. A
35-mile canal, supplied by a diversion dam at Genoa, is tapped at the
Columbus Power House (see above) and at the Monroe Power House.
At Columbus the Mormon Pioneers left the bank of the Platte to
follow for a time the north bank of the Loup, which runs directly west,
not far from the Platte, and is hard to ford near its mouth. The cross
ing of streams was always a major and time-consuming chore in the
ox-cart days. In some places wagons could be taken through the waters
without danger to the contents, but in others the goods had to be re
moved and ferried over on rafts. On the plains it was often difficult to
find wood to make the rafts, so in time the beds of some emigrant
wagons were made with calked seams, in order that they might be
turned into clumsy barges.
The country for hundreds of miles north and northwest of the Platte,
and the Platte itself though farther upstream provided the stage for
the saga of Hugh Glass. Glass was a member of the party with which
Andrew Henry started for the Yellowstone Valley in the fall of 1823,
traveling up the Missouri and then the Grand, which is in the north
eastern section of what is now South Dakota. One day Glass, who was
a hunter and often traveled somewhat in advance of the main party,
found himself suddenly confronted by a grizzly bear and her cubs.
(The grizzly is one of the most ferocious and dangerous animals in the
world as some San Francisco gamblers proved long ago when they
staged a fight between a grizzly and a tiger; the tiger was dead in a
Nebraska 63
few seconds.) Before Glass could shoot or retreat, the animal had
seized him and bitten out a large chunk of his flesh, which she dropped
to her younglings. Glass screamed for his fellows but before they could
kill the bear he had been mangled from head to foot.
Though he was not yet dead, his injuries were so frightful that
Henry and his followers did not believe it possible for him to survive;
they could not carry him with them, and because of the approach of
winter they did not dare stay with him till he died. With the aid of
a purse of $80, two men were persuaded to stay with Glass to bury
him decently. But Glass lingered, and on the fifth day his volunteer
nurses, fearful lest they be left too far behind their companions, de
termined to leave him; slipping away, they took with them all his be
longings his gun, knife, flint, and other essentials of wilderness life.
These they gave to Henry, and asserted that Glass had died.
When Glass awoke and realized that he had been deserted, he was
filled with a rage that provided the vitalizing will to live. For a short
period he lay in the thicket, subsisting on fruits and berries; then, still
unable to stand, he started to drag himself to the nearest post, Fort
Kiowa, on the Missouri a hundred miles away. At a time when it
seemed that he could not reach the river because of lack of food, he
had a bit of luck; he came upon wolves attacking a buffalo calf and,
as the wind was toward him, the wolves did not scent his approach.
As soon as the cowardly animals had killed the calf, he frightened
them away and, lacking a knife and flint, ate the flesh raw. Resuming
his dogged journey he took part of the calf with him
The day he arrived at the post he met another trapping party on its
way up to the Yellowstone and, in spite of his condition, set off post
haste with it. Some distance north of the present Bismarck, N.D., the
trappers were attacked by Aricaras; all were killed but Glass, who was
rescued by Mandans and taken to nearby Fort Tilton,
The same day he started again on his interrupted journey, this time
traveling alone, though with a kit. He arrived at the Big Horn post, in
the present Montana, 38 days later, only to find that those on whom
he planned to take revenge had left for Fort Atkinson (Council Bluff).
Off went Glass, joining a party of four carrying a report to that place.
The couriers followed the Powder River south, crossed to the North
Platte, where they built bullboats of buffalo hide, and started down
stream. Somewhere along the river they met a band of Aricaras whose
chief had been killed a year before in a brush with trappers; the In
dians seemed friendly, however, and invited them into the current chief s
tepee. Too late the whites realized that they had walked into a trap.
Two of them were killed and the others escaped independently.
Glass was once more alone. Though he had lost the rest of his out
fit, including his gun, he still had his flint and knife. As he said later,
"These little fixin s make a man feel right pert when he is three or four
hundred miles from anybody or anywhere." He started again for Fort
64 The Oregon Trail
Kiowa, to the northeast. By this time spring had arrived; weak-legged
young buffalo calves were numerous in the region, so he had no diffi
culty in finding food. Reaching Fort Kiowa he immediately started off
down river. In June he walked into the fort at last to face those who
had deserted him. Reports of his superhuman journey and vengeful de
sire had already reached the fort; he was received with awe and expec
tation, but his rage had been completely exhausted by the nine-month
trek. Nothing happened.
DUNCAN, 94.1 m. (1,495 alt., 241 pop.), laid out in October,
1871, was first named Jackson.
Left from Duncan on a marked graveled road to the KUENZLI MUSEUM, 2.5 m.
(open 7 a.m.-6 p.m.; adm. 15$, children 10$), owned by Dr. Frank Kuenzli and
his son, Lindo. Dr. Kuenzli, a Swiss, came to America with his father in 1879 and
studied to become a veterinarian. His interest in animal and plant life early led
him to preserve specimens. In the museum are hundreds of curious articles from
all parts of the world: reptiles, octopi, Australian birds and butterflies, pioneer and
Indian relics, and military equipment. Free lectures on the collections are given
daily. On Sundays and holidays the lectures are often continuous.
CLARKS, 115.8 m. (1,623 alt., 540 pop.), was named for Silas
Clark, a Union Pacific R.R. official. The town s first white settler came
in 1867, and found the Pawnee quite friendly.
At 118.5 m. is a junction with State 16.
Left on this graveled road and across the river to the Dexter farm, 2 m.,
on which is the SITE OF THE GRAND PAWNEE HUNTING AND BURIAL
GROUNDS, as well as the SITE OF A PAWNEE VILLAGE. A second village
site lies southwest of the farm. A hundred years ago the course of the Platte River
was a mile farther south than it now is, and the two villages stood on the former
riverbank. Neither village site has been excavated or investigated to any great
extent, as the land is now under cultivation. Traces of the houses can be found
by examining the banks of the ditches where the charred remains of the house
poles and posts are imbedded in the soil. Burnt clay and charcoal from the fire
places are also present. Such relics as arrowheads, hoes, axes, pipes, tomahawks,
and flintlock muskets have been unearthed.
At 127.1 m. is CENTRAL CITY (1,699 alt., 2,474 pop.). Years ago
this section was a wide tract of rolling prairie with little vegetation
and few trees; some miles away from this spot stood a lone giant cot-
tonwood that served as a landmark for travelers on the trail. This tree,
10 or 12 feet in circumference at its base, stood tall and straight and
was easily discernible for miles. In 1858 a ranch, known as the Lone
Tree, was established here; it later became one of the "20-mile stop
ping places" of the stage on its weekly trips. Later, when the Union
Pacific R.R. station was built three miles from the ranch, a station was
established here and called Lone Tree.
A settlement grew up around the Lone Tree station a town of
three stores, six houses, and a tavern owned by a man named Parker,
Nebraska 65
who claimed the land around the lone tree. Later the town of Central
City was laid out around the railroad station and the Lone Tree settlers
moved to it.
Right on Avenue C and its graveled continuation to NEBRASKA CENTRAL COL
LEGE, 2.5 m., a small coeducational school established in 1899 by members of the
Society of Friends.
At 127.7 m. is a junction with River Road.
Left on this dirt road to the LONE TREE MONUMENT, 3 m. (L). This stone
monument, about 10 feet tall, resembles the trunk of a tree. The pioneer passion
for carving names on everything in sight caused the death of the original giant
cottonwood tree, which was blown down in 1865. The region along the Platte
River is now well wooded.
CHAPMAN, 135.2 m. (283 pop.), was named by the local section
boss, who was also the first postmaster, for his superior officer, the road-
master of this section of the Union Pacific.
LOCKWOOD, 143 m., only a point on the railroad, is distinguished
by a marker alongside the right-of-way.
Left from Lockwood on a graveled road to a junction at 0.7 m. ; L. here to
the GOTTSCH-TRAMM GRAVES, 1.2 m., on the farm of William Johnson (visitors
welcome). Early in January, 1868, when the Loup River was frozen solid and
snow covered the ice, two men went off to hunt deer, accompanied by two boys,
Christian Gottsch and Christian Tramm. On the second day the men left camp
alone, leaving the boys in charge of the supplies. When the men returned, they
found that the boys had been killed, presumably by Indians; the team, blankets,
robes, and other supplies were missing. The boys were buried on the Gottsch
homestead.
GRAND ISLAND, 149 m. (1,861 alt., 18,041 pop.), was named
for the narrow, 42-mile-long strip of land lying nearby between two
channels of the Platte. French trappers first called this strip La Grande
Isle. In 1856 a detachment of cavalry killed 10 Cheyenne on the island
in reprisal for an attack the Cheyenne had made on a carrier of the
U.S. mail.
In 1857 a group of Germans from Davenport, Iowa, started a west
ward trek in the general direction of the present Grand Island, believ
ing that the national capital would be moved to the center of the country
and wanting to be early settlers in such a region. The three leaders of
the band traveled with a four-mule team, while the others followed in
five covered wagons drawn by oxen. They settled here.
During the sixties the Union Pacific reached the settlement, a post
office and flour mills were established, and a General Land Office opened.
It was not until 1872, however, that the town was incorporated.
The town is a distribution and shipping point for a large agricul-
66 The Oregon Trail
tural area. Old buildings, showing the German predilection for elabo
rate architecture, contrast with more recent structures; the economy
and thrift of the early German inhabitants are exemplified in the neat,
narrow, downtown streets. The town is flanked by railroads and dotted
with manufacturing plants.
The agriculture of the territory surrounding Grand Island is of a
diversified nature. Although this region has been counted as part of the
Wheat Belt, large crops of sugar beets, rye, oats, barley, and corn are
also grown.
One of the outstanding commercial activities of the town is its horse
market. There are two good-sized livestock markets.
The AMERICAN CRYSTAL SUGAR COMPANY PLANT (open to the pub
lic) was one of the first beet-sugar factories in the Plains States.
Though in February, 1873, the Grand Island Independent, in an article
on the beet-sugar industry in Europe, made the suggestion that beets
could be grown in Nebraska, it was not until 1887 that any practical
action was taken. In that year Nebraska soil was tested and found adapt
able to the culture of sugar beets; seed was imported from France and
Germany, and $100,000 raised by subscription for the new factory.
PIONEER PARK was the site of the first Hall County Courthouse.
Twenty-five miles or so northeast of Grand Island the Mormon Pio
neers, on April 24, 1847, began to raft their belongings across the
Loup. Not far away they saw the remains of a large Indian village.
Indians were several times found lurking in the vicinity of the Mormon
camp in this area, but thanks to the vigilance of Brigham Young s well-
organized guard the emigrants were not molested. Once or twice men
on guard were caught asleep; but though Young severely reprimanded
them for endangering their fellows by such laxness, Clayton made ex
cuses, commenting that it was hard for men who had been driving and
walking all day in the open air to keep from nodding.
While by this time of the year travel by ox-cart was fairly comfort
able on the prairie, it was never entirely so for long. Many pioneers
felt at times as Clayton s mother had in crossing Iowa on the flight
from Nauvoo; Clayton had noted in his Journal that she felt too sick
to ride in the wagon and had walked all day in the rain.
It was perhaps in part a memory of the extreme discomfort some
times experienced when riding in the jolting, lurching wagons and of
the number of emigrants who preferred to walk that caused Brigham
Young in 1855 to plan the handcart expeditions across the plains to
Salt Lake City. Between 50,000 and 60,000 people had reached Utah
by 1855, many of them Mormons who had followed the route laid out
by the Pioneers. Perhaps the majority were converts recruited in north
western Europe, chiefly in the British Isles. While Young made great
effort to have the emigrants finance their own journeys to Utah, the
Saints in the West had made heavy contributions to the Immigration
Fund. Utah crops were very bad, however, in 1855, and early in 1856
Nebraska 67
a large company of new Saints left Liverpool. Since the Utah Saints
could give little toward outfitting the many hundreds of converts with
ox-carts and supplies for the trip west, it was determined that two-
wheeled carts should be built to carry the smallest children and rigidly
limited amounts of food and clothing; the men and women were to pull
them from the Missouri to Salt Lake City.
The Handcart Expedition left in five brigades for the thousand-
mile walk; those in charge of arrangements along the Missouri lacked
Young s foresightedness and were not prepared to send off the final
groups until very late in the travel season. The brigades that started
early reached Salt Lake City without serious hardship, though many
went through a painful period while their muscles and feet were harden
ing. Those leaving late underwent severe trials, walking over the prairies
during the hottest part of the year and reaching the mountains after
the weather had become bitterly cold. In one division of 401 people,
67 froze or starved to death. When word of the situation reached
Utah, ox-carts were commandeered and sent to meet the last division.
Young repeated the handcart experiment in the following year to prove
that the plan was sound, but after 1857 the Saints went west with teams.
ALDA, 156.7 m. (1,916 alt., 153 pop.), was named for an emi
grant s child born here in 1860. On the site of the town was once a
Pawnee Indian village.
At 164 m. is the junction with a graveled road.
Right on this road to the Howe Farm, 1 m.; R. on a private dirt road leading
across the field to a decaying elm tree, 2 m., on the banks of Wood River, that
marks the SITE OF A PIONEER TRAGEDY. The Smith and the Anderson families
came to the Platte River Valley in January, 1862. One morning Smith, his sons,
and an Anderson boy started to the Platte to fell trees for the construction of
cabins. At noon Anderson arrived and saw Smith s wagon standing in the willows.
The men and horses were gone. In the sand of the river bed lay Anderson s son,
face downward, his body filled with arrows, while a few feet away was Smith,
grasping the hands of his sons. All had been killed, presumably by the Sioux.
The surviving members of the families returned to their former home.
When WOOD RIVER, 164.6 m. (1,967 alt., 751 pop.), was laid
out in 1874 by the Union Pacific R.R., it had already been settled for
two or three years. The moving of the railroad station resulted in the
moving of the town.
SHELTON, 172 m. (927 pop.), grew from a settlement known as
Wood River Center that stood several miles east of the present town.
A Mormon party from England, led by Edward Oliver, was traveling
to Salt Lake City when a broken axle forced them to camp and attempt
to repair the break. The wagon was irreparably damaged, and Mrs.
Oliver persuaded her husband to turn back. The family spent the winter
in a log hut on the banks of Wood River and decided to remain; Oliver
68 The Oregon Trail
built the first store. The community that grew up near them was later
named Shelton in honor of Nathaniel Shelton, another settler.
In Shelton is the SITE OF A LOG STOCKADE, once used as a shelter
against Indians and as a depot for the Great Western Stage, which ran
through the town. The town had a newspaper, the Huntsman s Echo, in
1858.
GIBBON, 178.2 m. (2,000 alt., 825 pop.), came into existence as
a soldiers colony. The cheap land offered by the Homestead Act of
1862 and the advance of the Union Pacific R.R. caused Col. John Thorp
of West Farmington, Ohio, to advertise and promote a colonization plan
with the co-operation of the Union Pacific and the War Department.
Offers included free home sites along the Union Pacific R.R. and re
duced railroad fares to these points. Soldier colonists were recruited,
largely from New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Massachusetts. The
men arrived here on April 7, 1871. Each soldier was entitled to file
claim on a quarter section of land, and 61 such claims were drawn up.
At the time of the drawing for lands, numbers from 1 to 61 were placed
in a hat which was shaken. The drawings were made for choice rather
than for prescribed lands that is, number 1 had first choice, number
2 had second, and so on. Until they established their homesteads, the
colonists lived in freight cars.
When the colony reached its twentieth birthday the settlers held a
celebration; though the last member of the original group has died, a
"reunion" has since been held every year on April 7.
At 180 m. US 30 traverses the FORMER JAMES E. BOYD RANCH,
which was earlier called Nebraska Center. The ranch became a caravan
stop and supply station; Boyd, who later served as Governor of Ne
braska (1891-1892), acquired the ranch about 1858. Doubtless the ear
liest settler felt that this site about 3 miles from the Platte and 12
or 13 miles northeast of Fort Kearney would have some measure of
protection from Indian attacks, and offer opportunities for trade with
emigrants.
The ranch had the first brewery in this region. The small plant, on
the banks of the Wood River, made about 10 kegs of beer at a time,
which were sold near the fort and at Dobytown for $6 to $8 each.
There was also an icehouse here; the storage hole can be seen from
the highway.
KEARNEY, 191.1 m. (2,146 alt., 8,575 pop.), seat of Buffalo
County, lies on a flat plain on the north side of the Platte River. The
town was named for Fort Kearney, known originally as Fort Childs;
the misspelled name of the fort honored Gen. Stephen Watts Kearny.
The first settlement on the present townsite was called Kearney Junc
tion. The Union Pacific R.R. and the Burlington & Missouri River R.R.
(now the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy) had received grants of land
from the Government, and the charter of the Burlington required that
THE PLATTE FERRY
***
I IK
PONY EXPRESS STATION, GOTHENBURG, NEB.
Nebraska 69
it make connection with the Union Pacific somewhere east of the 100th
meridian. They met at this point and the plat of the town was filed
on October 27, 1871.
At one time it was hoped that because of its central geographical
position Kearney might become the capital of Nebraska. Local boosters
once held a convention in St. Louis to launch a drive for making
Kearney the capital of the United States. The population was larger
during the eighties and nineties than it is today.
Surrounded by a fertile, irrigated region, Kearney is an important
shipping point for grains and livestock. Industrial plants include a
cigar factory, a candy factory, and flour mills.
Here are a STATE HOSPITAL with accommodations for 160 tuber
cular patients, and a STATE TEACHERS COLLEGE, which has an enroll
ment of more than two thousand. Both institutions are at the western
end of the town (R).
Kearney is near the western end of the long low strip of land, called
Grand Island, that divides the Platte for many miles.
The several eastern feeders of the emigrant route best known as the
Oregon Trail united insofar as any trails united on the prairies on
the south shore of the Platte near the head of Grand Island. Endless
confusion has resulted from the fact that the names of the emigrant
roads were popular, rather than official; that the same general section
of an overland route might bear different names at different periods,
as the goals of the major migrations changed; and that the routes
themselves might move a hundred miles to the right or to the left within
a year s time. One foresighted forty-niner predicted this, saying that
future generations would not realize how slight the things were that
brought major switches in the directions taken by succeeding wagon
trains, even in the same year. The establishment of a new trading post
or a ranch, the drying up of a spring or the finding of a new one, the
outbreak of an epidemic at a camp site, a prairie fire, the pollution of
a watering spot, the creation of a slough around a ford any one of
these was sufficient to turn the course of thousands of wagons. As a re
sult, hundreds of towns in a very wide band have erected markers indi
cating that they were on the Oregon Trail, and old-timers, upholding
their towns right to the honor, tell of ruts they saw in the early days.
Many emigrants bound for Oregon and California used the trail on
the north side of the Platte, known as the Mormon Trail because the
first large groups to use it were Saints; but some Mormons also used
the route on the south bank. Emigrants bound for the West traveled on
the north or south bank of the Platte according to where they crossed
the Missouri.
Left from Kearney on State 10, a paved road, crossing the Platte to FORT
KEARNEY STATE PARK, 7 m. (camping free; picnicking and other recrea
tional facilities}. The park includes 80 acres of grass and giant cottonwoods, on
the site of the famous frontier military post. Still visible on the grounds are rifle
70 The Oregon Trail
pits and other earthworks, one of the corner blockhouses, and a grass-covered
mound that was the magazine in which munitions were stored for use along the
trail between this point and Fort Laramie.
The first Fort Kearney was a blockhouse on the Missouri River at what is now
Nebraska City; it was built and occupied in 1846-1847. The post was transferred
to this place in order to give emigrants protection against Indian attacks.
Lt. Daniel P. Woodbury, who chose the site, returned here from the first Fort
Kearney in June, 1848, with 175 men, who began the construction of the post,
first making adobe blocks; they also set up a sawmill and erected sod stables.
Plans drawn in 1852 show that the fort included two two-story corner blockhouses
of heavy timbers, powder and guard houses, a lookout accessible by ladder, extend
ing along the entire ridge, and officers quarters. Numerous barracks and other
facilities were added in succeeding years.
During the Civil War regular troops were withdrawn and the fort was manned
by volunteers that included a number of former Confederate soldiers, called Gal
vanized Yankees. In 1865 Pawnee were enlisted to help hold the Sioux in check,
and they continued to serve during the building of the railroad. When the railroad
displaced the wagon trains, the fort was no longer needed. It was abandoned in
1871, and a few years later the military reservation was thrown open to settlement.
Section 3. Kearney to Ogallala, 145.4 m. US 30.
West of KEARNEY, m., US 30 follows Watson Boulevard
through an archway of trees so dense that it is almost like a tunnel.
At 2.3 m. is the STATE INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL (R), which occupies
11 buildings and is equipped to care for 210 boys.
It was in this area that the Mormon Pioneers saw their first herds
of buffalo, an event always eagerly anticipated by emigrants. For sev
eral days before the animals were seen, the travelers had noted buffalo
tracks and on April 30, 1847, had started using dried buffalo dung
chips, in emigrant parlance for fuel. Brother Heber Kimball imme
diately invented an efficient method of obtaining the maximum heat from
the chips by burning them in the middle of three pits with ventilating
holes between them to create a draught. On the first of May the com
pany sighted three buffalo through their telescopes, and three of the Pio
neers started off on horseback in the hope of augmenting the dwindling
food supply. After proceeding a few miles farther the travelers saw
a herd "about eight miles away." Clayton said he counted 72 through
his glass and Orson Pratt 74. Another and larger herd was seen later
in the day. Clayton noted that the view of the animals "excited con
siderable interest and pleasure in the breasts of the brethren, and as
may be guessed, the teams moved slowly and frequently stopped to
watch their movement." Clayton s Journal was fat for several days
thereafter with details of the hunts.
There was one other exciting event for the Pioneers in this area.
Three wagons were observed on the south bank of the broad, shallow
Platte River. Though the Mormons did not dare attempt to cross the
river, a member of the other party came to talk with the Mormons.
He said that the wagons carried nine fur traders on their way back
from Fort Laramie. The Pioneers inquired eagerly about the condition
Nebraska 71
of the road ahead and then requested that he carry letters back to
the Missouri for them.
At 4.8 m. US 30 passes the former 1733 RANCH HOUSE, now a
roadhouse with an electric sign, "1733." At one time there was a marker
on the section line at this point reading, "1733 miles to San Francisco,
1733 miles to Boston"; hence the name of the farm. The original 1733
Ranch, which contained eight thousand acres, has been broken up into
many smaller farms since the death of its owner, H. D. Watson, who
was the first promoter of alfalfa as a Nebraska crop.
By May 6 the excitement over buffalo hunting was beginning to im
pede Pioneer progress. Appleton Harmon recorded that "about 8 o clock
the camp was called togeather by Pres* Young ... he also instructed
the captains of tens to Stay by their teams in times of traveling. . . .
He also said that thair should be no more game killed until such time
as it should be needed for it was a Sin to waste life & flesh."
ELM CREEK, 15.8 m. (2,266 alt., 708 pop.), settled by a few
families in 1873, has had a history marked by misfortune. Blizzard
followed blizzard in the eighties, killing many cattle and sweeping away
most of the possessions of the inhabitants. The town was rebuilt, but
it was almost wiped out again in 1906 by a fire that destroyed every
building along the main street.
The town is now a shipping point for prairie hay. It lies in an irri
gated region producing alfalfa, corn, sugar beets, potatoes, livestock,
and dairy products.
On May 8, as the Mormon Pioneers moved westward, Harmon wrote :
"had to drive the buffalo out of the way whare we halted the buffalo
seemed to form a complete line from the river their watering place
to the bluffs as far as I could se which was at least 4 m. they stood
their ground appurently amased at us until within 30 rods of the
wagons when their line was broken down by some taking fright &
runing off others to satisfy thar curiosity came closer within gun shot
of the camp snuffing and shaking their Shaggy heads, but being pur
sued by the dogs ran off, at this time I could stand on my waggon &
see more than 10,000 Buffalo from the fact that the Plain was purfectly
black with them on both sides of the river & on the bluff on our right
which slopes off gradualy."
LEXINGTON, 34.9 m. (2,385 alt., 2,962 pop.), a market town, is
the successor of a Pony Express station and trading post called Plum
Creek that stood on the Oregon Trail, south of the river. After the com
ing of the railroad the inhabitants of the settlement moved across the
river, and the name was changed to one commemorating the Battle of
Lexington. Plum Creek was once a rendezvous for gamblers, thieves,
and hold-up men, who preyed upon miners having gold or silver. Even
after legal bodies had been established, they were ineffective against the
72 The Oregon Trail
well-organized outlaw gangs; eventually the citizens formed a vigilante
committee that drove out most of the lawbreakers.
In 1867 the Cheyenne aroused by the building of the railroad
through their hunting grounds and the patrolling activities of Maj.
Frank North and his Pawnee scouts led by their chief, Turkey Leg,
tore up a culvert four miles west of this place and wrecked the train,
a west-bound freight. They scalped the crew, broke open the boxcars,
and stole the contents; some of them took bolts of bright-colored calico,
which they tied to the tails of their ponies to make a brave display as
they fled across the plains.
In the early days, travel on railroads was quite as dangerous as
travel on steamboats had been and even more hazardous than flying
was to be. Most cars, locomotives, roadbeds, and bridges were jerry-
built and were likely to fall apart with or without unusual strain. The
engineers treated the locomotives as personal possessions, decorating
them to suit their fancies and speeding them up, backing them, and
stopping them as they pleased. One early Mormon autobiography tells
how the engineer of a train carrying a group of emigrants to the point
where they were to start westward in oxcarts "swore he would drive the
Mormons to Hell and opened the throttle to verify his threat. The train
was roaring across the plains . . . when someone noticed the baggage
car was aflame. The engineer stopped the train, put it in reverse and
backed seven miles to the nearest watering station where the fire was
extinguished. The baggage car was a charred mass of wreckage."
Such fires, caused by sparks from the locomotives, were common
and not confined to the baggage cars, for both they and the coaches
were made of wood. The railroad death toll was frightful until well
after the Civil War, when the increasing number of damage suits moved
the companies to adopt safety measures and devices. A typical cartoon
in Harper s Weekly of 1859 depicted a frightened traveler in a berth
listening to a conversation between a brakeman and a conductor : "Jim,
do you think the Millcreek Bridge safe tonight?" The answer was, "If
Joe cracks on the steam, I guess we ll get the Engine and Tender over
all right. I m going forward."
COZAD, 48.7 m. (2,486 alt., 1,813 pop.), a hay-shipping center,
is in a region where in summer the acres of alfalfa and fields full of
haystacks line the highway. Several alfalfa mills and feed-making
plants are near US 30 in this town.
Whereas the Mormon Pioneers seldom traveled more than 10 or 15
miles a day even in this level country, later emigrants were sometimes
able to do 20, provided the weather was dry. The rate of travel of the
Mormon handcart brigades was painfully slow. An emigrant who drove
past them wrote: "We met two trains, one of thirty and the other of
fifty carts, averaging about six to the cart. The carts were generally
drawn by one man and three women each, though some carts were
Nebraska 73
drawn by women alone. There were about three women to one man,
and two-thirds of the women single. It was the most motley crew I ever
beheld. Most of them were Danes, with a sprinkling of Welsh, Swedes,
and English, and were generally from the lower classes of their coun
tries. Most could not understand what we said to them. The road was
lined for a mile behind the train with the lame, halt, sick, and needy.
Many were quite aged, and would be going slowly along, supported
by a son or daughter. Some were on crutches; now and then a mother
with a child in her arms and two or three hanging hold of her, with
a forlorn appearance, would pass slowly along; others, whose condition
entitled them to a seat in a carriage, were wending their way through
the sand. A few seemed in good spirits."
At 59 m. is GOTHENBURG (2,561 alt., 2,322 pop.), in whose park
stands a FUR TRADING POST HOUSE (adm. free) that was erected in
1854 on the Oregon Trail four miles east of Fort McPherson. In 1860-1
it was the Fred Machette Pony Express station; later it was an Over
land Stage station, and after the coming of the railroads became a ranch
building.
Left from Gothenburg on State 47, a graveled road that crosses the Platte and
passes the GOTHENBURG GUN CLUB GAME PRESERVE (L) ; at 2.7 m. is (R) an
Oregon Trail marker.
Left from the marker to the first dirt road; L. here to the LOWER 96 RANCH,
6 m. (visitors welcome). A lean-to of the tree-shaded black and white ranch
house is a former Pony Express station, a log cabin in good condition; the crevices
between the logs have been cemented. This old house was known as the Pat
Mullaly station. There is a black "96" painted on the big concrete silos of the
ranch.
Right from Lower 96 Ranch to the SITE OF THE GILMAN RANCH HOUSE, 10 m.,
where stage riders used to stop and Pony Express riders came when off duty.
Mark Twain stopped here on the trip across the plains described in Roughing It.
The story of the western migration has usually been told in terms
of those who made mistakes of those who suffered Indian attack be
cause they chose to travel in small groups or failed to maintain guards
at night; who made unsuccessful attempts to short-cut the well-known
routes; who started with inadequate equipment and supplies; or who
set out on the journey in advanced stages of ill health. But for every
person who became a symbol of pioneer tragedy there were thousands
who thoroughly enjoyed the overland journey. One emigrant who be
came wealthy remarked wryly in his later years that he suffered more
and had less enjoyment on de luxe hunting trips than he had on his
oxcart journey across the plains. A Utah woman who had crossed the
country about 1850 remembered the trip as a picnic from beginning to
end; how she ran beside the slow-moving cart with her arms full of
wild flowers; how she and her playmates played hide-and-seek around
the wagons; how her mother knitted placidly, day in and day out, and
74 The Oregon Trail
always had time to tell stories; how in the evening the children ran
from one campfire to the other while their parents gossiped and sang.
People quarreled, made love, played cards, danced, wrote poetry and
letters, honeymooned, joked, and carried on other normal activities
under conditions that gave them added zest.
The migrant was able to indulge his passion for writing or chipping
his name on every available surface the old-fashioned equivalent for
the postcard writing of the modern tourist even on the plains; in this
area he smeared names and messages with axle grease on the skulls and
long bones of the buffalo skeletons lining the routes.
C. S. Abbott, who traveled overland to California shortly after the
gold rush started, wrote of the reason for the prevalence of buffalo
skeletons: "There were wagon-trains all along the road and everybody
was banging away at the buffalo, scaring them away, or killing them
and cutting out choice pieces and leaving the rest to rot, while the In
dians were starving. It was the most flagrant injustice this Government
ever permitted its people to practice. The lines between the different
tribes were as distinctly marked as the boundaries between the differ
ent States of the Union, each of these tribes claiming the ownership of
all the game within its borders, and they looked upon the emigrants as
a white tribe infringing upon their rights. . . . We shudder at the
massacre of the whole nation of Armenians by the Turks, but no pen
can describe the misery and despair of a Pawnee village, of men,
women and children dying of hunger, while the white tribe was kill
ing, or scaring their game off into the mountains, and I say that our
Government here caused as much misery by negligence as the Turks
have by savagery."
At 72.5 m. is BRADY (387 pop.).
Left from Brady on a graveled road that crosses the river to a junction at
4 m.; R. to the UPPER 96 RANCH, 9 m., now the property of V. H. Davis. A
monument here commemorates the Pony Express riders. The blacksmith shop,
built of red cedar logs, belonged to the Fred Machette Pony Express station; the
station itself has been moved to the Gothenburg City Park (see above).
The highway crosses the North Platte River near its confluence with
the South Platte at the eastern end of NORTH PLATTE, 94.7 m.
(2,821 alt., 12,061 pop.), seat of Lincoln County.
The Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho occupied this territory; the forks
of the Platte were near the border line between the hunting range of
these tribes and that of the Pawnee.
In the 1860 s William Peniston and Andrew J. Miller were running
a trading post at Cold Water, some 30 miles east of this point. While
in Omaha, Miller learned that the Union Pacific R.R. was going to
establish a station at the Fork of the Platte. The men opened a post
here on November 9, 1866, with merchandise fitted to the needs of the
Nebraska 75
railroad builders, after Gen. G. M. Dodge had established North Platte
for the Union Pacific. The population increased to more than two thou
sand during the winter of 1866-67. By June, 1867, the railroad had
reached Julesburg, Colo., and construction headquarters was moved to
that point, leaving behind it a settlement of only three hundred people.
Everything had been moved business houses, barracks, even the town s
newspaper. Only 20 structures remained. But that same year North
Platte was made a division point on the line, and the Union Pacific
built machine shops, a 20-stall roundhouse, and a hotel. Thereafter the
increase in population was steady; the city is the leading trade center
of western Nebraska.
On April 7, 1893, a prairie fire struck the city, destroying many
houses, barns, outbuildings, fences, farm implements, and stock. Other
prairie fires wrought damage in 1910 and in 1915.
A tense period in local history was reached in 1902, when ma
chinists and boilermakers employed by the Union Pacific struck in
opposition to the introduction of the piecework system. The machinists
quit on June 30, joining the boilermakers, who had struck the week
before. The company brought in carloads of strikebreakers; the boiler
shop and several boxcars were fitted with bunks and utilized as living
quarters for them, and they were protected by armed guards. A request
that the Governor send troops was denied. The strike lasted for nearly
a year, and workmen looked for employment elsewhere. The pickets
grew lax and finally gave up. Local sympathy was with the strikers
from the beginning; merchants would sell nothing to the strikebreakers,
barbers would not shave them, and landlords refused to rent houses to
them. After a time, however, they were accepted by the town and the
strike seemed lost. But on June 8, 1903, the strike was settled; the ques
tion of piecework was ignored, and the strikers returned to their old
jobs with a small hourly pay increase. A request that all strikebreakers
be discharged was denied, but within three months nearly all of them
had left.
Following the drought of 1890, I. A. Fort of North Platte converted
Congressman William Neville of North Platte to his plan of "enlarged
homesteads" as a way of settling this region. Estimating that it would
take two square miles for a rancher to support a family and not let his
stock overgraze the land, Fort advocated two-square-mile homesteads.
Although Neville introduced a bill to this effect in 1900, it was not
enacted into law until Congressman Moses Kinkaid of O Neill brought
it forward again in 1904. The Kinkaid Act was successful in its purpose
and the homesteaded land was used mainly for cattle raising. Irriga
tion, which was begun in 1866, makes possible some crop raising, espe
cially of sugar beets.
On the second floor of the LINCOLN COUNTY COURTHOUSE are many
relics of pioneer days, among them a battered chariot presented to
"Buffalo Bill" Cody by Queen Victoria.
76 The Oregon Trail
North Platte lies at the tip of a long narrow delta between the
mouths of the North and South Platte Rivers; the bluffs that line the
Platte more than halfway across Nebraska here spread somewhat apart.
From this point the Mormon Pioneers continued west along the north
bank of the North Platte. Travelers of early days who had followed the
trail on the south bank of the main stream to this point usually con
tinued westward for some distance on the south bank of the South
Fork before crossing the stream, though some forded it near the con
fluence.
(At the western limit of North Platte the time changes from Cen
tral Standard to Rocky Mountain.)
At 96.7 m. is the junction with a dirt road.
Right on this road to SCOUTS REST RANCH, 0.5 m. (adm. free}. This was the
home of "Buffalo Bill" Cody, who entertained many notables here. William Fred
erick Cody (1846-1917) spent his boyhood in Leaven worth, Kans., headquarters
of the freighting line of Russell, Majors, & Waddell. Young Cody first appeared
in the Platte country as an outrider for this company an office boy on horseback
and is believed to have been a Pony Express rider for a short time. He served
in the Civil War and afterward, when the Kansas Pacific (now part of the Union
Pacific) was building westward from Kansas City, he contracted to furnish buffalo
meat for workers on the Kansas route. Within 17 months he is said to have de
livered 4,280 animals.
Later he went on the stage and toured the United States in a production called
the Prairie Waif. Out of this experience he conceived the Wild West shows that
made him famous. His collection of Indians, covered wagons, bronco-busters, cow
boys, stagecoaches, and marksmen did much to build up the popular, romantic mis
conceptions of early western history.
At Scouts Rest Ranch, where the Wild West show was rehearsed, are a solid
ranch house, rebuilt since Cody s day, and an immense barn, shaded by cotton-
woods. The eaves of the ranch s main corral, built in 1887, are hewn in the shape
of gunstocks, and the cattle-stall partitions are shaped like horses.
The plat of the ranch resembled the map of Nebraska.
West of O FALLONS, 111.6 m., the bluffs again draw near the
stream and here the early Oregon Trail, like a branch of the Union
Pacific R.R. today, crossed the stream to the south bank of the North
Platte, reaching it at Ash Creek. After the establishment in 1864 of
Fort Sedgwick (see SECTION 4) , near the present Julesburg in north
eastern Colorado, many trains following the route of the Overland
Stage, dipped down to the fort before striking northwest to Fort Lara-
mie, the next point providing protection and supplies. The trail was on
the south bank of the South Fork.
