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Weather: Extreme weather conditions such as hailstorms, lightening and grass fires and crossing dangerous mountain terrain caused deaths and injuries

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Weather: Extreme weather conditions such as hailstorms, lightening and grass fires and crossing dangerous mountain terrain caused deaths and injuries

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Weathered rocks that allowed pioneers to carve in their names

Pioneers left behind graffiti on “register rocks” along the trail.

Along with painting messages and mottos on their wagon canvasses, pioneers also developed a tradition of carving their names, hometowns and dates of passage on some of the stone landmarks they encountered during their journey west. One of the most notable prairie guest books was Independence Rock, a 128-foot-tall granite outcropping in Wyoming dubbed “The Register of the Desert.” Thousands of travelers left their mark on the rock while camping along the nearby Sweetwater River. Those in a hurry sometimes even paid stonecutters a few dollars to carve their messages for them. In addition to Independence Rock, pioneers also left behind signatures on Register Cliff and Names Hill, two other sites in Wyoming.

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A pair of Protestant missionaries made one of the trail’s first wagon crossings.

Frontier explorers and fur trappers blazed the rough outlines of the Oregon Trail in the early 19th century, but the route was initially considered too demanding for women, children or covered wagons to navigate. That changed in 1836, when newlywed missionaries Marcus and Narcissa Whitman took a small party of wagons from St. Louis to the Walla Walla Valley to minister to Cayuse Indians. 28-year-old Narcissa became the first white woman to traverse the Rocky Mountains, and her colorful letters home were later published in Eastern newspapers, convincing many would-be pioneers that it was possible for their families to survive the journey west. Still, it wasn’t until 1843 that the pioneer dam finally burst. That year, Marcus helped lead the first major wagon train of around 1,000 settlers along the Oregon Trail, an exodus now known as the “Great Migration.” Traffic soon skyrocketed, and by the late-1840s and early 1850s, upwards of 50,000 people were using the trail each year.

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Unexpected weather when trying a shortcut

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Unexpected weather when trying a shortcut

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The Donner-Reed party and their not-so-shortcut.

At its largest, the Donner-Reed party had 87 people and  23 wagons. The group did pretty well, time-wise, until they reached the Hastings cut-off. From there they lost valuable days and energy cutting a trail through the Wasatch Mountains and into the Great Salt Lake desert.

For many years, people found artifacts the Donner Party left behind on the Salt Flats, including this wagon bed.

Exhausted, they started out on the 80-mile trek across the Salt Flats. It was hot. It was dry. It was sticky. Many of the wagons became stuck in the salt-crusted mud and had to be left behind.  Many oxen pulling the wagons died, and so did many cows.

Disaster in the Sierra Nevada.

When they finally made it out of Utah and through Nevada, weeks behind schedule, the group began to cross the Sierra Nevada mountains. Near a high pass (now called Donner Pass), it started to storm hard. Trapped by deep snow, the emigrants couldn’t move forward.

The party divided into two camps, one at Donner Lake and one in Alder Creek Valley.
As the weeks passed, the food began to run out, even though they had killed the rest of their animals.

Finally, 15 of the emigrants made snowshoes and started over the mountains to bring back help—a “Forlorn Hope” group. Buffeted by blizzards, only seven made it to California.  Along the way, desperate for food, these seven ate those who had died of exposure.

Rescue—and more tragedy.

Back at the camps, things weren’t going much better. Thanks to the Forlorn Hope group, and George Edy in particular, Californians mounted rescue efforts to save the Donner-Reed Party. The first relief group took 21 emigrants to California with them.  The second relief group, led by James Reed, took 14.  In the time between the First and Second Relief, the remaining emigrants had begun to eat the dead.

The Third Relief rescued the rest of the children, but had to leave five people behind.

By the time the Fourth Relief arrived, there was only one man left.  He had survived by eating the bodies of the four others, who had died.

In total, of the 87 who joined the party at various times, 48 survived and made it to California.

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Examine the photo for a self sustaining fort

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Fort Vancouver National Historic Site - Wikipedia

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Fort Vancouver National Historic Site is a United States National Historic Site located in the states of Washington and Oregon. The National Historic Site consists of two units, one located on the site of Fort Vancouver in modern-day Vancouver, Washington; the other being the former residence of John McLoughlin in Oregon City, Oregon.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnEmTtKtff0

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Click to read this book, made with Book Creator

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Founded by the Hudson's Bay Company during the winter of 1824-1825 as a fur-trading post and supply depot, Fort Vancouver for the next twenty years was the most important settlement in the Pacific Northwest, from San Francisco Bay to the Russian outposts in Alaska.

