Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Not only will you pass by Chimney Rock, the 325-foot spire that is hands-down the most
recognizable landmark on the trail, but you'll also have mail delivered by Pony Express, be
confronted by Native Americans, load the muzzles of black-powder rifles, search for Native
American artifacts, learn prairie square dancing, and be regaled the entire 30-or-so-mile jour-
ney with tales about the trail's illustrious history. “There was one old geezer telling stories
who looked like he'd actually been on the Oregon Trail,” Allen says.
QUICK OREGON TRAIL FACTS
Although the first Oregon Trail emigrants were Marcus and Narcissa Whitman, who
made the trip in 1836, the big wave didn't begin until 1843. Over the next 25 years,
more than half a million people went west in search of new land and new lives. The
average trip took six months from Independence, Missouri, to the Oregon Territory.
The completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869 brought the Oregon Trail's
glory days to an abrupt halt.
A common misperception is that Native Americans posed the biggest problem.
Quite the contrary, most local tribes were quite friendly, even helping emigrants pull
wagons out of ditches and trading with them for supplies. The real enemies were
cholera, poor sanitation, drownings (in 1850 alone, 37 drowned crossing the Green
River), and—somewhat surprisingly—accidental gunshots.
Other perils included heat, high winds, lethally large hailstones, dust 3 inches
deep, and stampeding bison. No wonder some went insane. Elizabeth Markham, for
instance, sat herself down on the bank of the Snake River and announced to her fam-
ily that she was not proceeding an inch farther. Her husband was forced to take the
wagons and children and leave her behind, but he later sent a son back to retrieve
her. She ended up returning on her own only to inform her husband that she had
clubbed their son to death with a rock. He raced back to find the boy who thank-
fully still clung to life. When they caught up to the wagon train again, however, he
discovered that his wife had taken advantage of his absence to set fire to one of the
family's wagons.
Although Chimney Rock now stands 325 feet above the plains, it was substan-
tially higher during the great migration. Many considered it the eighth Wonder of
the World. As pioneer Elisha Perkins said, “If a man does not feel like an insect
when standing at its base, then I don't know when he should.” According to early
fur traders, Native Americans called the rock “Elk Penis.” Prim and proper Anglo-
Americans, though, overwhelmingly preferred the more delicate nomenclature.