SUTHERLAND, 114.6 m. (2,959 alt., 753 pop.), was named for
an official of the Union Pacific R.R. in 1869, when the town was laid out.
Left from Sutherland on a marked, graveled road crossing the South Platte
to a junction at 1.7 m.; L. here to the SUTHERLAND RESERVOIR, 3.5 m.,
a natural depression of five thousand acres, walled off with dikes. Its design pro
vides for a maximum height of 80 feet, and the impounding of two hundred thou-
Nebraska 77
sand acre-feet of water. A tunnel of reinforced concrete, 14 feet in diameter and
7,800 feet long, conducts the water from the Kingsly Diversion Dam under the
South Platte River.
PAXTON, 127 m. (3,054 alt., 507 pop.), was named for W. A.
Paxton of Omaha.
At 136 m. is a marker (L) indicating that the ALKALI LAKE PONY
EXPRESS STATION was south of the South Platte at this point.
OGALLALA, 145.4 m. (3,211 alt., 1,631 pop.), the seat of Keith
County, was named for the Oglala (also spelled Ogallala, scatter one s
own] tribe of the Teton Sioux.
After the Civil War disruption of the cattle market, the ranchers
of Texas were very anxious to find new markets. As soon as the Gov
ernment-financed railroads had been carried across the plains the cat
tlemen started roundups of the herds on the vast unfenced range and
sent the animals north to the railroads for shipment to eastern markets.
Ogallala became an important cattle-shipping point of the early years;
the first herd arrived in June, 1867, in charge of yippi-shouting cow-
punchers who had been fighting Indians and stampedes for many hun
dreds of miles. In later years there were sometimes 15 outfits camped
along the South Platte by the middle of July. The physical demands
of such cattle drives were great and the punchers, who sometimes had
to ward off sleep by plastering their eyelids open with wet tobacco,
felt that they had a right to celebrate the end of the drives as long and
as loudly as they desired.
Five blocks west of the main street of Ogallala is a plot of ground
that rises 80 to 100 feet above the river level. This is BOOT HILL CEM
ETERY, one of many so called because those interred in them died and
were buried with their boots on their feet. The graveyard, a relic of
the old lawless, gambling, gun-blazing town, has not had a burial since
the eighties. Though the hill bears a sign with the name, no mounds
are visible and there are no tombstones.
In a park at the western edge of town (R) is an OREGON TRAIL
MEMORIAL, and next to it is a round yellow CHISHOLM CATTLE TRAIL
MARKER. Chisholm was the most famous of the cattle trails from Texas
to Kansas, running in the neighborhood of US 81, but it never reached
Nebraska.
At Ogallala is the junction with US 26, which closely parallels the
Oregon and Mormon Trails through Fort Laramie (see ALTERNATE
ROUTE).
Section 4. Ogallala to Wjo. Line, 124.3 m. US 30.
West of OGALLALA, m., is BRULE, 9 m. (3,287 alt., 329 pop.),
named for the Brule (Fr., burned) tribe of the Teton Sioux. The South
Platte River bank here is a mass of tangled undergrowth, sand, and
trees.
78 The Oregon Trail
US 30, westbound, here leaves the South Platte, which turns south
ward into Colorado. Travelers following the Oregon Trail detour that
ran through Julesburg crossed the river at several points between Brule
and Julesburg. These were the Lower and Upper California Crossings.
At 10 m. (R) is a marker calling attention to the SITE OF THE
DIAMOND SPRINGS PONY EXPRESS STATION, which was eight miles south
of this point.
At 13 m. (R) is CALIFORNIA HILL, where the Oregon Trail in
the early Julesburg days turned northwest to reach the North Platte
near Courthouse Rock (see SIDE ROUTE C) . This was before the route
that followed the South Platte and then turned north on the Cherokee
Trail into southern Wyoming was developed by the Overland Stage.
Holladay in July, 1862, abandoned the trail by Fort Laramie and
through South Pass largely because of the hostility of the Indians, and
many emigrants followed his lead.
At 18.2 m. is a junction with US 138.
Left on US 138, through BIG SPRINGS, 2.2 m. (595 pop.). JULESBURG,
Colo., 11.8 m. (3,468 alt., 1,467 pop.), is a respectable successor to three former
towns of the same name, each of which was important in its day because of its
position on the trail to the West and to Denver and the Colorado mines. The
present town was founded in 1881 when the Union Pacific branch to Denver was
projected. Viewed today among the broken hills in a curve of the South Platte
River, the quiet town gives no evidence that it sprang from the ashes of "the
Wickedest Little City East of the Rockies."
Left from Julesburg 1 m. on State 51 to the junction with a side road (R)
that leads to the ITALIAN S CAVE, 1.5 m. (L), a natural fissure running back
into a hill, open at both ends and artificially enlarged. Broad shelves for mangers
and storage rooms have been cut in the rock. At the mouth of the cave are the
ruins of a two-story stone building whose walls, more than two feet thick, are
pierced with loopholes. A primitive but effective water system served the house.
Many maintain that this was once the hide-out of Jules Reni, founder of Old
Julesburg. The truth seems to be that the house was built by Uberto Gabello, an
Italian miner, reputed to have amassed a fortune in the gold fields at Cripple
Creek. A strange man was Gabello, who dwelt in solitary state in his fantastic
castle, and repulsed all the well-meant overtures of his neighbors. In time he
came to be regarded as a madman by some, and feared as a sorcerer by the more
superstitious. After his death, his house was found to be a temple to the sun;
prayers and esoteric symbols were carved on the walls. Unfortunately, the searchers
considered these finds of insufficient importance for preservation, so no traces
remain today to give a clue to the exact nature of Gabello s one-man cult.
The dirt side road continues past the SITE OF THE SECOND JULESBURG,
4m. (R), which sprang up immediately following the destruction of the first
town (see below), but was short lived, because when the Union Pacific was ex
tended into Colorado in 1867 this town was off the route. Of the three early Jules-
burgs, it was by far the least notorious, having, in fact, no particular history.
West of the second town is the SITE OF OLD JULESBURG, 8 m., the first
of that name. It developed as an important Overland Stage station and was a
station of the Pony Express. Old Julesburg was the rendezvous of traders, Indian
fighters, buffalo hunters, and adventurers of the most devil-may-care kind, as well
as of desperados and bandits who came to divide their loot and squander it in
riotous celebrations. Jules Reni, the French Canadian who was first stage station
Nebraska 79
master here, was himself reputed to have been the leader of a band of outlaws;
this may have been merely ill-natured gossip, however, because Jules was disliked
by those who were jealous of his influence among the French Canadians of the
area. At the time wagon trains were frequently looted and burned and solitary
travelers murdered in this area. The outrages were naturally blamed on the In
dians, but the presence of white men among the raiding parties was testified to
by more than one survivor. Released prisoners told of white men who came and
went freely in the Indian camps and shared the loot. Rumor grew that Jules him
self was at the bottom of the business; it was remarked that the richest trains
were almost invariably attacked and burned after leaving Julesburg.
Jack Slade, who was one of the most fearless men on an extremely tough
frontier, was division superintendent of the early stage route. Slade distrusted
Reni, and Reni resented Slade s methods of punishing his (Reni s) cohorts. The
feud came to a head when Jules suddenly and without warning filled Slade with
enough buckshot to have killed an ordinary man. But Slade lived and from his
sickbed warned Jules that he would cut off his ears and wear them as watch
charms. Slade had to go to St. Louis for treatment and when he returned to this
place Jules had disappeared.
After Slade returned to his post he was told of repeated boasts by Reni that
he would come back to finish the killing he had attempted unsuccessfully. Slade
was at Pacific Springs, at the western end of his division, when he was told that
Reni was hunting him. At each station, as he traveled back to Julesburg, Slade
received a fresh warning. Slade did not meet him on the route and at Fort Laramie
he talked over the situation with army officers because, in spite of many stories
to the contrary, Slade was not a vicious man and the punishments he had dealt
out were merely those of a man protecting his employers interests in a lawless
country. The army men advised Slade to catch Jules and kill him, because there
would be no peace for the stage company until he was put out of the way. Slade
acted on the advice in a way that made him a symbol of border ruthlessness for
many decades. (See ALTERNATE ROUTE.)
The operations of the white renegades and desperados have led to search for
treasure in this area. Even today there are many who firmly believe that the trail
robbers buried much of their loot in some secluded place near the old town. Slade
himself was of the opinion that there was a treasure cache nearby, and was untir
ing in his search for it. None has ever been found, and it is likely that the
spoilers squandered their wealth. Old Julesburg passed out of existence in 1865,
when it was completely destroyed during an Indian attack.
At 9 m. on this road is the SITE OF FORT SEDGWICK (R), a military trad
ing post established to protect travelers from marauding Indians and white robbers.
The post was built in 1864 and garrisoned until 1871, when the efforts of the late
sixties resulted in the subjugation of the Plains Indians. A few traces of sod
buildings remain, but most of the fort, constructed of wood, has disappeared.
CHAPPELL, 39.3 m. (3,697 alt., 1,061 pop.), was named in honor
of Charles Chappell, a division superintendent of the Union Pacific,
who assisted in laying out the townsite. It is a trade center for the
chief wheat-raising area in Nebraska.
West of Chappell the highway follows Lodgepole Creek, so named
because several Indian tribes procured poles for their tepees near the
headwaters of the stream. The gradual rise in the land that takes place
steadily as the route runs westward from Omaha becomes more ap
parent in this area. The growing season here is short but conditions are
favorable for the raising of winter wheat. Some corn is also grown. Irri
gation is carried on in the valley to a limited extent.
80 The Oregon Trail
Soapweed grows on the hillsides; its ivory, bell-shaped blossoms
rise above the green spike leaves in May or June. Cactus is also seen,
and occasionally a coyote; but prairie dogs, prairie owls, and rattle
snakes are not found in the numbers that once existed here.
LODGEPOLE, 48.7 M. (3,832 alt., 436 pop.), is the scene of
the Cheyenne County Old Settlers Reunion, held annually on Labor
Day. Such events are held in many western towns, though their original
character has changed because the great majority of the participants
cannot be considered old settlers.
Numerous fossils found in the Ogallala formation of this area indi
cate how great a change has taken place in its physical condition. Sev
eral million years ago this high arid country was swampy lowland
harboring now extinct animals such as three-toed horses and rhinoc
eroses.
SIDNEY, 66.5 m. (4,085 alt., 3,306 pop.), seat of Cheyenne
County, was named for Sidney Dillon, New York agent of the Union
Pacific R.R. The town is surrounded by high rolling plains, broken
here and there by imposing cliffs. High bluffs on the north protect it
from winter winds.
The town grew up around FORT SIDNEY, which was originally a
sub-post of Fort Sedgwick in Colorado and was called Sidney Barracks;
in 1870 it was made an independent post. The fort was built for the
protection of the railroad workers and of the wagon trains passing
through the area. Near the highway is a 20-foot grassy mound that
formed part of the rifle range. A small hexagonal structure, built of
limestone, that was the Fort Sidney ammunition storehouse, is now part
of a residence. Two old barracks are now used as dwellings. A large
well-preserved building opposite them was the officers quarters. A stone
structure now serving as a sales pavilion and barn is said to have been
the stable. The post was abandoned in 1894.
Most of the gold prospectors on their way to the Black Hills in
1876 bought their supplies in this town, which was the nearest rail
road point to the New Eldorado. In those boom days the dance halls,
gambling houses, and saloons seldom closed their doors. There were
23 saloons in one block at the time when approximately 1,500 people
were passing through daily. The town boasted of introducing the all-
night theater to the world.
Gun fights were daily events that caused little excitement. One night
during a dance one of the participants was shot to death; someone
propped him up in a corner and the dancers continued to whirl past
his feet. Later another man was shot and his body was placed beside
the first. It was not until the third corpse joined the group that the
party came to an end.
Lynchings were also common and the townspeople were exceedingly
critical of the conduct of the victims. One who gained approval was
Nebraska 81
Charlie Reed. He had been living with Mollie Wardner. One day in the
spring of 1879 several citizens, among them Henry Loomis, were walk
ing past Mollie s house; Mollie called to Loomis, "Come in, darling,
and bring your friends along." Loomis, feeling that she had betrayed
her position as Reed s consort, shouted at her indignantly, telling her to
go back into the house; he then apologized for speaking in such man
ner to a lady. Gossips eagerly carried word of the rebuke to Reed, but
apparently neglected to clarify the cause of Loomis rebuke. Reed im
mediately hunted up Loomis and shot him. By the time Loomis had
died, after acute suffering, public opinion against Reed had mounted
and a mob went to the jail with a rope. Reed accepted the situation and
generously confessed that he had previously killed five other men in
Texas; he added, however, that three of the shootings had been in self-
defense. Western Union telegraph poles were popular hanging trees in
the treeless country; as Reed was taken to a ladder that had been placed
against one he was asked whether he preferred to jump from the ladder
or to have it pulled from under him. "I ll jump off, gentlemen, and
show you how a brave man can die," he said. "Goodbye, gentlemen,
one and all." His body was cut down two or three days later and put
in Boot Hill Cemetery. Reed s reply became a popular exit line that
was used later by others.
There is a legend that, during the peak of the boom, the Union
Pacific R.R. would not allow its passengers to risk their lives by getting
off the train during a stop here.
Opposite the Union Pacific depot is the UNION PACIFIC HOTEL,
built at the time the railroad was under construction. Near it is a frame
building that was a FREIGHT HOUSE, erected in the days when this was
the distributing point to the forts and Indian agencies to the north.
West of Sidney the highway is level and nearly straight. In former
days railroad passengers welcomed such flat stretches of country not
only because the trains crossing them moved with fewer bounces and
jerks and there was less danger of a wreck, but also because there was
less chance of a train robbery. Such robberies were almost daily events
in the early days of the West. The hold-up men sometimes wrecked
trains in order to loot the mail cars and rob the passengers, but more
often they merely flagged them at night in lonely spots and took what
they wanted at the point of a gun. Trains carrying large quantities of
gold to the mints were particularly marked for attack.
At 80.5 m. is POINT OF ROCKS (R), which provides a good view
of the craggy and pine-dotted country. From this point the Indians are
said to have rolled rocks down on Union Pacific trains. Air currents in
this area cause trouble for planes flying between North Platte and
Cheyenne, Wyo. An airplane beacon is on top of the rock.
POTTER, 85 m. (4,389 alt., 515 pop.), was named for a General
Potter who at one time commanded troops in western Nebraska. Nearby,
82 The Oregon Trail
LODGEPOLE CREEK disappears underground and reappears several
miles downstream.
KIMBALL, 103.2 m. (4,709 alt., 1,711 pop.), a wheat- and potato-
shipping center, was the southern terminus of the old stage route that
passed through the Wild Cat Range to Gering on the North Platte River.
BUSHNELL, 115.2 m. (4,871 alt., 341 pop.), was named for a
civil engineer of the Union Pacific R.R.
At 124.3 m. is the Wyoming Line.
Wyoming
Neb. Line Cheyenne Laramie Rawlins Rock Springs Granger
Kemmerer Idaho Line; 459.4 m. US 30 and US SON.
Union Pacific R.R. parallels route throughout. Union Pacific Stages and Burlington
Trailways follow route between Cheyenne and Granger.
Oiled roadbed, occasionally closed for brief periods during severe blizzards.
Accommodations chiefly in towns.
US 30 in Wyoming runs through a land often referred to as "the
last frontier." The stages that in the first months followed the Oregon
Trail (see ALTERNATE ROUTE) through central Wyoming were in
1862 rerouted. In March, 1862, the Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho, in
a united movement, had attacked all the stage stations between the
Platte and Bear Rivers, burning many and capturing every horse in the
service. Stage passengers were not molested in this period, but many
were left stranded in the coaches from which the horses had been taken.
By the middle of 1862 the coaches, after leaving Julesburg (see
SECTION 4), continued to follow the South Platte until they reached
the Cherokee Trail; after Overland stages were transferred to this route,
it was called Overland Trail. The Cherokee Trail came north from Fort
Smith on the Arkansas River and in Colorado followed Cherry Creek
to the point where it emptied into the South Platte, gradually swinging
northwestward to cross Laramie Plains and then westward to round
the northern flank of the Medicine Bow Mountains ; it crossed the Divide
through Bridger Pass.
The Cherokee Trail was a natural route well known to trappers.
It received its name because the first large groups to follow it were the
Cherokee on their way to California in the gold rush of 1849-50. The
remnants of this intelligent and able tribe of the Southeast, which had
attempted to adopt white men s ways and forms of government, set
ting themselves up as an autonomous nation, had been forced out of
Georgia after the discovery of gold on their lands. Even though the
U. S. Supreme Court had recognized their sovereign autonomy, Presi
dent Andrew Jackson in 1838 refused to restrain white land-grabbers
and permitted the natives to be herded west by military force. The
Cherokee were segregated in the territory that is now the States of
Arkansas and Oklahoma.
Section 5. Nebraska Line to Laramie, 92 A m. US 30.
US 30 crosses theVyoming Line, m., just east of PINE BLUFFS,
0.7 m. (5,047 alt., 670 pop.), whose name is descriptive of its sur
roundings. This was near the center of the hunting grounds over which
83
84 The Oregon Trail
the Arapaho, Cheyenne, Ute, Sioux, Blackfeet, and other tribes wan
dered.
West of Pine Bluffs US 30 runs through semi-arid rolling plains
and short-grass country. In this vicinity are grown seed potatoes, many
carloads of which are shipped annually, particularly into Texas and
the Southwest.
At ARCHER, 33.8 m., is a STATE EXPERIMENT FARM (L) that spe
cializes in dry farming and in growing altitude grains.
CHEYENNE, 41.6 m. (6,062 alt., 17,361 pop.) (see JFYO.
GUIDE).
Railroad Stations. Union Pacific R.R., 15th St. and Capitol Ave. ; Chicago, Bur
lington & Quincy R.R. and Colorado & Southern R.R., Capitol Ave. between 15th
and 16th Sts.
Accommodations. Good hotels.
Points of Interest. State Capitol, State Supreme Court Building, Fort Francis
E. Warren, Frontier Park, U.S. Horticultural Field Station, and others.
West of Cheyenne US 30 rises 1,773 feet in 31 miles to cross the
Laramie Mountains. Colorado snow peaks, 60 miles away, are plainly
visible (L) ; rugged pine-topped ridges and mountains form the back
ground (R).
GRANITE CANYON, 60.5 m. (7,315 alt.), has springs of excep
tionally pure water.
BUFORD, 68.8 m. (7,862 alt.), is a loading point for Sherman
granite, used for railroad construction and other purposes.
At 71.9 m. (R) is an old PINE TREE growing out of a large granite
rock. It was kept alive in early days by firemen of the Union Pacific
R.R., who drenched the tree daily with a bucket of water.
At 73.7 m. is the junction with the Tie Siding road.
Left on this dirt road to the AMES MONUMENT, 1 m., built in 1881-2 at a
cost of $80,000 to honor Oliver and Oakes Ames, promoters who played a large
part in financing the construction of the Union Pacific R.R. It is a pyramid 60
feet square at its base and 60 feet high, surmounted with an oval cap. In the
center of one side is a medallion of Oliver Ames, and on another one of his
brother. The monument was erected about six hundred feet from the original rail
road bed and marked the highest elevation (8,235 feet) reached by the Union
Pacific in the Laramie Range. The Ames brothers were the manufacturers of Ames
shovels, the most popular implements of their kind in the days of the gold rush.
In the 1860 s the brothers became heavily involved in the financing of the first
railroad to the West. Oliver was later involved in the Credit Mobilier scandal, and
received heavy public censure, though his practices differed little from those of
other railroad financiers of his day.
Near the monument is a small graveyard, the sole remnant of old Sherman Sta
tion, a construction terminus and military camp in 1868 during the building of
the railroad.
- .
Z*s
ARAPAHO (c. 1868)
GREEN RIVER VALLEY
F. S. A. Rothstein
Wyoming 85
Nearby are several large piles of granite. Soon after the monument had been
completed, some of these stones were used for advertising purposes; inscriptions
were painted on them, such as "Plantation Bitters" and "S.T. 1860." An ambitious
agent of one patent medicine manufacturing concern contracted with a Wyoming
newspaper correspondent to have an advertisement put across the face of the
monument itself. When the job was done, the newspaper man was to furnish the
Associated Press with a story severely censuring the vandalism, thus insuring the
wide distribution of an advertisement of the nostrum. One morning the whole
country read of the disfigurement of the monument. The newspapers denounced
the so-called outrage, naming the patent medicine as the agent had planned. But
the campaign of indignation was short-lived; the correspondent had not had the
sign painted, reasoning that if people merely read that it had been done, the same
result would be achieved.
The monument was again the subject of publicity when a Laramie justice of
the peace named Murphy learned that the monument had been placed on public
land instead of on railroad property; he hastened to file a homestead claim on the
site, then notified the railroad company to take the pile of stone from his property.
A railroad representative tried to arrange a settlement with Murphy, who insisted
that the company remove the monument or pay an exorbitant price for his home
stead. An agreement was eventually reached whereby the company gave the "home
steader" several lots in Laramie in exchange for his claim to the land.
A FOREST SERVICE SHELTER HOUSE (open to public] , 74.7 m. (R),
is equipped to render aid during storms. (Blizzards frequent in this
vicinity October to April; usually come very suddenly; seek shelter
at once.)
At 81.6 m. the highway crosses the crest of the Sherman Range
(8,835 alt.). Near the highway at this point are bridle paths and a
ski course. Near Summit Tavern is a wooden OBSERVATION TOWER main
tained by the Forest Service; it is on the summit of Crow Creek Hill
(8,877 alt.) in the Pole Mountain District of the Medicine Bow Forest.
The tower commands a view of the Laramie Plains to the west, and of
most of the drainage area of the Cache La Poudre River in Colorado.
West of this point US 30 drops quickly down the western slope of
the range, descending about 1,670 feet in nine miles. (Steep grade and
almost blind curves; keep cars in gear.) The highway traverses pic
turesque TELEPHONE CANYON.
KIWANIS SPRING is at 86.3 m., where drinking water can be ob
tained.
In early autumn this canyon and the upper hillsides in the Laramie
Mountains are brilliant with the gold of the aspens, which stand out
against the dark green of the lodgepole pines.
Emerging from the western end of the canyon, the highway runs
across a stretch of sagebrush-covered land.
LARAMIE, 92.4 m. (7,165 alt., 8,609 pop.), seat of Albany
County, lies at the eastern edge of an extensive plateau known as the
Laramie Plains. It is an outfitting point for hunting and fishing excur
sions into the nearby mountains and valley, and a trade center for
cattle and sheep ranches and oil fields. The town was named for Jacques
86 The Oregon Trail
La Ramee, a French-Canadian free trapper who in the early 1800 s
operated in the territory that is now Wyoming. He is said to have been
killed by Arapaho Indians in 1820 or 1821. His name appears fre
quently in the American Fur Company correspondence.
The Indians of various tribes that formerly roamed over this area
left many artifacts behind them; in the city are a number of extensive
private collections of primitive weapons found in the neighborhood.
By 1866, when Ben Holladay s stages were running over the Chero
kee Trail on fairly regular schedules, increasing numbers of emigrants
followed the ruts worn by the swaying vehicles, and a military post,
Fort Sanders, was established not far south of this point for the pro
tection of travelers.
When, early in 1868, the Union Pacific R.R. tracks were nearing
the big Laramie River, a small settlement appeared at his place, the
inhabitants living in tents, sheds, and shanties, or in the open.
In April the Union Pacific R.R. Company began the sale of lots;
within a week more than four hundred were sold or contracted for.
Ten days later more than five hundred structures had been erected;
some were built of logs, some of crossties with canvas tops, and some
of rough lumber.
On May 9 the rails were laid through the town. The next day the
first train clanked in and iron rails, crossties, ploughs, scrapers, tents,
lumber, and provisions were unloaded. Peddlers also arrived with packs
of notions, cooking stoves, crockery, tinware, and liquor. On the same
train, riding on flatcars with their household goods, came men, women,
and children.
Within three months Laramie s population was about five thousand.
A temporary town government had been organized in May and a mayor
and trustees elected. After three weeks, however, the mayor had resigned
and the rest of the government disintegrated, leaving the inhabitants
free to settle their difficulties with revolvers and knives. By August, 20
law-and-order citizens had formed a vigilance committee, which within a
week hanged a young desperado called "The Kid." The hanging merely
served to stimulate the ruffians to new endeavors ; they boasted that they
would run the town to suit themselves. Violence increased and a new
vigilance committee with three or four hundred members was formed.
They planned a complete cleanup, to be accomplished by simultaneous
raids on all the notorious hell-holes and by the hanging of the leaders
of the peace-breakers. On October 18, 1868, the members of the squads
began to gather, one by one, in the saloons and dance halls to which
they had been assigned. Unfortunately, an impatient vigilante in the
group sent to care for a dance house called the Belle of the West fired
a shot prematurely; the alert ruffians immediately grasped the signifi
cance of the presence of those who ordinarily shunned their company.
In the ensuing affray three men one from each faction and a neutral
were killed and 15 were wounded. Three of the leading ruffians were
Wyoming 87
captured and immediately hanged from telegraph poles; the next day
Big Steve, another badman, received the same treatment. After this
affray many of the desperados moved on to other places, but a few
allied themselves with the forces that wanted order and became blatant
advocates of public virtue.
Out of the vigilance committee was evolved another local govern
ment. Late in 1868 the Legislature of Dakota Territory, of which Wyo
ming was then a part, approved a charter for Laramie and appointed a
mayor. But the first legal government was no more successful than its
predecessors, and in 1869 the legislative assembly of the new Territory
of Wyoming revoked the charter and placed the town under the direct
jurisdiction of the Federal Government. Under this regime order was
established. On December 10, 1869, the Wyoming Territorial Legisla
ture enacted a law granting suffrage to women, and in March, 1870,
the first jury panel in the Territory containing women members was
drawn here. Many important newspapers and periodicals of the day
sent correspondents and special artists to cover the event. Five women
served on the grand jury and six on the petit. The latter jury convicted
a man of manslaughter.
In 1873 Laramie was re-incorporated under an act of the Wyoming
Territorial Legislature. The town s position aided its development from
a terminal camp to a trade and industrial center of importance in
the area. Four oil fields are operated within a radius of 50 miles.
Today Laramie is a city having many comfortable homes and attractive
gardens.
At the corner of 3rd and Garfield Sts. is the SITE OF THE BOOM
ERANG PLANT, now occupied by a warehouse. The office of this news
paper, which was founded in 1881 by Bill Nye, was in the former hay
loft of a livery stable; at the first-floor entrance was a sign with the
direction: "Twist the Tail of the Gray Mule and Take the Elevator."
Nye, whose given names were Edgar Wilson, came to Laramie in 1876
and opened a law office. In the course of his life in this town he served
as justice of the peace, superintendent of schools, councilman, editor
of the Sentinel, and postmaster. The Boomerang was founded as an
organ of the Republican Party in the State, but it soon became na
tionally known because of Nye s brand of humor. In time Nye went to
work on the New York World and later formed a lecture and writing
team with James Whitcomb Riley. In 1886 the two men produced Nye
and Riley s Railway Guide. The authors announced : "What this country
needs is a railway guide which shall not be cursed by a plethora of
facts or poisoned with information. In other railway guides pleasing
fancy, poesy, and literary beauty have been throttled at the very thresh
old by a wild incontinence of facts, figures, and references to meal sta
tions. For this reason a guide has been built at our own shops and
on a new plan. It will not permit information to creep in and mar the
reader s enjoyment of the scenery."
88 The Oregon Trail
The UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING occupies a 96-acre landscaped campus
on a rolling hill in the northeastern section of town. It is the only insti
tution of higher learning in the State; all colleges are on this campus.
The university, coeducational from the beginning, was established in
1887, largely through the efforts of Col. Stephen W. Downey, a Laramie
attorney. (See also WYOMING GUIDE.)
Section 6. Laramie to Rawlins, 117.2 m. US 30.
US 30 runs almost due north from LARAMIE, m. Near the city
limits is an excellent view of the surrounding country, with snow
capped Medicine Bow Peak (see above) in the Snowy Range 30 miles
distant (L), Corner Mountain to the north, and Sheep Mountain to the
south. Pine-covered PILOT KNOB tips the Laramie Mountains, just
east of the city. It was a landmark for those crossing the Laramie Plains
in the days of migration on the Cherokee and Overland Trails. In sum
mer the fields north of Laramie are red with loco weed and, in spots,
blue with lupine.
BOSLER, 19.2 m. (7,074 alt., 75 pop.), on the Laramie Plains,
bears the name of a ranchman who formerly owned the Diamond Ranch
(R). The ranch was for some time the headquarters of Tom Horn,
who was hanged in Cheyenne in 1903, charged with the killing of little
Willie Nickell near Iron Mountain, Wyo. Horn, one of Bosler s range
riders, was alleged to have shot the Nickell boy and to have wounded
the boy s father during a range war between the cattlemen and sheep
men. It was believed that Horn was paid by some of the big cattlemen
to keep the range clear of sheepmen.
US 30 crosses the Laramie River at Bosler and swings northwest
past Cooper Lake (L).
At ROCK CREEK, 37 m., in 1865 Indians attacked a camp occu
pied by members of a train of 75 wagons with which an English family
named Fletcher was traveling. The Fletchers were camped on the banks
of the stream a short distance from the main party; the Indians killed
the mother and wounded the father. The two daughters, Mary, 13, and
Lizzie, 2, were captured by the Indians, while the three sons escaped.
Mary, who had been wounded by several arrows, saw an Indian seize
Lizzie and ride off with her. Mary was carried off to the mountains,
where the squaws were waiting; from the Indian camp she watched the
burning of the wagons in the valley below. The girl was given Indian
garments and, like other prisoners, had to care for ponies and gather
firewood for the squaws of her captors.
In the spring of 1866 the band came to a white trading camp in
charge of a man named Hanger. Despite the fact that she had been
ordered to keep out of sight of white men, Mary Fletcher walked into
Hanger s tent and asked in English if he had any soap. An Indian who
Wyoming 89
overheard her knocked her to the floor and carried her away; but the
squaws, who were jealous of her, aided her in communicating with
Hanger. He gave the Indians a large amount of cash, a good horse, and
a gun to obtain her release and placed her in the charge of an Indian
agent who took her to Fort Laramie. She was soon sent to friends in
Illinois. In later years, while on a trip to Salt Lake City, she found her
father, who had recovered from his wounds.
Thirty-five years after the Rock Creek raid, some Indians from the
Wind River Reservation came to Casper, Wyo. With them was a white
woman wearing Indian garb, and speaking only the Arapaho language.
She attracted the attention of some Casper citizens, who learned from
the reservation authorities that the woman had been captured by Indians
when she was two years old, and was married to John Brokenhorn, an
Arapaho. This story, published in a Casper newspaper, came to the
attention of Mary Fletcher, who went to the Arapaho reservation and
identified Mrs. Brokenhorn as her sister; the white woman refused to
leave her Indian home.
Over the railroad tracks, (L) north of Rock Creek, are large con
crete snow sheds that were erected by the Union Pacific R.R. after a
severe blizzard in 1916 had tied up overland trains at this point for
several days.
ROCK RIVER, 39.2 m. (6,892 alt., 260 pop.), is a livestock-ship
ping point and a trade center for many ranches. Here in 1916 two cow
boys, while excavating a caved-in cellarway on property owned by a
man named Taylor, unearthed glass jars containing several thousand
dollars worth of old gold coins. Taylor claimed the money and recov
ered it through legal proceedings that were carried to the Wyoming
Supreme Court. According to one theory, the money had been hidden
in the cellar by an innkeeper who had occupied the place and who
was not seen after he was reported to have left for a visit to his home
land, Germany. Another theory was that the coins were loot from a
stagecoach robbery.
At 42 m. (L) is the SITE OF THE WILCOX ROBBERY of a Union
Pacific train. On June 2, 1899, two men flagged an express train, pointed
revolvers at the engineer, and ordered him to take the train across the
bridge beyond Wilcox and stop. The men blew up the bridge with
dynamite in order to prevent the arrival of the second section of the
train, which was due in 10 minutes. They then forced the engineer to
run the train two miles farther west, where they looted the cars, blew
open the express safe, and escaped with $60,000 in unsigned bank notes.
More than a hundred pounds of dynamite were found near the scene
on the following day. Though pursued by a posse, the robbers made
their escape on horseback into Montana. "Flat Nose George" Currie
was supposed to have been responsible for the crime.
West of Rock River US 30 runs through rolling, short-grass coun-
90 The Oregon Trail
try where great herds of buffalo once roamed. Some of the old buffalo
wallows can be seen from the highway.
At COMO BLUFFS, 52.2 m., is the CREATION MUSEUM, in a store.
Many fossils and relics are on display.
Right from Como Bluffs on a dirt road to the COMO BLUFFS FOSSIL BEDS in
the bluffs, 1.3 m., from which in 1877 was taken the first complete dinosaur
skeleton; two others were discovered in Colorado the same year. The largest her
bivorous dinosaur skeleton found here was, when assembled, 70 feet long. Four
teen complete skeletons have been recovered here since 1880; they have been sent
to the leading natural history museums of the world.
MEDICINE BOW, 58.1 m. (6,563 alt., 264 pop.), provided the
experiences that enabled Owen Wister to write The Virginian. Wister
had ridden the range with the Two Bar outfit at one time. The first
scene in the book was laid in Medicine Bow; here the narrator stepped
off the train and was met by the Virginian. Later in the day he wit
nessed the first clash between the Virginian and Trampas, when during
a card game Trampas called the Southerner a name that, according to
the custom of the day, was omitted from the book, but which caused the
spectators to look anxiously for cover. The Virginian stared at his
enemy for a moment and then drawled, "When you call me that,
smile," a remark that entered the popular speech during the days of
the book s great popularity.
The town has grown little since the days when Wister knew it but
local life is now quieter.
1. Right from Medicine Bow on a dirt road to the PETRIFIED FOREST,
30 m., covering 2,560 acres and judged by scientists to be 50 million years old.
2. Right from Medicine Bow on a dirt road to the EPSOM SALT BEDS,
11 m., one of the natural wonders of the State.
West of Medicine Bow US 30 runs through country occasionally
dotted with bands of sheep and sheepherders wagons.
HANNA, 78.2 m. (6,777 alt., 1,500 pop.), is owned by the Union
Pacific R.R., for which it supplies coal. The coal deposits of the area,
discovered by Fremont in 1843, were a decisive factor in determining
the course of the railroad in this area; early plans routed the railroad
along the Oregon Trail. The coal is sub-bituminous and burns so freely
that locomotives using it throw out cinders that have frequently set
the grass of the plains on fire.
Many fossils, including the bones of dinosaurs, are found in the
rocks west of Hanna; they belonged to the last of the species.
Left from Hanna on a partly graveled road to the town of ELK MOUNTAIN,
17 m. (7,100 alt., 54 pop.), on the Medicine Bow River. The town is picturesquely
Wyoming 91
situated at the base of ELK MOUNTAIN (11,162 alt.), a landmark of the covered-
wagon days. What is said to have been the first band of sheep brought into
Wyoming was trailed from California to the Sederlin ranch south of the town.
a. Right from Elk Mountain 6 m. on an improved dirt road to the Quealey
ranch, the SITE OF FORT HALLECK, established in July 1862; it was named for
Maj. Gen. Henry W. Halleck, who was appointed commander of the Missouri
Department of the U. S. Army in 1861 and became General in Chief in 1862.
The post was a stage and express station of the Overland stages. It was situated
at a strategic point and consisted of several substantial buildings. The post was
constructed when the mail route was transferred (see Section 5). Escorts were fur
nished from the fort for the surveyors of the Union Pacific R.R. route. In February
1864, the post store was turned into a hospital to care for a party of 28 soldiers
who had been caught in one of the worst blizzards of the area s early history.
Two of the men died, and many of them had frozen hands and feet.
b. Left from Elk Mountain about 1 m. on a rough road to a point near the
CABIN OF JOHN SUBLETTE, an early settler believed by some to have been a
nephew of William L. Sublette. Hand-made furniture and other old relics remain
in the cabin. (Specific directions for reaching cabin obtainable in Elk Mountain.)
At 87 m. is the junction with a dirt road.
Left on this road to DANA, 0.5 m., a small station on the Union Pacific R.R.,
near which in 1934 an attempt was made, by an ex-convict named Lovett, to rob
the Portland Rose Overland Limited. Lovett succeeded in derailing the locomotive,
a baggage car, and one coach; but owing to the fact that the coach was filled
with marines, who swarmed outside as soon as the wreck occurred, he beat a hasty
retreat without robbing the passengers. The fireman on the train, who was almost
totally buried under the coal, was quickly extricated by passengers. Lovett was
subsequently captured.