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Many were pioneers were also terrified at the possibility of attacks by strange, hostile Native Indians.

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Native American Indians Groups

Native Indian Tribes Index

Great Plains Indians - Lifestyle (Way of Living)
The climate, land and natural resources that were available to the Indian tribes resulted in the adoption of the Great Plains Indians culture.

Name of Group: Great Plains Indians

Languages: Siouan, Algonquian, Caddoan, Uto-Aztecan and Athabaskan

Geography of the State: There was enough rain for a thick layer of grass, which attracted large herds of grazing animals like the bison (buffalo). There was not enough rain to grow many trees which were only found by rivers

Animals: Bison (Buffalo), deer, elk, bear, beaver, porcupine, antelope and wolves

Culture and Lifestyle adopted: Nomadic Hunters and farmers

Transport: Horse and travois

Types of housing, homes or shelters: Tepees were used by the nomadic hunters. The semi-nomadic Mandan used tepees but also maintained permanent earth lodge villages situated along rivers.

Famous Tribes of Great Plains Indians: Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Sioux, Pawnee, Crow, Comanche and Arapaho

The Native Indians who lived on the borders of lands often reflected two different types of lifestyles.

Great Plains Indians - Languages and Way of Life
The languages of the Great Plains Indians included Siouan, Algonquian, Uto-Aztecan, Caddoan and Athabaskan. The introduction of the horse in the 1750's enabled many Indian tribes from other regions to travel to the Great Plains to hunt buffalo. The Great Plains hunting culture was relatively short lived as it was replaced in the 1880's by the European settlers who became the farmers, cowboys and cattlemen. In the 1870's the deliberate great slaughter of the northern bison herds began designed to prevent the Native Indians continuing the Great Plains lifestyle.

Great Plains Indian Tribes
Discover facts about each of these Great Plains Indian Tribes.

Great Plains Indians - Indian Territory
Indian Territory was a vast area of U.S. federal territory on the Great Plains reserved for Indians from the 1830s to the 1880s. Indian Territory eventually became the states of Kansas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma. By 1907, when Oklahoma was admitted as a state, Indian Territory ceased to exist.

The physical characteristics of Great Plains Indians are dark brown eyes, prominent cheek bones, straight black hair, and scantiness of beard. The skin color of Native Indians varies from very light in some tribes such as the Cheyenne, to almost black in others, such as the Caddo and a yellowish color in such as the Flatheads. Great Plains Indians - Physical Characteristics

The Great Plains area includes the States of Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota. The Geography and Environment can be generally described as hot summers and cold winters. Grass covered prairies. Some streams and rivers.

The animals were very important to the Great Plains Indians. Animals included Bison (Buffalo), deer, cougars, elk, bear, beaver, porcupine, antelope, prairie dogs, eagles and wolves. The uses of the animals were varied and included food, clothing, shelter and decorations.

The different types of Houses, Shelters and Homes depended on the materials available and whether the home was permanent or temporary. The homes of the Great Plains Indians included tepees which were suitable for their nomadic lifestyles.

Great Plains Indians - Geography and Environment Great Plains Indians - Animals Great Plains Indians - Houses, Shelters and Homes

Great Plains Indians - Religion, Ceremonies and Beliefs
The Religion, Ceremonies and Beliefs were based on Animism . Animism was a commonly shared doctrine, or belief, of the indigenous people of North America and Canada including the Great Plains Indian tribes. Animism is based on the spiritual or religious idea that the universe and all natural objects have souls or spirits. In this religion it is believed that souls or spirits exist not only in humans but also in animals, plants, trees, rocks etc.

This belief is also extended to natural phenomena such as thunder storms and rain and geographic features such as mountains, caves or rivers also possess souls or spirits. The Plains people believed in Manitou, the . The men also carried a pouch called the '. Great Spirit Medicine Bag or Bundle' which included herbs used in Smudging Rituals. The Great Spirit, the Sun Dance and Vision Que st Tricksters feature in the legends and mythology of the Plains peoples as do heroic figures or "transformers" who transform, or change, the world into its present state.

Great Plains Indians - The Great Spirit
Plains Indians believed in a great god, the Sioux called that god the 'Wakan Tanka,' which means the Great Spirit.

