Landmarks

Chimney Rock

- 90 meters high- Carved names in rock

- Rises near Bayard,Nebraska

- Nearly half a million emigrants saw Chimney Rock

Independence Rock

• Many emigrants arrived here on the fourth of July.

• Named in 1830 by William Sublette

• 700 feet wide, 1900 feet long, maximum of 128 feet above the Sweetwater Valley floor

Snake River

• Hundreds of feet deep at some points of the river

• Can only be crossed by using three islands as stepping stones

• Swallows up many things in its path

• Joins at many waterfalls

Devil’s Gate

• 5 miles southwest of Independence Rock

• Has a 400 feet deep chasm.

• Located on private land• Is 370 feet deep and 1500

feet long• Located in Natrona

County, Wyoming

Oregon Trail

Famous People

John C. Fremont• John C. Fremont lived

the years 1813 through1890.

• Fremont0 was happily married to Jesse Benton.

• His job was to make the West seem attractive and worth settling.

• The U.S. Navy appointed Fremont civil governor of California.

U.S. Presidents of 1840-1850

• William Henry Harrison won the presidential election of 1840 because of his catchy slogan “Tippecanoe & Tyler too”.

• In 1841 Harrison caught a cold which turned into a pneumonia and died.

• He was the first president to die in office.

• When James Polk was in office he told congress there was gold in California.

Kit Carson• On Christmas Eve of

1806 Kit Carson was born.

• His whole name is Christopher Houston Carson.

• In 1843 he married Maria Josefa Jaramillo.

• Kit was blessed with eight children.

• Carson died on May 23,1868.

Dr. Marcus Whitman

• Marcus was born in 1802.

• He was born in Rushville, New York.

• He practiced his medical training for four years.

• Dr.Whitman helped guide the first wagon train of emigrants to the Columbia River.

Oregon Trail

Daily Life on the Trail

Morning Routine

• First, they start the fire.

• Secondly, the women make breakfast.

• Then they pack up all supplies.

» Lastly, they head on for the trail.

Meal Preparation

• If lucky, they would have quail or buffalo.

• They usually ate bacon.

• Pioneers cooked their meals over an open fire.

Jobs Along the Way

• Women washed clothes.

• Men hunted, traded, and dealt with the livestock.

• Women were the family doctors.

• Men built the cabins.

Animals

Horses were rejected to go on the trail.

Oxen were the most common.

Mules were the second common.

Horses could not live off prairie grass.

Distance Traveled• People traveled

about 12-15 miles in one day.

• They traveled 2,000 miles in total.

• The people traveled 6 months in total from their starting point to their destination.

• Oxen traveled 2 miles an hour.

Evening Routine• Build another fire to

keep them warm.• Prepare the

evening meal.• Eat our dinner.• Write in our journal.• Sleep and be ready

to travel in the morning.

Entertainment

Make Soap or candles.Singing around campfire.Children wrestled each

other at school.Held spelling beesReading and writing in

journals.

Oregon Trail

Jobs of the Era

Doctor• Provided medical

treatment.• Leeches were

commonly used.• Served as man-

midwives.

Tanner• Striped hair and fat

from animals.• Another name for a

doctor Apothecary.• Tanners make

leather goods.• They could also tan

with animals brains.• Tanners always

smelled like animal hide

Coopers• Coopers made barrels.• Made barrels of wooden

staves.• Numbered staves in case

of shipment.• Put metal hoops around

the wood to keep it together.

Candle Making• Candle Making was

done in fall• Main ingredient was

Tallow.• Tallow was fat from

cows,sheep,and hogs.• First tallow was

stirred in cast iron pots

Blacksmiths• They made iron rims for

cart wheels.• Blacksmiths worked long

hours with little pay.• Often fixed children’s

play hoops.• Shoed horses.• Soften metal with fire.

Oregon Trail

Hardships

Disease Hardly any real doctors

traveled along the trail to cure diseases.

People who were sick and dead from disease along the trail would be abandoned on the side of the road.

Cholera killed more emigrants than anything else.

Deaths• Pioneers lied saying

that they knew how to drive. They lost control and death occurred .

• Infection caused deaths.

• When people were on the wagon and they fell under the wheels .

River Crossings

• The indians helped the pioneers cross rivers.

• Source of distress for pioneers.

• 37people drowned in1850 alone trying to cross the Green River .

Injuries

• Sometimes there weren’t real doctors on the trail.

• Cuts and broken bones could become infected.

• The youngest kids were usually the ones to get hurt.

Supply and Quality of Water

• At Cherry Creek the water was dried up like most other creeks.

• The pioneers had to dig holes in the sand for water for people and horses.

• Scarcity of water can lead to intense suffering for man and animals on the trail.

Lack of Food

• Because of the lack of food pioneers wouldn’t have energy to move on.

• They might get diseases from lack of vitamins.

• In the desert there wasn’t much game to hunt.