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Oregon-California Trails Association

14 hours ago

OCTA E-News for Sunday, May 22, 2022 - https://mailchi.mp/indepmo/e-news-for-monday-july-13659413 ... See MoreSee Less

OCTA E-News for Sunday, May 22, 2022

mailchi.mp

Please continue to turn in your volunteer hours, mileage, expenses paid by you and not reimbursed, time traveling to meetings (including the San Diego Symposium), research, etc. We are attempting to ...

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Oregon-California Trails Association

23 hours ago

May 22 – A 5-month virtual road trip along the California TrailThe Big Blue river crossing lies just west of Marysville, KS very near where US Highway 36 crosses it. Near here you can visit Historic Trails Park (GPS coordinates -96.659, 39.843) which has several interpretive signs and a full-size replica of a rope ferry that was used by emigrants to cross the river. The photographs were downloaded from https://www.visitmarysvilleks.org/attraction/historic-trails-park/ and from https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/p/AF1QipPSzxihRnCwm1iS1T7sLSpZQYlmKuPFkDrrcmdJ=h1440.John Clark (https://octa-journals.org/merrill-mattes-collection/…) wrote on May 15, 1852, "All were up. Broke the cracker barrel to make fire & roasted the hawk for myself. The rest done without. Put forward on the road by sunrise. Past a man just buried from Perry's train. He was not fairly covered. His old boots still on his feet pointed up through the sand. We had no spade to cover them so we had to pass on. Over a wide & level plain without water, but a few trees in the distance, to Big Blue, 15 miles. Here was over 100 waggons waiting their turn to ferry & ford. Some drove through but we, like many others, paid three dollars & took the boat. This is a mild running stream, 50 yards wide. Large cottonwood on the banks, grass on the flat. A little trading post on the bank that sells awful dear. Sugar, coffee & bread, 50 cents the pound. Whiskey six bits the pint, or 50 the drink." ... See MoreSee Less

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Oregon-California Trails Association

2 days ago

May 21 – A 5-month virtual road trip along the California Trail204th Road follows the approximate route of the Trail for about 2.5 miles from where it crosses Clear Creek in Nemeha County, Kansas (GPS coordinates -96.193, 39.939). We often think of the hardships along the Trail, which were many. However, we sometimes forget that, though the Trail is said to begin in the "Jumping Off Towns", travelers along the Trail had many points of origin from which they had to begin their journey prior to arriving at the Missouri River crossings. These hardships were not only felt by the people, but by their animals as well, which were unaccustomed to the grueling schedule of daily travel. Andrew Hall Gilmore (https://octa-journals.org/merrill-mattes-collection/…) began his journey near Terre Haute, Indiana. Having already traveled 400 miles to St. Joseph, his party consisted of six wagons, fifty-two oxen, six horses, and twenty-three men. Now, eighty miles from St. Joseph, Gilmore wrote on May 17, 1850 – "A cool wind from the North, cool enough for overcoats. Started at eight o'clock; after traveling a few miles the face of the country became almost level except occasional swells that occurred beautiful on the surface at regular intervals, like spreading meadows; the soil very good, on some parts coarse gravel; the roads fine but quite dusty. Passed today the carcasses of six dead horses, making in all 17 horses and mules since leaving St. Jo., that have sunk under the fatigue of the journey. Encamped for night in the wide prairie by a pool of muddy water which was unfit for everything else but our cattle; but tolerable good water and wood was obtained by carrying them 3/4 miles. Travelled 18 miles." The 1823 drawing by French artist Theodore Gericault was downloaded from https://www.artsy.net/artwork/theodore-gericault-dead-horse. ... See MoreSee Less

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Oregon-California Trails Association

2 days ago

Congrats to OCTA's intern on her graduation from New York University. She starts her professional career on Monday. As a parting gift, she created a new podcast for OCTA. Stay tuned. We'll debut it very soon! ... See MoreSee Less

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Oregon-California Trails Association

3 days ago

OCTA's 40th Annual Casper, Wyoming Convention Registration - https://mailchi.mp/indepmo/e-news-for-monday-july-13659357 ... See MoreSee Less

OCTA's 40th Annual Casper, Wyoming Convention Registration

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Oregon-California Trails Association

3 days ago

Join us for our 40th annual convention in Casper, Wyoming from August 28 through September 2, 2022. Registration details can be found at https://octa-trails.regfox.com/2022-octa-convention-casper-wyoming ... See MoreSee Less

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Oregon-California Trails Association