At 102.6 m. is the junction with a graveled road.
Right on this road to FORT FRED STEELE, 1 m. (6,480 alt., 139 pop.), a
village that bears the name of a military post established during the construction
of the Union Pacific R.R. The post was occupied from June 20, 1868, to August
7, 1886. On Sept. 14, 1879, Major Thomas F. Thornburg led a party from the post
to rescue Nathan C. Meeker, Indian agent for the White River Utes in north
western Colorado. When within about 24 miles of the agency the relief party
was attacked by Indians; Major Thornburg and 12 of his men were killed and 47
others were wounded. The Utes set fire to the brush along Milk River, and de
stroyed all supply wagons. A scout, Joe Rankin, escaped, crawled through ravines,
and, obtaining a horse, carried the news of the disaster to Rawlins; he made the
164-mile trip in 24 hours. More troops were sent but meanwhile Meeker had been
killed, and the women and children from the agency had been carried off by the
Indians.
Here US 30 again crosses the North Platte River and continues
across rolling plains.
At 107.9 m. (R) is the SITE OF BENTON, perhaps the most no
torious mushroom town that sprang up during the construction of the
Union Pacific. It was the first terminus established west of Laramie;
within two weeks the place was occupied by about three thousand peo-
92 The Oregon Trail
pie. According to Beadle s Undeveloped West: "There were regular
squares arranged into five yards, a city government of mayor and alder
man, a daily paper, and a volume of ordinances for the public health.
It was the end of the freight and passenger, and the beginning of the
construction division; twice every day immense trains arrived and de
parted, and stages left for Utah, Montana, and Idaho; all the goods
formerly hauled across the plains came here by rail and were reshipped,
and for ten hours daily the streets were filled with Indians, gamblers,
Cappers , and saloon keepers, merchants, miners, and mulewhackers.
The streets were eight inches deep in white dust as I entered the city
of canvas tents and polehouses; the suburbs appeared as banks of dirty
white lime, and a new arrival with black clothes looked like nothing
so much as a cockroach struggling through a flour barrel. The great
institution of Benton was the Big Tent , sometimes called the Gamblers
Tent. This structure was a nice frame building 100 feet long and 40
feet wide, covered with canvas and conveniently floored for dancing,
to which and gambling it was entirely devoted. It was moved succes
sively to all the mushroom terminus cities."
PARCO, 110.9 m. (6,592 alt., 727 pop.), is variously known as
"the million-dollar town" and as "an oasis in the desert." It is com
pletely modern from its waterworks to its 80-room Spanish-type hotel,
which occupies an entire block. The principal buildings of the town are
grouped around three sides of a large expanse of lawn, the plaza.
RAWLINS, 117.2 m. (6,755 alt., 4,868 pop.), seat of Carbon
County, is a distribution and supply point for operators of sheep
ranches, oil fields, coal mines, and lime and stone quarries. "Rawlins
Red" paint, whose basic ingredient is a natural pigment found in the
nearby hills, is manufactured here. The product is used particularly
for painting roofs. In 1874 a carload of the product was shipped east
for use on Brooklyn Bridge, then under construction.
Gen. John A. Rawlins, for whom the town was named, served with
distinction during the Civil War and became Secretary of War in 1869,
but died shortly afterward. The town came into existence with the ar
rival of the Union Pacific R.R. because the site had an excellent spring,
a rarity in this arid region.
The usual tent town sprang up here; in the wake of the construc
tion workers,, and the settlers who hoped to profit by serving them,
came the gamblers and badmen. Crimes of the neighborhood received
a large amount of publicity. In June, 1880, George Parrott "Big Nose
George" and Charlie Burris "Dutch Charley" with two other men
attempted to derail a westbound Union Pacific pay car by drawing
spikes that held some of the rails in place. A passing section boss no
ticed the loose rails, flagged the train, and then notified the sheriff s
office. A posse, headed by Tip Vincent and Ed Widowfield, was quickly
formed. The leaders became separated from the other men but found
W joining 93
the trail of the bandits and followed it to a grove of willows, where
they discovered a campfire. While testing the ashes to find whether
they were still warm, both men were killed from ambush by the ban
dits, who seized the mounts of the officers and fled farther into the hills.
Four months later word was received from Miles City, Mont., that
the robbers had been arrested on charges of murder and robbery in
that State. "Big Nose," while under the influence of liquor, boasted of
his Wyoming escape, and he and "Dutch Charley" were turned over
to Wyoming authorities. The latter was taken off a train at Carbon by
a group of local citizens and hanged to a telegraph pole.
"Big Nose George" was tried here and sentenced to death by hang
ing. Because of his desperate character his legs were shackled at all
times. One day, however, he managed to file through one of the shackle
bolts with a knife, and that evening used the shackles to fell the jailer.
The jailer s wife closed the door on the bandit and gave alarm.
Before midnight a mob formed and took "Big Nose George" from
the jail. The bandit was made to climb upon a big box beside a tele
graph pole with a rope around his neck; when he would not jump,
the box was kicked from under him, but the fall broke the rope. An
other noose was applied and this time the bandit was ordered to climb
a ladder; when he reached the top he wrapped his arms around the
telegraph pole and hung on until he dropped in exhaustion. Dr. John
E. Osborne, later Governor of Wyoming, officially pronounced him
dead, and was permitted to retain patches of hide from George s body,
which he had made into a pair of shoes. The Rawlins city records re
veal that 24 ruffians were notified that night to leave town within a day
if they did not want the same treatment. The next day the railroad agent
reported that 24 tickets had been sold for the morning train west.
Owing to the presence of Rawlins Spring, the first settlements were
made on the south side of the railroad tracks. Within a year, however,
many people were living on the north side, where most of the city
stands today.
The STATE PENITENTIARY, on the northern side of town, has land
scaped grounds. Inmates of the institution formerly made brooms and
shirts; they now manufacture woolen goods, including blankets, from
wool produced on the surrounding ranches. The penitentiary has a
lethal gas chamber for administration of the death penalty; the system
was adopted by the legislature in 1936.
US 287 (R) leads north from Granger to a junction with the un
numbered dirt road running through South Pass (see ALTERNATE
ROUTE).
Section 7. Rawlins to Idaho Line, 249.8 m. to US 30 and US SON.
West of RAWLINS, m., US 30 runs slightly southwest and climbs
to CRESTON, 26.5 m. (7,178 alt.), on the Continental Divide. The
94 The Oregon Trail
approach to the Divide is so gradual that it is difficult to recognize
the highest point. For approximately a hundred miles west of Rawlins,
US 30 runs through barren and, for the most part, uninhabited coun
try. (Few filling stations or other facilities available along this part
of route.) Bridger Pass, used by the Overland Stages after 1862, is
about 25 miles southwest of Creston.
Left from Creston on State 87, which has an oiled gravel roadbed and runs
due south through a land of sagebrush and cactus. BAGGS, 51 m. (6,245 alt.,
192 pop.), named for Maggie Baggs, an early settler in the valley, is on the banks
of the Little Snake River near the Colorado Line.
Owing to its isolated position, Baggs, during the 1880 s and 1890 s, was a
favorite rendezvous and hide-out for badmen of every description train and stage
robbers, horse thieves, bank robbers, and killers.
The notorious Powder Springs gang of outlaws, led by Butch Cassidy, came to
the town to celebrate successful hold-ups in surrounding States. Their biggest haul,
about $35,000 in gold taken in Winnemucca, Nev., caused a celebration lasting
several days. The inhabitants, while not terrorized by the outlaws, nevertheless
experienced considerable uneasiness until the event was over. Baggs, like other
Snake River towns of the area, profited by the celebrations because the gang, even
when engaged in amusing itself, took no unnecessary risks, including that of wear
ing out its welcome in the towns where it loafed. On reaching Baggs, the leaders
would appoint one man to care for the horses and to keep them ready for a
quick get-away, if that should be necessary; another would guard the arms and
ammunition, which was stacked in an orderly fashion. The leaders took turns in
remaining sober during the spree in order to prevent excesses that might cause
innocent bystanders to suffer. And it was a rule that ample compensation must
be made to the owners of local property destroyed by accident.
Powder Springs, the gang headquarters, was on a mountain side about 40 miles
to the west. Cassidy and Longabaugh in time fled to South America, where they
are said to have been killed after a pack-train robbery.
Visible west of Creston is the RED DESERT, where the colorings
change hourly with the light. Although the desert seems barren and
worthless, hundreds of thousands of sheep are wintered here annually.
WAMSUTTER, 40.5 m. (6,709 alt., 150 pop.), ships large amounts
of wool and has extensive shearing jugs (pens).
North of the highway, for nearly a hundred miles, is a great stretch
of sand dunes, many of them a hundred feet high. They shift constantly
with the prevailing winds in a direction a little north of east. Mirages
are frequent. The region has great beauty in spite of its barrenness;
every shade of red is here russet, brick, vermilion in addition to
grays, browns, greens, and purples. Late in the afternoon the landscape
is bathed in a purple haze.
Left from Wamsutter on a dirt road (guides advisable) to weird, eroded for
mations of gumbo clay called ADOBE TOWNS, 30 m.
On the desert west of Wamsutter are still many traces of the early
Wyoming 95
trails. Occasionally remnants of wagons, human and animal skeletons,
Indian artifacts, and the like are found.
POINT OF ROCKS, 84.6 m. (6,509 alt.), is a ghost town named
for the rocks that rise 1,100 feet above the railroad tracks. In the vicin
ity are sulphur springs. In the 1870 s Point of Rocks was the nearest
railroad station to the South Pass and Sweetwater districts, and was
an outfitting station for the mines. In 1870 a daily stage, mail, and
express line operated between here and a point near the eastern end
of South Pass. The Wells Fargo Overland Express Company maintained
offices at the station and carried on a large business. The buildings,
chiefly adobe, stood until the late 1880 s.
1. Left from Point of Rocks, 25 m., on a dim, unimproved trail to the SITE
OF THE BARREL SPRINGS STAGE STATION of 1862. The trail that carried the Over
land Stage dipped slightly south in the area because of the springs.
Beadle wrote of the region: "For sixty miles on Bitter Creek, Wyoming, the
soil is a mass of clay, or sand, and alkali a horrible and irreclaimable desert
which has made the place a byword. ... On the stage routes across such tracts
the animals labor through a cloud of dust and the coach drags heavily, the wheels
often causing a disagreeable cry in the sand and soda, while the passengers endure
as best they can the irritation to eye and nostril, and the slime formed upon the
person by dust and sweat. This penetrating alkaline dust sifts in at the smallest
crevice, and even the clothing in a close valise is often covered with it." A popular
local phrase describing such desert areas was: "A jack rabbit can t cross it without
a haversack, while an immigrant crow sheds tears at the sight."
2. Right from Point of Rocks on a trail that nearly parallels US 30 to the
REMAINS OF THE ALMOND STAGE STATION, 4 m.
3. Right from Point of Rocks on a dirt road (sometimes impassable; carry
ropes) that leads to large SAND DUNES, 30 m.
ROCK SPRINGS, 110.6 m. (6,271 alt., 8,440 pop.), is the railroad
station and United Airline stop nearest to the Jackson Hole recreational
region (planes to area available at municipal airport). It is also an
outfitting point for big-game hunting and fishing expeditions.
The Rock Springs, for which the town is named, were discovered by
a Pony Express rider while making a wide detour to avoid a band of
Indians. The water, which is impregnated with minerals, comes from a
rock at what is now known as No. 6 mine, just northwest of the town.
There are few sources of potable drinking water between Rawlins and
Green River. An Overland Stage station was established northwest of
the place and in 1866 Archie and Duncan Blair, the founders of the
town, built a rock bridge and a stone cabin opposite the stage station
for the accommodation of travelers and emigrants. The REMAINS OF THE
BLAIRS TRADING POST, which was surrounded by a stockade, still stand.
Becky Thomas, the station master here, charged 10 cents a head for
watering horses, and the Blairs served venison steak and coffee to hun
gry travelers. Back of the station is a great rock that was the usual
emigrant register.
96 The Oregon Trail
The first settlers built their shacks in whatever spots suited their
fancy and the early town looked as though it had been scattered from
a pepperbox. Though the original lack of design has been corrected
the town is still picturesque, with Parisian bakeries, Greek candy shops,
and Jewish markets to emphasize its international character.
Rock Springs is primarily a coal-mining town. Most of the males
in the population, which is made up of people of 47 nationalities, work
in the mines ; these have been owned and operated by the Union Pacific
R.R. since 1868.
The valuable coal beds of Wyoming were the cause of considerable
scandal between 1903 and 1906 because of collusion between railroad
agents, General Land Office agents, and local officials to turn over pub
lic lands rich in coal to the railroad corporations.
As the result of a miners strike in 1875, Chinese workmen were
brought into the area. In 10 years Chinatown contained ten or twelve
hundred people, chiefly men, and was much larger than the white set
tlement. At this time San Francisco had become a center of anti-Chinese
agitation, which spread throughout the West wherever the Chinese of
fered labor and business competition because of their willingness to
accept wages lower than those demanded by the whites. In 1885 a mob
of white miners attacked the Chinese here, burned their buildings, in
cluding a large clubhouse, killed 30, and attempted to drive them all
out of the area. A detachment of troops, rushed in to preserve order,
remained here for some time. Chinatown was later rebuilt and the Chi
nese Government called on the U. S. Government to pay indemnities
to the relatives of those killed in the riot.
About 1886 two old prospectors "salted" some nearby sagebrush
country with rough diamonds. They interested a group of financiers in
the property, led blindfolded inspectors to the place, and later suc
ceeded in fleecing several people, including Horace Greeley and one
of the Tiifanys; they obtained about half a million dollars before the
fraud was discovered by a cook with a Government surveying party,
who kicked from an anthill a diamond that plainly showed traces of
a cutter s tool.
An annual International Night, first held about 1924, is given here
in May; in addition to a program conducted by people of various na
tionalities, there is an exhibition of relics and examples of handicraft.
At Rock Springs is the junction with US 187 (see SIDE ROUTE A}.
Southwest of Rock Springs, PILOT BUTTE (R), a trail landmark
called "the Sphinx of the Desert," can be seen from the highway. US
30 continues westward, crossing Green River Valley, in which, to the
north, is the site of the first big Rocky Mountains rendezvous of white
traders and trappers; employes of William Ashley s company met him
here in July, 1825. This valley played an important part in the history
of the fur trade of the West, being in an area that was a popular hunt
ing and trapping ground of both Indians and whites.
Wyoming 97
Small truck farms and sheep ranches are widely scattered in Green
River Valley. The ranches with their barns and corrals are typical of
those in the West. Oats, alfalfa, corn, and a variety of other vegetables,
cultivated with the aid of irrigation, are the chief products of the farms.
In the valley wild flowers are numerous, the more common varieties
being Indian paintbrush, rock and sand lilies, and bluebells. Wild cur
rants are the only edible berries growing in abundance along the river-
banks. Cactus, greasewood, sagebrush, mesquite, and grama grass are
found on the hills and in canyons. The region near the river is arid,
rocky, and sparsely wooded. Cottontail and jack rabbits, prairie dogs,
gophers, chipmunks, coyotes, badgers, weasels, beavers, deer, and an
telope are seen in the region. Trout, grayling, whitefish, and squawfish
are found in the river.
GREEN RIVER, 125.7 m. (6,100 alt., 2,589 pop.), seat of Sweet-
water County, is on the east bank of the river of the same name. It is
surrounded by picturesque cliffs and strange formations, the most
prominent of which, CASTLE ROCK, rises a thousand feet above the
river. A path beginning at the edge of the city (R) leads to the sum
mit and circles the rock. TOLLGATE ROCK, just north of Castle Rock,
was named for the tollgate established in a passage widened by the
Mormons.
The Overland Trail crossed Green River at a point south of the city.
The site for the town was selected by speculators in April, 1868;
in July it had been platted, lots had been sold, and houses were being
built; by September there was a population of two thousand people.
When the Union Pacific tracks reached the town, however, the rail
road company did not do what the promoters had naively hoped it
would show interest in the supposed strategic position of the place
and buy the townsite at inflated prices; the company already had plenty
of land to be exploited for townsites. Nor did the company establish a
rail-end camp here, which would have produced a temporary boom.
Nonetheless, the town grew gradually in importance, justifying the first
settlers faith in its position.
Here is the small HUTTON MUSEUM (private; visited by appoint
ment), containing fossils and relics of the Indians and early settlers.
Green River, although reported by Bancroft to have been named for
a partner of William Ashley, was so named because of its apparent
color, which comes from the green shale over which it flows. The name
is a translation of that given by the Spanish. The Crow called the
stream the Seeds-ke-dee-agie, or Prairie Hen.
While calm enough here, farther down stream the river is rapid and
dangerous, a fit feeder of the Colorado, into which it drains. The Green
and the Colorado Rivers run through canyons for most of their course;
in 1,100 miles there is a drop of 5,000 feet, as a result of which there
are 365 major rapids and quite as many minor ones. The stream, be-
98 The Oregon Trail
tween the town of Green River and Boulder Dam, has been continu
ously traversed only a few times the first in 1869 by an elaborately
equipped party under the leadership of Maj. J. W. Powell. Two pho
tographers, Ellsworth and Emory Kolb, made the journey in 1911. On
October 3, 1936, a young filling-station attendant, Buzz Holmstrom, left
this town in an attempt to reach Boulder Dam alone; he arrived at his
goal on November 25.
Green River was usually forded by travelers using South Pass at
some point near the mouth of the Sandy, north of US 30 (see ALTER
NATE ROUTE).
Left from the town of Green River on a dirt road to FIREHOLE BASIN,
0.5 m., whose rugged and picturesque beauty is reminiscent of that of the Grand
Canyon.
At 152.6 m. US 30 divides into US 30N, leading northwest, and
US SOS, leading southwest.
Left here on US SOS. CHURCH BUTTES, 10 m. (L), composed of blue and
black sandstone, rise 75 feet above the level of the surrounding hills and resemble
a cathedral.
LYMAN, 27.6 m. (6,693 alt., 377 pop.), whose population is predominantly
Mormon, has a successful co-operative marketing association.
At 32.6 m. is FORT BRIDGER (6,657 alt., 100 pop.), a settlement on Black s
Fork of the Green River.
On the grounds of old FORT BRIDGER (L), now owned by the State, are several
well-preserved army post buildings and a PONY EXPRESS STABLE. In the little
museum (free) are such relics as ox yokes, wagon bows, old maps, Indian trophies,
furniture, books, and rifles.
Fort Bridger was established as a trading post by Jim Bridger, one of the most
picturesque figures in the history of the American fur trade. He was born in Vir
ginia in 1804, was apprenticed to a St. Louis blacksmith for a period, and in 1822
went west as a trapper with the Andrew Henry party. From then on until his
death in 1881, Bridger was constantly in view; the vast range of his wanderings
and the speed with which he moved were amazing. Everyone who traveled between
the Missouri and the Pacific Northwest seemed to meet him. After the fur trade
had declined in part with the substitution of silk hats for beaver Bridger became
a scout and guide. Every post commander desired his services because he never
forgot the features of any region he had traversed, and he had visited most of
the West. He had, moreover, acute sensitivity that enabled him to see, smell, or
feel the presence of Indians when no one around him did. In time no officer dared
to disregard his warnings on the subject. As he became the oldest white inhabitant
of the Rockies he acquired an increasing scorn for tenderfeet, perhaps because
his stories of the wonders of the Great Salt Lake and Yellowstone regions were
disregarded in the early days; he in time mingled fact with tall tales to the utter
confusion of newcomers.
In the course of his life Bridger handled enormous quantities of furs and at
various times announced his intention of retiring with a fortune; but he was not
a businessman and lived his final years in poverty. Like most other men who had
tasted wilderness life even for a brief time, he was unhappy away from it and
could never settle down in any spot. He had an Indian wife and lived as the
Indians did, eating and sleeping when he felt like doing so, without regard to
conventional hours for such activities.
Wyoming 99
One of Bridger s business ventures was the founding of a trading post at this
key spot. In a letter written in December 1843, probably dictated since Bridger
was practically illiterate, Bridger told Pierre Chouteau, Jr., the St. Louis mer
chant: "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 Green River which promises
fairly. They, in coming out, are generally well supplied with money, but by the
time they get there are in want of all kinds of supplies. Horses, provisions, 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. The same estab
lishment trades with the Indians in the neighborhood, who have mostly a good
number of beaver among them."
But Bridger could not stay at home long enough to run his post, so he took a
partner, a Mexican named Louis Vasquez. Vasquez seems to have been little more
satisfactory than Bridger as a post trader at least from the standpoint of travelers
on the Oregon Trail. The emigrants would count eagerly on collecting news of
road conditions ahead of them and on supplying their needs at this post, the first
west of Laramie; but frequently, in the midst of the migration seasons, trains
would find no one here when they arrived. The blacksmith shop, which could
have had plenty of business, was nearly always without a smith. The partnership
continued, however, until 1854 and additions were sometimes made to the facilities.
Meanwhile other trappers settled in the neighborhood.
In July 1847 the first Mormon caravan, led by Brigham Young, camped here
for two days of rest and repairs before proceeding to the Great Salt Lake, where,
as J. W. Gunnison wrote, they were to "endure perils and tribulations for a time,
before their final triumph over fear."
Bridger had none of the contemporary prejudices against polygamy and for a
time he had friendly relations with the Mormons. The causes of the feud that
culminated in the Mormon occupation of Fort Bridger are obscure. There are
stories that the Saints captured the place because they were jealous of the flour
ishing business done at Fort Bridger; this, however, does not seem in line with
Mormon procedure. There are other stories to the effect that they took it because
they believed that Bridger was selling ammunition to the Indians to be used
against the Saints.
The relations between the Federal Government and the Mormons had become
strained; the Saints had "left the United States" to settle in Mexican land but
had arrived in the Great Salt Lake basin to find that the United States was taking
over the territory. Eastern enemies continued their persecution of the Mormons
because of their non-orthodox customs and beliefs and were determined to force
"gentile" government on the territory.
The discovery of gold in California brought a rush of non-Mormon emigrants
through the territory that Young had chosen because of its isolation; while the
Saints profited by catering to these travelers, the President and the Twelve, as
the church council was called, soon saw the demoralizing effects of the influx of
non-Mormons, some of whom insisted on settling in the area. Utah Territory was
established in 1850, to the dismay of the Saints who had dreamed of an inde
pendent State of Deseret; settlement on the land became subject to Federal con
trol, and a tactless non-Mormon Territorial judge was appointed. Friction between
the Federal Government and the Mormons increased rapidly.
In the meantime the Mormon Church had been pushing its plans for filling
up the territory with Mormon converts from abroad and was establishing way
stations to provide aid and provisions for its emigrant trains. In the fall of 1853
the Annual Conference of the Church commissioned Orson Hyde to lead a com
pany to this neighborhood to establish such a station. Hyde and a small group
left on November 2 and selected a place of settlement nine miles upstream from
Bridger s post, naming it Fort Supply. Behind them came a second company bring
ing horses, mules, cattle, and wagons loaded with seed, farming implements, and
100 The Oregon Trail
other supplies. A two-story log building with wings, large enough to house the
entire population, was immediately erected.
In 1853 or 1854 Bridger moved away from the post and the primitive buildings
were burned. Bridger said the Mormons drove him out; he asserted that he had
held the land under a Mexican grant, but the Mormons insisted that they had
paid for the land.
In 1857 President James Buchanan appointed a Governor and other Federal
officers for Utah Territory, and a military force was assigned for their protection
in taking office. The troops proceeded west under Col. Albert Sidney Johnston.
When Johnston and his forces arrived here they found little but ruins in the
valley. The Mormon colonists had been recalled to Utah, and had burned all the
buildings and such goods as could not be moved. Colonel Johnston established
winter quarters on Black s Fork about a mile and a half south of the former
trading post, calling the place Camp Scott. In June 1858 a detachment of Johnston s
troops took possession of the Bridger site and built a military post. The tact of
the new Governor, and Brigham Young s sensible acceptance of the inevitable,
had quieted the Utah situation; but suspicious enemies of the Mormons wanted
a military post in the area as a threat. It was maintained almost continuously
until 1890. Bridger later filed claims against the Federal Government for having
taken possession of his land; the Mormons did also, but neither of the claims
was allowed.
It was at Fort Bridger, in July 1846 that the Donner party left the established
Oregon and California Trail to take the route advised in an open letter addressed
"To all California Emigrants now on the Road." They had seen this letter, written
by a man unknown to them, near South Pass; the writer, L. W. Hastings, said
that he had found a shorter and safer route to California across the desert around
Great Salt Lake. George Donner, leader of the party of 81 people, had sold his
large fertile farms east of the Mississippi and was taking his family to California
to settle; with him were friends, neighbors, and some emigrants who had joined
the group on the road. Half the members were less than 20 years old. Donner
had excellent equipment for the undertaking and carried about $10,000 in cash in
a secret pocket. Only Mrs. Donner opposed taking advice on this serious subject
of routes from a stranger. Hastings had promised to be at Fort Bridger to con
duct emigrants, but when the Donner Party arrived they found that he had already
gone and had left word for late comers to follow the tracks he was making with
the first party.
The message said that pasturage ahead was good and that there was only one
stretch where an unusually long journey must be made to find water at the end
of the day. The emigrants set of! from Fort Bridger in high spirits, but before
long ran into difficulties. They lost the tracks left by Hastings party but pressed
on, each day hopeful that they would soon find the wonderful new short cut. By
the time the leaders were convinced that they were in serious trouble, the season
was so late that they dared not turn back to the beaten road. One calamity after
another overtook them murder, illness, and dissension. Donner was seriously in
jured and the minds of some of the emigrants broke under the strain. At the
end of October, when they were near the summit of the pass through the Sierra,
they were caught in blizzards and had to stop. Windbreaks were erected and dug
outs made. Supplies gave out completely. At length a small, hardy group man
aged to reach the Sacramento Valley and summon help. The story of the winter
will never be completely known. Some members of the party finally ate the flesh
of those who had died; the survivors (33 left the camp but 3 of these died on
the way to the valley) were either too young or were too much afraid of public
opinion to give details of what occurred.
It was in the neighborhood of the post in the fall of 1843 that the mysterious
Indian woman believed by some historians to have been Sacajawea, who had fled
from the neighborhood of St. Vrain s Fort after her husband had been killed, left
Fremont s party, with which she had been traveling, in the hope of finding her
THE SAND HILLS
*S $
THE LONELY TRAIL
II". //. Jackson
BUILDING THE UNION PACIFIC
U. P. R. R. Museum
Wyoming 101
relatives nearby. This woman -was often near the post in later years. (See ALTER
NATE ROUTE.)
Beyond Fort Bridger, for a few years after 1842, the Oregon Trail turned
northwest, crossed to Little Muddy Creek, crossed the northern end of the Bear
River Divide, and then followed Bear River toward Fort Hall. Later travelers
omitted the dip down to Fort Bridger and took the Sublette Cut-off, which went
due west from the Big Sandy (see ALTERNATE ROUTE). (For the Mormon
and California Trails beyond this point see THE CALIFORNIA TRAIL, Ameri
can Guide Series.)
US 30 swings northwest from the junction with US SOS.
At 154.6 m. (R) is GRANGER (6,240 alt., 135 pop.), the trade
center of a large sheep- and cattle-growing area. The OVERLAND STAGE
STATION established here is still standing.
The stage stations of the early days were rough-and-ready affairs.
The owners, lacking competition, made little effort to satisfy the guests
who were forced to depend on their services. Richard Burton s account
of his trip to Utah in 1860 is a series of diatribes against the accom
modations or lack of them at the halting places and against the mis
erable substitutes for food he managed to buy from the agents and their
indifferent wives. Some coaches drove day and night with the passen
gers eventually sleeping upright from exhaustion. Other coaches halted
at night and the passengers were allowed to stretch out in dormitories
having tiers of bunks, usually covered with filthy quilts and buffalo
robes. Flies swarmed everywhere. Under the circumstances it is not sur
prising that whiskey was the chief commodity sold at the stage stations.
Just north of Granger on US 30N is the junction with the South
Pass unnumbered dirt road, part of an alternate route between Ogallala,
Neb., and this point (see ALTERNATE ROUTE).
US 30N here runs through long stretches of open country used
chiefly for livestock grazing.
OPAL, 182.2 m. (6,668 alt., 147 pop.), is a trade and shipping
point, so named because of the fact that opals have been found in the
vicinity. There are large wool-shearing pens here.
DIAMONDSVILLE, 195.8 m. (6,885 alt., 812 pop.), a coal-mining
town, is virtually a suburb of Kemmerer. In 1868 Harrison Church, a
trapper who became a prospector, discovered coal on the Hamsfork,
and built a cabin a mile below the site of the present town. Later a
company was formed to develop the mines. Coal mining was for a time
the only industry in the vicinity, but now oil production and sheep
raising are important. The nearby valleys are dotted with farms and
cattle ranches.
KEMMERER, 197.4 m. (6,927 alt., 1,884 pop.), is the Scranton
of the area. The town was named for M. S. Kemmerer, who invested
money in developing the coal of the region. Kemmerer is an important
outfitting point for fishing and big-game hunting expeditions.
102 The Oregon Trail
Right from Kemmerer on graveled US 89 to EMIGRANT SPRINGS, 26 m., used
by travelers on the Oregon Trail. Nearby are the graves of several emigrants,
marked by stone slabs. Sagebrush five or six feet high covers the graves.
At 40 m. is the SITE OF A MORMON FERRY on Green River used largely by
travelers on Sublette s Cut-off.
NAMES HILL, 42 m. (L), has the names of trappers and emigrants dating
back to 1820, when the first white men entered the area. Even Jim Bridger s is
among those inscribed in early days.
FOSSIL, 207.2 M., is a small post office.
Left from Fossil on a dirt road to the FOSSIL FISH BED, 2 m. (guides
available), one of the largest known deposits of fossilized fish in the world. The
formation is Tertiary.
West of SAGE, 221.4 m. (6,332 alt.), US SON turns north and runs
through a rolling country that is used chiefly for grazing; the highway
follows Bear River.
At Fort Bridger (see above) the Oregon Trail swung northwest to
ward this stream, which one branch of the trail followed in this area.
At 240.6 m. (L) is COKEVILLE (6,191 alt., 430 pop.), on Smith s
Fork of the Bear River. The town is the trade and shipping center of
a sheep-raising district. Coke ovens for filtering illuminating gas were
put into operation here at an early date.
At 249.8 m. US 30N crosses the Idaho Line.
Idaho
Wyo. Line Montpelier Pocatello Burley Twin Falls Boise Ore.
Line, 451 m. US 30N and US 30.
Union Pacific R.R. parallels route throughout. Bear Lake Stages follow route be
tween Montpelier and Pocatello, Union Pacific Stages between Pocatello and Boise,
Surfaced highway.
Accommodations chiefly in larger towns.
US SON runs through the southeastern part of Idaho, an area of
lakes, rivers, creeks, and small valleys. The valleys are farmed and the
uplands used for grazing. West of Pocatello the route roughly parallels
the Snake River; it traverses a dry-farming belt and also large arid
sections.
Section 8. Wyoming Line to Pocatello, 120 m. US SON.
US SON runs through Bear Lake Valley. Little of the area lies at
an elevation of less than six thousand feet; winters are severe and sum
mers cool. In the Caribou National Forest (R) and the Cache National
Forest (L) most of the old-growth timber has been exhausted, and the
somewhat denuded watersheds offer the same problems in erosion and
overgrazing that exist in many other parts of the State.
BORDER, m. (6,100 alt.), is a small village practically on the
Wyoming Line.
MONTPELIER, 22 m. (5,941 alt., 2,436 pop.), is the largest town
in this area. Founded in 1864, it was first known as Clover Creek and
later as Belmont; but when Brigham Young visited the town, he re
named it in honor of the capital of Vermont, his native State.
Left from Montpelier on State 35 into one of the chief recreation areas of
eastern Idaho. PARIS, 9 m. (825 pop.), has finer buildings than any other small
town in the State. Here (L) is a typical TABERNACLE of the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon). The dominant sect in eastern and south
eastern Idaho is Mormon, and the most attractive structures throughout this region
are the tabernacles.
At 12 m. on State 35 is the junction (R) with a road that goes up a canyon
9 m. to lovely BLOOMINGTON LAKE (camp sites available). This clear, deep lake,
lying under huge cliffs, covers 12 acres and is fed by innumerable springs. In
season the lake is framed by an unusually luxuriant growth of wild flowers, in
cluding larkspur, columbine, dogwood, and mountain ash. The lake is stocked
with the rare California glacial or golden trout.
US SON between Montpelier and Soda Springs follows circuitous
Bear River, which, west of Soda Springs, turns sharply and weaves its
way south to the Great Salt Lake.
103
104 The Oregon Trail
At 46 m. is the junction with a poor road.
Right on this road, which leads 2 m. up a canyon to the SULPHUR SPRINPS.
The rock around these springs is so nearly pure sulphur that it will burn with
a steady flame.
SODA SPRINGS, 51 m. (5,777 alt., 831 pop.), at the northern
bend of Bear River, is one of the oldest settlements in the State.
Fort Connor, the southwestern part of the present town, was estab
lished in 1863 by Gen. Patrick Edward Connor and a little band of
Morrisites, dissenters from the orthodox Mormon creed. According to
the diary of John Bidwell, who promoted the first sizable emigration
to the West, Soda Springs was "a bright and lovely place. The abun
dance of soda water . . .; the beautiful fir and cedar covered hills;
the huge pile of red or brown sinter, the result of fountains once active
but then dry all these, together with the river lent a charm to its
wild beauty and made the spot a notable one." Some of the trappers
called the place Beer Springs, imagining that they experienced alcoholic
stimulation after drinking the bubbling water.
Beadle in The Undeveloped West says: "The springs on the soda
mounds are mere tanks, but a few inches wide, sending out such faint
streams that all the solid contents are precipitated and the water quite
evaporated before reaching the plain. Thus it is easily seen how these
mounds were built by the water ; and many of them have risen so high
that they have no springs, the water having broken out at some other
place."
Many springs, highly charged with carbonic acid gas and most of
them cold, gush out in this area. Some of them, however, including
STEAMBOAT SPRING two miles west of town, now emerge at the bottom
of an artificial lake created by a dam. Steamboat still boils up through
40 feet of water and explodes at the surface; the name of the spring
derives from the sound made by the explosions. Among the mineral
springs the HOOPER, a mile north of town, is popular with visitors.
Close by is the CHAMPAGNE SPRING, and to the north is the MAMMOTH
SODA SPRING, which is almost precisely the same size as the Mammoth
Hot Springs in Yellowstone Park.
Just south of the town, where Little Spring Creek crosses the road,
is the spot where a family of seven was killed by Indians ; the cemetery
in which these persons were buried, with their wagon box serving as
a coffin, is west of the town.
At Soda Springs the oldest California trail branched from the Ore
gon Trail to follow the course of Bear River to the Great Salt Lake. It
was at Soda Springs that 32 of the Bidwell party of 64 people, afraid
to attempt the little-known route to California, decided to go on to
Oregon. The party that turned south, which included one woman and
an infant, reached California only after great hardship. Many other
Idaho 105
emigrants changed their minds on destination in this area. (See FORT
HALL, SIDE ROUTE B.)
Right from Soda Springs on a country road to STAMPEDE PARK, 2 m., where
an annual stampede and rodeo are held in August. This park is a natural amphi
theater, bordered by peaks and flanked by peculiar stone formations and rock
crystals. The road to the park winds through cedar and pine woods and is known
as the Red Road because of the brightly colored rock formations nearby that
were sculptured long ago by the springs. Flowing into the park is EIGHTY PERCENT
SPRING. There was formerly a bottling plant at NINETY PERCENT SPRING, near
Stampede Park; though the plant no longer operates, thousands of persons come
here annually to drink the waters. Of this spring Beadle, the gossip, reported:
"The Ninety-per-cent. Spring, which Gentiles call the Antipolygamy Spring, is some
two miles west of Hooper s, and about the same distance from the river. Of the
solid contents ninety per cent, is soda, and the rest of some peculiar mineral
which has a remarkable effect on the male human. Many ridiculous stories are
told of its anti-Mormon properties, but fortunately the specific effect lasts but a
few weeks."
Visible from the highway at 57 m. (L) is SODA POINT, which Fre
mont in 1842 called Sheep Rock because of the great number of moun
tain sheep seen on it. It is an important lava formation inasmuch as
it caused Bear River to turn southward and eventually enter Utah in
stead of following the natural watershed of this region.
At 58 m. is a junction with State 34.
Left on this road is GRACE, 6 m., where there is a large hydroelectric plant.
