Overland Trails
Activity #4: Hardships and Dangers on the Trail
Materials
- Journals
Curriculum Objectives
4th grade- Kansas History Standard, Benchmark 1, Indicator 6: The student describes life on the Santa Fe and Oregon-California Trails (e.g. interactions between different cultural groups, hardships such as lack of water, mountains and rivers to cross, weather, the need for medical care, size of wagon)
4th grade and 5th grade – Kansas Writing Standard 1, Benchmark 1 – The student writes narrative text using the writing process.
4th grade – National Standards for History, Standard 5A: The student is able to draw upon data in historical maps, historical narratives, diaries, and other fiction or nonfiction accounts in order to chart various historical movements (westward, northward, and eastward) in the United States. (Source: National Center for History in the Schools)
Instructions:
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Read the following quote to students and encourage them to think about hardships and dangers which may have occurred on the trails.
“To enjoy such a trip along with such a crowd of emigration, a man must be able to endure heat like a Salamander, mud and water like a muskrat, dust like a toad, and labor like a [mule]. He must learn to eat with his unwashed fingers, drink out of the same vessel with his mules, sleep on the ground when it rains, and share his blanket with vermin, and have patience with musketoes [sic] ... He must cease to think, except as to where he may find grass and water and a good camping place. It is a hardship without glory ...”
An Anonymous 1852 Overlander (from The Plains Across by John D. Unruh, Jr.)
- Discuss the dangers and hardships of the trails with students. Stress that the trails could be very dangerous and that many people died while traveling. Along the Oregon-California Trail alone, there were 17,000 graves.
Travelers on both the Oregon-California Trail and the Santa Fe Trail encountered many different kinds of difficulties. They usually left at the end of April on their five-month journey which began across the Plains during the summer. By July, they were in the Rocky Mountains, and reached their destinations around September. The trails were full of obstacles including rivers and mountains. Travelers also had to combat the weather, disease, and accidents.
- River crossings. The most common obstacle on the trails was rivers. Rivers could be crossed by ferry, putting the wagon on a flat raft and floating across, or by fording, tarring the wagon so it was water tight and walking through the river. Rivers often had steep embankments and one of the most difficult parts of the crossing could be getting the wagon down to the water. Travelers often lowered the wagon by ropes or chains so it did not crash down the embankment. Once the wagon was at the water's edge, teams had to be coaxed to cross the river. Sometimes in strong currents, animals, wagons, and even people were swept away.
- Mountain crossings. Mountain crossings were also an obstacle to travelers. On steep slopes, travelers pulled the wagon up with a rope or a chain, and then lowered it down the other side in the same way. Near the end of their journeys, some travelers on the Oregon-California Trail abandoned their wagons, loading their possessions on their animals to finish their journeys.
- Lack of water. During a very hot summer, water holes could dry up, leaving both travelers and their animals without water. This was a problem especially on some of the cutoffs, which were quicker, but had less water.
- Weather. Dust storms, thunderstorms and snowstorms posed dangers to travelers and animals on the trails. On the plains, dust could stop a caravan from moving for a day. In addition, lightning on the plains could be dangerous. During the last half of their journey, travelers who took too long to rest or were arriving at their destination in late fall for other reasons, were in danger of being caught in the mountains during an early snowstorm. Exposure from extremes in temperature also was difficult for travelers. Because of the weather, Santa Fe traders often charged more for hauling loads during late fall, winter, or early spring.
- Indians. Indian attacks were not common during the early years on the trails, but during the later years, travelers began to have conflicts with Indians over territory and buffalo rights.
- Accidents. Many different types of accidents happened on the trails. There are many entries in diaries that record accidents that happened during routine activities--accidents while cleaning guns or hunting, skirts catching fire while cooking, children falling off wagons, and travelers tripping and falling.
- Disease and lack of medical care. Travelers took a very limited supply of medicine with them and many died because of inadequate medical care for common diseases, animal bites, and childbirth.
- Have students make a journal entry that reflect the dangers and hardships of the trail. They may choose simply to record that they passed a grave, which was common in journals. Or they may describe a particularly difficult day or a harrowing event.
