Oregon Trail Journey

1. Oregon Trail Journey

2. May 2, 1852 Today we left Missouri. We are beginning a great journey. Pa and Ma have been getting ready for weeks.

3. May 10, We have been on the prairie for a couple of weeks. We had to cross the Missouri River today.

4. May 23 The prairie along the Platt River is beautiful. There are flowers everywhere. The grass is tall and green. There is plenty for the animals to eat. It will be weeks of smooth riding.

5. After traveling weeks on the prairie, we saw Courthouse Rock and Jailhouse Rock. They reminded us of buildings back in Missouri.

6. This morning we saw Chimney Rock in the distance. We are coming to the end of the prairie. The land is getting rough and rocky.

7. June 4 We arrived at Fort Laramie today. (mention getting supplies, Pony Express- could send a letter home)

8. July 1 We are almost to Independence Rock. That means we are making good time. We want to be there by July 4th. I hope we stop long enough o carve our names on the rock!

9. July 4,1852 I am amazed at all the names carved on Independence Rock. So many people have come this way!

10. July 17, 1852 We have finally reached the lands of the Oregon Territory. It has been a long journey. We have been in the mountain region for weeks.

11. South Pass • South Pass was the most important landmark on the Oregon Trail; the key to westward migration. Without South Pass, wagon travel across the continent would have been impossible--and Oregon and California would probably not have become a part of the United States. Yet, there's no narrow gorge here--this gap in the Rockies is miles wide. • Emigrant Lorenzo Sawyer: "Most emigrants have a very erroneous idea of South Pass, and their inquiries about it are amusing enough. They suppose it to be a narrow defile in the Rocky Mountains walled by perpendicular rocks hundreds of feet high. The fact is the pass is a valley some 20 miles wide." • South Pass crossed the continental divide and hence marked the boundary between the United States and Oregon Country. Even though the emigrants werenow in Oregon, there was no reason to celebrate. They were still only half-way to their destination. There were a thousand miles yet to travel.

12. July 29, 1852 With each passing day, we get closer to Oregon City. I am getting very excited about starting our new life.

13. Grande Ronde • The sight of the Grande Ronde valley brought delight to early travelers after their long journey across the dry plains. This great green bowl, encircled by mountainous walls, was more like the "Oregon" they expected to find. • Captain Benjamin Bonneville:"Its sheltered situation, embosomed in mountains, renders it good pasturing ground in the winter time; when the elk come down to it in great numbers, driven out of the mountains by the snow. The Indians then resort to it to hunt. They likewise come to it in the summer to dig the camash root, of which it produces immense quantities. When this plant is in blossom, the whole valley is tinted by its blue flowers, and looks like the ocean when overcast by a cloud." • Despite it's lushness, the none of the pioneers settled here until many years later. While the valley could support farming, it was an unknown and unprotected place in the 1840s.

14. Oregon City- September 30, 1852 We are here. The weather is changing. The leaves are falling off the trees. Now it is time to start building our homstead.

15. San Francisco, CA October 27, 1852 Ma and Pa are excited to be here. We will search for gold. I am going to work for a shopkeeper.