Diseases on the Trail
"The gamut of contagious diseases associated associated with childhood are indicated as causes of adult death on the Trail: whooping cough, measles or vareloid, mumps, and smallpox. Other serious conditions…
Disease and Death
"While the journey up the Platte River Road may have been a joy and tonic for some, far too often it was an ordeal in which, after running the gauntlet…
Gives Vent to His Spleen
"" A mean streak will come out in the Plains.' N.A. Cagwin cautions a man when he 'gives vent to his spleen' or 'fans the spirit of discord.'"
Seeing the Elephant
"To read the diaries of the Gold Rush, one might suppose that elephants flourished [on the Plains] in 1849, but the emigrants weren't talking about wooly mammoths or genuine circus-type…
Emigrant Camps
"Practice varied as to the disposition of people and livestock in relation to the coral. One would suppose the emigrants, with or without tents, would sleep inside the corral for…
Platte River Water
"The only reliable daily source [of water in the Platte Valley] was the Platte River itself. Platte river water was obtained in two ways: by scooping it up out of…
Buffalo Chips
"[F]or the most part along the Platte a camp fire developed from the ubiquitous dried droppings of the buffalo, sometimes called dung or manure, but more commonly called 'buffalo chips.'…
Shoe Mouth Deep
"In the evening it commenced raining very hard and towards night were great indications of an approaching storm. We are now camped on a low piece of ground, as all…
Sweet Morpheus
"We started and travelled 10 miles and comped very late; here we found no wood to cook with, so we ate a few crackers, and resigned ourselves to the arms…
Yearly Emigration Schedule
"The exodus each year from the jumping-off places on the Missouri River began on the approximate date when it was agreed that grass would be sufficiently green on the plains…
Whiskey in the Emigrant Train
"It would be inappropriate to omit reference to one more item in the emigrants' bill of fare—whiskey. This was brought along in casks or barrels, and it was an important…
Emigrants’ Daily Menu
"Charles M. Tuttle describes the daily menu of a typical emigrant: 'for breakfast, coffee, bacon, dry or pilot bread; for dinner, coffee, cold beans, bacon or buffalo meat; for supper,…
Traffic on the Platte River Route
"Intermingled with the westering cavalcade of the Great Migration was the shuttle-weave of stagecoaches, freighting trains, mail wagons, fur trade caravans. U.S. Army troops, supply trains, and dispatch riders. There…
Spare Parts
"Since tongues, spokes, and axles were subject to breakage, spare parts were carried whenever possible, slung under the wagon bed. Grease buckets, water barrels (or india rubber bags), whips or…
Affection for Oxen
"Every family had great affection for their oxen, which were greeted with names like Rouser, Old Bailey, Brindle and Bright, and Old Smut and Snarley; and when, in the extremity…