At 8 m. is VOLCANO HILL, a few hundred yards east of which is ICE CAVE.
The entrance hall pitches down for 50 yards, but thereafter the floor is fairly
level. About halfway through is a skylight. The remarkable thing about the cave
is its structural symmetry: 50 feet in width and about 25 in height, it runs in
an almost perfect corridor for half a mile and looks like the upper half of an
enormous barrel. Because this was once a volcanic outlet, the walls and ceiling
look as though they had been plastered with hot lava. The far end, which ter
minates in piles of lava, once molten, is known as the DEVIL S KITCHEN. Though
there is not much ice in it, this has been known as an ice cave since its discovery
many decades ago.
LAVA HOT SPRINGS, 85 m. (544 pop.), is situated on the lovely
Portneuf River at the base of great cliffs. The river, so named for a
Canadian trapper who was murdered nearby by Indians, has a rare
feature: low rocks dam it, forming quiet pools that are separated by
cascades of unusual beauty. The town has springs that are remarkable
in volume and mineral content. Even in prehistoric times the Indians
visited the hot springs because of their curative properties and set the
spot aside as neutral ground to be shared by all tribes. The daily flow
from the hot springs, each with a different mineral content, is 6,711,000
gallons. Natatoriums have been established here, two by the State and
one by the town, and there is a fully equipped sanatorium.
Both the State and city natatoriums have established large indoor
106 The Oregon Trail
pools. The State also maintains an outdoor pool called the Mud Bath,
which has varying degrees of temperature in its waters, which are fed
by 30 springs. It is not a large pool, but a swimmer can stroke from
almost cold water into hot water, through various degrees of cold and
warmth between the two extremes. Just below the balcony of the River
side Inn runs the clear cold water of the Portneuf River with hot
springs steaming almost at its edge.
To the south of Lava Hot Springs is a great mountain that is almost
a solid pile of unquarried building stone, which because of its strength
and lightness is valued by construction men. It has been used in build
ing two cabins across the river from the Mud Bath. Interesting, too, are
other rock formations of limestones, shales, sandstones, and quartzites.
Upon the river within the radius of a mile are 50 small waterfalls; and
the smoke holes of old volcanoes are within hiking distance. The
canyons and glens offer camping retreats.
At 97 m. US SON turns north and follows the Portneuf River and
Canyon. With its abrupt walls and innumerable crevices cut in lime
stone and shales, the canyon was formerly a favorite hide-out for ban
dits as well as Indians. It was here in 1865 that a stage carrying several
passengers and $60,000 was betrayed by its driver to a gang led by
Jim Locket, a notorious bandit. Two passengers were killed and their
bodies buried in a gulch near the scene of the crime. Another robbery
of the period occurred not far south of Pocatello in a grove of trees
near the Big Elbow of the river; ten robbers held up the Wells-Fargo
stage, murdered six of the seven passengers, and escaped with $110,000
in gold dust.
INKOM, 107 m., has the largest cement plant in Idaho. For its ma
terials the factory draws on the limestone mountain that stands behind
the village.
POCATELLO, 120 m. (4,464 alt., 16,471 pop.) (see IDAHO
GUIDE).
Railroad Station. Oregon Short Line, end of W. Bonneville St.
Bus Station. Union Pacific Stages, Fargo Building, S. Main St.
Pocatello is the seat of Bannock County, and the second city in size
in Idaho. It was named for a marauding Chief Paughatella (Ind.,
he who does not follow the beaten path) of the Shoshone tribe.
Standing at the northern end of Portneuf Canyon and upon a bed
of the ancient Lake Bonneville, of which the Great Salt Lake is the
remnant, the city began as a collection of tents in 1882, when the Union
Pacific branch was completed to this point. It is now an important junc
tion and repair and maintenance point of the Oregon Short Line R.R.
The city is bisected by the network of railways, and the mountains flank
ing it are denuded and formidable. West of the black tangle of rails is
Idaho 107
most of the business area; beyond this and against the mountains are
many of the most attractive homes. East of the tracks is also a resi
dential section.
There are a number of Basque and Greek families here, as well as a
colony of Negroes.
MEMORIAL BUILDING, overlooking Memorial Park and Portneuf
River, was erected to Idaho veterans of all wars. It has a spacious
ballroom and a terrace that opens upon the river.
The SOUTHERN BRANCH OF THE UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO is in the
eastern part of the city at the base of Red Bluff. It is housed in seven
buildings, scattered over 225 acres of land, and has an enrollment of
about 850. Its HISTORICAL MUSEUM contains old records and journals,
Indian handicraft, and fossils that have been gathered in various parts
of the State.
Ross PARK, just south of the city, has a nine-hole golf course, a
small zoo, and a delightful rock garden. Of greater interest are the
lava rocks above the park, which carry Indian petroglyphs recording a
part of the legends and histories of the Bannock and Shoshone tribes.
West of the city, highly tinted Cambrian quartzite is overlain with
rhyolite, a light-colored volcanic rock that flowed to the surface before
the basalt. Across the bare plateau of the Snake River country the Twin
Buttes are dimly visible.
Above the city in the west is KINPORT PEAK, which offers a far-
reaching view. Stretching westward as far as the eye can see is Snake
River Valley, which in times past was deluged with overwhelming out
pourings of molten lava.
At Pocatello is the junction with US 91 (see SIDE ROUTE B).
Section 9. Pocatello to Twin Falls, 124 m. US SON and US 30.
US SON goes northwest from POCATELLO, m. At 6 m. (R) is
the municipal airport, McDoucALL FIELD.
SNAKE RIVER (R), not visible from the highway, is tributary to
the Columbia, but larger. It is a thousand miles in length and the ex
treme breadth of its basin is 450. For more than half its distance it
flows through a gorge, and already upon it and its feeders are 80 huge
reservoirs, and 70 hydroelectric plants that use less than one-tenth of
its potential power. Most of its waters are unnavigable.
In the earliest geologic period most of the Snake River basin was
covered by a shallow sea in which were deposited great quantities of
sand and mud. These have hardened into quartzites. After the sea
receded there were tremendous upliftings of granitic materials, which
were consolidated into the Idaho batholith and its smaller but related
masses of rock. Following this there was an epidemic of volcanic up
heavals and explosive eruptions accompanied by flows of lava and ash.
Erosion came next and slow sculpturings by glaciers, but the region
108 The Oregon Trail
was not yet ready to accept its alluvial deposits, and tremors and
gigantic quakings shook the area from time to time, and basaltic uplifts
rose like black monuments on the landscape. Within recent centuries
earthquakes have been infrequent and never severe, but there are still
deep and troubled rumblings. After peace came, Snake River settled
down to the business of eroding its gorge. In the upper valleys here it
flows too lazily to achieve much, but beyond Milner it gathers speed
and has been impressively busy.
The Snake River area was the most trying one traversed by early
travelers on their way to Oregon. The west-bound Astorians, who
attempted to go down the stream in canoes, were finally forced to travel
along the rim of the gorge (see below). The land, now irrigated in a
number of places and under cultivation, was formerly barren. Game
was so scarce that the area was shunned even by the Indians who were
forced from the Great Plains by the powerful tribes dwelling there.
Though the Oregon Trail ran near the river, it was often difficult for
travelers to find water for themselves and their animals; with the river
constantly in sight they sometimes traveled a day or two without finding
any place where they could descend into the gorge and drink.
At 20 m. (R) is the AMERICAN FALLS RESERVOIR, one of the
largest of many along the Snake that are making farming possible. The
dam is a mile wide and has a maximum height of 87 feet. The reservoir
it creates is 12 miles wide, 26 miles long, and covers an area of 56,000
acres. The cost of the dam was $3,060,000, of the entire project three
times that sum.
The former site of AMERICAN FALLS, 25 m. (4,330 alt., 1,280
pop.), was a favorite camping spot on the trail in this area; an elevator
in the artificial lake marks the area where the early settlement stood.
The new town is the trade center of a huge dry-farming wheat belt;
reclamation projects reach for 170 miles westward.
Close by the Idaho Power Company s hydroelectric plant is the
TRENNER MEMORIAL PARK, dedicated to an engineer who helped to
develop this region. A rocky terrace made of lava from the Craters of
the Moon, a fountain and a landscaped lawn, a lava monolith, and a
miniature power station make this park a pleasant oasis. The park is
illuminated at night. Nearby is one of the State s large fish hatcheries,
with a capacity of 2,500,000 fingerlings a season.
A part of the Oregon Trail can still be seen in the town and for a
short distance south.
At 27 m. is the junction with an unimproved road.
Left on this road are the INDIAN SPRINGS, 1 m., where pools and baths
are available. This resort is one of the most popular of the mineral hot springs of
the State, not only because of its reputed therapeutic properties but also because
it is easily accessible.
Idaho 109
At 35 m. is a monument commemorating an emigrant tragedy; the
site is called MASSACRE ROCKS.
By 1862 the western Indians had reached a point of desperation.
They had been misled and coerced into signing agreements that con
fined them to lands far too small and quite unsuitable for the ways of
life to which they had been accustomed. Promised payments in goods
were either not being made, or were inadequate to support them. Game
on which they depended for food was being destroyed recklessly by the
invaders. Faced with starvation they were easily influenced by the
medicine men and other leaders who urged them to fight. When the
Civil War broke out, word spread that the whites, quarreling among
themselves, could be attacked successfully and driven away.
In the Pacific Northwest there had been trouble ever since the
settlement of the boundary question ; the Hudson s Bay Company, which
had maintained order until 1846, had become merely a trading firm
without power to reward or punish the Indians. The new territorial
government, established by the United States, did not inspire the Indians
with respect because its agents neither understood the Indians nor
treated them with the fairness and kindness exercised by the Chief
Factor of the Hudson s Bay Company s Department of the Columbia.
Whereas earlier travelers had journeyed with a fair degree of safety
on the Oregon Trail, by 1862 small groups were in constant peril of
attack.
On August 10 of that year a train of 11 wagons drawn by ox teams
and carrying 25 families from Iowa was winding over the sagebrush-
covered plain at this point. A hot luminous haze covered the landscape.
The ox teams moved slowly, covering only a mile or so in an hour.
Thirst, weariness, and the monotonous sameness of earth, sky, and sun
had far diminished the adventurous spirit of the pioneer. The journey
was beginning to seem endless, with the fabulous valleys of Oregon as
remote as ever.
The driver of the first wagon, sitting high on the seat, was doubt
less looking ahead, trying to distinguish between the blue gray of the
desert and the gray blue of the sky. Behind him in the crawling wagons,
reaching back for a quarter of a mile, were men, women, and children
sitting in a half stupor. The yellow earth was turned up by the wheels
in lazy blinding clouds that rolled back from wagon to wagon and
settled upon freight and travelers in thick layers. When the first wagon
came to the crest of the slight rise, the driver could see a long slope
with great piles of stone on either side of the trail. For 15 minutes the
wagons plowed down this hill toward the bluffs, and it was not until
the leader had passed into the small gorge, with its refreshing shadow,
that a sudden movement in the stones above threw terror into the
emigrants; they realized that they had been ambushed by Indians. The
confusion and panic, the awful horror of the next few minutes, are
imaginable. The chronicle relates that nine whites were slain, six were
110 The Oregon Trail
scalped, many were injured, and a few miraculously escaped. Wagons
were plundered and burned and the beasts were driven off; on the
following day another wagon train reached this spot and buried the
dead.
At 38 m. is the junction with an unimproved road.
Left on this road to EMIGRANT ROCK, 3 m., a stone 20 feet high on which
early travelers left their autographs. Some of the names carved into the rock
and even some of those painted with axle grease as early as 1849 are still visible.
For eight miles US SON continues to follow the river, then climbs
to arid plains that have not been reclaimed by irrigation. On a clear
day the Lost River Mountains are visible in the north, and on the south
is a spur of the Goose Creek Range. The hilltops here offer a broad
panorama of the Snake River Valley and the haze of the Burley and
Twin Falls areas. At 49 m. the highway crosses Raft River.
RUPERT, 73 m. (4,200 alt., 2,250 pop.), is one of the few towns
in Idaho that were not allowed to grow aimlessly. Laid out by the
engineering division of the Bureau of Reclamation and named for the
engineer who planned it, Rupert looked ambitiously into the future and
arranged itself around a central plaza. Like many of the towns along
the Snake, it is of recent origin, and sprang up almost overnight. At
the beginning of the present century the whole area between American
Falls and Buhl was a domain of sagebrush and coyotes, bunch grass
and bromegrass, cheat grass and lizards. Swiftly, section by section, it
is being transformed into a huge irrigated garden. Today the long
sweep down the valley to the west is one of the State s three principal
agricultural areas.
Right from Rupert an unimproved road leads to the MINIDOKA DAM, 15 m.
The Minidoka Reclamation Project involved the construction of a dam across
Snake River, a main canal and tributaries, and an elaborate pumping plant. This
last has three units, each lifting water 20 feet. The diversion system irrigates
about 116,000 acres. The body of water impounded, now called LAKE WALCOTT,
has a capacity of 107,000 acre-feet.
BURLEY, 82 m. (4,240 alt., 3,826 pop.), is the center of reclama
tion project covering 121,000 acres. It is a thriving little city of recent
origin. It has an alfalfa-meal mill with a capacity of 125 tons, a beet-
sugar factory with a capacity of 800 tons, and a large potato-flour mill.
West of Burley US SON and US SOS became US 30.
Left from Burley on a graveled road is OAKLEY, 24 m.; thence L. over a
dirt road to the SILENT CITY OF ROCKS, 38 m., which covers an area of 25
square miles. Because the California Trail ran through it and the Lander Cut-off
ended here, its walls bear thousands of names and dates, as well as messages left
for persons who were presumably soon to follow; it is evident that some of the
Idaho 111
more ambitious and foolhardy scribes must have suspended themselves by ropes
from the tops of the cliffs, so high and remote are the records they left.
This formation has been carved by erosion from an enormous dome of granite
that was anciently pushed up here. Because the weathered granite has become
indurated or case-hardened on the surface, while its inner structure has often
more rapidly disintegrated, the rocks form not only bizarre mosques, monoliths,
and turrets, but also bathtubs, hollow cones, shells, and strange little pockets and
caverns. BATHTUB ROCK towers two hundred feet, and can be climbed to its sum
mit whereon is a large depression that catches rainfall; in this depression, accord
ing to Indian legend, a bath before sunrise restored youth to the aged. Near the
southern end of the formation are the gleaming turrets and fortresses, which stand
on a low saddle against the road. North of these are spires that rise two hundred
and fifty feet from the floor of the basin and from a distance suggest the sky line
of New York City. Still others, fantastically grouped, look as if heathen temples
had been rocked with dynamite and had rearranged their structure but refused
to fall. Many so closely resemble one thing and another as to have been named;
there are the OLD HEN WITH HER CHICKS, the DRAGON S HEAD, the GIANT TOAD
STOOL, ELEPHANT ROCK, and the OLD WOMAN.
It is believed that treasure is buried here. When a stage from Kelton to Boise
was held up in this city in 1878, $90,000 in gold is said to have been taken.
One of the bandits was slain, and the other subsequently died in prison; but
before his death he revealed that he had buried the treasure among five junipers.
Five cedars growing in the shape of a heart were found in the city long ago, and
frantic excavations were undertaken, but the treasure has never been found.
At 96 m. on US 30 is the junction with an improved road.
Right on this road to MILNER DAM, 4 m., a structure of earth and concrete.
Less impressive than some other dams in the State, it marks, nevertheless, the
most successful large reclamation project in Idaho. Undertaken by the Twin Falls
Land and Water Company in 1903, it was completed in 1905, and impounds enough
water to irrigate 240,000 acres on the south side of the Snake and 32,000 on the
north. The storage of 80,000 acre-feet is supplemented by a right to 98,000 acre-
feet in the Jackson Reservoir in Wyoming and 155,480 acre-feet in the American
Falls Reservoir. The number of acres actually farmed under the South Side Milner
Project is 203,000, and the number under the North Side is 128,000.
The town of MILNER is just below the dam. Here in the Snake River is
CALDRON LINN, where the Astorians in October, 1811, experienced a disaster that
finally convinced them that the Indians were right when they warned them against
attempting to navigate the Snake (see SIDE ROUTE 3). "The leading canoe,"
wrote Irving, "had glided safely among the turbulent and roaring surges, but in
following it Mr. Crooks perceived that his canoe was bearing toward a rock. He
called out to the steersman, but his warning voice was either unheard or un
heeded. In the next moment they struck upon the rock. The canoe was split and
overturned. There were five persons on board. Mr. Crooks and his companions
were thrown amid roaring breakers and a whirling current, but succeeded, by
strong swimming, to reach the shore. Clappine and two others clung to the shat
tered bark, and drifted with it to a rock. The wreck struck the rock with one
end, and swinging round, flung poor Clappine off into the raging stream, which
swept him away, and he perished."
After this event the party camped on the border of Caldron Linn (lin, Scotch,
ravine) and held council to determine a course of action. Exploring parties re
ported that for nearly 40 miles westward the river foamed, roared, and twisted
through a steep canyon where access to the stream from the rim was rarely pos
sible. But the prospect of carrying the luggage through the rough arid country
was so discouraging that the members of the party determined again to attempt
112 The Oregon Trail
navigation, entering the river six miles below the caldron. One canoe with its
contents was swept away while being launched and three others were caught on
the rocks. Even the voyageurs were now willing to admit that the river route
would have to be abandoned. To add to the distress the food supply was reduced
to an amount sufficient for only five days. The party was divided into four groups,
which were to make their ways as best they could toward the Columbia. Hunt,
left with 31 men and the squaw of Dorion far advanced in pregnancy and
her two children, made a cache for the luggage that had to be abandoned, a
process that required three days. During this period one party, which had at
tempted to return to Fort Henry (see SIDE ROUTE 5), arrived and reported that
it was impossible to go back by land.
The Hunt party, having no other recourse, set out on foot to follow the Snake
westward across the terrifying wasteland. Hunt led the majority along the north
bank while the minority traveled on the south bank.
US 30 continues to follow the general course of the Snake, which
in this area takes a relatively direct route. For most of its length the
Snake winds and twists convulsively; old-timers say that the river was
formed the night Paul Bunyan started out from Idaho Falls for Seattle,
with his Blue Ox, after drinking nine kegs of rum. It was a wet, black
night and Paul s wandering trail filled up with water.
Because of varying degrees in the hardness of the stone through
which the river runs and the consequent variations in the ease and
speed of erosion, the river has sculptured several waterfalls, including
Dry Creek, Twin, Shoshone, Pillar, Auger, and the Upper and Lower
Salmon.
At HANSEN, 115 m., are the junctions with country roads.
1. Left on a country road is the SITE OF A TRADING STATION, 7 m., that was
for years the first west of Fort Hall. It was a camping site, a Pony Express station,
and then in 1863 a settlement. The old store still stands.
2. Right from Hansen on a country road that leads to the HANSEN BRIDGE,
4 m., which spans the Snake River gorge. It is 345 feet high and 688 feet long
and is suspended on enormous cables. The gorge here is narrower than below
and offers from the bridge a beautiful summary of what time and a mighty river
have been able to do with lava rock.
TWIN FALLS, 124 m. (3,492 alt., 8,787 pop.), is the largest city
and the metropolis of south-central Idaho. Three miles south of Snake
River and on the bank of Rock Creek, it stands on gently rolling
terrain that was covered long ago by lava flows. The overlain soil in
the surrounding country is uncommonly deep, and its richness has made
this part of Idaho notable in crop yields. Twin Falls is one of the
towns that have risen suddenly and swiftly after water reclaimed the
arid valley. It was settled chiefly by families from the Middle West and
was carefully planned.
There are several small museums in the city. The CRABTREE (adm.
25$), 211 Addison Ave. W., has an excellent collection of Indian
Idaho 113
artifacts, including arrowheads from many parts of the United States;
there are also a few fossils and archeological relics. The WEAVER
MUSEUM (free], 149 Main Ave. W., has a collection of guns, fossils,
and curios. WHITAKER S TAXIDERMIST SHOP AND MUSEUM (free), 216
Second Ave. S., has, in addition to Indian artifacts, an interesting group
of mounted game animals, wild birds, moths, and butterflies. The
GASKILL BOTANICAL GARDEN (adm. 15$), 266 Blue Lake Blvd., is a
beautifully landscaped spot. Surrounded by trees, shrubs, and vines, the
concrete pools within are stocked with water plants and fish. The
GARDEN OF YESTERDAY (adm. 25$), just southeast of the city, is note
worthy for its miniature reproductions of frontier structures, including
a tiny log house, and a gristmill operated by water from a ditch.
A natural CAVE in the wall of Rock Creek Canyon (R) was the first
jail in Twin Falls County, and prisoners were incarcerated here until
a Federal statute made it illegal to keep persons below the surface of
the earth. Just south of the depot is a private fishery where rainbow
trout can be bought fresh from the ponds.
Right from Twin Falls on US 93, which turns L., following Blue Lakes Blvd.
(The roads beyond this point are unmarked and confusing; inquiry should be
made locally.)
There is a toll-gate at about 3 m., on the rimrock (adm. to the area and its
attractions 25tf). From the rim there is a magnificent view of the gorge, which here
is seven hundred feet in depth and almost sheer, and of the Twin Falls-Jerome
Bridge. Far below, by the river, is the PERRINE RANCH, which Douglas Fairbanks,
Sr., considered buying before he decided to settle in England. A narrow but safe
road leads down to the ranch through a corridor of poplars. The PERRINE MUSEUM
contains Indian artifacts, fossils, and old relics. The Perrine orchard is noted for
its rare fruits. The road leaves the ranch and crosses the river on a bridge to
small, lovely BLUE LAKES, 4.3 m., which are as blue as the sky.
On US 93 is the junction with a country road.
Right on this road to a second road (L) leading to SHOSHONE FALLS, first
described by Wilson Price Hunt in 1811, and for many decades thereafter the
chief scenic attraction in Idaho for the thousands of emigrants passing through
on their way to Oregon. During years of light snowfall upon the watersheds, only
about enough water goes over this wide escarpment in August to fill a teacup.
After heavy winters the reservoirs are soon filled, and the full flow of the river
is delivered downstream. In May, 1936, Shoshone Falls was roaring mightily in
unusual splendor. The river here plunges in a sheer drop of 212 feet over a great
basaltic horseshoe rim nearly a thousand feet wide.
At 6 m. on the up-river road TWIN FALLS are seen. They are no longer
twins; the larger one was taken over in 1935 by the Idaho Power Company, whose
plant here is notable for its compactness and beauty. The larger of the twins was
a plunge of 180 feet, with more than half the river poured over a narrow escarp
ment in a terrific column. The diversion dam has now produced a series of cas
cades that are an appropriate prelude to the falls below. The great plunge is
against the south wall, where the water goes down like a tumbling mountain of
snow with a part of its body rolling in pale green veins. At the farther side the
flood spills in an enormous foaming sheet over a wide and almost perfect arc.
114 The Oregon Trail
Section 10. Twin Falls to Boise, 144 m. US 30.
US 30 runs west from TWIN FALLS, m. There is an unob
structed view (R) of the Sawtooth Mountains beyond Snake River.
At 8 m. is FILER, the home of the well-known Idaho white bean;
nine bean plants are operated here.
Right from Filer on a country road to AUGER FALLS, 5 m., on Snake River.
The water here pours through a partly obstructed channel over a series of escarp
ments, and twists and spirals strangely in its descent.
BUHL, 18 m. (3,792 alt., 1,883 pop.), flanked on the east by roll
ing country that in June looks like Iowa, is one of the most attractive
towns in the State.
North from Buhl on US 30; at 26 m. (R) Snake River Canyon is
visible. At 28 m. some of the Thousand Springs can be seen on its wall
in the distance. At 32 m. (R) is the Thousand Springs (sometimes
called the Minnie Miller) Farm, known for its blooded Guernsey cattle.
Just west of the farm are the THOUSAND SPRINGS, many of which
have been hidden by a power development. Though long a source of
mystery to both laymen and geologists, the Thousand Springs, it is now
believed, are the outlets of buried rivers that are lost in the lava terrain
150 miles to the northeast. In this stretch occur a group of springs
having a combined discharge of more than five thousand second-feet.
The whole of central Idaho seems to be an area of subterranean rivers
and possibly cavernous lake beds; at various points in this valley a
person can put his ear to the ground and hear deep and troubled rum
blings as of a mighty ocean rolling far beneath the surface of the earth.
Opposite Thousand Springs is a ghost town, AUSTIN, marked by a
cellar, a chimney, some stone walls, and fruit trees that bloom in a
forgotten orchard.
HABERMAN, 40 m., is a small hamlet in the valley.
At 40.5 m. is a tablet commemorating Dr. Marcus Whitman, the
missionary who in 1836 traveled along the Snake on his way to Oregon.
With Whitman were his bride, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Spalding, and two
other men ; they were led by Thomas McKay and John McLeod, experi
enced Hudson s Bay Company men who knew the route well. Nonethe
less they had an unusually difficult time because Whitman was bent on
demonstrating that wagons could be used in reaching the Columbia
River. The missionaries had started from St. Louis with two wagons
and the fur traders with whom they traveled on the first part of their
journey had had seven. The traders left their wagons at Fort William
(Fort Laramie), but Whitman had insisted that he and Spalding con
tinue with one wagon. After they had had endless trouble and delays
on account of the wagon, other members of the party attempted to
Idaho 115
persuade him to leave it. He persisted in spite of them. Two or three
days before reaching Fort Hall one of the axletrees broke and even the
bride rejoiced at what seemed the deathblow to her husband s plan.
But she was not yet acquainted with Whitman. He contrived a cart of
the rear wheels and lashed the other pair to it. At Fort Hall the trader
endeavored to dissuade Whitman from attempting to take the cart
farther and one man in the missionary party said that he would not go
on if the cart went. Whitman took the cart. As the little group passed
over the route at this point the cart was still vexing Spalding, the
women, and the Hudson s Bay Company men. It was finally abandoned
at Fort Boise.
In the high cliffs above Thousand Springs and in other places
throughout Haberman Valley, marine fossils are abundant. Besides
remains of luxuriant tropical vegetation, there are also survivals of
mastodons, wild hogs, and a rare species of ancient horse that seems to
have been the immediate forebear of the present animal.
Between Hagerman and Malad River US 30 crosses the Snake in
whose canyon wall is a cave containing Indian petroglyphs that have
been interpreted as a story of an Arapaho massacre. MALAD RIVER,
43 m., is only a few miles long. In springtime it is a wild torrent of
considerable size. The main source of Malad River is a huge spring
that plunges down a precipice in a chain of cascades. The subterranean
nature of central Idaho is demonstrated by the fact that this is the only
stream in the southern part of the State west of Henrys Fork that, rising
in the mountains in the north, reaches Snake River in the summertime.
The highway leaves the rim of the canyon. At the foot, just before
the ascent begins, is the old Bliss Ranch where B. M. Bower wrote
Good Indian. The evolution of the winding grade from a crude pack
trail through different eras of travel is still discernible. At the top of
the ascent is the village of BLISS, 49 m., which was named for an
old-timer and not because its settlers regarded it as an especially
felicitous haven.
1. Right from Bliss on a fair road to lakes, 11 m., in which the water is so
astringent that it will take the hair off a hog. These small lakes occupy old crater
beds. They are known under various names, but one of them is sometimes appro
priately called LYE LAKE. The hot springs were held in high esteem by Indians,
who often journeyed far to bathe in the waters. The story is told of one buck
who gambled so expertly that he left the others destitute. He was denounced
in angry council, but allowed to accompany the tribe on its pilgrimage to the
spring. When he fell ill of spotted fever, he was thrust into the hot waters to
effect a cure and was dragged out dead.
2. Right from Bliss on State 24; at 4 m. R. over a smooth road to the MALAD
GORGE, 14 m. No gorge in the State excels this one with its ragged chasms,
and none is more picturesque. Near its head is a blue lake fed by a waterfall,
and below it is the river, cascading and bursting forth in springs and turning
through all shades of pale green and blue.
116 The Oregon Trail
West of Bliss US 30 traverses one of the chief grazing areas of the
State, from which seventy thousand cattle and two hundred thousand
sheep are shipped annually.
Just northwest of KING HILL, 66 m., at the foot of the hill, stood
an Overland Stage station that was burned by Chief Buffalo Horn in
1878. On a flat above the village is the Devil s Playground, a pic
turesque area of round smooth stones.
At 74 m. is THREE ISLAND FORD where the Oregon Trail crossed
the Snake. An Indian trail still leads down to the river. Indians used
to lie in ambush by the crossing; just south is DEAD MAN S GULCH.
With his band, Buffalo Horn, an Indian scout having an honorable dis
charge from the U. S. Army, killed three miners on DEAD MAN S FLAT.
It was in this area that Hunt s Astorians found a small Indian
village and bought some salmon and a dog for food.
Near the ford US 30 turns abruptly northwest from the Snake and
the route of the west-bound Astorians. The men of that party stumbled
along over the rough land near the river, galled by the loads they were
carrying and weakened by lack of food. At one Indian village a pack
horse was obtained in exchange for an old tea kettle after payment
with articles of more value had been refused. Two days later Hunt
unfortunately accepted the advice of Indians and turned inland, away
from the river; the men almost went mad with thirst before they
reached a pleasant stream. Dorion, at a nearby Indian camp, was able
to buy a horse to carry his wife and children. Another man also
acquired a horse but a few days later the starving party killed it for
food.
MOUNTAIN HOME, 100 m. (3,124 alt., 1,243 pop.), is on a great
sagebrush-covered plateau.
West of Mountain Home US 30 traverses prairie with typical flora.
The highway here follows a section of the Oregon Trail that is
associated with many tragedies. The one most frequently related con
cerns the Sager family; how much of the story is true and how much
pure legend is unknown. The family had left the Missouri with a wagon
train but in western Wyoming, where the parents became ill with
dysentery or cholera, the train moved on without them. They managed
to reach Fort Hall before the parents died. Of the five children, John,
aged 14, was the eldest; the youngest was a four-months-old infant.
There were no women at the Hudson s Bay outpost, so John determined
to press on toward the Whitman mission near Walla Walla. In the
confusion around the post the children slipped off into this region that
taxed the endurance of the hardiest adults. It was many weeks later,
according to the story, that John approached the gate of Fort Boise,
carrying the baby and followed by his little sisters. A month later the
forlorn children arrived at the mission; John still carried the youngest
and behind him perched on the back of an emaciated cow, were his
U. P. R. R. Museum
UNION PACIFIC WORKERS (1867)
WAGON TRAIN (c. 1871)
Idaho 117
sister of eight, with a broken leg, and his sister of five, who had sup
ported the leg mile after mile to keep it from swinging. Shortly after
she was lifted from the cow s back, the injured girl died. The children
had traveled five hundred miles, subsisting on the cow s milk and on
wild fruits and roots. John and Francis were slain three years later
during the Whitman mission massacre.
At 111 m. (L) is CLEFT, a few deserted shacks by the railroad
tracks.
Left from Cleft over cow trails (hazardous] to the CRATER RINGS, 3 m.
(L). These two great volcanic cones look like ancient amphitheaters from which
all benches have been removed. The rings were doubtless caused by two gigantic
eruptions of such force and volume that a cubic mile of lava was hurled into the
air and blown into dust. Here also is an earthquake fissure; for five miles the
surface was split open by some tremendous tremor in the past, and the crack, from
five to ten feet in width, is of unknown depth in places.
BOISE, 144 m. (2,741 alt., 21,544 pop.) (see IDAHO GUIDE).
Railroad Station. Union Pacific, on the Bench.
Bus Station. Union Pacific Stages, 929 Main St.
Accommodations. First-class hotels.
Boise, the capital of Idaho and its largest city, stands on the bank
of the Boise River. It is a city of trees and homes, protected by great
mountains on the north and lying in a belt of prevailing westerly winds.
Its summers, though often hot, are nearly always dry, and its nights
are usually cool. Its winters are mild. The city is supported by a few
factories, and by the trade from a fertile agricultural area chiefly
producing hay, grain, vegetables, and fruits.
Boise has a large Basque colony. Its midsummer festival is a genuine
romeria, similar to fiestas in Spain, with Basque food, costumes, dances,
and music. Like many other Idaho towns, it has an abundance of
natural hot water, with wells that flow 1,200,000 gallons daily at a
temperature of 170 degrees F. Many of the homes, especially in the
eastern part, are heated from these flows; the chief avenue, Warm
Springs, is named for them. The large NATATORIUM and its playground
are on this avenue at its eastern end.
The domed STATE CAPITOL is reminiscent of the Capitol in Wash
ington, with Corinthian columns supporting a Corinthian pediment. It
is faced with Boise sandstone. It is most impressive when viewed from
the head of the long boulevard leading from the railroad station on the
Bench. In the rotunda is an equestrian statue of George Washington, the
work of Charles Ostner, a soldier of fortune sojourning in Idaho; it
was carved by hand from a yellow pine tree with the crudest of tools
and with only a postage stamp bearing Washington s head as a model.
It was completed in 1869, after four years work; when the carving was
118 The Oregon Trail
completed, the statue was scraped with glass, sandpapered, gilded, and
overlaid with gold leaf. In one crowded room in the basement of the
capitol is the STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY MUSEUM (free] ; many valu
able gifts and collections are being withheld until a suitable building is
erected to house them. On the capitol grounds is the FRANK STEUNEN-
BERG MONUMENT, designed by Gilbert Riswald and cast by Guido Nelli.
Steunenberg, Governor of the State (1897-1901), was killed by a bomb
in December, 1905, during the mine labor troubles of the period. The
trial of those accused of causing his death was a court duel between
William E. Borah, acting for the State, and the late Clarence Darrow
for the defense.
At the southern end of Capitol Boulevard, and facing the capitol, is
the beautiful UNION PACIFIC STATION. Set upon a hill, it overlooks the
city as well as the landscaped Howard Platt Gardens with their flowers
and Norway maples, blossoming catalpas, and weeping willows. These
gardens, particularly lovely when lighted at night, were designed by
Richard Espino of Los Angeles. ST. JOHN S ROMAN CATHOLIC CATHE
DRAL, 8th and Hays Sts., was designed by Tourtellotte and Hummel of
Boise, the architects of the capitol. It is Romanesque in design and the
interior is elaborately adorned with stained-glass windows and marble
altars. ST. MICHAEL S EPISCOPAL CATHEDRAL, 8th and State Sts., is of
the English Gothic type.
In JULIA DAVIS PARK, lying upon the north bank of the river just
east of 8th St., is the COSTON CABIN. Built in the spring of 1863 by I. N.
Coston, it was fashioned of driftwood gathered from the river, and put
together with pegs. Its original site was on the river seven miles above
Boise; there it served as a rendezvous for Indians, prospectors,
freighters, and packers. In this park, too, is the PEARCE CABIN, built by
Ira B. Pearce in the fall of 1863 of logs brought from the mountains
by ox team. On the south side of the river near the Holcomb school is
the BLOCKHOUSE, a two-story stone structure, built in 1869, that served
as a refuge against Indian attacks; it is now locally regarded as
haunted.
The DELAMAR HOUSE, 8th and Grove Sts., was, in its heyday, the
largest and most modern in the town. It had the first mansard roof in
the State. In 1892 Capt. J. R. DeLamar, the "silver king," bought it for
$35,000 and converted it into an expensive club; in 1905 it became
the home of Boise s first beauty parlor; today it is a Basque rooming
house.
The O FARRELL CABIN, 6th and Fort Sts., was built in 1863, and
now has a tablet above the door declaring that this was the first home
in Boise to shelter women and children. Within it are the fireplace and
tea-kettle used by the first occupants.
CHRIST S CHURCH, 15th and Ridenbaugh Sts., was erected in 1866
in another part of the city.
Idaho 119
Opposite the Statesman Building on Main Street is the SITE OF THE
OVERLAND STAGE STATION.
A saloon operating on Main between 8th and 9th Sts. half a century
ago, managed by James Lawrence and known as the Naked Truth
Saloon, advertised itself in the following fashion:
"Friends and Neighbors:
"Having just opened a commodious shop for the sale of liquid
fire, I embrace this opportunity of informing you that I have com
menced the business of making:
"Drunkards, paupers and beggars for the sober, industrious and
respectable portion of the community to support. I shall deal in family
spirits, which will incite men to deeds of riot, robbery, and blood, and
by so doing, diminish the comfort, augment the expenses and endanger
the welfare of the community.
"I will undertake on short notice, for a small sum and with great
expectations, to prepare victims for the asylum, poor farm, prison and
gallows.
"I will furnish an article which will increase fatal accidents,
multiply the number of distressing diseases and render those which are
harmless incurable. I will deal in drugs which will deprive some of
life, many of reason, most of prosperity, and all of peace: which will
cause fathers to become fiends, and wives widows, children orphans
and a nuisance to the nation."
