Oregon Trail: Difference between revisions

The '''Oregon Trail''' went from western [[Missouri, United States Genealogy|Missouri]] across the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Plains Great Plains] into the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Mountains Rocky Mountains] to Oregon City, Oregon. It was most heavily used in the 1840s, 1850s, and 1860s. It was the longest historic overland migration  trail in North America. The length of the wagon trail from the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missouri_River Missouri River] to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willamette_Valley Willamette Valley] was about 2,000 miles (3,200 km). It normally took four to six months to traverse the length of the Oregon Trail with wagons pulled by oxen. About 80,000 pioneers used it to reach Oregon, and about 20,000 to Washington before the transcontinental railroad in 1869.<ref name="OrTr">Wikipedia contributors, "Oregon Trail" in ''Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia'' at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oregon_Trail (accessed 12 July 2012).</ref>

== Records and Lists of Settlers  ==

*[https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/1852047?availability=Fresno%20California%20Family%20History%20Center David C. Duniway. Genealogical Material in Oregon Donation Land Claims: abstracted from applications. 5 volumes. Portland,Oregon: Genealogical Forum of Portland, 1957-1975. FHL 975.R2gfpo]

=== County ===

=== Pioneer Associations ===

*'''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oregon_Pioneer_Association  Oregon Pioneer Association]'''

*'''Pioneers in Attendance Published in the Oregon Pioneer Association Annuals Reunions'''

   

   

*''' [http://oregonsdop.org/ Sons and Daughters of Oregon Pioneers]'''

*[https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/735297 SDOP News: Newsletter of the Sons and Daughters of Oregon Pioneers. FHL 979.5 D25s]

*Vera Martin Lynch, ''Free land for free men: a story of Clackamas County'' ((Portland, Oreg.: Printed by Artline Print), 1973). [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/806270 WorldCat entry]. {{FHL|150790|item|disp=FHL Book 979.541 H2L}}.

*Elma Rust, ''Pioneers of Lake Creek Valley, and a few later ones'' (Photocopy of original published: Blachly, Ore.&nbsp;: E. Rust, 1984). [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/11082613 WorldCat entry]. {{FHL|684383|item|disp=FHL Film 2055468 Item 8; Book 979.531 H2r}}.

*[https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/1050793 Meeker, Ezra.'' The ox team, or, the Old Oregon Trail, 1852-1906 : an account of the author's trip across the plains, from the Missouri River to Puget Sound, at the age of twenty-two, with an ox and cow team in 1852, and of his return with an ox team in the year 1906, at the age of seventy-six, with copious excerpts from his journal and other reliable sources of information; a narrative of events and descriptive of present and past conditions.''  New York : Ezra Meeker, 1907. FHL Digital images]  

Some Oregon Trail pioneers also settled in [[Washington, United States Genealogy|Washington]], [[California, United States Genealogy|California]], [[Idaho, United States Genealogy|Idaho]], or [[Nevada, United States Genealogy|Nevada]]. Local histories and biographies from those places may also include some pioneers who traveled the Oregon Trail.

=== [http://www.ohs.org/research-and-library/ Oregon Historical Society] ===

*[http://www.ohs.org/research-and-library/research-help/biographical-research.cfm Biographical Research - Pioneer Card File, Oregon Pioneer Association Transactions (published 1872-1828 and indexed 1876-1925)]  

== Background History  ==

''' Maps and Pictorical Histories '''

*[https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/2299294?availability=Blackfoot%20Idaho%20Family%20History%20Center William E. Hill. ''The Oregon Trail, yesterday and today: a brief history and pictorial journey along the wagon tracks of pioneers''. Caldwell, Idaho: Caxton Printers, 1978. FHL 979.5 H2h]

The exact route of the '''Oregon Trail''' varied over the years. Most often it passed through:<ref name="OrTr" />