Go west, young man. Go west.

 

    Go West, young man. That is a saying that we have all heard at one point or another in our lives. My favorite is when it is said in The Man From Snowy River. But he went a bit too far and ended up in Australia.

   Today we think nothing of jumping in the car and traveling a few hours and a few hundred miles to go on a vacation or visit family. Imagine traveling for months in a wagon to start a new life. Westward expansion in America was an amazing time in our history. So let's go back to how it all started.

   From 1811-1840 the Oregon Trail was laid down by fur traders and trappers were the first to blaze a trail over the Continental Divide. In  1836, the first migrant wagon train traveled it from Independence, Missouri to Fort Hall, Idaho. By 1843 the trail was filled with emigrants heading out to find a new life in the West.

Oregon Trail Map1843

The Oregon Trail was a 2,200 mile route from Independence, Missouri to Oregon City, Oregon. It was a long dangerous trail that traveled across Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Idaho, and into Oregon. Imagine being among 120 wagons, and 1,000 people and thousands of livestock to make a five to six month trek across mountains, deserts, and dangerous river crossings. Diseases took many lives along the trail, and others died from accidents. An estimated 350,000 settlers from the 1830s through 1869 traveled the Oregon Trail. 

Courthouse Rock and Jailhouse Rock

Chimney Rock

The first landmark seen by the travelers was Courthouse Rock and Jailhouse Rock in the Platte River valley. Chimney Rock is probably one of the most famous landmarks along the trail. It signaled the end of the prairies, and the trail would become more rugged as they headed toward the Rocky Mountains. Our Independence Rock here in Wyoming is another famous landmark. It was the place the emigrants hoped to reach by July 4th. Independence Rock has over 5,000 names carved on it. It was also called the Great Register of the Desert.  Register Cliffs is another well known place Oregon Trail travelers carved their names. Sadly over the years it has be vandalized. And not far from Register Cliffs is a great place to see the wagon ruts carved into the rocks on the Orgon Trail.

Register Cliffs, Gurnsey, Wy

Wagon ruts, Gurnsey, Wy

Cheyenne Deadwood Stage

 

As towns were established and populations of the towns grew, people turned to stage travel. The Cheyenne to Deadwood Stage is an example. It ran for eleven years and was 300 miles long, carrying passengers and mail. This method of travel was hazardous as well. Attacks by the Sioux as the settlers invaded their land. Robberies were frequent as well. 

1880 Train in Hill City, SD

By 1869 the Transcendental Railroad was complete and wagon trains were a thing of the past. It was a difficult race for the railroads coming from the east and west to finally meet in Utah. People went where the money was and settlements popped up where the railroad went. Drinking, gambling, prostitution and lots of violence followed in the wake of the railroad. Keeping workers was difficult as well because of the hard labor. Then the Pacific Railroad began hiring Chinese laborers. The Central Pacific Railroad employed mostly Irish immigrants and Civil War veterans. When the railroad was finished it made the journey across the States from months to a week.

Archway Museum in Kearney, NE

This brings us to today. We can travel easily and conveniently at our leisure. As the wagons set out to Oregon, I bet they never dreamed that one day there would be paved roads everywhere and travel would take a matter of hours instead of months. 

For you museum buffs, I highly recommend the Archway Museum in Kearney, Nebraska. It is a walk-through history of travel. Starting with the Oregon Trail and ending with a view over I-80.

Happy Travels!!!