The URGUIDES LITTLE VILLAGE of 30 one-room cabins, 1st and Main
Sts., was erected in 1863 by Jesus Kossuth Urguides, a frontiersman
from San Francisco, as a freighting station. Built to house packers and
wranglers, the cabins today are occupied by old-timers who can still
remember how the generous Urguides cared for them in sickness and
in health.
Boise has a large playground in JULIA DAVIS PARK, with an art
museum, picnic grounds, boating facilities, and tennis courts.
Right from Boise on Warm Springs Avenue (State 21) to a junction at 19 m.;
L. here on State 20 to IDAHO CITY, 45 m. (187 pop.), in the Boise Basin. In
its heyday this former mining city sheltered daily almost as many people as Boise
has today as permanent residents. But they constantly moved in and out as news
came of gold strikes, first here, then there. The best index of the tempo of former
Idaho City life is found in the graveyard; old-timers say that of the 200 people
buried there in 1863, only 28 died of natural causes. This cemetery apparently
inspired the vigilantes of the locality because it was one of their favorite meeting
places. The town jail, first in the Idaho region, was on an acre of ground sur
rounded by a stockade. The most notable siege this fortress withstood was from
a mob, armed with a cannon, in an attempt to take Ferd Patterson from the
sheriff s custody and lynch him. Patterson was a gambler who had scalped his
ex-mistress and killed the captain of a Columbia River boat. He brought himself
to the attention of Idaho City by a gaudiness of attire that included plaid pants,
high-heeled boots, a fancy silk waistcoat spanned by a heavy chain of California
gold nuggets, and a frock coat of beaver cloth trimmed with otter; he further
attracted public odium by killing the Idaho City sheriff. A thousand men waited
120 The Oregon Trail
to intercept the deputy who was bringing him to the jail, but the deputy out
witted them by placing his man behind the bars and the stockade and defend
ing his stronghold with a cannon thrust through portholes in the protecting fence.
It is said that the deputy almost died of chagrin when Patterson was later ac
quitted at the trial.
Left from Idaho City about 10 m. to PLACERVILLE, another mining town
that is almost a ghost. Facing the weed-covered plaza is the MAGNOLIA SALOON,
known the length of the Rockies in the days when gold dust was legal tender
and a glass of whiskey was worth a pinch of it. Because of the numerous mice,
a cat was as valuable as a whole jug of whiskey until one enterprising fellow
broke the market by carting a load of cats into town. Before 1864 mail was brought
to Placerville on horseback at 50 cents or a dollar a letter, the price fluctuating
according to the number of thugs along the road. Placerville began to decline in
importance by 1870.
Section 11. Boise to Oregon Line, 63 m. US 30.
US 30, westward, follows Main Street in BOISE, m. MERIDIAN,
10 m. (2,650 alt., 1,004 pop.), is shipping point for a fertile agricul
tural area and has one of Idaho s largest creameries.
NAMPA, 20 m. (2,482 alt., 8,206 pop.), seventh city in size in the
State, is said to have been founded by a wealthy old-timer who, falling
into a fury with Boise one day, strode out of it swearing that he would
make grass grow in its streets. Neither his rage nor his wealth enabled
him to fulfill his threat, but he did help to bring into existence a town
that has been thriving ever since. Nampa was named for Nampuh, a
leader of the western Shoshone who was one of the most notorious
thieves and murderers that ever broke the back of a pony. Nampuh was
so huge that the vest of John McLoughlin, the giant Chief Factor of the
Department of the Columbia of the Hudson s Bay Company, failed by
15 inches to reach around him.
This city is the trade center of an agricultural and dairying area.
LAKEVIEW PARK, 70 beautiful acres at the eastern border of the city, has
golf course, playgrounds, and a large swimming pool supplied with
hot artesian water. On the north side of town is a Spanish colony; just
northwest of the city is a Bohemian settlement; and there is a scattered
Scandinavian colony, largest of all.
Left from Nampa on State 45, which leads into Owyhee County, a picturesque
and little-known area that has a population of fewer than four thousand, but an
area larger than Connecticut and two Rhode Islands. Old-timers here declare that
anything can be found in this county, including, they suspect, the lost tribes of
Israel. Just north of the bridge across Snake River, about 8 m., a road branches
R. and follows the north bank 10 m. to an unusually large INDIAN PICTOGRAPH.
Upon a great stone close by (R) is carved a great crude map that roughly defines
not only the Snake River Valley but also Jackson Lake in western Wyoming and
a few areas adjacent to both. Vandals in recent years have broken off chunks of
the rock and carried away parts of the map.
The bridge on State 45 is at the SITE OF WALTERS FERRY, which for 58 years
was an important link in the Boise-San Francisco stage route. A few adobe huts
Idaho 121
remain on the bank. When building the bridge, workmen found arrowheads, rifle
balls, and a hidden poke of gold dust.
MURPHY, 12 m., is the present county seat.
Right here to SILVER CITY, 44 m. (6,000 alt.), patriarch of the State s ghost
towns. It sprang up after gold was discovered in 1863 in Jordan Creek, on whose
headwaters it stands. Ore from the nearby Poorman mine assayed four to five
thousand dollars a ton. At the height of its prosperity the city had a newspaper;
a Roman Catholic church, Our Lady of Tears; a barber shop advertising baths
as a specialty ("Call and be convinced"), with a photograph of the tub; and bar
rooms with impressive mirrors and polished interiors. The area became notorious
because rival mining companies, setting an example later followed by urban indus
trialists, hired thugs to further their interests. The mountain metropolis had two
hotels, the Idaho and the War Eagle, but they were crazy aggregates of buildings
ranging from one to three stories in height. Though its glory had departed by
1898 it was still a thriving place; by 1935 it had lost importance to the point that
the county seat was moved to Murphy.
CALDWELL, 29 m. (2,367 alt., 4,974 pop.), has in the COLLEGE
OF IDAHO, visible at the eastern edge of the city, the oldest institution of
higher learning in the State; it was founded in 1891 and has approxi
mately four hundred students. Opposite the college is an unusually large
livestock feeding and shipping station. In MEMORIAL PARK (L), beyond
the campus, are playgrounds, a large outdoor pool fed by artesian
water, and the JOHNSON CABIN, in which three bachelor brothers lived
in early days. The town, with 19 churches and somewhat monastic quiet,
is quite unlike any other in the State.
At the northwestern edge of Caldwell is Canyon Ford Bridge over
Boise River, which US 30 crosses. Near the northern end of the bridge
is the MARIE DORION MONUMENT, honoring the Indian woman who
traveled with the Astorians.
Left along the northern bank of the Boise River on State 18, which follows the
old emigrant trail, to ROSWELL, 14 m. Near this small town is the SITE OF
FORT BOISE, established on Boise River, about eight or ten miles from the
Snake in 1834 but later moved down to this point near the larger stream. The
Hudson s Bay Company erected this trading post as an answer to Wyeth s Fort
Hall, established in July, 1834. It became an important point on the Oregon Trail
as the first white settlement reached after the dreary trek from Fort Hall. By
the time the emigrants arrived here many were practically destitute, having mis
calculated the amount of foodstuffs necessary to carry them to the Columbia and
possessing scanty means. From a trading standpoint this was not a highly suc
cessful post, the surrounding country having relatively few beaver.
US 30 goes north through the Payette Valley, the only part of the
State that has more water available for irrigation than is needed. The
valley, like the river, was named for Francois Payette, who arrived at
Astoria on the ship Beaver, and was later in charge of Fort Boise. NEW
PLYMOUTH, 54 m., was conceived in the Sherman House in Chicago
by the chairman of a national irrigation congress. FRUITLAND, 61
m., is the center of one of the most prolific fruit areas in the State.
122 The Oregon Trail
At 63 m. is the junction with US SON.
Right on US SON at 2.9 m. is PAYETTE (2,147 alt., 2,618 pop.), with a
well-known shade-tree nursery, which has developed a pink flowering and a purple-
bloom locust tree that blossoms every month. An apple blossom festival is an
annual event here when the orchards burgeon. Just west of the town are the
SHOWBERGER BOTANICAL GARDENS, an inventory of which in 1934 showed 132 native
plants that had been identified, 100 that were still unnamed, and 1,500 wild and
cultivated varieties. From these gardens Hyde Park in London was supplied with
wild hollyhock after a long search had been made in Weiser Canyon to find it.
Fifty species of pentstemon are grown here.
WEISER (pron. JFee -zer), 17.9 m. (2,119 alt., 2,724 pop.), stands at the
confluence of the Snake and Weiser Rivers. It was the "river Wuzer" described
by Alexander Ross, and the "Wazer s" River of Peter Skene Ogden in 1827.
Lewis and Clark, whose knowledge of the stream s existence was limited to in
formation obtained from Indians, called it the "Nemo." One tradition has it that
the river was named for Peter Wiser, a private in the Lewis and Clark expedi
tion; another that it was named for Jacob Wayer or Wager, a North West Com
pany trapper with Mackenzie in 1818, but this is contradicted by the fact that
the river was known as "Wisers" to Robert Stuart in his overland trip eastward
from Astoria in 1812-3.
By 1890 the town, for a time called Weiser Bridge, had several stores, hotels,
and six saloons; but in that year a man who tried to take in all the saloons
in a day s stride knocked over a lamp in a hotel, and the subsequent fire
destroyed most of the structures. A new Weiser one mile westward was founded,
and what remained of the first settlement was moved there.
At the eastern end of town is the old EMIGRANT CROSSING where wagon trains
forded the river in early days. An old ferryboat still stands here.
It was in this neighborhood that the westbound Astorians reached a point of
almost inhuman desperation. December had arrived and snows impeded their
progress. The party led along the south bank of the Snake had fared even worse
than the party on the north bank. When finally sighted they had given themselves
up to death. The men on the north bank, who had stolen a horse from the
Indians and killed it for food, were so apathetic to the fate of the members of
the other party that they made no effort to share the meat until Hunt forced
them to do so. Small groups set out to explore north and south in this area
and Hunt finally determined to leave "the accursed mad river" and cut across
to the Columbia; this was done on the day before Christmas.
US SON crosses the Oregon Line at 20.7 m. and almost immediately unites
ivith US 30.
US 30 leads west to the SNAKE RIVER, 63 m., which forms 217
miles of the boundary line between Idaho and Oregon. Clark called it
the Lewis River in honor of his partner. Its present name was derived
from the Snake (Shoshone) Indians, who lived near it.
Oregon
Idaho Line Baker La Grande Pendleton The Dalles Portland
Astoria; 522.7 m. US 30.
Union Pacific R.R. roughly parallels US 30 between Idaho Line and Portland;
Spokane, Portland & Seattle R.R., between Portland and Astoria. Union Pacific
Stages follow US 30 between Idaho Line and Portland; Spokane, Portland &
Seattle Stages between Portland and Astoria.
Paved route, passable except in severe snow and ice storms, when Columbia River
Gorge and Blue Mountain sections are sometimes temporarily blocked.
All types of accommodations; improved campsites.
US 30 in Oregon closely follows the Oregon Trail, traversed by
explorers, fur traders, missionaries, spies, settlers, and adventurers in
early days. The members of the Lewis and Clark expedition were the
first white men to travel through the Columbia River Valley; they went
down the river, which the highway follows closely for more than half
its course, but had to make many portages. The Astorians were the next
to use the river, for many years the main highway of travelers in the
region. Nathaniel Wyeth was the first who attempted to take wagons
overland to Oregon, but it was not until 1846 that a pass was opened
around Mount Hood, and wagons went from the Missouri to the Willam
ette Valley.
Every mile of the trail is filled with memories of the multitude that
passed over it. The smooth modern highway of today was then a crude,
dangerous thoroughfare providing the climax to the journey requiring
five months from the Missouri River to the lower Columbia Valley.
Over sculptured hills and parched plains, through cultivated valleys
and orchard slopes, the highway passes scenes that vary from the
monotonous to the magnificent. It winds up pine-covered ridges of the
Blue Mountains and, descending, crosses miles of rolling grain fields.
It wedges between basaltic cliffs and rugged gorges. Along a route of
scenic splendor, named in part the Columbia River Highway, it reaches
the wide estuary of the old River of the West, and at last the Pacific
Ocean, where Lewis and Clark terminated their historic journey in 1805.
Section 12. Idaho Line to Pendleton, 187.7 m. US 30.
US 30 crosses the Oregon Line, m., in the middle of the Snake
River.
ONTARIO, 1.4 m. (2,153 alt., 1,941 pop.), platted in the 1880 s,
is in the midst of a 300,000-acre irrigation district. Served by the Union
Pacific branch lines, the town is the shipping point for the Owyhee and
Malheur Valleys, and for a region with vast cattle ranges. Cereals, hay,
and vegetables are shipped in large quantities. Cattle and sheep are
123
124 The Oregon Trail
crowded into loading pens before being driven into the long freight
trains that constantly fill the sidings. The annual Malheur County Fair
and Rodeo is held here during September. The glamor of the Old West
still lingers about the town, which has a background of barren hills and
distant rimrock.
At 3.9 m. US 30 crosses the Malheur River, whose banks in spring
are overgrown with fragrant tangles of wild syringa, or mock orange,
found many places in the Northwest and described by Lewis and Clark
in their Journals. From its straight shoots the Indians fashioned their
arrows, giving the bush the local name of arrow-wood.
The highway leads north, with the Sawtooths of Idaho visible (R),
changing color with the changing light, from deep purple to rose.
Volcanic dust in the air results in unusually beautiful sunset colors over
these barren hills. After a brief rain the sage-scented air becomes so
clear that the distant mountains seem unbelievably near.
Mountain mahogany and gnarly juniper are scattered over the hills.
Deer and larger game abound in the wilder regions, while coyotes and
rabbits lurk in the nearer coverts. Antelopes formerly ranged the
plateaus; attracted by the sound of the bells on the wagon tongues,
they often followed for miles the careening stagecoaches and lumbering
wagon-trains. Pheasants, quails, and sage-hens live in the sage and
greasewood, and geese and brilliantly colored ducks feed near the
streams. At intervals small migratory birds with vivid plumage brighten
the drab landscape. The desert lark is an ever-exuberant inhabitant of
these waste spaces.
For ten miles northward from 25.5 m. the highway, flanked (L) by
sheer hills, roughly parallels Snake River (R).
At 31 m. (R) is the village of OLD S FERRY; a ferry established
in 1862 is no longer operated.
Here at FAREWELL BEND the Oregon Trail left the Snake River and
ran northwest over the ridges to Burnt River; at this point the pioneers
bade farewell to water, not knowing how soon they would find some
again. The ferry at Farewell Bend is said to be the locale of Buckskins
Fight with the Wolves by George H. Waggoner, whose parents brought
him overland by ox-team in 1852.
VANTAGE POINT, 32.8 m., is a hill on which the Indians some
times lay in ambush for emigrants who camped in the vicinity before
starting inland ; near this place several small emigrant trains were com
pletely annihilated.
(A marker at 36 m. indicates the change between Rocky Mountain
and Pacific Standard time.)
HUNTINGTON, 36.5 m. (2,108 alt., 803 pop.), with its sun-
parched houses, black train sheds, and smoke-stained trees and hills,
is in a canyon of the Burnt Mountains. It was founded as a stage stop
and maintained that role until 1884, when the Oregon Railroad & Navi-
Oregon 125
gallon Company line was linked with the Oregon Short Line, connecting
Oregon with the Atlantic seaboard. Huntington is now an important
railroad division point and freight station, with sidings and loading
pens to accommodate the Hereford herds from the nearby ranges.
North of Huntington US 30 follows the canyon of Burnt River,
which it crosses 15 times in 12 miles. This stream was first mentioned
and probably named by Peter Skene Ogden of the Hudson s Bay Com
pany; either charred timber or the burned appearance of the volcanic
rocks along its banks suggested the name. In April and May the spring
grass relieves the somber tones of the rock and the sage-covered hills.
Small side valleys hold irrigated farm land and large herds of cattle,
though few are seen from the highway.
The highway runs through the forbidding country traversed by the
desperate, half-starved Astorians seeking a short cut between the Snake
and the Columbia Rivers, after the dreadful two months in which they
had attempted to navigate the "cursed mad river."
At LIME, 41.3 m., a large conveyor passes over the highway,
connecting two units of a cement plant. Lime deposits were formerly
worked and burned in concrete kilns, the remains of which now crumble
beside the road. Tunnels in the hills adjacent to Burnt River indicate
small-scale attempts to obtain gold.
The stark walls of the Burnt Mountains canyons have been gro
tesquely carved by the snow-fed rivulets that in spring flood the river
and fill small irrigation reservoirs. Occasionally a lone juniper clings
to the rocks.
The highway winds through lands alternately arid and irrigated,
and characterized by surprising contrasts created by green alfalfa fields
and the gray of the sagebrush, to a widening valley.
At 55.7 m. the route crosses a ridge known locally as an "iron
dike." Car radios have no reception when stopped on the dike.
DURKEE, 57.9 m. (2,654 alt., 100 pop.), is a weather-worn cattle-
shipping point retaining the aspect of a frontier town of the buckboard
era. Nearby, along Burnt River, are found fire opals rivaling the Mex
ican stones in quality.
Junipers appear in small clumps on the hills, and cottonwood and
willows grow in profusion at PLEASANT VALLEY, 68 m. (3,819
alt.), which served as a resting place for the emigrant train of 1878
that named it.
BAKER, 82.2 m. (3,440 alt., 7,858 pop.), the seat of Baker
County, was named for Col. E. D. Baker, who was a friend of Abraham
Lincoln while both were practicing law in Illinois, and who was later
for a few months U. S. Senator from Oregon; he left the Senate for
military services in the Civil War and died in action. The city is on
Powder River, between the Elkhorn Range and the Eagle Spur of the
Blue Mountains, whose white peaks form an imposing background. It
126 The Oregon Trail
was neglected by the early emigrants, who were intent on reaching the
greener Willamette Valley.
Born as the result of the discovery of gold in eastern Oregon, Baker
is one of the few cities in the State that has kept its importance as a
mining center. From the crude settlement of the grubstake and shovel
days, it has evolved into a graceful, modern city, with enough of the
old mining-town atmosphere lingering about its streets to give it flavor.
Gold was discovered October 23, 1861, in Griffin s Gulch, and since that
day the surrounding mines have produced $150,000,000 worth of gold.
The FIRST NATIONAL BANK maintains a bullion department and has on
display an exhibit of quartz, gold dust, and nuggets, one of which
weighs 86 ounces and is valued at $2,500.
In Baker is the HEADQUARTERS OF THE WHITMAN NATIONAL FOREST
(maps, information). Farming, stock raising, and lumbering in the
county contribute to the town s prosperity.
Left from Baker on State 7, a graveled road, to GRIFFIN S GULCH, 3.2 m.,
where Henry Griffin discovered gold in April, 1861. At 7 m. is a junction with
a dirt road; R. on this road, which leads through Blue Canyon. BLUE CANYON
CREEK (L) is still placer mined to some extent.
At 8.4 m. ELKHORN PEAK can be seen directly ahead, 12 miles to the north
west, its distant wooded slopes offering a sharp contrast with the sagebrush and
stubble along the roadside. Lodgepole pine and juniper become more frequent
as the route reaches the SITE OF AN INDIAN BATTLEGROUND, 9.6 m. (L),
where many spear and arrow heads have been found.
From the crest of a hill, 10.3 m., can be seen the SITE OF AUBURN (see
below), once the seat of Baker County but now marked by a group of weeping
willows. There were only about 40 houses, nearly all built high on the hillside,
in the town of more than 5,000 population. In true mining-camp fashion, most
of the floating population rolled in blankets before fires at night or lived in tents.
Two cemeteries are still visible, one for whites and the other for Chinese. The
bones of many of the latter were sluiced away in the insatiable search for gold.
At 10.8 m. (L), easily identified by its grove of cottonwoods, is the SITE OF
THE DAVID LITTLEFIELD HOME, the first in what was to become Baker County.
Littlefield was one of the men who discovered gold here in 1861. A few of the
outbuildings still stand.
At 12 m. (R), directly opposite across the canyon, is a second view of the
site formerly occupied by Auburn. Beyond the bare area is Frenchman s Gulch.
In the vicinity are CALIFORNIA and POKER GULCHES (L), and FREEZE-
OUT GULCHES NOS. 1, 2, AND 3. Gold to the value of millions of dollars has
been taken from this district but the rich veins have been exhausted; the streams
are still panned to some extent.
At 83.4 m. is a junction with a graveled road.
Left on this road is the SITE OF POCAHONTAS, 6 m., now a field with one
gray shack. The town once received 11 votes to make it the capital of Oregon.
HAINES, 93.6 m. (3,334 alt., 431 pop.), is the center of a rich
farming district. The ELKHORN RANGE (L) is broken by a series of
Oregon 127
peaks; from south to north, Elkhorn Peak (8,922 alt.), Rock Creek
Butte (9,097 alt.), Hunt Mountain (8,232 alt.), named for Wilson
Price Hunt, Red Mountain (8,920 alt.), and Twin Mountains (8,920
alt.).
At 96.2 m. is a junction with a road.
Left on this graveled road is CASTORVILLE, 6 m., with one stone building
left to commemorate its former importance as a mining and milling settlement.
The flood of 1914 washed away all other traces of the town.
Crossing the North Powder River, 101.7 m., near the point where
it enters the main Powder River, US 30 enters NORTH POWDER,
102.1 m., which was a stage station on the Oregon Trail. The Powder
River is so named because of the character of the volcanic soil along
its banks.
At 105 m. is a marker indicating the camp where Marie Dorion,
the Indian wife of the half-breed interpreter, paused on the morning of
December 30, 1811, to add another feeble life to the Wilson Price Hunt
party. The main party went on but Pierre remained with his family;
the next morning he came trudging into camp, leading his son and the
skeleton of a horse, which bore the woman with the babe in her arms
and her two-year-old son slung in a blanket at her side. The infant died
within a week, while the party was crossing the Blue Mountains on the
last lap of the journey to the Columbia. Dorion had managed to acquire
this horse from the Indians along the Snake though other members of
the party had failed in their attempts to make like purchases. Toward
the end of the journey along the dreadful river, when the party was
half dead from starvation, Hunt had determined to kill the horse for
food. Dorion had resisted, finally leaving the party in order to protect
his property. Hunt and two men started after Dorion, prepared to take
the horse by force. Two days later they found the Dorions; Pierre still
refused to give up the horse and, oddly, the men backed him in his
stand.
This seemingly barren country is not without inhabitants. Long-
tailed magpies circle above the thickets, and porcupines make regular
forays on grain and haystacks. Badgers, jackrabbits, and ground-
squirrels whisk in and out of their underground homes, and some
beavers, once abundant, still dam the small streams. Hawks and bald
eagles range the skies.
The highway now traverses GRANDE RONDE VALLEY, which the
French-Canadian trappers called La Grande Vallee. The sight of this
great green bowl, encircled by mountainous walls, brought delight to
early travelers after their long journey across the alkali plains. Captain
Bonneville, who saw it in 1833, reported : "Its sheltered situation, em
bosomed in mountains, renders it good pasturing ground in the winter
time; when the elk come down to it in great numbers, driven out of
128 The Oregon Trail
the mountains by the snow. The Indians then resort to it to hunt. They
likewise come to it in the summer to dig the camash root, of which it
produces immense quantities. When this plant is in blossom, the whole
valley is tinted by its blue flowers, and looks like the ocean when
overcast by a cloud." Fremont spoke of the charm of the country when
he traversed it ten years later.
UNION, 117.5 m. (2,717 alt., 1,107 pop.), whose name, bestowed
in 1862, shows the patriotic spirit of its first citizens, was once the seat
of Union County. The first flag flown over the old courthouse was made
in 1864 of red flannel, white muslin, and blue calico. Though early
emigrants, bound for the Willamette Valley, passed through the fertile
Grande Ronde, it was not until 1860 that the first claim was staked;
Conrad Miller, the first settler, selected land a mile west of the present
town. Union is the center of a large agricultural and stock-raising area.
Catherine Creek, a good trout stream flowing from the western slope of
the Wallowas, runs through the town. The 620-acre EASTERN OREGON
STATE EXPERIMENT STATION is at the edge of the town; here experi
ments are made in growing and improving grains, grasses, and forage
crops. Here also are a dairy unit, a poultry unit, a five-acre orchard,
and truck garden plots.
At HOT LAKE, 123.2 m. (2,701 alt., 250 pop.), water gushing
from springs has a temperature of 208 degrees, the boiling point at this
altitude.
LA GRANDE, 131.9 m. (2,784 alt., 8,050 pop.), the seat of Union
County, is a beautifully situated recreational center. It lies between the
Blue Mountains and the Wallowas, at the western edge of the Grande
Ronde Valley.
For 20 years pioneers came into the valley, camped here, then
hurried on toward the Willamette. In 1861 a small group of men
retraced their trail from the Umatilla River to stake claims in the
valley. Ben Brown of this company built a house on a low bench above
the river. Later he converted his house into a tavern, around which a
small settlement sprang up, known variously as Brownsville and Brown
Town, until the establishment of a post office, when the present name
was adopted.
The discovery of gold in eastern Oregon turned the village into a
thriving mining town, which declined as surface diggings played out.
In 1884 the arrival of the railroad gave fresh life to the place. The
railroad was laid straight across the valley, missing the town by a mile,
but part of the inhabitants moved to spots near the railroad, creating
New Town; the Old Town, as it is still known locally, is today an
integral and populous part of the city. The industrial life centers about
the railroad shops and the two large sawmills.
In 1864, when Union County was carved out of Baker County, the
FIRST UNION COUNTY COURTHOUSE was erected on the site of the Brown
Oregon 129
cabin and hotel; the old building, which is still standing at 1st and B
Sts., has successively been occupied as a store, church, and residence
since 1876.
La Grande was the home of Blue Mountain University, a Methodist
college that ceased to function in 1884. During an Indian uprising of
1878 the alarmed citizens of the valley took refuge behind the thick
brick walls of the old institution. The EASTERN OREGON NORMAL
SCHOOL, the leading educational institution of the area today, has a
campus of more than 30 acres and several attractive buildings.
La Grande was the birthplace (1888) of Kay Cleaver Strahan, a
writer of mystery stories. T. T. Geer, Governor of Oregon (1899-1903),
lived 10 years of his young manhood near here and accumulated much
material published in his volume of reminiscences, Fifty Years in
Oregon.
By an Oregon Trail marker, 133.4 m., standing in GANGLOFF
STATE PARK, is an impressive view of the Grande Ronde Valley.
Dipping to the gorge of the Grande Ronde River, the highway crosses
the stream five times, closely paralleling railroad tracks; the gorge is
so narrow that its walls, streaked with red iron oxide, and the pines
along the road are blackened by smoke.
Leaving the gorge, the highway begins to climb the BLUE MOUN
TAINS. These mountains are Oregon s oldest land; when what is now
the State was a waste of waters, they stood above the flood. During
winter snows their precipitous slopes held the migrating pioneers help
less, and in summer exhausted them. The Blue Mountains have a quieter
appeal than have the Cascades; seen from a distance, their blue haze
has a shadowy, unsubstantial appearance.
At 141.7 m. the highway enters BLUE MOUNTAIN TIMBER
PRESERVE, which stretches for 18 miles along the crest of the Blue
Mountains.
At 151.5 m. is a junction with a road.
Left on this dirt road to the EZRA MEEKER SPRINGS, 0.2 m., named for the
gray-bearded patriarch whose eagerness to mark the old trial made him a national
figure. He traversed the Oregon Trail by ox-team in the emigration of 1852 and,
as an old man, retraced it in the same manner; at 94 years of age he covered
approximately the same route by airplane.
At 152 m. on US 30 is a junction with Ruckle Road.
Right on Ruckle Road to the SUMMIT RANGER STATION, 14 m. This road,
constructed in the late 1860 s by Thomas & Ruckle, was a stage route between
La Grande and Weston. Beyond the ranger station it is now covered with under
brush.
KAMELA, 152.1 m. (4,206 alt., 27 pop.), is in the highest rail
road pass of the Blue Mountains. All trains take on an extra engine for
130 The Oregon Trail
the climb to it. The town is a starting point for camping and fishing
trips. Deer are plentiful nearby, and trout swarm the numerous streams.
Northwest of Kamela the highway winds along the top of a wide
ridge. The undergrowth of the evergreen forests here includes a small
variety of the Oregon grape, whose bloom is the State flower of Oregon.
At 153.6 m. is the summit of the Blue Mountains pass (4,337 alt.).
MEACHAM, 157.7 m. (3,681 alt., 70 pop.), was named for Col.
A. B. Meacham, a member of the Modoc Peace Commission. The ill-
starred Hunt party, after its wanderings in the Snake River wilderness,
passed this way. It was near here that the Dorion child, born a few
days earlier, died. Across this region covered wagons creaked and men
and women trudged, sustained by the nearness of their goal. Later, stage
drivers cracked their long whips above plunging eight-horse teams to
hurry them to the Meacham Tavern. So recklessly did they drive that
passengers were often injured, and Meacham s coachmen figured in
editorial diatribes of 50 years ago. Two large trees that formerly stood
near Meacham sometimes concealed bandits, who preyed on the stage
passengers. A series of bold robberies, including that of the Wells
Fargo Express, occurred at this point.
At 161. m. is EMIGRANT SPRINGS STATE PARK (facilities for
picnicking). Near the entrance a stone shaft marks a spring said to
have been discovered in 1834 by Jason Lee. The bronzed pine and
green or gold tamarack of the park-like groves were inviting to the
pioneers wearying of the long journey. Deep ruts made by the wheels
of covered wagons are near the highway.
At 163.4 m. the route crosses the eastern boundary of the UMA-
TILLA INDIAN RESERVATION, now occupied by about 1,200 mem-
bers of the Cayuse, Umatilla, and Walla Walla tribes, who engage in
wheat growing and ranching. The reservation has no Government
school, but missions are maintained by the Roman Catholic and Pres
byterian churches. Graveled roads give easy access to almost all parts
of the reservation.
The highway crosses a plateau where there is a wide view of the
ranges receding to the indigo haze of the horizon. Nearer are harsh,
broken hills suggestive of the Badlands of Dakota, relieved only by the
scanty growth of wiry grass and scattered pines. An Oregon Trail
marker, 66.9 m., is in DEAD MAN S PASS, the site of an attack by
Indians in 1878.
Winding along hillsides and broken cliffs, US 30 reaches the sum
mit of EMIGRANT HILL, 168.6 m. (3,800 alt.) ; the view here is one
of the most impressive in the State on the old Oregon Trail. Beyond the
ragged line of the nearer terrain rise ridge after ridge of wheatlands.
Beyond the fields undulant sage plains fade to purple, and are lost in
the distance. Snow fences are seen, strategically placed to prevent drifts
Oregon 131
over the highway during winter storms. The tall red or yellow sticks
placed upright along the highway are traffic guides during heavy snows.
The route curves around hills colored in spring and early summer
with the yellow of sunflowers, the scarlet of paintbrush, and the blue of
desert lupine, campanula, and iris. At 173.4 m. Mount Hood and
Mount Adams, more than 100 miles distant, are visible (L). The high
way climbs a lesser eminence, and from this height the hills slope
gently downward to the Umatilla Valley floor, with its pattern of
angular fields. These seemingly endless acres of grain lands are broken
only by occasional shadows where cottonwood and willow mark the
course of a wandering stream. Bands of horses, in silhouette against
the sky, suggest the nearness of the range country.
At 181.6 m. is a junction with a road.
Right on this graveled road is CAYUSE, 7.5 m. (1,350 alt., 32 pop.), within
the Umatilla Reservation. This scattered Indian village was named for a tribe
that formerly dwelt in this region. The crude buildings, protected by brush and
small trees, are for the most part along the Umatilla River and various creeks.
In the summer many of the inhabitants leave their houses to dwell in tepees.
MISSION, 181.9 m., is the UMATILLA INDIAN AGENCY. At the
STATE PHEASANT FARM, 182.6 m., grouse, quail, pheasants, and other
game birds are bred for release on the plateaus and in the uplands of
eastern Oregon.
185.6 m. US 30 leaves the Umatilla Indian Reservation and,
following closely the tree-lined Umatilla River (R) , passes a few Indian
dwellings (L).
PENDLETON, 187.7 m. (1,070 alt., 6,621 pop.), was named for
George Hunt Pendleton, who was Democratic nominee for Vice Presi
dent in 1864 and later a leader in the Greenback Party. In 1865 M. E.
Goodwin traded a team of horses for a claim covering much of the land
on which the city now stands and in the following year he built a toll
bridge over the Umatilla River, which flows through the town. In 1869
Goodwin donated land for the site of a county courthouse and the place
was made the Umatilla County seat. The settlement early became the
base of supplies for cattle barons and an oasis for their employees;
each Saturday the cowboys raced their ponies down the streets, clinked
spurs over the board walks, and tilted glass after glass above the bar
of the Last Chance saloon. The town grew haphazardly, its first school
being held over the jail in the courthouse.
Some of the old cattle trails that led into Pendleton in the 1880 s
are now followed by modern highways; others have been obliterated by
wheat fields. In Pendleton are flour mills, foundries, planing mills,
creameries, and saddle factories. Sheep, once despised by the cattlemen,
yield fleece for the town s woolen mills. Pendleton blankets are widely
known.
132 The Oregon Trail
The TIL TAYLOR STATUE here is a memorial to a Umatilla County
sheriff who was killed in 1920 during a jailbreak. Taylor, one of the
old-time sheriffs, served the county for 18 years.
The Pendleton Round-Up, produced first in 1910 and annually since
1912, attracts thousands of visitors during three days of mid-September.
It is held in RouND-Up PARK, which has a stadium seating 40,000; the
park is at the western end of W. Court St. Stagecoaches, covered wagons,
and some 2,000 Indians in full regalia preserve the pageantry of the
Old West. Also in the park is an OPEN AIR THEATER, with a stage of
natural basalt.
Section 13. Pendleton to Portland, 228.2 m. US 30.
West of PENDLETON, m., at 1.8 m. (L) is the EASTERN OREGON
STATE HOSPITAL, a modern institution with facilities for 1,325 mentally
ill patients.
US 30 runs straight ahead through the Umatilla wheatlands. The
ranch buildings, often at considerable distance from the highway, are
sheltered by groves of locust trees. Silhouettes of windmills are con
spicuous against the skyline. In the fall great piles of sacked wheat dot
the harvested fields, whose stubble alternates with the grays and duns
of freshly plowed land. West of the wheat region the route passes
through a sheep-raising country, where immense bands feed on the
natural forage.
STANFIELD, 23.5 m. (204 pop.), the center of a sheep-raising
district, was named for the Stanfield family, owners of a nearby ranch.
HERMISTON, 29.2 m. (459 alt., 608 pop.), a tree-shaded oasis,
is in the center of the Umatilla Irrigation Project. Irrigation ditches
run through the streets. These waterways have reclaimed the fields that
produce grain, vegetables, and fruits, and that stand out conspicuously
against a background of sagebrush and cactus. It was named for Weir
of Hermiston, which Robert Louis Stevenson was engaged in writing at
the time of his death in 1894.
At 35.2 m. is a junction with US 730; W. of this point US 30, here
called the Upper Columbia River Highway, runs on the south side of
the Columbia River.
Right from the junction on US 730, which follows the south bank of the
Columbia River. Sergeant Ordway of the Lewis and Clark expedition described the
country on the westward trip as "in general Smooth plains then the barron hills
make close to the River on each side ... no timber along the Shores." The
next day he said that the party "proceeded on pass d high clifts of rocks on
each Side of the River."
At 20.6 m. the highway crosses the Washington Line.
WALLULA, 26.6 m. (324 alt. 36 pop.), surrounded by sand and sagebrush
near the mouth of the Walla Walla River, is now a railroad junction. Near the
Columbia are a few adobe remnants, the Rums OF FORT WALLA WALLA, first
. / . R. R. Museum
UNION PACIFIC CONSTRUCTION TRAIN (1867)
BREAKING CAMP
Leslie s Weekly
METHODIST MISSION NEAR THE DALLES (1845)
v-.-M^
Oregon 133
known as Fort Nez Perces. This was established by the North West Company
not long after it had bought out Astor s interests on the Columbia. The first post,
built of wood and strongly fortified with bastions and a 20-foot palisade because
of the constant hostility of the Indians in the neighborhood, burned down and
was replaced in the 1840 s by an adobe structure. The post was important to fur
traders and other travelers because, while off the Oregon Trail, it offered a supply
point in time of need after the always trying journey across the plains of the
Snake. The Rev. Samuel Parker visited it in 1835 when seeking a site for the
Whitman mission. Because of the dry, unpleasant character of the country he
recommended a spot farther inland.
