California Trail: Difference between revisions

The '''California Trail''' went from western [[Missouri]] across the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Plains Great Plains] into the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Mountains Rocky Mountains] to the gold fields of northern [[California]]. It was most heavily used in the 1840s, 1850s, and 1860s. The length of the wagon trail from the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missouri_River Missouri River] to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacramento,_California Sacramento, California] was about 1,950 miles (3,138 km). It normally took four to six months to traverse the length of the California Trail with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Covered_wagon covered wagons] pulled by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ox oxen]. About 250,000 pioneers, the most of any American [[US Migration Trails and Roads|emigration trail]], used it to reach California before the [[First Transcontinental Railroad|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>  

=== Background History  ===

'''Trail life.''' Non-essentials were often abandoned on the trail to lighten the load. Forts and trading posts ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Kearny Ft. Kearny], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Laramie_National_Historic_Site Ft. Laramie], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Fetterman Ft. Fetterman], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Bridger Ft. Bridger], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Hall Ft. Hall], and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sutter%27s_Fort Sutter's Fort] along the way usually provided supplies, fresh animal teams, repairs, spare parts, and news of trail conditions. Hunting (including bison), fishing, and trading were also common along the route. Emigrants usually formed into [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wagon_train wagon trains] for security. Almost everyone preferred to walk rather than ride in dusty, bumpy wagons. They had to average 11 miles (18 km) to 17 miles (27 km) per day to reach California in four to six months. To leave too early risked muddy trails and too little grass for livestock. To arrive late risked traveling in winter weather. Thunderstorms and fierce winds were common. In good weather they often slept under the stars. On the prairie [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cow_dung buffalo chips] were gathered for use as cooking fuel. Wash day was about every two weeks. Many travelers enjoyed side trips climbing over trail landmarks like [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chimney_Rock_National_Historic_Site Chimney Rock], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotts_Bluff_National_Monument Scott's Bluff], and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Rock_%28Wyoming%29 Independence Rock]. Some entrepreneurs drove herds of cattle over the trail to sell and help pay for the trip.<ref name="OrTr" />  

<div style="float: left; width: 147%">'''Deaths.''' About five percent of pioneers died on the Oregon-California-Mormon trails. The most common killer was [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cholera cholera] along the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platte_River Platte River] in [[Nebraska|Nebraska]]. This disease killed as much as three percent between 1849 and 1855 (6,000 to 12,500 individuals). About 3,000 to 4,500 deaths happened because of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Indian_Wars#Pacific_Northwest Indian attacks] especially in [[Idaho|Idaho]] and [[Nevada|Nevada]] after U.S. Army troops were withdrawn in 1860 in the run up to the Civil War. Other causes of death included freezing, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scurvy scurvy], being run over, drownings (especially in the 1850s before many ferries), and accidental shootings.<ref name="OrTr" /> <div style="padding-left: 25px; float: right; width: 15%">

|+ '''California Trail Immigrants'''<ref>John D. Unruh, ''The Plains Across: the Overland Immigrants and Trans-Mississippi West 1840–1860'' (University of Illinois Press, 1979), 119–20.</ref>  

|-

| '''250,000'''

|}

'''Decline of trail use.''' In 1855 the California Trail (and Oregon Trail) traffic declined dramatically. First, the bloom was off the California gold rush. Second, the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_Railroad Panama Railroad] was completed with steamship links that made transportation from the east coast to the west coast of America more practical than using an overland wagon trail.<ref name="OrTr" /> From 1857 to 1861 the [[Butterfield Overland Mail]] stagecoach route took some traffic from the California Trail. In 1869 the [[First Transcontinental Railroad|transcontinental]] [[Union Pacific Railroad|Union Pacific]] and [[Central Pacific Railroad|Central Pacific]] railroads completed to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacramento,_California Sacramento, California] made that route faster, safer, and less expensive than traveling the California Trail.<ref name="CaTr" />  

*"California Trail Historic Interpretive Center" in ''U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management'' at http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/fo/elko_field_office/blm_programs/blm_special_areas/california_trail_historic.html (accessed 1 August 2011). Contact information for center near Elko, Nevada and activities calendar.  

*"Emigrant trail" in ''Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia'' at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emigrant_trail (accessed 15 July 2011). Includes description of trails in general, and partial map.

=== References  ===

{{reflist}}</div>{{California|California}} {{Idaho|Idaho}} {{Iowa|Iowa}} {{Kansas|Kansas}} {{Missouri|Missouri}} {{Nebraska|Nebraska}} {{Nevada|Nevada}} {{Oregon|Oregon}} {{Utah|Utah}} {{Wyoming|Wyoming}}  

[[Category:US_Migration_Trails_and_Roads]] [[Category:California]] [[Category:Idaho]] [[Category:Iowa]] [[Category:Kansas]] [[Category:Missouri]] [[Category:Nebraska]] [[Category:Nevada]] [[Category:Oregon]] [[Category:Utah]] [[Category:Wyoming]]