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OCTA > 2020 Emigrant Trails Hall of Fame Selectees

Emigrant Trails Category: 2020 Emigrant Trails Hall of Fame Selectees

Francis Parkman

Photo of Francis Parkman

Brigham Young

Photo of Brigham Young

John C. Fremont

portrait of John C. Fremont

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Oregon-California Trails Association

9 hours ago

The Blue Mound on the Oregon-California Trail in Douglas County near Lawrence, Kansas. ... See MoreSee Less

The Blue Mound - A Kansas Historical Documentary

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The Blue Mound is a lonely, 1,054ft hill rising up from the prairie southeast of Lawrence, Kansas. It has been the center of history in northeast Kansas sinc...

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Oregon-California Trails Association

13 hours ago

Last night, OCTA intern Charlie Dodge spoke during a Zoom presentation for our Southern Trails Chapter about the Carlin 13. Thirteen graves of Chinese laborers who died while building the Central Pacific Railroad were discovered in Carlin, Nevada and, after an archaeological survey at UNLV, were reinterred in a traditional Chinese burial in Carlin. ... See MoreSee Less

What the Carlin 13 Reveal About the Treatment of Chinese Immigrants in the Western United States

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Charlie Dodge presents on The Carlin 13; Chinese immigrants, some of the oldest settlers in Carlin, whose graves were accidentally disturbed in 1996. After b...

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Oregon-California Trails Association

20 hours ago

Great news! ... See MoreSee Less

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Oregon-California Trails Association

20 hours ago

A Fort Laramie ghost on the Oregon Trail - a Halloween tale!The Lady in Green..."Laramie Ghost"In 1871, a young Lieutenant P.W. Allison of the 2nd Cavalry arrived at Fort Laramie. Soon after his arrival, he joined a small party of young officers on a wolf hunt along the hills east of the fort. The dogs soon sighted a wolf and Allison being better mounted than his companions soon outdistanced and lost them in the ensuing chase.Later, as he picked his way down from the hills toward the Oregon Trail to return to the fort his horse went lame and he stopped, removed a stone from one of her shoes and turning to remount he saw a lone horseman riding rapidly eastward on the trail. Allison's path intersected that of the lone rider who he took at first to be an Indian with a flapping blanket but as he came nearer saw was a young woman in an old-fashioned long riding habit and feathery hat. Thinking that she was a newly arrived visitor at the fort, he sought to stop her to warn her against riding so far out alone, but she raised her quirt which glittered in the sun and whipped her great black horse to dash past him and out of sight over a rise of ground. Dashing in pursuit, Allison was amazed on topping the rise to find no one in sight and his amazement grew as he examined the little used trail and found no tracks while his great wolfhound cowered against him in an unprecedented show of fear.As he looked about in astonishment a shout from a ridge to the south appraised him of the fact that one of his officer friends was at hand. Soon another Lieutenant was beside him, first chaffing him about the lady who had given him the go-by, and then sharing his perplexity at the lack of any tracks or trace of her.Returned to the fort and dining with the assembled officers, their ladies and guests, Allison assured himself that no lady present at the fort could have been the mysterious rider. Then fully aware that he might be made the butt of many jokes he told the group of his queer adventure. Before any jocular comments could be made the Commanding officer spoke up with "Well Allison, you have just seen the "Laramie Ghost", and told the following story.Back in the days when Fort Laramie was a fur trading post a factor of the post brought with him his beautiful daughter who had been educated in eastern schools and was an accomplished horsewoman. The factor warned his daughter never to ride out alone and ordered his assistants to see that she did not leave the fort alone at anytime. However, there came a day when the factor was away and his daughter mounted her favorite horse, a beautiful black, and despite the protests of the people in the fort rode eastward down the Oregon Trail and was never seen again.Her father returned and searched for her for weeks but no trace was found. Then in the years that followed a legend grew among the Indians and traders of the valley that every seven years the ghost of the factors daughter would be seen riding down the old trail.Still incredulous Lieutenant Allison inquired about until he found an old Indian woman who had been at the fort when the factors daughter rode out never to return. He asked the old woman how the girl had been dressed and his amazement grew as she chanted out a description of a girl in a long dark green riding habit with a feathered hat and a jeweled handled quirt such as the Lieutenant had seen as the mysterious lady had whipped her mount to dash away from him on the trail. So, Allison was convinced that he had seen the "Laramie Ghost" and buried the incident in his memory until years later as he rode the train through Wyoming he heard cowboys on a depot platform talking about how a rancher had just seen the "Laramie Ghost" but his train started up err he could question them for details of the incident.#Spooktober #GhostofFortLaramieImage Description: Black and white photo of a Oregon Trail marker east of Fort Laramie, with a green ghostly figure of a female on a horse in the background. ... See MoreSee Less

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Oregon-California Trails Association