At the mouth of the Walla Walla is the point where the returning Lewis
and Clark expedition, advised by Indians camping on the west bank of the Colum
bia, determined to take a short cut to the Snake. The leaders wished to cross the
river at once but the Indians begged them to stay, having heard of the white
men s skill as dancers. George W. Fuller in his History of the Pacific Northwest
calls the party "the dancing explorers"; rather, they were a road show. Not a
little of their success in obtaining supplies and in safely crossing the continent
rested on their ability to entertain the aborigines. The star of the troup was
York, Clark s servant, a big, good-natured Negro who was never so happy as
when he was surrounded by wondering Indians who rubbed his black skin with
moistened fingers and yanked his curly hair to test their reality. Another favorite
entertainer was Peter Cruzat, who clung to his fiddle all the way across the
country and back, preserving it even at times when every extra ounce was a
burden. A third was Rivet, who, as Ordway wrote, "dances on his head." On
some occasions the entertainment offered to the Indians had the character of a
medicine show, Lewis giving out eye water, ointments, and Rush s pills to all
who applied.
Ordway described the entertainment at this village: "they said they wished us
to Stay with them to day as we lived a great way off, and they wished to see
us dance this evening & begged on us to Stay this day. So our officers con
cluded to Stay this day. the head chief brought up a good horse & said he
wished to give it to us but as he was poor he wished us to give him some
kind of a kittle, but as we could not spare a kittle Cap 1 Clark gave his Sword
a flag and half pound of powder & ball for the horse, we took our horses across
the river, our officers made another chief gave him a meddle &C. in the after
noon a number of Indians came to our officers who were diseased the lame and
many with Sore eyes and lame legs & arms &C. our officers dress d their wounds,
washed their eyes & gave them meddicine and told them how to apply it &C.
the chief called all his people and told them of the meddicine &C. which was
a great wonder among them & they were much pleased &C. the Indians Sent
their women to gether wood or Sticks to See us dance this evening, about 300
of the natives assembled to our Camp we played the fiddle and danced a while
the head chief told our officers that thiy Should be lonesom when we left them
and they wished to hear once of our meddicine Songs and try to learn it
and wished us to learn one of theirs and it would make them glad. So our
men Sang 2 Songs which appeared to take great affect on them, they tryed to
learn Singing with us with a low voice, the head chief then made a speech & it
was repeated by a warrier that all might hear, then all the Savages men women
and children of any size danced forming a circle round a fire & jumping up
nearly as other Indians, & keep time verry well they wished our men to dance
with them So we danced among them and they were much pleased, and
Said that they would dance day and night untill we return, everry few minutes
one of their warries made a Speech pointing towards the enimy and towards the
moon &C. &C. which was all repeated by another meddison man with a louder
voice as (so) all might hear the dance continued untill about midnight then
the most of them went away peaceable & have behaved verry clever and honest
with us as yet, and appear to have a Sincere wish to be at peace and to git
acquaintance with us &C. &C."
134 The Oregon Trail
Right from Wallula on US 410. Near TOUCHET, 36.1 m., the highway fol
lows the former right-of-way of the Walla Walla & Columbia R.R., built in
1872. Part of the crew of this first railroad connecting towns in the Territory
was a collie whose job it was to run ahead of the locomotive and drive cattle off
the track.
At 49.1 m. is the junction with a paved road. Right here 1 m. to
WAIILATPU, site of the Marcus Whitman mission, founded in 1836. The build
ings are being reconstructed. Whitman built his mission here in spite of the
warnings of the Hudson s Bay Company s Chief Factor of the treacherous nature
of the nearby Cayuses.
Myron F. Eells, a missionary from Massachusetts who visited the place in
1838, wrote: "It was built of adobe, mud dried in the form of brick, only
larger There are doors and windows of the roughest material, the boards being
sawed by hand and put together by no carpenter, but by one who knows nothing
about the work. There are a number of wheat, corn and potato fields about the
house, besides a garden of melons and all kinds of vegetables common to a
garden. There are no fences, there being no timber with which to make them.
The furniture is very primitive; the bedsteads are boards nailed to the sides
of the house, sink-fashion; then some blankets and husks make the bed."
As long as Dr. McLoughlin retained his post at Fort Vancouver, the Indians
in his domain feared to attack white people. But their resentment against the
invaders had been growing and when, after McLoughlin s dismissal, a particularly
fatal epidemic of measles developed, they listened to the whispers of medicine
men that the whites were bringing in the disease to annihilate them, and that the
Indians must drive the whites out if they were to survive. On November 29,
1847, the Indians descended on the mission, killing Dr. Whitman, his wife, and
five other people. More men were slain in the following week while returning
to the mission, making a total of 14; 53 men, women, and children were taken
captive.
When news of the event reached Fort Vancouver, Peter Skene Ogden, of
the Hudson s Bay Company, set out for Walla Walla. On January 2, after paying
a ransom of 62 blankets, 63 cotton shirts, 12 guns, 500 rounds of ammunition, 12
flints, and 37 pounds of tobacco, he loaded the captives on boats bound down the
Columbia. Three years later five Indians were tried and hanged for the murders.
UMATILLA (Ind., water rippling over sands), 36.1 m. (294 alt.,
345 pop.), at the confluence of the Umatilla and Columbia Rivers, was
formerly the shipping point for the output of the Boise, Powder River,
and Owyhee gold fields. It sprang up during the rush to the gold
diggings of Idaho and eastern Oregon. Oxcarts, stagecoaches, and
freight wagons passed along its dusty streets on their ways to the distant
mines. River boats, laden with supplies, crowded the wharves. When
the mining fever subsided, the town was beginning to ship quantities of
grain from the eastern Oregon fields. The building of the Oregon Rail
road and Navigation Company road diverted traffic, and the place de
clined in importance.
US 30 traverses an irrigated district, its green, cultivated fields
contrasting with tablelands and soft beige hills. Narrow farmlands (R)
border the highway. Houses and gardens are sheltered by the fringe of
cottonwoods and poplars. The green of the farms (L) terminates
abruptly, the plateau beyond them being covered with gray cactus and
sagebrush. Beyond the river (R) stretch the brown hills of Washing
ton. The chief event that Ordway found to note in this area was the
Oregon 135
purchase of nice "fat" dogs; Captain Clark was the only one in the
party who did not learn to smack his lips over this delicacy.
IRRIGON, 43.2 m. (297 alt.), a former stopping place for trav
elers to and from the old Boise and Owyhee mines, derives both its
name and its livelihood from the irrigation district of which it is the
trading center. An experiment station demonstrates the agricultural
possibilities of the rich silt. Vegetables and fruits are grown success
fully. Cantaloups and other melons bear the Irrigon label to distant
markets. Peach, cherry, and apricot trees cover the knolls. Conspicuous
throughout the region are the lush growths of wild asparagus along
irrigation flumes.
At 54.9 m. on a slight knoll (R) is a concrete slab in which is
embedded an excellent specimen of the picture writing of prehistoric
Indians. The pictograph was brought here from a spot on the basaltic
bank of the Columbia River a few miles east.
BOARDMAN, 55.1 m. (250 alt., 100 pop.), lies in an area that
holds many fossilized remains of prehistoric animals. Specimens taken
from the vicinity include part of a mastodon tooth, bones of fishes, of
the three-toed horse, and of the rhinoceros, and bits of turtle shell.
US 30 follows the river, a green band of water separating the gray-
ness of the bleak, barren shores. The plateau rim (L) along the Oregon
side rises almost sheer except where creeks break through to join the
river. Occasionally a row of poplar trees serves as a windbreak in
winter against icy gales that roar down the Columbia.
CASTLE ROCK, 60.8 m., was once a busy community. The editor
of West Shore in his issue of October, 1883, wrote: "Castle Rock, in
Umatilla County, bordering on the Wasco line, was laid out on the 15th
of last May upon ground taken up only a year before for a sheep ranch.
It now contains an express office, post office, saloons, dwellings, schools,
etc. A large forwarding and shipping business for the Heppner region
is its chief support, though many settlers are taking up land in the
vicinity. The growth of western towns is wonderful."
HEPPNER JUNCTION, 70.3 m., is at the point where many early
wagon trains turned south to cross Alkali Flats, avoiding the jagged
scoria and sage-grown cliffs that US 30 follows along the river.
For 45 miles westward the highway crowds close to the river, in
places climbing along the basaltic cliffs and affording views of the wild
river gorge and the mountains in Washington. The emerald green of
the water contrasts with the tawny hills and the rusty cliffs, colored by
lichens and iron oxide deposits. These cliffs show the successive flows
of lava that inundated what is now the upper Columbia Valley.
ARLINGTON, 81.4 m. (224 alt., 601 pop.), a town not much
wider than its one locust-shaded street, is wedged between two high and
barren ridges. It was formerly called Alkali, but was renamed by a
136 The Oregon Trail
group of settlers for Arlington, Va. The town is a trading center for
the country to the south. It is also headquarters for hunters of the wild
geese that swarm the islands and gravel bars of the Columbia. It is
estimated that from 20,000 to 25,000 geese use the vicinity as a feeding
ground. Though there are strict limits on the number of birds that may
be taken, the season, usually the month of November, finds eager
hunters gathering here from all parts of the State. Hunting rights are
frequently rented from the ranchers at fees ranging from $8 to $10 a
day. The Arlington Ferry (cars, $1 ; round trip, $1.50) makes con
nections with Roosevelt, Wash.
West of Arlington the rolling lands recede and the valleys along the
highway (L) are little more than canyons leading to confined ranches
and irrigated farms. Saffron-stained patches of lava color the cliffs of
the plateau rim. Passing through BLALOCK, 90.6 m., US 30 threads
the narrow gorge through which the Columbia has cut a ragged chan
nel.
At 105.3 m. Mount Hood is seen, rising above the waters of the
Columbia.
The JOHN DAY RIVER, 105.6 m., originally called LePage s
River by Lewis and Clark for a member of their party, was named in
honor of John Day of the Astorians. According to Washington Irving,
Day was a Virginia backwoodsman who had hunted on the Missouri
a number of years before joining Hunt s overland party. Day and
Crooks fell behind on the Snake River, while Hunt went ahead (see-
above) with the main party in the winter of 1811-12. During the fol
lowing spring Day and Crooks were robbed of everything they had and
left naked on the banks of the Columbia. After reaching Astoria, Day
decided to return with Robert Stuart s party. Before he reached Walla
Walla, however, he became violently insane and had to be taken back
to Astoria.
A swift, turbulent stream, the river has worn its way through
stratum after stratum of rock. In its steep gorges are written successive
chapters of Oregon s geological evolution.
Near RUFUS, 110.7 m. (172 alt., 70 pop.), long breaks in the
growths of poplars bear witness to the wind s severity. Gardens and
orchards thrive between rows of closely grown trees or behind woven-
willow shelters.
At 113.3 m. is the junction with US 97.
Right on US 97 to the landing of the Maryhill ferry, 0.4 m. (fare $1; service
as needed) . From the north bank ferry landing in Washington, US 97 continues
to the junction with US 830, 1.2 m.; L. here 2.9 m. on US 830 to MARYHILL
CASTLE, built by Samuel Hill, a road builder. The castle, dour and desolate, is
visible from the Oregon side of the Columbia. It is a three-story rectangular struc
ture of concrete, fascinating yet forbidding, set on a cliff 800 feet above the
river. Though construction was begun in 1914, and Queen Marie of Roumania
Oregon 137
dedicated the structure in 1926 as an international art museum, for years its win
dows were barred, its doors padlocked, and its winding, concrete driveways a
tangle of matted weeds and grass. Armies of rats scampered through its labyrinth
of rooms. In 1937 the building was opened to visitors. Queen Marie gave a life-
size portrait of her daughter, an ornate desk supposed to have been made by her
self, a set of chairs, and other pieces of furniture. Other exhibits are being added.
After carefully comparing weather records, Samuel Hill chose this spot, midway
between the damp coast and semi-arid southeastern Washington, as the perfect
place in which to live. He lavished a fortune on the estate, and left a bequest of
$1,200,000 for completing and maintaining it as a museum. Hill never lived at
Maryhill. In a crypt constructed during his lifetime repose the owner s ashes,
commemorated by a tablet bearing the inscription: "Samuel Hill amid Nature s
unrest, he sought rest."
Two abandoned fish wheels (L), half obscured by a poplar grove
and now outlawed for use in Oregon streams, stand at the mouth of the
DESCHUTES RIVER, 120.5 m. US 30 crosses the river on the
CHIEF DUC-SAC-HI BRIDGE, a fine concrete structure named for a chief
of the Wasco tribe, who operated a ferry across the river. The
Deschutes has been important as a fishing and hunting stream for both
Indians and whites. On early maps the Deschutes often bears its
English name, Falls River.
Lewis and Clark found the river "divided by numbers of large
rocks, and Small Islands covered with a low groth of timber." The
Indians knew it as the Towahnahiooks River, although the explorers on
their westward trip learned only that it was known as "the River on
which the Snake Indians live."
CELILO, 123.4 m. (158 alt.), at CELILO FALLS, is a canoe
portage as old as the fishing stations still held by the Indians under
a treaty granting exclusive and perpetual fishing rights to them. Long
before Lewis and Clark halted at this place, likely fishing stands on
these rocks were handed down by the Indians from father to son.
When the explorers visited the vicinity they found ". . . great
numbers of Stacks of pounded Salmon neetly preserved in the follow
ing manner, i.e. after (being) suffi(c)ently Dried it is pounded be
tween two Stones fine, and put into a speces of basket neetly made of
grass and rushes better than two feet long and one foot Diamiter, which
basket is lined with the Skin of Salmon Stretched and dried for the
purpose, in this it is pressed down as hard as is possible, when full
they Secure the open part with the fish Skins across which they fasten
th(r)o. the loops of the basket that part very securely, and then on a
Dry Situation they Set those baskets. . . . thus preserved those fish
may be kept Sound and sweet Several years." Here fish are still speared,
cleaned, and dried in the traditional manner, but they are no longer
pounded into pemmican and stored in the woven baskets. Although
this untidy and stench-ridden village has long been a joy to ethnolo
gists, it is exceedingly unpopular with its neighbors. The bucks fish
and the squaws prepare the catch for food, resorting to the primitive
138 The Oregon Trail
open-air methods of curing developed by their prehistoric forebears.
Across the Columbia is the old village of WISHRAM, described by
Lewis and Clark in their Journals and by Washington Irving in Astoria,
This village furnished many fine studies of Indian life to Edward
Curtis in preparing his North American Indians.
Sergeant Ordway said of the falls: "the hight of the particular
falls in all is 37 feet eight Inches, and has a large rock Island in the
midst of them and look Shocking the water divided in several channels
by the rock. Some of the cooks at camp bought several fat dogs this
day."
There is scarcely a traveler of the early days who did not speak of
the settlement at the great falls of the Columbia. It was here that the
tribes of the upper country met the down-river and coast tribes for
barter, the vicinity being regarded as neutral ground. It was here that
the westward-surging pioneers lowered their wagons over the rimrock
by means of ropes and pulleys. Freight was transferred from the wagons
to large canoes and barges. Wagon beds, resting on their own wheels
and lashed to crude rafts, sheltered women and children from the
fierce Columbia squalls on the perilous trip to Vancouver.
Lewis and Clark, finding 17 Indian lodges along here, "landed and
walked down accompanied by an old man to view the falls, and the
best rout for to make a portage which we Soon discovered was much
nearest on the Star d Side, and the distance 1200 yards one third of
the way on a rock, about 200 yards over a loose Sand collected in a
hollar blown by the winds from the bottoms below which was dis
agreeable to pass, as it was steep and loose, at the lower part of those
rapids we arrived at 5 Large Lod(g)es of nativs drying and prepareing
fish for market, they gave us Philburts, and berries to eate. we returned
droped down to the head of the rapids and took every article except
the Canoes across the portag(e) where I had formed a camp on (an)
elegable Situation for the protection of our Stores from thieft, which
we were more fearfull of, than their arrows." A portage railroad, 14
miles long, was opened in 1863. The construction of canals and locks
here was started by the Federal Government in 1905; they eventually
cost five million dollars. Below the falls the OREGON TRUNK RAILROAD
BRIDGE spans the river, its piers resting on solid rock above the water.
On October 24, 1805, the day after making the arduous falls port
age, the Lewis and Clark party came to the Short Narrows of the
Columbia, where the high walls of the gorge made portage so difficult
that Clark "deturmined" to shoot the rapids, "notwithstanding the hor
rid appearance of this agitated gut swelling, boiling & whorling in
every direction." Ordway merely commented that they went through
"verry rapid and bad whorl pools, and went on verry well." He was
much more interested in the "number of fat dogs, crambries and white
cakes of root bread" bought from the Indians.
Passing under the railroad bridge, US 30 is sheltered by basaltic
Oregon 139
palisades (L) , dusted with sulphur-colored lichen, which, like the sage,
willow, and cottonwood of the section, is not true green, being grayed
by the alkaline soil.
SEUFERT, 132.6 m., was named for the Seufert family, who
established a large salmon- and fruit-packing plant at this point. Fish
wheels, formerly operated by the cannery, stand along the river (R).
Many Indian petroglyphs and pictographs are on the bluffs facing
the Columbia; prehistoric as well as historic aborigines of the region
came here to fish for salmon, and while some of the pictures of fishes,
beavers, elks, water dogs, and men were doubtless made as primitive
art expression, others were carved and painted to carry messages.
THE DALLES (Fr., flagstones or gutters), 136 m. (98 alt., 5,883
pop.), the seat of Wasco County, is the principal market town of a
large agricultural area. The name was given by the voyageurs of the
Hudson s Bay Company because the basaltic rock walls of the swift
narrows of the Columbia River just above the present townsite resem
bled the stones confining the gutters of their native villages. The site
of the city has numerous upthrusts of basaltic rock, which cause many
dead-end streets. The retail business district, where ancient frame
buildings shoulder modern brick structures, occupies a broad, low
bench near the river. Behind it, in the terraced residential section, some
houses stand 50 feet above their neighbors. There is a prevalence of
stone houses of the type found in Italy and on the Dalmatian coast.
These were erected by Italian workers, who were brought in to build
the locks and decided to settle in the place.
A mission under the superintendency of Jason Lee was established
here in 1838 by Daniel Lee and H. K. W. Perkins. Owing to their fail
ure to interest the Indians, the Methodists sold the property in 1846 to
the Whitman mission, but it was abandoned after the Whitman mas
sacre. From the time of the mission s establishment the settlement that
grew up around it became an intermediate goal to transcontinental
travelers as the single place of white habitation in the area. Many
travelers and would-be settlers found their supplies completely ex
hausted by the time they had reached this point and the unfriendly
Indians early learned to exploit their needs, making exorbitant demands
for goods in return for pounded fish and other foodstuffs. The Indians
values were peculiar, however; Father DeSmet, when passing The
Dalles in the early 1840 s, found the Indians proudly parading in odds
and ends of clothing obtained from the whites. One man wore a G-string
and a sailor s glazed cap, another a pair of pants much too small for
him, a third a G-string and a pair of enormous brogans, and a fourth a
gaudy vest and little else. The envied dandy of the party wore a lady s
nightcap with wide flapping white frills.
In 1847 Fort Dalles was established to protect immigrants. The
first store was established in 1850. The plight of the average newcomer
140 The Oregon Trail
reaching The Dalles is shown in George A. Waggoner s account of his
family s migration experiences: "We left our wagon on the Umatilla.
. . . We packed our bedding on Old Nig, the last ox left us, and started
on afoot. ... My father sold him (Old Nig) at The Dalles for $20
to buy food. We stopped two weeks at The Dalles. Father found an
old stove and rigged up a table out of some old endgates and sideboards
of an abandoned wagon and ran a lunch counter for the soldiers and
civilians who were building the military post there."
The town grew as the gold rush of the Northwest developed in the
1860 s.
H. L. Davis, who wrote Honey in the Horn, a Harper prize novel
(1935) and winner of a Pulitzer prize (1936), was a resident of The
Dalles for a number of years.
The second bluff above the town bears evidence of the eager desire
of early travelers to register for the benefit of posterity; the sandstone
face bears names, initials, and dates from 1841. Among them is the
name of U. S. Grant, who was stationed in Oregon as a young man.
PULPIT ROCK, a basaltic formation at Twelfth and Court Sts.,
served as a missionary pulpit as early as 1837. Interdenominational
Easter sunrise services are now held annually at this place. FORT ROCK,
at the foot of Liberty St., was a camp site of the Lewis and Clark party.
It is a natural depression in the basaltic cliffs, reached from the rail
way station by a marked trail.
The HORN (visitors welcome), 205 Second St., an old saloon, has
hundreds of horns of mountain sheep, bison, deer, and elk. The OLD
FORT DALLES HISTORICAL SOCIETY BUILDING, at 15th and Garrison
Sts., is the only remaining structure of the old fort; it houses a remark
able collection of Indian arrows, stone bowls, baskets, and beadwork,
and scores of articles brought across the plains in covered wagons.
West of The Dalles, scoria yields to pine-grown plateaus, confined
by mountains (L), beyond which Mount Hood towers. Across the
Columbia Gorge (R), Mount Adams rears its white peak. On both
sides of the river, rocky benches rise above each other in irregular
steps to lofty, weathered palisades.
West of the village of ROWENA, 144.6 m., the highway leaves
the flatlands by a sharp climb over the Rowena Loops, a series of
reverse curves hewn from solid basalt in places.
Opposite Rowena, near Lyle, Wash., is the burial place of the writer, Frederic
Homer Balch (1861-1891). His sweetheart, Genevra Whitcomb, who is buried
near him, was commemorated in his posthumously published novel, Genevieve:
A Tale of Oregon.
ROWENA CREST, 147.2 m. (706 alt.), is in MAYER STATE PARK,
where a parking place is provided at the point offering the finest view.
Oregon 141
It commands a majestic panorama of rugged country and miles of
winding river.
US 30 rounds ROWENA DELL, 147.9 m., a deep canyon (R) with
oakgrown walls cut through solid stone. It was infested with rattle
snakes until pioneers fenced the lower end of the canyon and turned in
a drove of hogs. The animals soon cleared the dell, and the place was
for a time thereafter known as Hog Canyon.
At 150.7 m. Memaloose View Point overlooks the MEMALOOSE
ISLAND, the "Island of the Dead," for hundreds of years an Indian
burial ground, partly submerged since the completion of Bonneville
Dam (see below}. Many of the bleached bones of generations of In
dians were moved to other cemeteries along the Columbia.
The MOSIER TUNNELS, 154.9 m., one 261 feet and the other 60
feet long, often referred to as the Twin Tunnels, penetrate a promon
tory more than 250 feet above the river. West of this point the contrast
between the barren, semidesert contours of eastern Oregon and the
lushness of the Pacific Slope becomes apparent.
US 30 crosses HOOD RIVER, 160.2 m., a picturesque stream de
scending from glaciers on the northern and eastern slopes of Mount
Hood, and known in pioneer days by the unromantic name, Dog
Creek. The name is said to have been inspired by the fact that a starving
exploring party of early days began to eat dog meat here. Though such
food was frequently used by early travelers in the area, Mrs. Nathaniel
Coe, a well-known pioneer of the valley, objected to the name and
forced a change. Lewis and Clark named the stream Labiche River
for one of their followers. Its limpid, cascading waters have great
beauty.
The town of HOOD RIVER, 160.6 m. (100 alt., 2,757 pop.), is
the center of a prolific apple and berry region, and is one of the
entrances to the large recreational area about Mount Hood. Sur
rounded by evergreens and oaks, the town is beautifully situated. Its
tiers of houses stand on the sharply rising land between the Hood
River and Indian Creek gorges; the blue-gray waters of the Columbia
River sweep in front of it through a channel worn deep in rugged
stone. Behind the town, beyond evergreen forests and rising hills, the
white splendor of Mount Hood is visible.
While holding a pastorate here, Frederic Homer Balch (1861-91)
wrote Genevieve: A Tale of Oregon (published in 1932) and finished
The Bridge of the Gods (1890). Hood River has also been the home
of George W. Cronyn (1888- ), author of historical novels, and
Anthony Euwer (1877- ), Oregon poet, who has described the
region in Rhymes of Our Valley. The late Billy Sunday, evangelist,
was a resident of the area for many years.
The old ADAMS HOUSE, home of the late Dr. E. L. Adams, one of
the town s founders, is at the western edge of town. A fountain modeled
142 The Oregon Trail
after one of the lesser ones in the gardens of the Palace of Versailles,
and reproductions of French statuary are on the grounds.
Except for a few trails ELIOT PARK, within the gorge of Indian
Creek, is as primitive as it was before the coming of white men, and
is one of the most beautiful of Oregon s many wilderness tracts.
The APPLE GROWERS ASSOCIATION CANNERY (open to visitors) is in
operation from late August, when the canning of Bartlett pears begins,
until late December, when the canning of low-grade apples is com
pleted. The commercial activity of the town centers about the immense
fruit-growing industry of the valley of the south. The Apple Growers
Association, organized in 1914, is a producers co-operative marketing
organization with a large membership. It has sent the Hood River
apple, noted for its crispness and flavor, to the markets of the world.
The HOOD RIVER DISTILLERIES (open to visitors) manufacture cull
fruits into brandy.
The COLUMBIA GORGE HOTEL, 162.6 m. (R) , is a large structure
of striking lines, built in 1921-22 by Simon Benson, pioneer lumber
man. Just below the hotel the picturesque WAW-GUIN-GUIN FALLS drop
over a sheer cliff to the river below. Nearby is the CRAG RATS CLUB
HOUSE, owned by a mountain-climbing organization having a member
ship limited to those who have climbed at least three major snow
peaks; members must climb at least one major snow peak annually to
remain in good standing.
At 165.7 m. is MITCHELL TUNNEL (watch for traffic signals),
bored through a solid cliff overhanging the river. In its 385-foot length
are hewn five large arched windows overlooking the Columbia. The
great projecting rock through which the bore was made was known
among the Indians as the Little Storm King, while the sky-sweeping
mountain above was called the Great Storm King.
The village of VIENTO (Sp., wind), 168.6 m., is fittingly named,
for the wind blows constantly and often violently through the gorge.
Old-fashioned touring cars have sometimes lost their tops during the
winter gales that sweep with terrific force over the highway.
VIENTO STATE PARK, 168.7 m. (R), is an attractive wooded
area that is popular as a picnic ground; through it runs scenic Viento
Creek.
At 170 m. Starvation Creek empties into the Columbia. Here is
STARVATION CREEK STATE PARK. At this point the highway crosses a
deep fill, where in 1884 a train was marooned for two weeks in 30-foot
snowdrifts. The winter storms are frequently accompanied by silver
thaws of peculiar beauty in the Columbia Gorge. Crags, boulders,
trees, and telephone and power lines are then ice-coated in fantastic
forms.
The current of LINDSAY CREEK, 171.2 m., pours down from the
cliffs.
Oregon 143
SHELL ROCK MOUNTAIN, 172.4 m. (2,068 alt.), is opposite
WIND MOUNTAIN, which is in Washington. Geologists believe that
these were formerly a single mountain and the Columbia gradually cut
a channel through it. Indian legend is that the Great Spirit set the
whirlwinds blowing in constant fury about Wind Mountains as a pun
ishment to those who, breaking the taboo, had taught the white men
how to snare salmon.
US 30 passes through a continuous park for several miles.
CASCADE LOCKS, 181.1 m. (120 alt., 1,000 pop.). Here in
1896 the Federal Government built a lock-canal around the unnavigable
rapids of the Cascades, which figured dramatically in the history and
legends of the Columbia. These cataracts, with their fall of almost 40
feet, now under 32 feet of water, were of comparatively recent geologic
origin. They were caused by great masses of rock and earth that
slipped from the heights of Table Mountain. The fishing Indians of
the coast came to this place to visit and barter with the hunting
Indians of the interior. The resident tribes laid toll upon their neigh
bors and harassed all travelers, though the strict discipline of Dr. John
McLoughlin maintained unmolested passage for his traders and trap
pers. Lewis and Clark had equipment stolen from them near here.
The free-booters joined the war on the whites but were subdued by a
detachment of troops under the leadership of young Lt. Philip H.
Sheridan.
The graceful bateau, paddled by French-Canadian voyageurs or by
Indians, and the swift canoe were the only means of transportation
here for several decades after the discovery of the Columbia. Although
the fur brigades often rode the crest of churning spring floods, it was
usually necessary to unload the boats at this point and carry the heavy
bales of fur overland to the calm water below. The first wagon trains
had much difficulty here. Some came down the river on home-made
rafts that carried their dismantled wagons; the wagons were landed
and reassembled for the portage at the Cascades, but the rafts were let
down to the lower level with ropes. Samuel K. Barlow, a leader of the
1845 migration, determined to try a route that cut south of Mt. Hood
to avoid the Columbia Gorge. The company experienced serious diffi
culties before the members were rescued. Not long afterward the route
Barlow had conceived was opened and named for him.
The first made road on the Oregon side of the river was completed
in 1856. Less than six miles in length, it ran from the Cascades to the
site of Bonneville, passing over a point of rocks at the base of which
the portage railroad was later built. The ox-teams labored by steep
grades to an elevation of 425 feet to get past this point. Later, toll roads
were opened for the passage of cattle and for the pack trains to the
interior, but not until 1872 did the legislature make an appropriation
144 The Oregon Trail
to build a road through the great gorge. From this crooked and nar
row trail the present highway was developed.
The growth of steamboat transportation necessitated more adequate
transfer facilities here. The first portage railway was a crude affair
with wooden rails and with cars operated by mule power. Later strap-
iron rails were laid and small steam locomotives supplied power. The
first of these, called the Oregon Pony, is on exhibition at the plaza
grounds of the Union Station in Portland. These tram lines were out
moded when the Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company line was
built.
The entrance (R) to the BRIDGE OF THE GODS is at 181.6 m.; it
is a cantilever toll bridge (cars, 50$; good for return within three
hours) that occupies a place where, according to Indian legend, a nat
ural bridge at one time arched the river. This bridge, they say, was cast
into the river when Tyhee Sahale, the Supreme Being, became angry
with his two sons, who had quarreled over the beautiful Loo-wit,
guardian of a sacred flame on the bridge. The two sons and the girl,
crushed in the destruction of the bridge, whose debris created the
Cascades, were resurrected as Mount Hood, Mount Adams, and Mount
St. Helens. The legend of the natural bridge was used by Frederic
Homer Balch in his romance, The Bridge of the Gods.
At 183 m. (R) a marker points to the Washington shore, where a
REPRODUCTION OF FORT RAINES commemorates the battle of Bradford
Island; in March, 1856, two or three hundred Indians unsuccessfully
attempted to take the small military post.
EAGLE CREEK PARK, 184 m. (L), one of Oregon s finest recrea
tional areas and picnic grounds, was constructed and is maintained by
the U. S. Forest Service. On the banks of plunging Eagle Creek are
rustic kitchens and tables and extensive parking facilities.
At BONNEVILLE, 185.4 m. (50 alt., 800 pop.) is a large STATE
FISH HATCHERY for the artificial propagation of Royal Chinook, Sock-
eye, and other salmon. An average of 14 million Chinook and Sockeye
salmon fingerlings are released each year to make their way to the
sea. The salmon mature in the ocean, but return to fresh water, usually
at four years of age, to spawn, in most cases at the headwaters of the
stream in which they were hatched. Both the male and female die after
spawning.
The waters of Tanner Creek have been diverted to flow through the
hatchery for use in the 45 ponds. When the fingerlings are released,
they go through the creek to the Columbia, down which they make
their way to the ocean. Before the small salmon are released, a certain
number are marked by clipping part of the fins with manicuring scis
sors; the practice has enabled hatchery officials to determine that a
large percentage of salmon released here return to the hatchery. From
the storage pond 40 or 50 salmon at a time are transferred into what are
Oregon 145
called taking ponds, the male and female being separated. When the
eggs of the female are ripe for taking, she is put on a wooden plat
form and hit on the head with a short length of iron pipe, which stuns
her. Cleaner eggs are obtained by cutting the tail of the fish to let the
blood. The eggs are taken through an incision in the belly and placed in
a galvanized bucket. The average number of eggs to a female Chinook
salmon is 4,700 though 11,000 have been obtained. The milt is then
stripped from a male salmon held over the eggs. The fertilized eggs
are allowed to remain in buckets of water and milt for a short time, and
then are placed in wire baskets and set in troughs of cold running
water, where they hatch out in 50 to 70 days, the length of time depend
ing entirely upon the temperature of the water.
The salmon emerge from the eggs tail first, the egg sac remaining
attached to the belly of the little fish and providing it with food for a
period of four to five weeks. The little fish are then placed in the
open ponds to develop. Their feed consists of the ground parent salmon,
which has been preserved in cold storage, ground to a paste with
smelt, salmon eggs, and condemned canned salmon.
More than 90 percent of the eggs taken at the hatchery are
hatched and returned to the Columbia at fingerling size, able to care
for themselves, whereas in the natural process of spawning the per
centage that reaches fingerling size is very low, owing to the natural
enemies of the salmon.
Bonneville was named for Capt. Benjamin Bonneville, whose ex
ploits were narrated by Irving. He became the first commander of
Fort Vancouver after the settlement of the Oregon boundary question.
Nearby is BONNEVILLE DAM, whose construction was begun by
the Federal Government in 1933 and completed in February, 1938.
The dam, designed by Army engineers, is a concrete barrier between
the Oregon and Washington shores, 1,250 feet in length, its middle
section resting on Bradford Island, an old Indian burial ground. The
structure, 180 feet wide at the base and 170 feet high from the lowest
foundation, impounds the waters of the Columbia River to an average
depth of 30 feet for 44 miles upstream to a point four miles above The
Dalles, and has submerged many of the river s beauty spots and historic
sites.
The main features are a single-lift lock, 76 feet wide and 500 feet
long, near the Oregon shore; a hydroelectric power plant with two
complete generators, each of 43,200 kilowatts capacity; a gate-con
trolled spillway 900 feet long intended to pass the maximum flood of
record without raising the previously attained flood elevation at or
above the Cascades; and fishways designed to permit salmon to ascend
the river to their spawning grounds. The navigation lock is (1938) the
highest single lift passage in the world for ocean-going vessels, which
must be raised 66 feet. With the deepening of the Columbia River
146 The Oregon Trail
between Vancouver, Wash., and the dam to 27 feet, the river will be
navigable by sea-going craft for 176 miles inland. The final cost of
the project, after installation of its hydroelectric units with a capacity
of more than 500,000 horsepower, will be more than $70,000,000.
The dam offers an economic blood transfusion to an area of ap
proximately 200,000 square miles between the Cascades and the
Rockies. It means water transportation and cheap electric power in this
vast region that has suffered from lack of both.
The JOHN B. YEON STATE PARK, 187.4 m., was named in
honor of an early highway builder. It overlooks the Columbia Gorge,
where the river has carved fantastic cliff walls, and sculptured rocks
that rise 2,000 feet above the valley floor.
At 188 m. the highway crosses McCord Creek.
Left 0.5 m. from the eastern end of the bridge on a trail along the falls in
the perpendicular walls by the stream to a grotto where a fossilized tree pro
trudes from under a deep layer of basalt and conglomerate.
At the eastern end of the McCord Creek bridge is a large stump that
is believed to have matured long before the Cascade Range was thrown
up.
At the village of WARRENDALE, 188.8 m., (14 pop.) are the
North American Fox Farms. When litters exceed the average of from
three to five, the little foxes here are frequently nursed by house cats.
HORSETAIL FALLS, 192.1 m., slant down a 208-foot wall of
columnar basalt, forming the design that gave the falls their name. The
stream drops so close to the highway that it constantly tosses showers of
spray across the pavement. East of the falls ST. PETERS DOME, a
2,000-foot monolithic column, towers against the sky.
ONEONTA GORGE, 192.3 m., is a deep, irregular gash with high
perpendicular walls between which flows a sparkling creek. Mosses,
flowers, and ferns cling to the walls, and fossilized trees, caught by
an ancient lava flow, are now entombed in its sides.
Left from the highway on a trail leading to ONEONTA FALLS at the shadowed
head of the gorge. The stream has worn away the rock, forming the ravine.
MULTNOMAH FALLS (L), 194.5 m., are the most noted of
all falls along the Columbia. The waters drop 620-feet into a maple-
and alder-fringed basin. In summer the mist sprays the willow and the
nodding fern, but in the frosty air of winter it congeals in fantastic
forms, glittering with a cold brilliance, and hangs in magic festoons
from the crenelated wall.
Oregon 147
Left from Multnomah Falls on a foot trail that leads across a bridge spanning
the short stretch of creek between the upper and lower falls. The trail continues
to LARCH MOUNTAIN, 6.5 m. (4,095 alt.). The ascent is gradual. Visible here
is a vast expanse of mountain ranges.