Great Plains Indians - Vision Quest
A vision quest was an attempt to achieve a vision of a future guardian spirit often through the process of fasting or self-torture

Great Plains Indians - The Sun Dance
The Sun Dance was a ceremonial dance performed by North American Plains Indians in honor of the sun at the summer solstice. This mystic ceremony was to prove bravery by overcoming pain. It was typically marked by several days of sleepless fasting and group dancing. Ritualized self-torture was undertaken as a penance or to induce a Trance State or vision.

Great Plains Indians - The Blackfoot Confederacy
The Blackfoot Confederacy consisted of the Piegan people, the Blood people called the Kainai, the Blackfoot People also called the Siksika which means 'Blackfoot' and the Sarcee tribe.

Great Plains Indians - Other Tribes of the Great Plains
The other tribes of the Great Plains Indians known to inhabit the area were the Arikara, Assiniboin, Cherokee, Chippewa, Dakota (Sioux), Delaware, Fox, Gros Ventre, Hidatsa, Illinois, Iowa, Iroquois, Kansa, Kickapoo, Kiowa, Kiowa Apache, Miami, Mandan, Missouri, Munsee, Ojibwa, Omaha, Osage, Otoe, Ottawa, Peoria, Ponca, Potawatomi, Quapaw, Sauk, Seneca, Shawnee and Wyandot (Huron) tribes.

Great Plains Indians

Interesting Facts and information about Great Plains Indians

Way of Life, Housing and homes

Great Plains Indians tribes of Indians

Fast Facts and info about Religion, Ceremonies and Beliefs

Animals, Plants, Trees and Crops

Homework resource for kids on Great Plains Indians

Pictures and Videos of Great Plains Indians
The Great Plains Indians! Discover the vast selection of pictures and videos of Great Plains Indians. The pictures show the clothing, weapons and decorations of various Great Plains Indians that can be used as a really useful educational resource for kids and children of all ages. Our series of videos enable fast access to the images, pics, paintings and pictures together with information and many facts. We hope that this article on Great Plains Indians will assist in your studies or homework and that you will enjoy watching the videos featuring many pictures of the Great Plains Indians. A great educational resource for kids on the subject of Great Plains Indians.

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Native American Indians Groups Native Indian Tribes Index Great Plains Indians - Lifestyle (Way of Living) The climate, land and natural resources that were available to the Indian tribes resulted in the adoption of the Great Plains Indians culture.

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The Oregon Trail: Westward Migration to the Pacific Ocean. The Trail of Tears and Jackson's Indian Removal

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The Oregon Trail: Westward Migration to the Pacific Ocean. The Trail of Tears and Jackson's Indian Removal

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Manifest Destiny

In the year 1845, a journalist named John O'Sullivan coined the phrase Manifest Destiny. Little did he know it would have such sticking power. Generations later, Manifest Destiny is used to describe America's 19th century attitude toward expansion. From the East to the West, America felt its expansion across the continent was not only justifiable, it was destiny. With this in mind, let's build a timeline of this expansion from 1820 to 1860.

We'll start with the Erie Canal, which is located in the East. Opened in 1825, the canal connected the cities of the East to the West. With its completion, and the completion of many other smaller canals that followed, booming industrial towns, like New York City, had a much easier way to get their goods to the West.

Native American Displacement

Of course, there are many dark pages in the history of American expansion. For instance, we have the Indian Removal Act of 1830. Feeling that expansion was its right, the U.S. Congress forcibly moved all Native Americans living in the Southeast to west of the Mississippi River.

We also have the infamous 1838 Trail of Tears, in which the U.S. government forced the Cherokee nation to relocate from the East Coast to Oklahoma. Whether young or old, the Cherokees were forced to march, and many thousands died. Blind to this suffering, the powers of the U.S. saw it as a chance to capture more land.

With the way seeming clear to them, American settlers jumped on the Oregon Trail, a wagon route beginning in Missouri and ending in Oregon. Starting around 1840, hundreds of thousands of settlers took this dangerous route in search of new life in the West. Along the way many died, but many others fulfilled their own personal manifest destinies. This eventually led to the Oregon Treaty of 1846 in which the U.S. gained the Oregon Territory from England.

Falling in line with the dream of Manifest Destiny, Texas became a U.S. state in 1845. Of course, Mexico was none too happy about this. From 1846-1848, the Mexican-American War waged over the right to Texas. However, in the end the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo gave the U.S. not only Texas, but the massive area that would become parts of Nevada, Utah, Arizona and California.

