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Few know that pioneers were still traveling the Oregon Trail in covered
wagons as late as the 1920s. This little-known era of history is told in
the words of the pioneers themselves.
The route that become the
Oregon Trail was developed by wandering mountain men following game
trails and Native American trade routes. Historians recognize 1843 as
the official beginning of the Oregon Trail when a group of 1,000 men,
women and children, 120 wagons and 5,000 head of cattle left Missouri
for Oregon's Willamette Valley. After gold was discovered in California
in 1848 over 250,000 people traveled overland to the diggings while
another 50,000 went to claim free farmland in Oregon.
In 1869
the transcontinental railroad was completed to California and in 1883
rail service reached the Pacific Northwest. At last emigrants could move
west easily and quickly. But covered wagon pioneers continued to travel
over the Oregon Trail for a variety of reasons: lack of money, a love to
watch their work animals, a chance to go places where the steel rail did
not reach, and, often, a sense of wanderlust.
The later-day
pioneers no longer traveled in large wagons trains but in single wagons
or small groups of family or friends. They were able to travel lighter
because provisions and feed could be purchased at scattered ranches or
in towns that had sprung up along the way. If they ran low on money they
could stop and work for a few weeks.
Historians tell us the
Oregon trail existed between 1843 and 1869, but wagon pioneers continued
to travel over the Oregon Trail until affordable automobiles and a
national highway system made the wagon obsolete in the 1920s. The LAST
OF THE PIONEERS tells their story.
'We came west on the Oregon Trail in 1912, never saw many automobiles on
the way, but saw a few. One time a man driving a Model T Ford came up
behind, couldn't see for the dust, I guess, and ran into the back of our
wagon. The impact broke one of the bows and tore a hole in the canvas
cover. The man was very apologetic, gave Father a dollar, said, 'This
should pay for the damage,' and went his merry way. We were tickled to
death to have the dollar....'
'When we finally landed out west
the wagon was parked on the street and a 'For Sale' sign tied to one of
the bows. We hoped to sell the outfit at a fiar price but times were
changing and horses and a wagon were not in demand. We let them go for
next to nothing....'