5 days ago

Coming on National Trails Day on June 4 in Independence, Missouri.Will you survive the trail? Or die of dysentery? Test your luck at the Live Action Oregon Trail game! Inspired by the favorite video game of the 90s, start your journey in the town where the real Oregon Trail pioneers set off. Relay races, crafts, games, and more! Each session is an hour-long with a slow and steady pace in the morning for families and a grueling pace for the skilled pioneer after 1 pm. ... See MoreSee Less

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Live Action Oregon Trail

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https://secure.givelively.org/event/jackson-county-historical-society/live-action-oregon-trail

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Oregon-California Trails Association

5 days ago

On this day in history 180 years ago, May 18, 1842, a vote is held by the Elijah White Party to kill all of the dogs in the wagon train. This occurred at the Elm Grove Campground in what is now Olathe, Kansas. Medorem Crawford diary from May 18: "A violent rain this morning much excitement in camp about Dogs: 22 dogs shot, stoped raining about 9 o'c."From a book by Miss A.J. Allen: "Here, by a two-thirds vote, it was determined to kill all the dogs of the company, having been informed that, in crossing the mountains and their vicinity, these animals were apt to become rabid, as timber was scarce, and consequently water which they so much required in the heats of summer on the scorching plains. The arrangement did not at all accord with the feelings of the ladies, and caused the first serious disturbance since leaving the States. While the destruction was going on, the poor creatures would run to their mistresses for protection, crying most piteously. Even the men, while engaged in their task, found their hearts were not sufficiently steeled to permit its performance without feelings of sorrow and regret. However, the recollection of a freshly related account of the mad wolf which had bitten eleven of two encampments, strengthened their fortitude. The death of the dogs was preferred to those of their herds, and perhaps members of their families, and they went resolutely about the work, amid the cries and screams of the women and children, as well as the victims."From "The Elijah White Party" by Hubert H. Bancroft: "At this point White startled the company by officially recommending that all the dogs in camp be forthwith killed lest they should go mad upon the arid plains which they were now approaching. King Herod's edict anent the slaughter of the innocents could scarcely have called forth a louder wail of lamentation from the mothers of Judea than was evoked from the women and children of White's party by this proposed immolation of their canine pets and companions. Many of the men, too, protested loudly against the sacrifice. Although when it came to a vote most of them yielded to their leader's wish, yet the measure was so unpopular that it contributed largely to the election of L.W. Hastings as captain at the end of the first month."W.G. Ghent: "The Emigration of 1842 really begins the epic of the settlement of Oregon....It was a party of divergent wills, and it had a stormy time. There was evidently too many dogs in the party, and at a meeting it was resolved to kill all of them. They would all go mad on the plains, it was argued, and even if they didn't they would be sure, by their barking and growling, to acquaint any prowling Indians with the fact that here was a party to be plundered. The counter argument that their barking would also apprise the emigrants of the presence of Indians did not apparently, carry sufficient weight, and a motion was passed that all the dogs be shot. Medorem Crawford, in his journal, and Miss A.J. Allen, the author of the book of White's travels, say that the dogs, a total of twenty-two, were killed. Hastings, however, says that the motion produced a great deal of ill-feeling; that after a few were killed....another declared that any man attempting to shoot his dog would himself be shot, and that as a consequence the execution stopped then and there."In 1842, Elijah White led the very first wagon train that had more than 100 people over the Oregon Trail to Oregon. White had first gone to Oregon as a missionary for the Methodist Church in 1836. He'd sailed first to Hawaii then to Oregon, setting up a mission along the Willamette River with Jason Lee. Trapper and later politician Osborne Russell served as guide to this 1842 migration. The party set out on May 16, 1842, from Independence, Missouri, with 112 people, 18 wagons, and a variety of livestock. Along the journey, some in the migration grew wary of White’s leadership and L. B. Hastings was selected as leader for a time until the party split into two groups. François X. Matthieu, along with several other Canadians, joined the party along the way to Oregon. The party would cut their wagons down to two-wheeled carts at Ft. Hall. White arrived at Fort Vancouver ahead of the main party, arriving on September 20, 1842. In 1852, Ezra Meeker headed west from St. Joseph and settled in what is now Puyallup, Washington. In 1906, at age 78, he set out to memorialize the Oregon Trail. He had his Scotch collie Jim along for the trek, and over the course of the next two years they'd make their way from Puget Sound to New York City. Dogs and pets were an integral part of the trail experience and were esteemed members of the family, then and now. For more stories about pets on the trail, visit the website of the Oregon-California Trails Association: https://octa-trails.org/trail-stories/trail-pets/ ... See MoreSee Less

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Oregon-California Trails Association updated their status.

6 days ago

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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