Gold

Speaking of California, in 1848 gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill. When word of this spread, thousands upon thousands came looking for gold. Known famously as the California Gold Rush, gold fever not only brought people, it altered the landscape of California. Cities sprung up complete with industry, restaurants, and saloon upon saloon for thirsty miners.

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westward u.s. expansion (1820-1860) - video & lesson transcript | study.com

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Westward U.S. Expansion (1820-1860) - Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com

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In the year 1845, a journalist named John O'Sullivan coined the phrase Manifest Destiny. Little did he know it would have such sticking power. Generations later, Manifest Destiny is used to describe America's 19th century attitude toward expansion. From the East to the West, America felt its expansion across the continent was not only justifiable, it was destiny.

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Indian attacks were relatively rare on the Oregon Trail.

Contrary to the depictions of dime novels and Hollywood Westerns, attacks by the Plains Indians were not the greatest hazard faced by westbound settlers. While pioneer trains did circle their wagons at night, it was mostly to keep their draft animals from wandering off, not protect against an ambush. Indians were more likely to be allies and trading partners than adversaries, and many early wagon trains made use of Pawnee and Shoshone trail guides. Hostile encounters increased in the years after the beginning of the Civil War, but statistics show only around 400 settlers were killed by natives between 1840 and 1860. The more pressing threats were cholera and other diseases, which were responsible for the vast majority of the estimated 20,000 deaths that occurred along the Oregon Trail.

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A fact along the Oregon Trail

The popular  Conestoga wagon was rarely used on the Oregon Trail.

Popular depictions of the Oregon Trail often include trains of boat-shaped Conestoga wagons bouncing along the prairie. But while the Conestoga was an indispensable part of trade and travel in the East, it was far too large and unwieldy to survive the rugged terrain of the frontier. Most pioneers instead tackled the trail in more diminutive wagons that become known as “prairie schooners” for the way their canvas covers resembled a ship’s sail. These vehicles typically included a wooden bed about four feet wide and ten feet long. When pulled by teams of oxen or mules, they could creak their way toward Oregon Country at a pace of around 15 to 20 miles a day. They could even be caulked with tar and floated across un-fordable rivers and streams. Prairie schooners were capable of carrying over a ton of cargo and passengers, but their small beds and lack of a suspension made for a notoriously bumpy ride. With this in mind, settlers typically preferred to ride horses or walk alongside their wagons on foot.

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Illnesses: People became sick, their was little or no medical help available for those suffering from often serious and fatal diseases such as cholera, small pox, measles, mumps, mountain fever, dysentery, scurvy, influenza, hypothermia, tuberculosis, even the common cold caused deaths
● Childbirth: Women died giving birth in the primitive and difficult conditions experienced along the Oregon Trail

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hat were the hardships of the Oregon Trail?
Hardships: All of the dangers encountered along the Oregon Trail caused suffering to the pioneers but additional hardships were also experienced including exhaustion and general weakness. The animals also suffered in the same way and settlers were forced to lighten the load of the wagons by discarding all but the most essential of their possessions. The weather especially the cold and the rain caused additional misery and hardship. Lack of food and the threat of sickness, accidents, death and disease all added to the stress of the Oregon Trail. The need to complete the journey along the Oregon Trail People became homesick, deprived of their home comforts and familiar surroundings and wished they had never started the long, hazardous journey along the Oregon Trail.

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Settling in Oregon to farm, own a business, or work for others

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Settling in Oregon to farm, own a business, or work for others

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Would you have liked to have lived back in the days? Sure, it would have been neat to have been friends with Abraham Lincoln. But life wasn't always easy back then. Pioneers didn't have all the comforts that we have today. Running water was available...if you had a running stream or river nearby!

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Most Oregon Trail pioneers didn’t settle in Oregon.

Only around 80,000 of the estimated 400,000 Oregon Trail emigrants actually ended their journey in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. Of the rest, the vast majority splintered off from the main route in either Wyoming or Idaho and took separate trails leading to California and Utah. The California Trail was eventually traveled by some 250,000 settlers, most of them prospectors seeking to strike it rich in the gold fields. The Utah route, meanwhile, shuttled roughly 70,000 Mormon pilgrims to the lands surrounding Salt Lake City.

8. One of the trail’s most famous pioneers made the crossing by wagon, train, automobile and airplane.

American Oregon Trail pioneer and writer Ezra Meeker.

