Wednesday, 2:30 p.m., W144–“Oregon Trail: A 2,000 Mile Walk Talked About as Long as They Lived”
The Oregon Trail was the longest migratory trail in history, covering over 2000 miles of interminable plains, dangerous river crossing, mountains taller than most pioneers had ever seen. Outfitting a wagon was expensive and the trip would take five long months of walking alongside their wagons, following a trail littered with cast off household items too heavy for the realisms of the Oregon Trail and peppered with the graves of people who had not survived the rigors of the Trail.
Referring to the first mass Oregon Trail migration of 1843, Horace Greeley, a young reporter in New York City would say, "This migration of more than one thousand persons in one body to Oregon wears an aspect of insanity." Insanity or not, by the time Oregon Trail migration would end, more than 300,000 people would have made the trip, including even pregnant women and children.
Unique records related to the Oregon Trail, Oregon Territory, and the early Oregon state tell the story of early Oregon Trail travelers. These records include Oregon Provisional Land Claims, Oregon Donation Land Claims, Indian Pension Files, Provisional and Territorial Papers, newspapers, and diaries, among other resources. Learn about these records–the information they contain, where to locate them, as well as online sources that point to these records. A great deal has been preserved, in these important beginnings of Oregon’s inclusion in the Union.
Peggy is a Professional Genealogist specializing in Oregon Trail research.
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