WAHKEENA (Ind., most beautiful) FALLS, 195.1 m., named
for the daughter of a Yakima chieftain, are particularly delightful.
The waters hurl themselves from a precipice 242 feet in height, then
riot in alternate falls and cascades. Wahkeena Creek Springs pour from
a woodland basin a mile and a half above the cliff over which the
waters plunge.
MIST FALLS, 195.3 m., were mentioned by Lewis and Clark. In
their 1,200-foot drop the nebulous waters are often dissipated by the
wind to float away in mist, no water reaching the basin below.
COOPEY FALLS, 197.4 m., drop 117 feet. According to an Indian
legend, this was the site of a battle of giants.
BRIDAL VEIL, 197.5 m. (40 alt., 204 pop.), is a lumber-mill
town tucked in a recess below the highway. Since most of the waters
are confined in a lumber flume, Bridal Veil Falls rumble scantily over
the cliff, and flow under the bridge spanning Bridal Veil Creek. This
beautiful mountain stream is the only one along the Columbia that has
been harnessed for commercial use.
Directly across the river are the CAPE HORN PALISADES, a series of cliffs
rising perpendicularly from the river to a height of more than 400 feet.
Sharp rocks, known as the PILLARS OF HERCULES or SPEEL-
YE S CHILDREN, the latter name commemorating the feats of the
Indian coyote-gods, rise (R) beyond FOREST HILL.
In the depths of the 11-acre park of SHEPPERD S DELL, 199.3 m.,
a 140-foot waterfall appears to gush from solid rock. A white arch of
concrete spans a chasm 150 feet wide and 140 feet deep. Nearby the
parapeted highway rounds a dome-shaped rock, known as BISHOP S
CAP or MUSHROOM ROCK.
LATOURELLE FALLS, 200.5 m., take a sheer drop of 224 feet
into a sparkling pool at the base of an overhanging cliff. LATOURELLE
BRIDGE, which commands an excellent view of the shining waters pour
ing from the vertical wall, lifts its three 80-foot arches 100 feet above
the stream.
The GUY W. TALBOT PARK, 200.6 m., 125 acres of wooded
land with many picnic nooks and vantage points, overlooks the Colum
bia River.
Winding along the forested mountain side and looping in sharp
curves as it climbs, the highway reaches CROWN POINT, 202.8 m.,
148 The Oregon Trail
725 feet above the river on an overhanging rocky promontory, from
which is a view considered the most spectacular along the highway.
In the ascent, the highway makes a wide curve, in the center of which
is the VISTA HOUSE, designed to command views up and down the
Columbia. This impressive octagonal stone structure, designed in the
English Tudor style modified to conform to the character and topog
raphy of the landscape, was built at a cost of $100,000. The foundation
about the base of the house is laid in Italian style, no mortar having
been used. Masons from Italy did the work at this point and elsewhere
along the highway. The wind-swept height, once known as Thor s
Crown, commands a dramatic view of the river east and west for many
miles. The massive wall rises sheer and high above the Columbia
River, and, chiseled into the wall or suspended from it, the highway
spirals to the summit.
The SAMUEL HILL MONUMENT, 204.1 m., is a 50-ton granite
boulder dedicated to the man who was chiefly responsible for the build
ing of the Columbia River Highway. A parking space (R) affords a
view of the river, the mountains of Washington, and Crown Point.
CORBETT, 205.4 m., set in rolling hills, is at the eastern end of a
cultivated area. The road cuts between the cliffs and the SANDY
RIVER, 209.9 m. The steep walls (R), of volcanic pudding-stone, are
watered by numerous freshets in spring and embroidered with bright
flowers and ferns in summer. This stream, flowing from the glaciers
on the southern slope of Mount Hood, was discovered by Lt. William
Broughton on October 30, 1792, and named Barings River for an
English family. The bluffs near one of the river s two mouths now bear
the name of the discoverer. Lewis and Clark passed this point on
November 3, 1805, and in their Journals record the immense quantities
of sand thrown out. They compared the stream with the Platte River,
noted its two mouths, and called it Quicksand River, a name that ap
peared in maps and accounts for about 50 years. The river is noted
locally for its annual run of smelt (eulachan), which ascend in mil
lions each February or March to spawn. These fish, eaten and praised
by epicures among the early explorers, are so oily that, dried, they
were burned to provide illumination; hence the name "candle fish."
When the small, silvery-white fish appear, the word goes out that "the
smelt are running Sandy." Cars soon block the highway for miles, while
hundreds of people, with sieves, nets, buckets, sacks, or birdcages, snare
the fish (special license required; 50$). Shops become overstocked
with smelt. Truck gardeners along the Columbia and many residents of
Portland formerly used them for fertilizer until prohibited by law.
In early days overland travelers were at first not particularly im
pressed by this part of the country. Their long journeys, begun along
the Missouri in late April or early May, usually brought them to Ore
gon after the rainy season had begun. Traveling and sleeping without
Smithsonian Institution
SCALPED HUNTER (1869)
THE COLUMBIA GORGE
Oregon 149
shelter, sometimes for weeks they had no opportunities to dry their
clothes. It was always a matter of wonder to them that their health
continued to be good. One trader, after many days of travel in con
tinuous rain, wrote ruefully in his diary that as he fell asleep on the
soggy ground he was reminded of his beloved grandmother s admoni
tion that he must never permit himself to sleep between damp sheets.
Between truck gardens and dairy farms, US 30 traverses the rolling
lands of the widening Columbia Valley, and past orchards, bulb farms,
and suburban homes. The highway crosses the Willamette River.
PORTLAND, 228.2 m. (32 alt., 301,815 pop.) (see OREGON
GUIDE).
Railroad Station. Union Station, SW. 6th Ave. and Johnson St., for Union
Pacific R.R., Southern Pacific R.R., Northern Pacific Ry., Great Northern Ry.,
and Spokane, Portland, and Seattle Ry.
Accommodations. Hotels and rooming houses of a wide price range; well-
equipped trailer camps along main highways near city; many furnished apart
ments rented by the week.
Points of Interest. St. Charles Hotel, Esmond Hotel. U.S.S. Oregon, Oregon
Historical Society Museum, University of Portland, Sanctuary of Our Sorrowful
Mother, and others.
Right from Portland on US 99, which crosses the Columbia River to VAN
COUVER, Wash., 7.8 m. (115 alt., 15,786 pop.), oldest place of permanent white
habitation west of the Rockies and north of California. Mills, docks, grain ele
vators, and canneries flank the riverside, from which streets stretch back into the
business section b.etween modern brick and terra-cotta structures intermingled
with severely plain or crudely ornate early structures.
Factories now stand at the point where, in November 1792, Capt. George Van
couver s lieutenant, William Broughton, landed from the Chatham. When, in 1824,
Governor George Simpson and Chief Factor John McLoughlin decided to transfer
the Hudson s Bay post from Fort George to this place (see WHY A TRAIL TO
OREGON?), they were determining the seat of the government for all the land
west of the Rockies between the boundaries of California and Alaska. The Chief
Factor was the administrator of the feudal powers vested in his company, the
economic overlord, and the diplomatic representative of his government in the
region. He also became the host of all visitors to the area, the physician-in-chief
to whites and natives, the judge and jury in trials for crime, and the manager
of the only wholesale and retail store in a vast wilderness. From Fort Vancouver,
as the settlement was called in early days, he established trading posts in many
spots, including Alaska, the Sandwich Islands, and California; and he began agri
cultural development of the country around his capital and in the Willamette
Valley. Had he chosen to refuse supplies, credit, and protection from Indians to
the missionaries and settlers coming to the area in the days before the United
States had developed great interest in the territory, he would doubtless have
stopped the movement to Oregon because those returning to the States would have
circulated unfavorable reports of the opportunities available there. Without set
tlers beyond the Rockies it is possible that the United States would not have
been able to establish its claim to the country.
Fort Vancouver had a stout palisade of 20-foot fir posts enclosing an area of
750 by 500 feet, in which were 40 wooden buildings and a stone powder maga
zine. Workshops, storehouses, and dwellings ranged around the central trading
court; and opposite the main entrance of double-ribbed and riveted gates stood
150 The Oregon Trail
the executives dwelling with two 18-pounders mounted before it. A schoolhouse
and a chapel were less frequented than were the dining hall and Bachelors Hall,
to which the men repaired after their meals. The latter resembled a baronial hall
of feudal days, the walls being covered with weapons and trophies.
In 1826 the Chief Factor opened a sawmill and installed a forge. Within a
few years he had 700 head of cattle nearby.
In 1833 the Hudson s Bay Company established the first circulating library on
the Pacific Coast, shipping books and papers, among them the London Times,
from England to Vancouver. John Ball, who arrived with Nathaniel Wyeth in
1832, was pressed into service by the Chief Factor to open the first school.
While the Chief Factor assisted people from the United States to settle south
of the Columbia River, knowing that Great Britain had already decided that this
country would undoubtedly be lost when the territorial dispute was settled, he
strictly adhered to his company s orders to prevent settlement north of the river.
The first man from the United States to attempt to settle on the present town-
site was Henry Williamson, of Indiana, who hacked out a clearing early in 1845.
On March 20, McLoughlin wrote to his superior, "We found a shack built four
logs high in the forest west of the fort. I ordered the men to pull the place down
and destroy the fence surrounding it." Williamson, however, rebuilt his cabin and
filed the claim at Oregon City.
The next settlers arrived on Christmas Day, 1845; they were Amos and Esther
Short, with their eight children. Williamson asserted they tried to jump his claim.
The Hudson s Bay Company also rebuffed them and refused supplies. In the fol
lowing year, by the treaty of 1846, the United States won control of what is now
Washington as well as Oregon; in this same year McLoughlin was forced to resign
his post.
When, in 1848, a military post was established here, Williamson platted the
townsite and named it Vancouver City. New settlers were arriving down the Ore
gon Trail and the census of 1850 listed 95 houses in the newly organized Clark
County, of which Vancouver was made the seat. Two schools were opened and a
ferry franchise was granted for river service. A newly appointed county agent,
R. H. Lansdale, replatted the townsite, ignoring the earlier lines that started from
a great cottonwood on the riverbank, called the Witness Tree. Lansdale not only
kindled private boundary disputes but also infringed on the military reserve. With
the Hudson s Bay Company, now merely a foreign business concern, and the mis
sionaries as claimants against the War Department, six parties were involved in
the controversy; but the Army and the Shorts persevered in occupation. Patriots
changed the town s name to Columbia City.
The town flourished, being on the route of much immigrant travel, having a
garrison for protection during the period of Indian warfare, and possessing a site
at the junction of the Willamette where produce could be transferred to sea-going
vessels.
In 1852 the gay Bonneville returned to the Columbia Valley, now as a lieu
tenant-colonel in command of a post in the area from which he had been politely
dismissed twenty years before. Several men who were later prominent in the Civil
War served here early in their careers.
The gold rushes to Idaho and eastern Washington contributed to the town s
prosperity. Local men engaged in river transportation made fantastic profits; the
little Tenino cleared $18,000 for her owner on a single trip.
The middle 60 s saw many fetes and lavish entertainments, and a rise of cul
tural interest. For the Saint Patrick s Day ball of 1866 at the Alta House, tickets
cost $5, including supper. In 1867 an amateur dramatic society played Robert
Macaire, a melodrama, and later T oodles, a comedy. A traveling troupe appeared
in 1869, playing Nan the Good For Nothing and A Kiss in the Dark.
The growth of the town slackened after the gold fever had abated, but with
the construction of a railroad from Kalama to Tacoma (1872-73) and its eventual
Oregon 151
extension southward, Vancouver reinforced its position as shipping center for a
large agricultural area.
The bronze PIONEER MOTHER, Esther Short Park, 8th Street between .Columbia
and Esther Streets, designed by Avard Fairbanks, presents a woman, flintlock
in hand, with three children clinging to her skirts. A plaque on the obverse side
of the monument shows a woman peering anxiously from a covered wagon while
her husband walks beside the wagon watchfully directing his oxen. Esther Short,
for whom the park was named, had a hard journey over the plains, bearing a
child on the way. When employees of the Hudson s Bay Company appeared to
raze the Short cabin at Vancouver and drive the family away, she slapped the
leader in the face so forcibly that he was knocked down, and fled.
The COVINGTON HOUSE (open 11-4, 2nd. and 4th Tues. each month}, south
west corner 39th and Main Streets, built about 1845, is a restoration of the oldest
house in the State. Built by Richard Covington of roughly squared logs and clap
board siding, with a high, sloped roof, it reveals the influence of the Hudson s Bay
Company structures in its mortise and tenon joints. Known for its entertainment,
Covington s home was a social center for young officers and trading company
officials during the 1850 s.
VANCOUVER BARRACKS is bounded by 5th Street (Evergreen Highway), 4th
Plain Avenue, and E. and W. Reserve Streets. NUMBER Two BARRACKS, in Offi
cers Row, is one of the oldest of the 300 buildings on the reservation. Its log
walls have been sheathed with siding, but the narrow windows, angular outlines,
and peaked roof are characteristic of one of the least graceful periods of Ameri
can architecture. When young Lt. Ulysses S. Grant was stationed here, he planted
potatoes in the nearby lowlands to augment the officers mess and his meager
income but spring floods washed his crop away; the current price of potatoes
was $45 for 100 pounds.
The FIRST APPLE TREE, E. 7th and T. Streets, west of the polo field, was
planted in 1826 by Dr. John McLoughlin. After 1830 the post occupied land
between the tree and the river, a quarter of a mile from the water; erosion has
washed much of the former area into the river; the site of the factor s mansion and
the boundaries of the fort were obliterated long ago.
A dinner guest of McLoughlin s, Capt. Aemilius Simpson, absent-mindedly
drew from his pocket several apple seeds that had been given him by a young
woman at his farewell dinner in London, with the joking request that they be
planted in the wilderness. The factor saw nothing humorous in the request. He
soberly insisted on nurturing the seeds into shoots, which matured into the first
cultivated fruit trees in the Northwest.
PEARSON ARMY AIRPORT, corner 5th and E. Reserve Sts., has hangars, shops,
and administration buildings. Here ended the 63-hour flight across the North Pole
made by three Russians who hopped off at Moscow on June 18, 1937, to test the
feasibility of air transportation across the top of the world. The Soviet fliers landed
at this field because of fog, short of San Francisco, their destination. When asked
the reason for their explorations of the Arctic, the spokesman for the trio voiced
the feeling that Jefferson had had 150 years before them: "We do not like blank
spots on the map."
The GRAVE OF ARTHUR HAINE in the City Cemetery, between 10th and 13th
Streets, is marked by a stone of his own design and the epitaph, "Haine Haint."
Haine, who died in 1907, left a will saying, "Having lived as an atheist I want
to be buried like one without any monkey business."
Section 14. Portland to Astoria, 104.8 m. US 30.
US 30 runs west from Union St. in PORTLAND, m., on St.
Helens Road, a part of the Lower Columbia River Highway, and
passes through a busy industrial district fronting Portland s lower
152 The Oregon Trail
harbor. Wharves line the Willamette River bank (R), where domestic
and foreign vessels are moored. Factories and warehouses occupy the
river flats (R), and a high, forested ridge hides from view the Tualatin
Valley (L). Gasoline distributing plants (R), with steel tanks behind
close-cropped lawns, succeed the factories. There is a virtually unbroken
line of steel plants, construction yards, paint factories, and shingle
mills.
At 7.2 m. is the eastern approach to ST. JOHN S BRIDGE, an unusu
ally beautiful structure. This suspension bridge rises 203 feet above
the river, thus permitting ocean liners to pass beneath it.
LINNTON, 8.6 m., a part of Portland since 1915, retains its indi
viduality. The town was regarded as the possible site of a future
metropolis when Peter Burnett settled in the vicinity in 1843. It has
become an important commercial center since merging with Portland,
though even before the union it was the site of several large mills. Mil
lions of feet of lumber are shipped annually from here.
At 13 m. is a junction with the Burlington Ferry Road, a plank
viaduct leading to a ferry (free) crossing Willamette Slough.
Right on this road to the bank, 0.5 m., off which is SAUVIES ISLAND (850
pop.), which retains much charm, having quiet country roads, across which swing
pasture gates. It has oak groves and several lakes; numerous duck hunters come
to this popular recreational area.
Since farming began here the island has had a high reputation for fertility.
Bulb culture and truck gardening have become increasingly important in recent
years.
The earliest known account of the place was written by Lewis and Clark on
November 4, 1805, when they found a village of 200 Indians here. The explorers
later called it Wapato Island because of the prevalence of a tuberous marsh plant
of that name, the roots of which were used for food by the Indians. The Lewis
and Clark party gathered some distance below the village for dinner. "Soon
after," Clark recorded, "Several canoes of Indians from the village above came
down, dressed for the purpose as I supposed of Paying us a friendly visit,
they had scarlet & blue blankets Salor Jackets, overalls, Shirts and hats inde-
pendant of their usial dress; the most of them had either Muskets or pistols and
tin flasks to hold their powder, Those fellows we found assumeing and disagree
able, however we Smoked with them and treated them with every attention &
friendship.
"dureing the time we were at dinner those fellows Stold my pipe Tomahawk
which they were Smoking with, I immediately serched every man and the canoes,
but could find nothing of my Tomahawk, while Serching for the Tomahawk one
of those Scoundals Stole a cappoe (coat) of one of our interperters, which was
found Stufed under the root of a tree, near the place they Sat, we became much
displeased with those fellows, which they discovered and moved off on their return
home to their village."
In 1829 a violent epidemic, possibly typhus brought in by sailors on the Owyhee
(see below), swept through the population, and Dr. McLoughlin moved the sur
vivors to the mainland and burned many of the straw huts of the settlement. The
Indians never went back.
In 1834 Capt. Nathaniel J. Wyeth audaciously chose a site for his trading post
near the lower end of the island. "This Wappato Island which I have selected for
our establishment," he wrote, "consists of woodland and prairie and on it there is
Oregon 153
considerable deer and those who could spare time to hunt might live well but
mortality has carried off to a man its inhabitants and there is nothing to attest
that they ever existed except their decaying houses, their graves and their un-
buried bones of which there are heaps." Wyeth named his settlement Fort Wil
liam, and set his coopers to work making barrels to carry salmon to Boston. His
trading activities met with such firm and persistent opposition from the Hudson s
Bay Company that in 1836 he reluctantly abandoned the unprofitable enterprise.
With the Wyeth party was J. K. Townsend, an ornithologist from Philadelphia,
who pitched his camp near Fort William, and spent his time collecting birds and
snakes, preserving the latter in a keg of spirits. One day he returned to deposit
another reptile in the keg and found the spirits gone. A culprit confessed to the
dereliction, pleading thirst as an apology.
In 1841 McLoughlin established a dairy here, placing Jean Baptiste Sauvie, a
superannuated trapper, in charge. The place has since borne the name of the old
dairyman.
Sauvies Island figures prominently in Pacific Northwest literature. Besides its
extensive use in Frederic Homer Balch s The Bridge of the Gods, it has served as
background for Sheba Hargreaves Ward of the Redskins, and appears in Lightship
by Archie Binns.
At 18.8 m. the barrier of hills (L) recedes, and the highway enters
the Scappoose Plains, a fertile district where potato culture, truck
gardening, and dairying are carried on. The Hudson s Bay Company
sent men from Vancouver in the late 1820 s to raise vegetables and
grain. Large dairy barns, with round silos of wood or concrete, and
comfortable houses now stand where the trapper-farmers pitched
their camps.
SCAPPOOSE (Ind., gravelly plain), 21.6 m. (56 alt., 248 pop.),
is an old Indian trading post. Chief Caseno, mentioned in the annals
of the Astorians and of the North West Company, had his main village
close by. According to Gabriel Franchere, three deserters from the
Astorians were captured at this place on November 21, 1811, when their
pursuers bribed the Indians with powder and guns that were unfit for
use. The brig Owyhee from the Sandwich Islands spent the winter of
1828-9 in Scappoose Bay. Disease, spreading from the ship, killed
many of the natives. The boat picked up a cargo of salmon and carried
it to Boston.
Today Scappoose is a small but prosperous agricultural community.
Great underground potato warehouses, their ventilators barely rising
above the surface, line the railroad track in the town square, and a
large nearby factory pickles cucumbers from the Willamette Slough.
Beautiful MOUNT RAINIER, almost 90 miles to the northeast, is
sometimes visible at 23.2 m. Mount Adams and Mount St. Helens,
rising on the far horizon, seem but a few feet apart.
ST. HELENS, 28.9 m. (98 alt., 3,994 pop.), a river port, is also
a market and court town. Its manufacturing plants produce insulating
board, pulp and paper, lumber, and dairy products.
St. Helens was laid out in 1847 on the donation land claim of
154 The Oregon Trail
Capt. H. M. Knighton, who launched the town as an active competitor
of the newly founded village of Portland. He contemptuously referred
to his rival as "Little Stump Town," a title suggested by its denuded
forests. In November, 1850, because of its position near deep water, the
town was advertised as a terminus of the first railroad proposed for
Oregon. The KNIGHTON HOUSE was built in 1847 with lumber brought
around Cape Horn from Bath, Maine. Many of the town s buildings,
including the COLUMBIA COUNTY COURTHOUSE, are built of stone taken
from local quarries.
DEER ISLAND, 34.5 m., a little community opposite a river island
of that name, was visited by Lewis and Clark in 1805 and again in
1806. Large herds of sleek cattle graze in the surrounding stump pas
tures.
The highway passes through a narrow gorge, where the hills (L)
crowd upon the road. The lowlands (R) are sloughs, with growths
of willows and alders.
The highway ascends a rugged promontory; at LITTLE JACK FALLS,
44.3 m. (125 alt.), a cascade (L) tumbles over a precipice almost
100 feet high.
US 30 descends to RAINIER, 47.6 m. (23 alt., 1,353 pop.), named
for Mount Rainier, which is often visible to the northwest. Rainier
was an important stop in the days of river commerce. The Hudson s
Bay Company boat Beaver and the Lot Whitcomb of Milwaukee loaded
and discharged freight at its dock.
From the winding curves of RAINIER HILL (671 alt.) there is a
magnificent view of Longview, Wash., and the narrow roadway of the
bridge spanning the river, which is far below. The summit is reached
at 50.9 m.
Descending, the highway crosses ubiquitous BEAVER CREEK, 51.7 m.
Within the next 15 miles westward the road spans this stream or its
tributaries a dozen times. The route now runs through cut-over timber
lands along the banks of the creek.
At 62 m. is a junction with a graveled road.
Right on this road is QUINCY, 1 m., center of a drained and diked area of
the Columbia River lowlands; L. here 3 m. on a dirt road to OAK POINT. The
Winship brothers of Boston, successful in the China trade, attempted to establish a
permanent trading post here in 1810, while Astor was still maturing his plans
for Astoria. Capt. Nathan Winship arrived in the Columbia with their ship, the
Albatross, on May 26, and selected this place, long known as Fanny s Bottom, as
the site for the fortified two-story log post that he built immediately. A June
freshet flooded both fort and garden; later when the Indians grew troublesome,
Winship abandoned the enterprise and returned to Boston.
At 62.4 m. the low logged-off summits of the Coast Range, 20
miles away, are visible. Denuded of their timber, they form a desolate
ridge against the blue horizon.
Oregon 155
CLATSKANIE is at 65.1 m. (16 alt. 739 pop.). Farmers co-opera
tive creameries here manufacture dairy products from the milk pro
duced by great herds of cattle on the drained Columbia River low
lands. The raising of vegetables on these lands for canning is a recent
and profitable enterprise. Clatskanie (cor. Tlatskanie) is named for an
early Indian village in the Nehalem Valley. The natives also applied
the word to certain streams to indicate the route to the village.
At 74.8 m. is WESTPORT, one of the many lumbering and fishing
towns scattered along the waters of the Columbia.
The highway ascends the Coast Range in a series of hairpin turns
to CLATSOP CREST, 80 m., overlooking the Columbia River and the
country beyond. In the immediate foreground is long, flat PUGET
ISLAND, where grain fields and fallow lands weave patterns of green
and gray, and sluggish streams form silvery canals. Although the
island is close to the Oregon shore, it lies within the State of Wash
ington. It was discovered in 1792 by Lieutenant Broughton of the
British Navy, who named it for Lt. Peter Puget.
US 30 twists down to HUNT CREEK, 80.8 m., then climbs a spur
from which a desolate waste of logged-over land extends in all direc
tions. A high, sharply etched mountain (L), with sides bare of vegeta
tion, shows the results of unrestricted timber cutting. Nearby are green-
gray underbrush and silvery branched alders. The route proceeds for
many miles through cut-over country. Occasionally a small settlement
appears, with rude buildings huddling on tiny patches of cultivated
land among the stumps.
Gradually the vegetation of the seacoast is seen. Dogwood, slim
alders, and salal bushes low shrubs with shining olive-green leaves
hug the sandy ground.
At 98.2 m. US 30 crosses the little JOHN DAY RIVER. Small
gardens border its quiet, peaceful course.
On November 7, 1805, Clark wrote, "Ocian in view! 0! the joy" in
his notes on the "Courses and Distances." His rejoicing was premature,
however; the party was merely entering the broad mouth of the
Columbia, but buoyed up by their belief that the end of the journey
was near, they struggled along through the rain and rough waves out
along the northern shore of Gray s Bay (R). On the following day he
wrote: "Some rain all day at intervales, we are all wet and disagreeable,
as we have been for several days past, and our present Situation a
verry disagreeable one in as much, as we have not leavel land Suffi
cient for an encampment and for our baggage to lie cleare of the tide,
the High hills jutting in so close and steep that we cannot retreat back,
and the water too salt to be used, added to this the waves are increasing
to Such a hight that we cannot move from this place, in this Situation
we are compelled to form our camp between the Kite of the Ebb and
flood tides, and rase our baggage on logs." On the 9th he wrote: "our
camp entirely under water dureing the hight of the tide, every man
156 The Oregon Trail
as wet as water could make them all the last night and to day all day
as the rain continued all the day, at 4 oClock P M the wind shifted
about to the S.W. and blew with great violence imediately from the
Ocean for about two hours, notwithstanding the disagreeable Situation
of our party all wet and cold (and one which they have experienced
for Several days past) they are chearfull and anxious to See further
into the Ocian, The water of the river being too Salt to use we are
obliged to make use of rain water. Some of the party not accustomed to
Salt water has made too free use of it on them it acts as a pergitive.
At this dismal point we must Spend another night as the wind & waves
are too high to proceed." Sergeant Ordway s comments were much
briefer, but he ended with "Some of the party killed Several ducks in
the course of the day."
At 101 m. is TONGUE POINT STATE PARK; here is a junction with
a graveled road.
Right on this road to TONGUE POINT LIGHTHOUSE SERVICE BASE, 0.7 m. Built
on a projection extending into the wide mouth of the Columbia River, this base
is the repair depot for the buoys that guide navigators along the watercourses of
the two States. Tongue Point was so named by Broughton in 1792.
On November 10 the Lewis and Clark party, unable to go far because of the
wind, camped on the northern shore nearly opposite this point. The camp was
made on drift logs that floated at high tide, "nothing to eate but Pounded fish,"
Clark noted, "that night it Rained verry hard. . . . and continues this morning,
the wind has luled and the waves are not high." The party moved on but after
they had gone ten miles the wind rose and they had to camp again on drift logs.
Neighboring Indians appeared with fish. The camp was moved on the 12th to a
slightly less dangerous place and Clark attempted to explore the nearby land on
the 13th: "rained all day moderately. I am wet &C.&C." On the 14th "The rain
&C. which has continued without a longer intermition than 2 hours at a time
for ten days past has destroy d the robes and rotted nearly one half the fiew
clothes the party has, particularly the leather clothes." Clark was losing his
patience by the 15th; even the pounded fish brought from the falls was becoming
mouldy. This was the eleventh day of rain and "the most disagreeable time I
have experenced confined on the tempiest coast wet, where I can neither git out
to hunt, return to a better situation, or proceed on." But they did manage to
move to a somewhat better camp that day and the men, salvaging boards from
a deserted Indian camp, made rude shelters. The Indians began to give them too
much attention, however. "I told those people . . . that if any one of their na
tion stole any thing that the Senten l whome they Saw near our baggage with
his gun would most certainly Shute them, they all promised not to tuch a thing,
and if any of their womin or bad boys took any thing to return it imediately and
chastise them for it. I treated those people with great distance."
The party moved on to a place on the northern shore of Baker Bay, where
they remained for about ten days. From this point Clark went overland to explore,
inviting those who wanted to see more of the "Ocian" to accompany him. Nine
men, including York, still had enough energy to go.
On the 21st, "An old woman & Wife to a Cheif of the Chunnooks came and
made a Camp near ours. She brought with her 6 young Squars (her daughters
& neices) I believe for the purpose of Gratifying the passions of the men of our
party and receving for those indulgiences Such Small [presents] as She (the old
woman) thought proper to accept of.
"Those people appear to View Sensuality as a Necessary evel, and do not
Oregon 157
appear to abhor it as a Crime in the unmarried State. The young females are
fond of the attention of our men and appear to meet the sincere approbation of
their friends and connections, for thus obtaining their favours."
Here the explorers had further evidence that English and American sailors
had previously visited the Columbia. The tattooed name, "J. Bowman," was seen
on the arm of a Chinook squaw. "Their legs are also picked with defferent fig
ures," wrote Clark, "all those are considered by the natives of this quarter as
handsom deckerations, and a woman without those deckorations is Considered as
among the lower Class."
Three days later Lewis and Clark held a meeting to decide whether the party
should go back to the falls, remain on the north shore, or cross to the south side
of the river for the winter. The members with one exception voted to move to
the south shore, since game seemed to be more plentiful there, giving them an
opportunity to obtain better food and replenish their stock of clothing. "Janey
(Sacajawea) in favour of a place where there is plenty of pota s." They set up
a temporary camp here on Tongue Point. The rain continued, a steady downpour.
From this place they hunted a suitable site for the permanent camp.
ASTORIA, 104.8 m. (12 alt., 10,349 pop.), seat of Clatsop County,
occupies a high promontory between the mouth of the Columbia and
Young s Bay. The business district lies on a narrow bench near the
water, with the residential district rising behind it on the headland.
Many of the streets end abruptly against high yellow clay banks where
houses cling so precariously that they seem about to tumble down on
the stores and offices below them. The city s commercial life revolves
about fishing, lumbering, flour milling, and shipping. The shore line
is defined by a row of saw mills, flour mills, tall elevators, and the
masts and smokestacks of the many vessels always crowding the docks.
Beyond, flocks of gulls circle overhead or float on the tide. Their
shrill cries are drowned, when the thick vapors drift in, by the hoarse,
haunting bellow of foghorns. At such times buoy lanterns mark the
river channel, and many red, green, and white lights outline the
fishing nets. By day the water is crowded with small boats, some low
in the water with the weight of their catches, and along the shore in
shallow water horses drag fish seines. The animals strain against the
laden nets, or swim ahead of them when the incoming tide lightens
their labors. During the chief fishing season the horses are often stabled
in barns set on piling in the river, and for months do not set hoof on
dry land.
English and Swedish or English and Finnish are spoken in most
shops of the town, 39 percent of Clatsop County s population being of
Swedish or Finnish descent. There are also a number of Japanese
residents.
The settlement of Astoria began when John Jacob Astor s ship, the
Tonquin, arrived in 1811. (See WHY A ROAD TO OREGON?) The
post was built facing north, with the wide estuary, its sandbars and
tumultuous breakers spread out before it, and the promontory of Cape
Disappointment, fifteen miles distant, closing the prospect to the left.
When the expedition arrived the surrounding country was in all the
158 The Oregon Trail
freshness of spring; the trees were in young leaf, the weather was
superb, and everything looked delightful to men just emancipated from
a long confinement on shipboard.
Washington Irving wrote : "All hands now set to work cutting down
trees, clearing away thickets, and marking out the place for the resi
dence, storehouse, and powder magazine, which were to be built of
logs and covered with bark. Others landed the timbers intended for the
frame of the coasting vessel, and proceeded to put them together, while
others prepared a garden spot, and sowed the seeds of various vege
tables.
"The next thought was to give a name to the embryo metropolis;
the one that naturally presented itself was that of the projector and
supporter of the whole enterprise. It was accordingly named Astoria"
But the War of 1812 changed the picture; the Astorians sold the
post to the rival North West Company when they heard that a British
sloop was on its way to destroy all American trading posts on the West
Coast. When the sloop arrived its captain took formal possession of the
territory as an act of war. The North West Company maintained the
post as its headquarters in the area until in 1821, when the company
was united with the Hudson s Bay Company. In the meantime, in 1818,
exclusive British control of the territory ended, with the Oregon coun
try thrown open to joint occupation by Britain and the United States
for ten years. In 1824 the Hudson s Bay Company, then owner of the
post, determined to move its departmental headquarters to a more suit
able spot inland. Astoria was still maintained, however, but merely as
a minor post and ship lookout. Thereafter the importance of the place
declined rapidly and by 1841 the seat of Aster s would-be capital of
the Pacific Coast was merely a half -overgrown clearing holding a shed
and single cabin.
Shortly after the departure of the Astorians the Oregon country had
its first white female visitor. On April 22, 1814, the North West Com
pany s ship, the Isaac Todd, arrived with Donald McTavish, the first
Governor of Fort George, and Jane Barnes, an adventurous barmaid
who had decided to see the world as a companion to McTavish. Jane
changed protectors shortly after her arrival, preferring Alexander
Henry, whom she found at the fort. McTavish solaced himself by taking
a Chinook wife. Then one day the son of Chief Concomly appeared at
the fort, decked out in whale oil and red paint, to ask Jane to be his
wife, offering to send a hundred of the valuable sea-otters to her rel
atives and promising that his other wives should do all the work for
her. When she refused his offer he planned to abduct her. Jealousy and
wonder over Jane s white skin and London ruffles were becoming intense
when both McTavish and Henry were drowned while crossing the
Columbia. Jane decided to leave, but, scorning the attentive captain of
the Isaac Todd., accepted the offer of the captain of the Columbia, also
in the harbor, to take her home. Jane s later history is obscure but the
Oregon 159
dusty files of the North West Company show that she later attempted
to collect an annuity for her services to the North West Company.
In 1844 immigrants began to arrive in the area and on April 9,
1847, the Astoria post office was established.
Beginning in 1880, Astoria had a brisk growth, but in 1922, when
its population had increased to 15,000, fire broke out on its waterfront,
and reduced the structures on 32 city blocks to ashes. A reconstruction
program was then launched that created a new and modern city.
Astoria is the headquarters of the Columbia River fishing industry.
Since the day when, according to Indian legend, the god Talapus cre
ated salmon and, with Serpent holding one end of the net, taught the
Indians to catch them in spruce-net snares, salmon have been of great
economic importance to the lower Columbia. The Hudson s Bay Com
pany engaged to some extent in salmon fishing, but the first commercial
cargo to leave the river was taken by the brig Owyhee in 1830. Five
years later Nathaniel Wyeth s Columbia River Fishing and Trading
Company made an unsuccessful attempt to establish the industry, but
all activities were of desultory nature until 1868, when the first cannery
was built. Others sprang up, and soon salmon was being shipped to
many parts of the world. The salmon catch is now the city s chief
asset, the annual pack being valued at from three to seven million dol
lars. Recently the catching of pilchards off the mouth of the Columbia
has grown into an industry of major proportions.
The SITE OF FORT ASTORIA is on 15th St., between Duane and
Exchange. At the southeast corner of the City Hall is the GRAVE OF
DONALD McTAvisn.
The ASTOR COLUMN, on the summit of Coxcomb Hill (700 alt.),
at the end of Coxcomb Rd., is 125 feet high, and bears a spiral frieze
depicting the events in the city s history in their historical sequence.
Vincent Astor, great-grandson of the founder of Astoria, supplied the
funds for its construction. An entrance at its base opens upon a spiral
staircase leading to an observation platform a few feet from the top,
from which there is a magnificent view of the Pacific Ocean, the Colum
bia River, and the mountainous wooded region around the city.
The PORT OF ASTORIA TERMINAL is the center of activity on the
waterfront. Beginning in 1909, the municipally owned Port of Astoria
Corporation has gradually built up extensive properties. Ships from
many parts of the world load and discharge cargoes from it and from
the smaller wharves along the waterfront.
Nearby are the COLUMBIA RIVER PACKERS ASSOCIATION PLANT,
where salmon is canned, and the UNION FISHERMEN S COOPERATIVE
PACKING COMPANY PLANT (admittance to plants during canning season
by permission).
Left from Astoria on US 101 to the ASTORIA MUNICIPAL AIRPORT, 6.7 m. (R).