One trip on the Oregon Trail was more than enough for most pioneers, but Ohio native Ezra Meeker eventually made the trek a half-dozen times using nearly every available means of conveyance. The unusual odyssey began in 1906, when the 76-year-old jumped behind the reigns of a covered wagon and retraced the steps of his original pioneer journey from 54 years before. Meeker was concerned that the legacy of the Oregon Trail was being forgotten, so he made frequent stops to give lectures on its history and install homemade “Meeker Markers” at pioneer landmarks. The trip made him a national celebrity. Crowds gathered to mark his arrival in major cities, and he eventually piloted his wagon all the way to Washington, D.C. for a meeting with President Theodore Roosevelt. Meeker went on to journey the Oregon Trail several more times by wagon, train and automobile. His final crossing came at age 94, when he made the trip in a biplane flown by famed pilot Oakley Kelly.

9. Wheel ruts from Oregon Trail wagons are still visible today.

By the time the last wagon trains crossed in the 1880s, mass migration on the Oregon Trail had left an indelible mark on the American frontier. Decades of prairie schooner traffic carved up certain sections of the trail, leaving imprints in stone and wearing down grasslands so much that nothing grows on them to this day. These pioneer wagon ruts can still be seen in all six of the states that once encompassed the trail.

BY

EVAN ANDREWS

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The Oregon Trail didn’t follow a single set path.

While most Oregon-bound emigrants traveled a route that passed by landmarks in Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Idaho and Oregon, there was never just one set of wagon ruts leading west. Pioneers often spread out for several miles across the plains to hunt, find grazing patches for their animals and avoid the choking dust clouds kicked up by other wagon trains. As the years passed, enterprising settlers also blazed dozens of new trails, or cutoffs, that allowed travelers to bypass stopping points and reach their destination quicker. These shortcuts were especially popular in Wyoming, where the network of alternative pathways meandered more than a hundred miles north and south.

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It ran beside waterways, stretched across tall-grass and short-grass prairies, wound through mountain passes, and then spanned the Pacific Slope to the promised lands of Oregon and California. One in 17 never made it. This road to the Far West soon became known by another name–the Oregon Trail.

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Named after the courthouse in Saint Louis, the rocks were often mentioned in contemporary accounts. Artist Alfred J. Miller noted it as a "curious formation of Earth near the Platte River." Famous British explorer Sir Richard Burton wrote that it "resembled anything more than a court house," and that it really looked like an irregular pyramid.

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Located some twelve miles west of Courthouse and Jailhouse Rock, Chimney Rock was one of the most picturesque landmarks along the Oregon Trail. It signaled the end of the prairies as the trail became more steep and rugged heading west towards the Rocky Mountains.

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One of the most important forts in the settlement of the American West, Fort Laramie served many functions throughout its history. It was located along the Oregon Trail to protect and supply emigrant wagon trains. It later became a major link in the Pony Express, Overland Stage and transcontinental telegraph systems. It also served as a base of operations for the High Plains Indian Wars.

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Named for a fur trader's Fourth of July celebration in 1830, this huge rock became one of the most famous of all Oregon Trail landmarks. The giant piece of granite is 1,900 feet long, 700 feet wide, and 128 feet high.

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The so-called "Mormon War" ended when US troops under Johnston occupied Salt Lake City, the Mormon capital. Fort Bridger was later rebuilt and served as a station on the Pony Express and Overland Stage routes until 1890, when the fort was finally abandoned.

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Natural bubbling pools of carbonated water, caused by ancient volcanic activity, have long made Soda Springs an attraction. Local Indians, fur traders and trappers visited the springs prior to the days of the Oregon Trail emigrations.

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Early emigrants on the Oregon Trail usually abandoned their wagons at the fort and continued on foot with their animals. But in 1843, Dr. Marcus Whitman, who had established a mission near Walla Walla, Washington, led a wagon train westward from the fort.

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The fort served as a supply point along the Oregon Trail until 1854, when it was abandoned due to flooding and Indian attacks. In 1863, the military constructed a new Fort Boise near the present town of Boise, Idaho.

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Due to the great migrations along the trail, Oregon City grew rapidly as an economic center of the territory. Emigrants arrived here at the end of the trail to establish their land claims in the region.

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Posters encouraging people to move west.

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Located along a shortcut in the Oregon-California Trail off of the main route to Fort Hall, Idaho was Soda Springs. These natural bubbling pools of carbonated water, caused by ancient volcanic activity, were first called "Beer Springs". Visited by local Indians, fur traders, and trappers prior to the days of the Oregon Trail emigrations, the springs were rightfully considered to be one of the marvels of the overland trails.

