The hardships of weather, limited diet, and exhaustion made travelers very vulnerable to infectious diseases such as
cholera, flu, dysentery, measles, mumps, tuberculosis, and typhoid fever
which could spread quickly through an entire wagon camp.
What were conditions like on the Oregon Trail?
According to the Oregon California Trails Association, almost
one in ten
who embarked on the trail didn’t survive. Most people died of diseases such as dysentery, cholera, smallpox or flu, or in accidents caused by inexperience, exhaustion and carelessness.
What were obstacles on the Oregon Trail?
Obstacles included
accidental discharge of firearms, falling off mules or horses, drowning in river crossings, and disease
. After entering the mountains, the trail also became much more difficult, with steep ascents and descents over rocky terrain. The pioneers risked injury from overturned and runaway wagons.
What was the biggest problem on the Oregon Trail?
The main causes of deaths along the Oregon/California Trail from 1841 to 1869 were
disease, accidents
, and weather. The number one killer on the Oregon Trail, by a wide margin, was disease and serious illnesses, which caused the deaths of nine out of ten pioneers who contracted them.
What was the greatest cause of death on the Oregon Trail?
Emigrants feared death from a variety of causes along the trail: lack of food or water; Indian attacks; accidents, or rattlesnake bites were a few. However, the number one killer, by a wide margin, was
disease
.
How many died on the Oregon Trail?
Combined with accidents, drowning at dangerous river crossings, and other illnesses,
at least 20,000 people
died along the Oregon Trail. Most trailside graves are unknown, as burials were quick and the wagon trains moved on.
What is a interesting fact about the Oregon Trail?
Trappers first traveled the Oregon Trail. Later farmers took their families west in search of
rich farm land
. The Oregon Trail stretched more than 2,000 miles from Missouri almost to the Pacific Ocean and the Oregon coast. The U.S. government promised settlers a square-mile of land for almost nothing.
Why is the Oregon Trail so important?
The Oregon Trail has attracted such interest because it is
the central feature of one of the largest mass migrations of people in American history
. Between 1840 and 1860, from 300,000 to 400,000 travelers used the 2,000-mile overland route to reach Willamette Valley, Puget Sound, Utah, and California destinations.
How did they treat cholera on the Oregon Trail?
Emigrants treated the
sick with pain medications such as camphor, the oil of the Asian camphor tree, and laudanum
, a bitter-tasting, addictive tincture made from opium, but victims often died within a matter of hours— healthy in the morning and dead by noon.
Why was the Oregon Trail so difficult?
A lot of the time the pioneers walked alongside the wagons. Traveling wasn’t too bad with the wagons on the flat terrain of the prairies, but once the settlers reached the Rocky Mountains,
getting the wagons up and down steep trails
was very difficult.
What did the Oregon Trail lead to?
In addition, branches from each main trail provided connections to destinations in California, and a spur of the northerly Oregon route, part of the Oregon Trail, led to
the Great Salt Lake region of what is now northern Utah
. The Oregon Trail, c. 1850, with state and territorial boundaries.
What were the two main causes of death along the Oregon 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
.
How much did it cost to join a wagon train?
The overland journey from Independence, Missouri, to Oregon or California meant a six-month trip across 2,000 miles of hard country. It was costly—as much as $1,000 for a family of four. That fee included a wagon at
about $100
.
What were the real enemies of the pioneers on the trail?
The real enemies of the pioneers were
cholera, poor sanitation and–surprisingly–accidental gunshots
. The first emigrants to go to Oregon in a covered wagon were Marcus and Narcissa Whitman (and Henry and Eliza Spalding) who made the trip in 1836.
Does the Oregon Trail still exist?
The 2,000-mile Oregon Trail was used by pioneers headed west from Missouri to find fertile lands. Today,
travelers can follow the trail along Route 66 or Routes 2 and 30
.
Why didn’t most pioneers ride in their wagons?
Teams of oxen or mules pulled the wagons along the dusty trail. 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.