4 days ago

For the months of October and November, on Frontier Fridays we'll highlight the quotes displayed on the stone walls lining the outdoor plaza of the California Trail Interpretive Center.“Take the regular wagon track and never leave it.” – James Clyman to the Donner Party 1846 This quote comes from the 1928 book James Clyman, American Frontiersman, 1792-1881, edited by Charles L. Camp. The book can be viewed on the Internet Archive at https://archive.org/details/jamesclymanameri01cali/page/228/mode/2up.This quote comes from the 1928 book James Clyman, American Frontiersman, 1792-1881, edited by Charles L. Camp. The book can be viewed on the Internet Archive at https://archive.org/details/jamesclymanameri01cali/page/228/mode/2up. Like William Sublette (see our Facebook post from October 8), James Clyman answered the ad calling for trappers to head west in 1823 and traveled with Sublette and Jedidiah Smith. He became a well known explorer of routes to Oregon and California. In April, 1846, he and Lansford Hastings (and others) left California en route back east to the States to lead a group of 25 people wanting to return there. On May 22 they reached a point near present-day Halleck, NV and debated continuing by way of Fort Hall or trying John Fremont's route south to the Great Salt Lake. Hastings argued in favor of this because of his recent publication that advocated for that route from Fort Bridger and ultimately convinced the group to go that way.On June 27, Clyman wrote, "we met numerous squad of emigrants untill we reached fort Larrimie whare we met Ex govornor [Lilburn W.] Boggs and party from Jackson county Mi[ss]ourie Bound for California and we camped with them several of us continued the conversation until a late hour." The editor of the book referenced above then writes, "James Clyman knew James Frazier Reed, one of the leaders of the Donner subdivision, having served with him in Jacob Early's company in the Black Hawk War. In Montgomery's 'Biographical Sketch of Clyman,' introductory to a transcript of Clyman's diaries in the Bancroft Library, Clyman is quoted as follows: 'We met Gov. Boggs and party at Fort Laramie. It included the Donner Party. We camped one night with them at Laramie. I knew Gov. Boggs, had got acquainted with him at St. Louis. Had known Mr. Reed previously in the Sauk war. He was from Springfield Illinois.... 'Mr. Reed, while we were encamped at Laramie was enquiring about the route. I told him to 'take the regular wagon track [by way of Fort Hall] and never leave it – it is barely possible to get through if you follow it – and it may be impossible if you don't.' Reed replied, 'There is a nigher route, and it is of no use to take so much of a roundabout course.' I admitted the fact, but told him about the great desert and the roughness of the Sierras, and that a straight route might turn out to be impracticable.' ... See MoreSee Less

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Oregon-California Trails Association

5 days ago

Zoom Event Tonight! 5 PM PST/ 8 PM ESTRegister here: tinyurl.com/TheCarlin13Charlie Dodge will present on The Carlin 13; Chinese immigrants, some of the oldest settlers in Carlin, whose graves were accidentally disturbed in 1996. After being studied for 21 years, they were given a traditional Chinese re-burial in 2018 - an effort spearheaded by a current Chinese citizen in Carlin. The Carlin 13 gives insight into the treatment of the Chinese at the time of their death, and how traditional Chinese burial and funerary practices have evolved through time and immigration. Organized by the Southern Trails Chapter of the Oregon-California Trails Association for their Third Thursday History night. ... See MoreSee Less

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Oregon-California Trails Association

5 days ago

“This is so hard.” These words characterized the perspective of an 11-year-old boy I will call John, traveling by wagon and mules on the historic Hastings Cutoff before the recent Oregon-California Trails Association Convention in Elko.With 29 other seventh and eighth grade students, all wearing clothing of the emigrant period, this adolescent was learning real life lessons on a six-day trek along 64 miles of the Hastings Cutoff between Silver Zone Pass and U.S. Highway 93. Walking alongside five mule-drawn covered wagons, the students braved northeastern Nevada’s arid country, a ferocious wind-driven rain and hail storm, and the unexpected responsibilities of setting up camp, cooking, and caring for their animals.Read more about Dave Vixie and his students at the Elko Daily. ... See MoreSee Less

Historic Hastings Cutoff scene of today’s lessons

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ELKO — “This is so hard.” These words characterized the perspective of an 11-year-old boy I will call John, traveling by wagon and mules on the historic Hastings Cutoff before

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Oregon-California Trails Association is at Hansen Wheel & Wagon Shop.

6 days ago

This authentic 1850s-era wagon is being restored to become part of an exhibit in Boone County, Arkansas that will tell the story of the Baker-Fancher Party, most of whom died during the Mountain Meadows Massacre on September 11, 1857. Their wagon train to California originated in Boone County. ... See MoreSee Less

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Oregon-California Trails Association is at Hansen Wheel & Wagon Shop.

7 days ago

OCTA is partnering this week with Knowledge Tree Films and Sunrunner Media to create a short documentary about Hansen Wheel and Wagon Shop near Mitchell, South Dakota. We're working with proprietor Doug Hansen to tell the evolutionary story of the wagons and stagecoaches popularly used in the 19th century American West. A special thank you to the South Dakota Humanities Council for providing a grant to cover production costs. #OregonTrail #CaliforniaTrail #trails #OCTA #SouthDakota #SouthDakotaHumanitiesCouncil #Mitchell #KnowledgeTree #SunrunnerMedia ... See MoreSee Less

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Oregon-California Trails Association

2 weeks ago

E-News for Friday, October 15, 2021 - https://mailchi.mp/indepmo/e-news-for-monday-july-5082578 ... See MoreSee Less

E-News for Friday, October 15, 2021

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OCTA HQ received this request last week. Please follow up by tomorrow (Saturday, October 15) if you would like to send a short video about your thoughts on Will Bagely's impact on western history. Dea...

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Featured Products

Bruff's Wake: J. Goldsborough Bruff & the California Gold Rush, by H. L James $24.95
The Oregon Trail Revisited, by Gregory M. Franzwa $24.95
In Pursuit of a Dream (DVD) $20.00
Reading, Writing and Riding Along the Oregon-California Trails (An Educational Activity Book), by William E. Hill $8.95

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