What was the California Trail used for?
Who traveled the California Trail and why?
What states did the California Trail go through?
The trail passes through the states of Missouri Kansas Nebraska Colorado Wyoming Idaho Utah Nevada Oregon and California.
Where did the California Trail go?
What people traveled the California Trail?
- Fur trappers – these mountain men had been in the hills for years and some served as guides.
- Farmers – stories had spread about the fertile land of California.
- Prospectors – the gold rush had many Americans dreaming of prospecting their fortunes.
Who blazed the California Trail?
Jedediah Smith William Sublette and Jim Bridger are some of the men who mapped new areas and blazed trails throughout the Southwest West and Pacific Northwest. Many became guides on the California Trail leading wagons of hopeful emigrants to their new lives in California.
What were the dangers of the California Trail?
Shootings drownings being crushed by wagon wheels and injuries from handling domestic animals were the common killers on the trail. Wagon accidents were the most prevalent. Both children and adults sometimes fell off or under wagons and were crushed under the wheels.
Why was the Oregon California Trail important?
How many people died in the California Trail?
The number of deaths which occurred in wagon train companies traveling to California is conservatively figured as 20 000 for the entire 2 000 miles of the Oregon/California Trail or an average of ten graves per mile.
Why did Pioneers go to California?
People decided to make the journey West for a variety of reasons. Many left to find new opportunities after an economic depression in the late 1830s. After gold was discovered in California many went to seek their fortune. Some heard that California had a healthier climate and went to leave diseases back east.
What did the pioneers bring with them on the California Trail?
These would just be the basic staples. Other food stuffs could include sacks of rice and beans plus dried peaches and apples. Bacon was often hauled in large barrels packed in bran so the hot sun would not melt the fat. Each man took a rifle or shotgun and some added a pistol.
What trails did the gold rush take?
Who led the first wagon train to California?
What supplies were needed for the California Trail?
- 120-200 pounds of flour in canvas sacks.
- 30 pounds of hardtack or crackers.
- 25-75 pounds of bacon.
- 15 pounds ground corn.
- ½ bushel cornmeal.
- 10-50 pounds of rice.
- 2 pounds of saleratus (an early form of baking soda)
- 10 pounds of salt.
What Rivers did the California Trail cross?
- Platte River.
- North Platte River.
- Sweetwater River.
- Portneuf River.
- Humboldt River.
- Snake River.
- Raft River.
How did settlers reach California?
Which trail took you to Salt Lake City?
What were the two main causes of death along the trail?
Nearly one in ten who set off on the Oregon Trail did not survive. The two biggest causes of death were disease and accidents.
Which three trails began at the same place?
Three of the Missouri-based routes—the Oregon Mormon and California Trails—were collectively known as the Emigrant Trails.
How long did it take to travel from New York to California by wagon?
In the early 19th century settlers could travel from 15 to 20 miles per day by covered wagon. Given the distance between New York and California is around 2 445 miles the journey would take approximately 122 to 162 days or from 4 to 5.5 months.
How did pioneers treat dysentery?
Castor oil was used to treat dysentery and other bowel disorders. Mountain fever: Usually not fatal with symptoms such as intestinal discomfort diarrhea headache skin rashes respiratory distress and fever.
Where was the starting point of the trail for most pioneers?
Independence Missouri
While the first few parties organized and departed from Elm Grove the Oregon Trail’s primary starting point was Independence Missouri or Kansas City (Missouri) on the Missouri River.
Why were bodies buried beneath the trails of the American West?
Graves were usually shallow to save labor resulting in bodies that were washed away or dragged away by animals. Suitable headstones that would withstand weather and time were a rarity. “Sometimes the grave was dug in the trail itself to conceal it from Indians ” Mr. Werner says.
What were the Oregon and California Trails?
This road also called the Oregon-California Trail was a 2 000-mile route beginning at Independence Missouri and continuing west and north to the Columbia River Valley in Oregon or west then south to the gold fields of California. Kansas was the gathering point for wagon trains.
Where did the Oregon Trail begin?
1843
How many pioneers died traveling west?
Bashore and Tolley analyzed 56 000 records of pioneers who traveled to Salt Lake City between 1847 and 1868. The researchers found 1 900 deaths during the journey or within the calendar year of arrival in Salt Lake making the overall mortality rate 3.5 percent.
How long did it take to get to California by wagon train?
The wagon train would travel at around two miles an hour. This enabled the emigrants to average ten miles a day. With good weather the 2 000 mile journey from Missouri to California and Oregon would take about five months.
Was there cannibalism on the Oregon Trail?
Did wagon trains really exist?
Why didn’t most pioneers ride in their wagon?
People didn’t ride in the wagons often because they didn’t want to wear out their animals. Instead they walked alongside them getting just as dusty as the animals. The long journey was hard on both people and animals. It was even hard on the wagons which usually had to be repaired several times during the trip.
How far did the pioneers travel each day?
What did the pioneers eat?
How did pioneers keep bacon?
Marcy advised travelers to pack the pork in sacks “or… in boxes… surrounded with bran which in a great measure prevents the fat from melting away.” Unfortunately bacon still occasionally spoiled and had to be ditched along the trail. In less delicious news bacon wasn’t just cured it was a cure!
What are wagon ruts?
The California Trail
Oregon-California Trails Association
California Trail Map Demo
Trail to Riches The California Gold Rush and Settlement of the Pacific Northwest