The final bit of Idaho was accomplished yesterday. We did have to drive through a city (Boise) and it was a strange feeling to see cars, subdivisions, chain stores and malls. We’ve been far away from those for quite a while on this trip.
We have a big day planned visiting an interpertive center about the Oregon Trail. We’ve been following trail markers since we started the trip. There are so many places you can stop and relive just a bit of the pioneers journey. This was the Last Farewell to the Snake River, beautiful, quiet and so many mosquitoes you could hear them coming.
We had a discussion between those who fully believe they can see the original ruts (other than those carved into solid rock -those are pretty hard to doubt) and those who see them but believe they are more modern. One thing the doubters had missed was the fact that once a trail was set, anyone and anything could use it. Some have been paved over and turned into modern roads, some are still dirt and gravel and used by locals, some are used by off road adventurers and by game to move through the prairie. The ruts and trails used by the pioneers were originally Indian and trappers’ trails for the most part, those were expanded to allow passage to the great number of pioneers moving west. And yes, there have been intrepid souls who have made the journey in modern times but in a covered wagon.
Today has been fairly hot, with hot winds and as the day wore on a sky filled with heavy gray clouds, still really hot. That unusual combination would have been difficult for those traveling in a wagon, no where to escape the heat.
I attended an odd Ranger led program that gave us an indication of how the Pioneers suffered and died. Using the numbers, one out of every 10 pioneers died on the way and that a grave would be located every 60 yards on the trail (20-30,000 folks died along the way). Most died from dysentery or cholera, but other infectious diseases were on the trail as well. Accidents and misadventure, even a broken leg could lead to your death. Drowning and animal encounters, and strangely enough most animal encounters were with the oxen or the cattle not wild animals. Firearms were also a big killer, most pioneers had them but hadn’t used them enough to consider the safety necessary to transport them. And, folks walked off and were never found, lost or killed in some other way. The least common form of death was attack by Indians, and that was at the end of the migration when peaceful and negotiating Indians were either shot upon by pioneers or grew tired of their lands being grabbed.
Well, that was cheerful wasn’t it? Sadly it is the truth about the journey that the pioneers were on, walking from their homes to an unknown future in the west.