At the time that pioneers were headed west for California and Oregon, there was an abundance of springs and water in the area and the area became known as the "Oregon Trail Oasis."

Emigrants frequently took advantage of the hot water to wash clothes, bathing, and medicinal purposes, often noting the picturesque scenery of the area and the smell that came from the springs. On July 24, 1838, Sarah White Smith stated:

"Traveled . . . along the bank of the Bear River & are encamped at Soda Springs. This is indeed a curiosity. The water tastes like soda water, especially artificially prepared. The water is bubbling and foaming like boiling water. I drank of it. . . . We find it excellent for baking bread, no preparation of water is necessary. Take it from the fountain & the bread is as light as any prepared with yeast."

The development of the town of Soda Springs and the building of Alexander Reservoir has destroyed or covered many of these historic springs; however, Steamboat Spring, Wagonbox Grave, Hooper Spring, Octagon Spring, and two short traces of ruts can still be seen in the area. In Hooper Springs Park, visitors can sample the carbonated water just as westward-bound travelers did some 160 years ago.

Soda Springs is also the home of the world's largest man-made geyser. The geyser was created in 1937 when engineers were attempting to find a hot water source for a swimming pool. On November 30, 1937, the drill went down 315 feet and unleashed the geyser. The extreme pressure. caused by carbon dioxide gas mixing with water in an underground chamber, caused water to shoot 100 feet into the sky. It is now capped and controlled by a timer and erupts every hour on the hour. It is the only captive geyser in the world.

Another interesting site is the Wagon Box Grave in Fairview Cemetery. In the summer of 1861 a family of seven on their way to Oregon was camped in the vicinity of Soda Creek and the Bear River. Their horses had strayed and the family fell behind the main part of the wagon train to search for them. Sometime during the night they were killed by Indians. the bodies were found the next morning by members of the larger party. One man, George Goodheart, related their burial as follows:

"We then covered them all up with quilts, and took the upper sideboards and sawed them so they would fit across the wagon box. We put some across over the old Folks' faces and some over the children's faces at the foot. Then we got some willows from Soda Creek and cut them so as to cover the whole length of the wagon box. We then spread quilts over them, covered them with dirt, and set four formation rocks, one at each corner."

By Kathy Weiser-Alexander.
National Park Service Soda Springs, Idaho

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Soda Springs, Idaho - Curiosity on the Oregon Trail

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Located along a shortcut in the Oregon-California Trail off of the main route to Fort Hall, Idaho was Soda Springs. These natural bubbling pools of carbonated water, caused by ancient volcanic activity, were first called "Beer Springs".

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Oregon Fever | Junior Scholastic | Scholastic.com

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In 1852, an 11-year-old girl and her family became part of the great American migration west on the Oregon Trail.

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The third military Fort Walla Walla was built adjoining 'Steptoeville,' a community that had grown up around the second fort. The new fort was more extensive and included an approximately square section military reservation. Along with officers' quarters and troop barracks, it included stables, blacksmith's shop, granary, and a saw mill. Fifteen of the original structures (built 1857-1906) remain. Through its history, the post was home to dragoon, infantry, and cavalry companies, including the famous 'Buffalo Soldiers' from 1902-1904.

The post was involved in a number of actions, including the Battle of Steptoe Butte and the Wright Expedition in 1858, and two decades later during the Nez Perce War and Bannock-Paiute War. Except for a small contingent, Fort soldiers were recalled to the East at the outset of the Civil War. During those years the remaining troops were augmented by Oregon, Washington, and California militia companies. Congress attempted to abandon the post in 1865. The legislation stated the post was in Oregon, but since 1853 the post was actually in Washington Territory, precluding the action. The fort remained active until its official abandonment in 1910. It had a brief revival during World War I, before being turned over to the Veterans Bureau.

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The Many Fort Walla Wallas - Whitman Mission National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service)

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The third military Fort Walla Walla was built adjoining 'Steptoeville,' a community that had grown up around the second fort. The new fort was more extensive and included an approximately square section military reservation. Along with officers' quarters and troop barracks, it included stables, blacksmith's shop, granary, and a saw mill.

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Ft. Kearny was the first military post built to protect the Oregon Trail emigrants. The fort remained an important wayside throughout the emigration period. Many pioneers purchased food at the fort, and nearly everyone took advantage of the fort's reliable mail service.