Because of its strategic importance as a seaplane base, the Federal Government
contributed extensively to its development in 1936.
160 The Oregon Trail
Left here 1.5 m. on a graveled road to the SITE OF FORT CLATSOP, the
winter encampment of the Lewis and Clark party in 1805-6.
Now overgrown with evergreens, the site is designated by a flagpole set in
concrete and is marked by a bronze plaque. The broad stump that served Lewis
as a writing desk has decayed. Koboway, the Clatsop chief to whom the fort was
given, retired to his lodge leaving the white men s house to fall to ruin. On De
cember 7, 1805, Clark recorded: ". . . after breakfast I delayed about half an
hour before York Came up, then proceeded around this Bay which I call (have
taken the liberty of calling) Meriwethers Bay the Chrisitan name of Capt. Lewis
who no doubt was the 1st. white man who ever Surveyed this Bay [Clark was
mistaken about this], we assended a river which falls in on the South Side of this
Bay 3 miles to the first point of high land on the West Side, the place Capt
Lewis had viewed and formed in a thick groth of pine about 200 yards from
the river, this situation is on a rise about 30 feet higher than the high tides leave
and thickly Covered with lofty pine. This is certainly the most eligable Situation
for our purposes of any in its neighbourhood."
On December 8 the whole party gathered at the site selected by Lewis on the
Netul River and made camp. Within a short time trees were felled and rude huts
erected around an open square. Some of the men were dispatched to the Pacific
to make salt from sea water, others were ordered to hunt, and the remainder
working against time and weather, completed the shelters sufficiently to enable
the party to move in by Christmas.
On Christmas Day Clark wrote: "at day light this morning we we [re] awoke
by the discharge of the fire armts] of all our party & a Selute, Shouts and a
Song which the whole party joined in under our windows, after which they retiree
to their rooms were chearfull all the morning, after brackfast we divided our
Tobacco which amounted to 12 carrots one half of which we gave to the men o:
the party who used tobacco, and to those who doe not use it we make a presen
of a handkerchief, The Indians leave us in the evening all the party Snugly fixec
in their huts. I reeved a prestelnt of Cap* L. of a fleece hosrie [hosiery] Shirt
Draws and Socks, a p r Mockersons of white weazils tails of the Indian woman
& some black root of the Indians before their departure. . . . The day prove(
Showerey wet and disagreeable.
"we would have Spent this day the nativity of Christ in feasting had we any
thing either to raise our Sperits or even gratify our appetites, our Diner concisted
of pore Elk, so much Spoiled that we eate it thro mear necessity." According to
Gass, they were without salt to season even that.
On the 26th the rain continued. Clark says: "we dry our wet articles and
have the blankets fleed, The flees are so troublesom that I have slept but little
for 2 night past and we have regularly to kill them out of our blankets every
day for several past." (Fleas were left by the Indians on each visit.) On the 27th
in the Journals occurs the entry: "Musquetors troublesom."
On the 29th the natives brought word that a whale had floundered on the
shore some distance south, and that their people were collecting fat from it.
Although it was planned to start immediately to the place to obtain blubber, severe
storms delayed the trip until early in January. At that time Sacajawea made her
one recorded plea in her own interests; Clark wrote: "She observed that She had
traveled a long way with us to See the great waters, and that now monstrous fish
was also to be Seen, She though it verry hard She could not be permitted to See
either (She had never yet been to the Ocian)." She was permitted to go with the
men, carrying her baby on her back.
Under the leadership of Clark the small party struggled around the headlands
to the Tillamook country, 35 miles south of Fort Clatsop. Well-laden with blubber,
they returned to the fort. During the late winter and early spring Sacajawea was
busy preparing moccasins and suits of buckskin for the explorers.
Clark noted: "With the party of Clatsops who visited us last was a man
of much lighter Coloured than the nativs are generaly, he was freckled with
Oregon 161
long duskey red hair, about 25 years of age, and must Certainly be half white
at least, this man appeared to understand more of the English language than the
others of his party, but did not Speak a word of English, he possessed all the
habits of the indians." In Adventures on the Columbia (1832) Ross Cox describes
such a man as the son of a sailor who had deserted here from an English ship.
He was said to have had the words "Jack Ramsey" tattooed on his arm. "Poor
Jack was fond of his father s countrymen," Ross says, "and had the decency to
wear trousers whenever he came to the fort [Astoria]. We therefore made a col
lection of old clothes for his use; sufficient to last him many years." The man
was otherwise accounted for by other early visitors; the Indians told them of
several parties of white men who had landed on the Oregon coast in the 18th
century and of a red-haired sailor who was washed ashore about 1760.
The Clatsops became such frequent visitors at the fort that upon its comple
tion Clark noted ". . . at Sun set we let the nativs know that our Custom will
be in future, to Shut the gates at Sun Set at which time all Indians must go out
of the fort and not return into it untill next morning after Sunrise at which time
the gates will be opened, those of the Warciacum Nation who are very fo[r]ward
left the houses with reluctianc." In view of the Indians differing conceptions of
private property, this seems to have been an expedient ruling on the part of the
explorers.
By March the leaders believed that the mountain snows would have melted,
and the winter quarters could be abandoned. On March 23 Clark reported: "loaded
our canoes & at 1 P. M. left Fort Clatsop on our homeward journey, at this place
we had wintered and remained from the 7th of Deer. 1805 to this day and have
lived as we had any right to expect, and we can say that we were never one
day without 3 meals of some kind a day either pore Elk meat or roots. . . .*
Those who write of the Lewis and Clark expedition are apt to stress the dis
comforts and dangers the party experienced, forgetting that these were the price,
fully anticipated and gladly paid, of fulfilling a dream centuries old that of
finding a central route across North America.
Nebraska-Wyoming
ALTERNATE ROUTE
Ogallala, Neb. Scottsbluff Fort Laramie, Wyo. Casper Mud
dy Gap South Pass Granger, Wyo.; 570. 4 m. US 26, US 87, US 87E,
US 287, and unnumbered dirt road.
Between a point seven miles north of Ogallala and Torrington the Union
Pacific R.R. parallels the route; Burlington Lines between Northport and Cas
per; Chicago & North Western Ry. between Orin and Casper.
Graveled roadbed between Ogallala and Bayard; paved between Bayard and
Muddy Gap; oiled gravel between Muddy Gap and Hudsons; unimproved dirt
road between Hudsons and Granger. Travelers who do not care for rough trav
eling can turn south on US 287, paved, at Muddy Gap to return to US 30; the
route through South Pass is only for the adventurous at present. Hudsons-Farson
road will probably be improved in 1939. Inquiry as to weather conditions should
be made before following US 87E and US 287, which run through country where
blizzards are frequent in winter and spring.
Accommodations limited except in large towns.
US 26 runs northwestward across high tableland into the Wildcat
Hills region. Between a point near North Platte, Neb., and Guernsey,
Wyo., it follows the north bank of the North Platte River, the route
traversed by the Mormon Pioneers, and parallels the Oregon Trail,
which was on the south bank. After 1849 the route here was sometimes
called the California Trail because of the goal of the major migrations.
The Pony Express riders and also the first overland stages went
through the valley. Nearly all emigrants bound for central California
and Oregon traveled on one riverbank or the other until 1862 and
quite a number thereafter. The route was determined by two objectives
Fort Laramie, which offered supplies and protection, and South Pass,
the lowest break in the Continental Divide. West of Fort Laramie the
trails continued along the North Platte, crossed a low divide to follow
the Sweetwater, and left it to reach the pass. The descent from that
point to the Green River was easy.
North from US 30 at OGALLALA, m. (see SECTION 3), on US
26, which crosses the North Platte River at 7.7 m. and turns L., fol
lowing the course of the river.
In the oxcart days few who turned up this valley for the first time
failed to experience a quickening of interest. The flat monotonous
prairies, not greatly different in appearance from the country many
of them had known in the East, were being left behind; the air had an
increasing dryness that made their wagon beds and wheels shrink and
fall apart; and the bleak, wind-bitten landmarks of the badlands were
beginning to make their appearance. The travelers were approaching
the foothills of the Rockies, of whose perils and difficulties they had
162
Nebraska-Wyoming, Alternate Route 163
long heard. Members of a generation that had imbibed its ideas of the
wilderness from Cooper s Leatherstocking series were bound at this
moment to see themselves as fearless Hawkeyes entering the scene
of heroic adventure. After 1848, however, those who did not wander
from the beaten track and who traveled in the usual tourist season had
their romantic dreams of a lonely trek through wilderness rudely shat
tered. In 1849 and for many years thereafter the overland trails were
as lonely as Pennsylvania Avenue on Inauguration Day. Passing Fort
Kearney on May 11, 1850, C. W. Smith wrote in his Journal: "Nine
hundred wagons are reported as having passed this spring." Two days
later a member of another train reported three thousand two hundred
wagons ahead of his at this point. On May 17 Lorenzo Sawyer noted
near the fort : "The opposite bank is lined with emigrant trains on the
Council Bluff road." And on May 26 a traveler on the north bank
recorded : "The road on our side of the river for miles ahead are lined
with teams from our camp to the Missouri behind us is one continuous
line of wagons."
At 2.5 m. is the junction with State 61.
Right on this improved dirt road to KINGSLEY DAM, 3 m., which creates
a storage reservoir on the North Platte with a capacity of two million acre-feet
of water.
When the Mormon Pioneers camped in this area on May 11, 1847,
Appleton Harmon was working on the "machinery for the wagon to
tell the distance we travel," Clayton wrote. The dreadfully monotonous
process of counting the revolutions of the wagon wheels was nearing
an end. That day the Saints, finding no water within half a mile of
their camp, resourcefully dug four-foot wells to supply their needs.
On the following day one man found a cured buffalo skin, which
was frugally salvaged. The Saints carried very little excess baggage,
differing from many later emigrants. In spite of the instructions of
Joel Palmer (see APPENDIX) and others on the need of carrying
adequate supplies of food, nearly every train had many members who
thought that they could subsist on game, and therefore filled their
wagons with treasured heirlooms and other non-essentials in place of
foodstuffs. A few days of travel with the oxen struggling to draw the
heavy loads was enough to convince the wiser travelers that their claw-
footed tables and mahogany dressers were serious encumbrances. By
the time the trains reached this region, where the road was rising
steadily, many more pioneer mothers gave reluctant consent when their
husbands insisted that finery and Sunday china be thrown away.
Diarists of the gold-rush days frequently noted the heaps of discarded
goods and mourned because they had no room to carry the valuable
articles they could have salvaged.
164 The Oregon Trail
LEWELLEN, 31.8 m. (419 pop.), is in a section that produces
alfalfa, sugar beets, and corn.
Left from Lewellen on a country road that crosses the North Platte River to
ASH HOLLOW, 3 m., a deep canyon where one route of the Oregon Trail, used
chiefly after Fort Sedgwick (see SECTION 4) had been established on the South
Platte, descended steeply from a plateau to the North Platte. The canyon was
so named by Fremont because of "a few scattering ash trees in the dry ravine."
The precipitous but now easily passable road through the canyon, bordered by
rank, spring-fed vegetation and arching trees, contrasts strikingly with the sweep
ing yellow wheat fields on the plateau and the sandy banks of the river below. On
a knoll close to the river is the SITE OF FORT GRATTAN, a post that was built of sod.
Near the mouth of the hollow is a moist spot where in season wild roses, choke-
cherries, gooseberries, currants, and ferns cover the ground beneath the tall ash
trees. Seven-tenths of a mile from the river are a few small cedars, said to mark
the site of a cabin built by trappers in 1846. This cabin was later a general meet
ing place and unofficial post office. Nearby are a small grove of ash trees and a
spring.
Half a mile below the edge of the plateau are the Rums OF THE JOE CLARY
HOUSE; Clary was the first settler here. About midway the road follows ruts of
the old trail for a short distance.
At WINDLASS HILL, indicated by a marker, the drivers of covered wagons
experienced much difficulty. Early accounts often mention the casualties to men,
beasts, and equipment that were common events here. An English traveler who
made the trip in 1849 wrote that the descent was so breath-taking that no one
spoke for two miles. He reported that riders dismounted to lead their horses, that
wagons with wheels locked were steadied with ropes, and that two mules were
crushed under a wagon that broke loose. In the 1860 s Indians sometimes waited
in ambush above the narrow passage.
Ash Hollow and neighboring ravines were popular Indian hunting grounds. It
was the scene of a day-long battle between the Pawnee and the Sioux, in which
the Pawnee were badly beaten and driven from the North Platte Valley.
By the time the Pioneer Saints reached this point the "roadometer"
was operating successfully, but William Clayton was much annoyed
to find that Harmon was having it "understood that he invented the
machinery . . . which makes me think less of him than I formerly
did. . . . What little souls work."
At 33.7 m. the highway crosses BLUE WATER CREEK, in 1855
the scene of the Battle of Blue Water, also called the Battle of Ash
Hollow. Several incidents led up to the battle, notably the killing of
Lt. John Lawrence Grattan and his force of 28 men by Sioux (see
below). Gen. W. S. Harney with more than a thousand men entered
the Platte country to subjugate the restless Indians. Most of the Sioux,
when ordered to cross to the south side of the Platte River, did so, but
one band of Brule stayed on the north side of the river. It was here
at Blue Water Creek that Harney and his men overtook and attacked
them.
OSHKOSH, 43.7 m. (843 pop.), is the seat of Garden County. In
1885 Henry G. Gumaer, Alfred W. Gumaer, Herbert W. Potter, and
John Robinson of St. Paul, Neb., established a cattle ranch here. When
Applcton s Journal
CROSSING THE PLAINS
I
COTTSBLUFF
Kirsch
Nebraska-Wyoming, Alternate Route 165
a post office was opened in 1886 the settlement was named for Oshkosh,
Wis.
The soil of this district is somewhat sandy. The prairie, rimmed with
bluffs on the south and hills on the north, is irrigated and sugar beets
are the principal crop.
At 44.2 m. is the junction with State 27.
Right on this graveled, sandy road (make local inquiries as to condition) is
the 41,000-acre Federal migratory waterfowl sanctuary, called CRESCENT LAKE
RESERVE, 22 m. Thousands of ducks nest here during the summer. The region
includes a number of swamps and lakes.
At BROADWATER, 74.6 m. (368 pop.), on May 23, 1847, Ap-
pleton Harmon wrote in his Journal: "I arose in the morning & found
it to be a pleasant one verry little air stiring the Sun Shone warm
I borrowed Wm. Clatons spy glass & started off to the bluffs after
breakfast a bout, % past 9 A. M. which was a bout 1 mile distant as I
came near the foot off the Bluff I gradually assended until I came to
the foot of a Piremid & by going around it I found that I could assend
it, by Clambering over the fragments of rocks that had broken off
from near the top & ley in a confused mass, half way down the side I
succeeded in ascending to its sumit ... I was here joined by 3 or 4
of the brethering who came to visit the same cenerry.. . . we left this
& went to another larger & higher some 50 or 60 rods to the East of uss,
this we assended from the North side passing huge rocks, that, have
been rolled out of their natural place, by the wash off the heavey
rains or the convulsive throughs of nature at the crusifixion off our
Saveour."
US 26 here turns L. and crosses to the south side of the North
Platte, then turns R., still following the river.
BRIDGEPORT, 90.4 m. (3,653 alt., 1,421 pop.), observes Camp
Clarke Days (four days, first week in Sept.) annually with a celebra
tion opened by a parade of floats. The oldest settlers are honored;
pioneer and Indian relics are on display. There are water contests,
athletic events, band concerts, speeches, and a bowery dance.
At Bridgeport is the junction with State 86 (see SIDE ROUTE C).
Left from Bridgeport on State 88, a graveled road that passes COURTHOUSE
ROCK and JAIL ROCK (R), 5 m. These old landmarks rise abruptly from a
level plain and form the eastern terminus of the Wildcat Hills. Courthouse Rock,
according to one account, was named by migrants from St. Louis, who thought it
resembled their county building. The top strata of the bluff, worn away on the
edges, roughly suggest a classical pediment. Jail Rock nearby, somewhat smaller,
is believed to have been named later by cowboys who remembered that a jail is
often the structure nearest to a courthouse. The lower parts of the buttes are
composed of Brule clay, the upper of Gering sandstone bands alternating with
clay. In recent years hundreds of tourists, knives in hand, have emulated the
pioneers by carving their names and accumulated wisdom on the faces of the
166 The Oregon Trail
rocks, unaware that this formation weathers quickly. A single heavy storm has
been known to change the contours.
Several Indian legends are associated with the vicinity. One concerns a Pawnee
hero who was rewarded by the gods with a magic horse for having rescued his
grandmother, who had been abandoned by the tribe, in accordance with custom,
because of her age. With the aid of this horse he inflicted heavy losses on the
traditional enemy, the Sioux, and performed a hunting feat that won him the
chief s daughter. Between these exploits he retired to the rocks for communion
with his spiritual guides. At one time the Pawnee, forced to retreat down the
North Platte Valley before the encroachments of the Sioux, left behind a small
rear guard, who were outnumbered and forced to take refuge on top of the bluff.
The Sioux encamped at the base, trying to starve out the Pawnee ; but the Pawnee
lowered themselves one at a time down a crevice in the rock, crept through the
sleeping camp, and escaped.
Courthouse Rock was noted by many early explorers and travelers. Parker,
the missionary, thought of it as an old castle. James Clyman in his diary of 1844
and Palmer in 1845 described it as an Old World ruin. Bryant estimated that its
height was three to five hundred feet and its circumference one mile. On a nearby
cliff of the same formation the words "Post Office" had been carved near the
top; travelers deposited letters for friends behind them on the trail in boxes hewn
in the soft stone base. Gilbert Cole, who passed along the trail in 1852, wrote of
the long panorama of rocks, water, and sky in the region and of the cloud shadows
on the plain.
BIRDCAGE GAP, 12 m., is a break in the Wildcat Range that carried a
route of the Oregon Trail in the days when many emigrants followed the South
Platte to Julesburg before turning northwest to Fort Laramie. Through it ran
the stagecoaches connecting Sidney with the Black Hills. Parts of the trail are
still discernible.
At Bridgeport US 26 recrosses the North Platte and follows the
north bank.
NORTHPORT, 91.8 m. (3,688 alt., 150), opposite Bridgeport,
was so named because of its position.
At 94 m. is the SITE OF CAMP CLARKE, as well as the SITE OF THE
CAMP CLARKE BRIDGE. In 1876 the first wagon bridge across the North
Platte River was built here by Henry T. Clarke of Omaha, to accommo
date stages traveling between Sidney and the Black Hills. For a time
soldiers guarded both ends of the bridge; a toll of $1 for a team, 50
cents for a person, was charged. The bridge was used until 1900.
At the south end of the bridge were a post office, store, saloon, stage
barn, and other buildings destroyed by a prairie fire in 1910.
BAYARD, 107.5 m. (3,753 alt., 1,559 pop.), was named in 1887
for Bayard, Iowa. The town s chief industry is the manufacture of beet
sugar. Local people like to call the area the Valley of the Nile because
of its fertility under irrigation. From the town is a wide view of the
blue hills of the Wildcat Range on the south side of the river. Standing
out distinctly in the center of the valley is Chimney Rock (see SIDE
ROUTE C), a landmark of the Oregon Trail.
MINATARE (L), 120.4 m. (3,820 alt., 1,079 pop.), was named
for the Minnetaree, a Siouan tribe. Visible from the town is Scott s
Nebraska-Wyoming, Alternate Route 167
Bluff (see SIDE ROUTE C), a landmark that rises seven hundred
feet above the North Platte River.
At 129.9 m. is the junction with a graveled road.
Left on this road 1 m.; R. here on a dirt road running through a farmyard;
then on foot. It is necessary to crawl under a barbed-wire fence to reach the GRAVE
OF REBECCA WINTERS, 1.5 m. Rebecca Winters, the mother of Mrs. Augusta Win
ters Grant, wife of a President of the Mormon Church, was a victim of the cholera
epidemic of 1852.
A member of a Mormon train, she was one of many who developed cholera
soon after leaving the Missouri; though she did not die of the disease it left her
weak and wasted. For five hundred miles she lay on a bundle of quilts in a jolt
ing wagon before succumbing. The Latter-Day Saints have erected a monument
over her grave. When the Burlington Route right-of-way was surveyed, the grave
was found to be in direct line with the proposed road. The route was changed
to leave the grave undisturbed.
SCOTTSBLUFF, 131.9 m. (4,000 alt., 8,465 pop.), was named
for Scott s Bluff (see SIDE ROUTE C), which had been named for
Hiram Scott, the trapper. The town was laid out in 1899. In the
spring of 1905, some satirical person nicknamed it "Venice," because
the 10-foot plank sidewalks bordered a foot of water that lay on
Main Street and was inhabited by frogs; the citizens finally used sod
blocks from two old corrals to raise the street level. The growth of the
town has been rapid, the population in 1910 having been only 1,798.
Today it is a shipping point for livestock, sugar beets, and grain.
West of Scottsbluff the highway continues along the north bank
of the North Platte River, through a hilly country, where in season a
patchwork landscape of sugar beets, alfalfa, corn, beans, and wheat
is crisscrossed by the irrigation ditches that have made cultivation pos
sible. A successful farmer in this section must of necessity be some
thing of an engineer; he and his workers are seen wading in rubber
boots, adjusting dams and water gates, shoveling out ditches, and guid
ing water into the proper channels.
On the edges of the beet fields are the shacks inhabited from mid-
May until October by families of Mexicans, Spanish Americans, and
Germans who came to the area from the Volga region between 1900
and 1910. The owners of the beet fields plow, seed, and harrow their
land, but contract with migrant workers for the handwork. It is cus
tomary in this area for the head of a family to contract to handle as
many acres as the size of his household permits; a family with three
working members usually cares for about 20 of the average 12-ton-crop
acres. Thinning is carried on in late May and early June, hoeing in late
July and early August, pulling and topping in October. In 1937 the
average payment for a season s work on an acre was $20.50. This wage
may be somewhat increased under the terms of the Sugar Control Act
of 1937; this act also forbids the labor of children under 14 years of
age, though the rule is hard to enforce. During the winter many of the
workers live in nearby villages.
168 The Oregon Trail
Beet-growing is one of the most profitable agricultural activities in
Nebraska; the average market price for sugar beets is $6 a ton.
At 134. m. is the junction with a dirt road.
Right on this road to the SCOTTSBLUFF EXPERIMENT FARM (open to
public), 4 m., maintained by the U. S. Department of Agriculture in co-operation
with the University of Nebraska. The farm includes 160 acres of irrigated lane
and 800 acres of pasture.
It was in this area, on May 29, 1847, that Pres* Brigham Young
delivered an angry sermon denouncing the Pioneer Saints for their
light-heartedness. He felt that they were too much enjoying the expedi
tion whose solemn purpose was to find the Promised Land. On Satur
day, May 22, Clayton had written: "The evening was spent very joy
fully by most of the brethren, it being very pleasant and moonlight
A number danced till the bugle sounded for bed time at nine o clock
A mock trial was also prosecuted in the case of the camp vs. James
Davenpot for blockading the highway and turning ladies out of their
course. . . . We have had many such trials in the camp which are
amusing enough and tend among other things to pass away the time
cheerfully." But on the following Friday night he wrote that "Elder
Kimball came to the next wagon where some of the boys were playing
cards. He told them his views and disapprobation of their spending
time gaming and dancing and mock trying, etc., and especially profane
language uttered by some." It was on the following morning that Young
gave his rebuke. In the course of it, according to Clayton, he said, "!
have let the brethren dance and fiddle and act the nigger night after
night to see what they will do, and what extremes they will go to, i:
suffered to go as far as they would. . . . The brethren say they want a
little exercise to pass away time in the evenings, but if you can t tire
yourselves bad enough with a day s journey without dancing every
night, carry your guns on your shoulders and walk, carry your wood to
camp instead of lounging and lying asleep in your wagons, increasing
the load until your teams are tired to death and ready to drop to earth
. . . Suppose the angels were witnessing the hoe down the other eve
ning, and listening to the haw haws the other evening, would they no
be ashamed of it."
Young s irritation was perhaps excessive but it was understandable.
In settled places he encouraged recreation and himself took part in
formal dances. Here, however, he was nearing the most difficult and
dangerous part of the journey and responsibility for the success of the
home-finding expedition rested heavily on him.
At MITCHELL, 141.7 m. (3,945 alt., 2,058 pop.), are the SCOTTS
BLUFF COUNTY FAIR GROUNDS.^
HENRY, 155.2 m. (167 pop.), originally built in Wyoming, was
Nebraska-Wyoming, Alternate Route 169
moved into Nebraska because the inhabitants wanted the advantage of
a difference in railroad freight rates.
At 155.5 m. US 26 crosses the Wyoming Line. Nearby is the SITE
OF AN ASTORIAN CAMP ; here Robert Stuart and the men he led camped
for several months in the winter of 1812, on their journey from Astoria
to St. Louis.
Near the Wyoming Line is the SITE OF THE FIRST RED CLOUD
AGENCY. The establishment of Red Cloud Reservation marked the end
of the warfare carried on by Red Cloud, chief of the Ogallala Sioux,
against the whites. In 1875 the agency was moved to another site.
In Wyoming the highway continues through the North Platte Valley,
following a prehistoric Indian trail as well as the route of the return
ing Astorians in 1812-1813, of Captain Bonneville in 1832, and of in
numerable migrants in later years.
When the Mormon Pioneers reached this point their minds were
still filled with Young s sermon and the promises they had made for
better conduct. Clayton said he "never noticed the brethren so still and
sober on a Sunday."
TORRINGTON, Wyo., 163.4 m. (4,098 alt., 1,811 pop.), named
for Torrington in England, is the seat of Goshen County, which has no
bonded indebtedness; royalties from oil, iron, coal, and other minerals
reduce taxes and help to maintain public schools. Lying chiefly on the
north side of the Platte River, Torrington is the trade center of an area
producing sugar beets, potatoes, alfalfa, and seed crops. The annual
Goshen County Fair is held here (usually second week in September).
At 167.4 m. is the junction with a dirt road.
Left on this winding road 2 m. to the ranch of the Lincoln Land Company,
on which is the SITE OF THE ROCK RANCH BATTLE. One old building on the
ranch was formerly a trading post; in it are a hundred holes, locally called port
holes, that have been blocked up. Guns were thrust through these during attacks.
It is said that in the early 1850 s a party of emigrants, who had slaves with them,
stopped at the post to rest. During the day they were attacked by Sioux. Some
of the Negroes were killed and were buried under the floor.
At LINGLE, 173.3 m. (4,150 alt., 415 pop.), situated about a mile
north of the Platte River, is a HYDROELECTRIC POWER PLANT of the
North Platte Federal Reclamation Project.
At 175.3 m. (L) , across the river from US 26, is the SITE OF THE
GRATTAN INCIDENT of August 18, 1854. Accounts of what happened
here vary. According to the most reliable version, a party of Mormons
bound for Utah was passing an encampment of Sioux at this place; a
lame cow at the rear of the caravan wandered into the Indian camp.
For some reason the migrants did not go after her but proceeded to
Fort Laramie, where they reported the incident. The fort was tempo
rarily in command of Lt. John Lawrence Grattan, a recent West Point
graduate, who lacked frontier experience. Grattan came to the camp
170
The Oregon Trail
with an interpreter and 28 other men and learned that the cow had been
killed and eaten; he demanded that the Indians surrender those who
had killed the animal. When the Indians refused, Grattan rashly or
dered his men to fire into the tepee of the chief offender. The Indians
returned the fire; Grattan and five soldiers fell immediately, and others
were overtaken and killed. Though Grattan s superior officers deeply
regretted the affair, both because of the deaths of the soldiers and the
enmity aroused among the Indians, they had to admit that Grattan had
conducted himself unwisely and that the Indians had acted under
extreme provocation.
For some time afterward, Fort Laramie was almost in a state of
siege.
At 176.3 m. (L), across the river from US 26, is the SITE OF FORT
BERNARD, a trading post built in 1849 that consisted of one crude log
structure. According to Ware s Emigrant Guide to California, this post
had "accommodations far inferior to those of an ordinary stable."
FORT LARAMIE, 183.6 m. (4,250 alt., 245 pop.), bears the name
of the nearby fort, which took its name from the river. The river was
named for Jacques La Ramee, an early trapper (see SECTION 5).
Left from the town of Fort Laramie on a marked dirt road that is carried
across the North Platte on a three-span bridge.
OLD FORT LARAMIE, 2 m., on 180 acres, has been acquired by the State
of Wyoming and is to be made a National Monument. A number of early build
ings remain, including the blacksmith shop and supply house, the commissary,
and soldiers and officers quarters.
This place, on the North Platte near the mouth of the Laramie River, was
one of the most important points on the road to Oregon and California. The first
buildings were erected about a mile upstream. It was settled in 1834 as a fur-
trading post, Fort William, by Robert Campbell and William Sublette and named
for the latter. A year later the post passed into the hands of Fitzpatrick, Sublette,
and Bridger and shortly afterward became a post of the American Fur Company,
tinder which it was called Fort John. By 1839 the settlement had grown and was
surrounded by a rectangular stockade 15 feet high, with lookout towers on two
opposite corners. About 1846 the American Fur Company built a new post a mile
upstream and called it Fort Laramie, which almost from the beginning had been
the popular name of the place. The old post was demolished soon afterward.
Three years later the American Fur Company sold its property here to the U. S.
Government and Fort Laramie became a military post.
From 1834 until 1862, when part of the westbound traffic began to move farther
south, the post was the real jumping-off-place for almost everyone on his way
to the mountains, to the Columbia, and to Utah and California. Until after the
Mormons reached Utah this was the last point short of the Hudson s Bay terri
tory where it was always possible to buy supplies. (Though Jim Bridger estab
lished a post in the Green River Valley about 1843, he was often away from
home when travelers most wanted his aid.) At Fort Laramie travelers could always
find traders and Indians with the latest news on conditions of the route and the
attitude of the Indians. After the Federal Government set up a military estab
lishment here during the gold rush, the fort was the scene of even greater activity.
The commandant, in addition to keeping an eye on the Indians, had to act as
nursemaid for reckless and improvident pioneers. Some arrived at this point, which
was less than half way along the trail, without supplies or the possibility of buy-
Nebraska-Wyoming, Alternate Route 171
ing them. Others lacked most of the equipment necessary for the difficult travel
westward.
In 1851 the stage line operated by John Hockaday and William Liggett began
to carry mail, express, and sometimes passengers to western posts. Horses were
changed here. After the overland line was put in operation Fort Laramie was a
regular stage station. In 1860 and 1861 one of the most exciting regular events
was the arrival and departure of the Pony Express riders; this was one of the
relay points where riders would wait with saddled horses for the transfer of the
mail from the East and the West.
From the beginning the post was a rendezvous for Indians as well as whites;
they came here to steal when they dared, to beg, to trade, to watch the white
men, to parley, and to share the local excitement. Indian children and dogs played
about the stockades and squaws stood about wide-eyed and watchful. Sometimes
there would be more than a hundred lodges on the nearby land. Gamblers, traders,
hunters, prospectors, and journalists were always about after the great migration
had begun.
Hunting parties of pleasure seekers also outfitted here. The most spectacular
expedition of this sort to leave the post was that of Sir George Gore, who traveled
in truly imposing state with Jim Bridger as his guide.
A number of important treaties with the Indians were signed at or near Fort
Laramie. Not all were successful. The treaty of 1851 was considered the eventual
source of the hostilities that terrorized the northern plains for a score of years (see
SIDE ROUTE C).
When the Indians were making their last attempt to drive away the invaders,
they drove off stock, pillaged emigrant wagons, and killed ranchmen and traders,
keeping those at Fort Laramie constantly on the alert for attack. Although the
years 1862-65 were the "bloody years" on the Great Plains, the years of greatest
danger here were between 1867-77. In 1867 Congress created a peace commission
with a view to obtaining safety for travelers along the trans-continental railways
and the overland routes. In 1868 this commission succeeded in negotiating the
Sioux Treaty, by which the country north of the North Platte River and east
of the summit of the Big Horn Mountains was recognized as belonging solely to
the Indians. This treaty was later broken by white men who pushed into the
Indian country in their eagerness to reach the Black Hills gold fields.
On June 2, 1847, Appleton Harmon, the Pioneer Saint, here wrote in his diary:
"we went in to the Fort & was kindly & genteelly receivd by Mister Bordeaux
the maniger or master of the Fort he invited us in to a room upstairs which look
verry mutch like a bar room of an eastern hotel it was ornamented with several
drawings Portraits &c a long desk a settee & some chairs constituted the prin
ciple furniture of the room it wass neat & comfortable Mr Bordeaux, answered
the meney questions that was asked by us a bout the country the Natives &c he
sed the seasons ware ginerally dry that thare had been no rain for 2 years until
within a few days he said that the Soux would not disturb the emegrants but
the crows ware verry annoysome that they came & robed them of 25 horses about
10 days ago they crept along under the bank of Larrieme fork until within 80
rods of the fort in the day time then rushed out between the fort & the horses
& drove them of in Spite of the guards, (for there ware 2 a herdding them at
the time) and had themsafe before one forse could reach the spot from the fort,
The remainder of their horses ware guarded by 4 men all the time and put in
the Fort at night, they had just sent off 600 packs of robes to fort Pier on the
missouri river the distance nearly 300 miles, they said that some traders ware
thare yesturday that said that 6 days drive ahead that the Snow was midled
deep 10 days ago & that it would be dificult to find feed for our teams he said
that thare ware buffalo 2 days drive ahead & some grisseley Bairs that he ex
pected some Oregon emegrants soon he said that the next fort of trading post
we came to was fort Bridgeer the other side of the mountains."
Emigrants were less of a novelty here and troops were in command in 1853
172 The Oregon Trail
when James Farmer, another Mormon emigrant, arrived, "we then entered Fort
Laramie consisting of a few wooden houses and about 67 soldiers stationed here
it lies in the hollow high Bluffs all around they have 6 pieces of cannon and all
seem very happy there are stores here where we can purchase anything we need
but very high flour 15 dollars a sack."
Here are the RUINS OF THE ENLISTED MEN S BARRACKS, which were three hun
dred feet in length and built of cement, or grout; the limestone was quarried
from nearby hills by the troops. The walls are more than 20 inches thick. The
dance hall on the second floor was a rendezvous for cowboys and soldiers and
the scene of many celebrations. It was particularly gay in the days when cattle
from Texas were being driven past the fort on their way to the plains of Wyoming
and Montana for fattening before being shipped to market.
The GUARD HOUSE, built in 1849-59 of stone, has a double-barred window. The
dungeon is in good condition. Directly north, on the edge of the parade ground,
is the SITE OF FORT WILLIAM.
The SUTLER S STORE, constructed of adobe, is probably the oldest building in
Wyoming. Jim Bridger lived here when serving the post as a scout. Here in 1868
Red Cloud signed the Sioux Treaty, and here in 1872 one of the Janis brothers
was killed during a Christmas Day brawl. This store was not only the trade center
for people living hundreds of miles around, especially from 1856 to 1872, but
also contained banking facilities.
OLD BEDLAM, the officers club, was built by the Government in 1851 at a cost
of $70,000. The fact that all lumber for its construction was hauled by oxen from
Fort Leavenworth, Kans., largely accounts for its cost. It was to Old Bedlam in
1866 that "Portugee" Phillips brought news of the disaster at Fort Phil Kearney
in which Capt. W. J. Fetterman and 80 men were killed. Phillips ride was made
in subzero weather, through blizzards and with hostile Indians on every side.
On the south bank of the North Platte River, in the tongue of land about
three-fourths of a mile above its junction with the Laramie, is the SITE OF FORT
PLATTE (see above}. In Rocky Mountain Life, Rufus B. Sage, the journalist who
visited this spot about 1841, related a typical story of the period. "The night of
our arrival at Fort Platte was the signal for a grand jollification to all hands,
(with two or three exceptions) who soon got most gloriously drunk, and such an
illustration of the beauties of harmony as was then perpetrated, would have rivalled
Bedlam itself, or even the famous council chamber beyond the Styx.
"Yelling, screeching, firing, shouting, fighting, swearing, drinking, and such
like interesting performances, were kept up without intermission, and woe to the
poor fellow who looked for repose that night he might as well have thought of
sleeping with a thousand cannon bellowing at his ears.
"The scene was prolonged till near sundown the next day, and several made
their egress from this beastly carousal, minus shirts and coats, with swollen eyes,
bloody noses, and empty pockets, the latter circumstance will be easily under
stood upon the mere mention of the fact, that liquor, in this country, is sold for
four dollars per pint.
"The day following was ushered in by the enactment of another scene of comico-
tragical character.
"The Indians encamped in the vicinity, being extremely solicitous to imitate
the example of their illustrious predecess 
