Oregon Trail Journal
By: Tristan Sinclair
Oregon Trail Ruts
Zarria, Pete. Oregon Trail Ruts. Digital image. Flickr. Flickr, 21 May 2009. Web. 11 Mar. 2015.
Oregon Trail
Turner, Matt. Oregon Trail. Digital image. Flickr. Flickr, 4 May 2010. Web. 11 Mar. 2015.
The Oregon Trail
Kanouse, Kent. The Oregon Trail. Digital image. Flickr. Flickr, 3 July 2011. Web. 11 Mar. 2015.
May 5, 1854
Its been a week or two since we started out. So far the journey has been quite easy with very few problems. Our train consists of 7 other wagons of big families looking to start a new life in Oregon. We are all from the same local area so we know each other decently well. I have been elected to be the the wagon train leader so I will make the big decisions for our group. Anyways, so far we've crossed one river. It was calm and shallow so most of us elected to cross by floating our wagons across and hoping for the best. We all crossed easily with zero problems. One in our group paid the fair for a ferry. After this we ran into some water issues but luckily we had plenty of extra water barrels so we didn't run out. A day later, we found a nice area with lots of evidence of game present. We decided to take a break and try to hunt. I myself didn't, due to not enough space in my wagon, but many in our group did and caught quite a bit. Another day went by and we came across an Indian Chief that wanted to gamble. Our wagon train and another decided to take a chance and gamble with this Indian. The challenge was to hold a leg lift position for as long as possible. Our group won and came out with 25$ each. After this we came across a plain that had little firewood wood but, luckily we all had some. Well that's it for now. I will try to write soon.
July 20, 1854
Recently we had an accident. A wagon in our train flipped due to the oxen getting spooked. A boy was hit and broke his leg. We splinted him and all we can do his hope that he will be ok. After this another chief stopped us saying that we can't cross unless we pass his test. I couldn't pass the test so we had to go around the path and that cost us precious time. After a while back on the trail, we came across another great hunting area. I hunted and got a decent amount of meat. At nightfall an Indian tribe attacked. Luckily most of us had rifles so we defended ourselves and got back on the road. A few days later we came across a fork in the road. We decided to take the burial grounds route even though it was dangerous.
August 28, 1854
We are hurrying across the burial grounds trail trying to out run some indians. Everyone is scared and tired but we must keep going. They are made because we came on to their ancient burial grounds. On the way we decided we were in the clear and decided o take a break and hunt a little. I got some more meat but nothing great. We keep going but this is a lot harder than i thought it would be. Sometimes I wish we had never started this journey. Oregon better be worth it. The indians have caught up with us now. We believe they are going to attack at nightfalls. We prepare by circling the wagons and cleaning our guns. We are going to be prepared. After the small battle, we had just one minor injury. A person was hit by an arrow but they will be ok. After we came to another fork in the road. The trail we took it massacre canyon. I'm not liking these trail names...
November 12, 1854
I'm excited to say that we have made it to Oregon! After a wild journey of ups and downs we have made it. We have settled in a small but growing community and we all have plenty of rich land. Anyways, on the massacre canyon trail we had an outbreak of cholera. Someone took a poop near the spring. Anyways some people got super sick and we quarantined them but some died. After this we we finally made it to the mountains. We all had to dump a bunch of stuff to get our wagons up a steep hill. At this point we were semi-late and winter had come early. We had to make the choice to go for it, send scouts, or stay back and wait for spring to come. We decided to go for it and we made! Barely, but we made it. After this it was easy. We found a nice town and we all settled down. Ever thing worked out besides a couple of people dying.