Blazing the Overland Trails
Part 1:
The California–Oregon Trail
The Mormon Trail
Originally published in El Defensor Chieftain
newspaper, Socorro, NM, Saturday, February 6, 2010.
By Paul Harden, [email protected]
Emigrant trails were our country's first “highways.”
Unlike today's highways of smooth pavement, the
emigrant trails were dusty, rough wagon tracks that
stretched endlessly across the West. It was over these
trails that the “westward expansion” of the United
States occurred during the mid-1800s. Heading west
from the Mississippi River and across the Great Plains,
these trails led settlers into the Rocky Mountains, the
Pacific Coast, and the American Southwest.
The most famous of the emigrant trails were the Oregon
Trail, the California Trail, and the Mormon Trail. It is
estimated by historians that over half a million
emigrants traveled these trails to the West from the
earliest wagon trains in the 1840s to the building of the
transcontinental railroad in 1869.
The oldest and longest used emigrant trail in North
America is our own El Camino Real, bringing
immigrants from Spain and Mexico into New Mexico
from 1598 until the 1880s, when the railroad arrived in
New Mexico, a period of nearly 300 years. And, of
course, the Santa Fe Trail, originally blazed from
Independence, MO to Santa Fe in 1821 as a trade route,
it was quickly used by emigrants, explorers, and the
U.S. Army for years.
Oregon Historical Society
Meriweather Lewis and William Clark, of the famed
Lewis and Clark Expedition, were the first to blaze a
route to the Pacific Ocean in 1805. Unfortunately, their
route proved unsuitable for an overland wagon trail.
closely shadowed by today's modern highways.
Interstate 80 closely follows the Oregon-California
Trail, I-10 the Butterfield and Southern Emigrant trails,
and I-25 the Camino Real and the Santa Fe Trails.
The formation of these trails, and the thousands of
emigrants that traveled them, changed the face of the
West, and New Mexico, during the 1800s. Due to their
historical significance, most of the major emigrant
trails are now designated National Historic Trails,
administered by the National Park Service.
New Mexico also saw the trail blazed by the Mormon
Battalion (which passed through Socorro) that led the
way for the Southern Emigrant trail and the famous
Butterfield Overland Mail route through the southern
part of the state to California.
Early 1800s Trails to the West
In the early 1800s, the Pacific Coast was only
accessible by ship. Departing New York City, sailing
around the tip of South America took months to reach
the Pacific Coast. Due to the long journey and expense,
only a handful of these ships of both British and
American registry had made the trip. Most were
engaged in buying furs for foreign markets, not for
emigration.
So successful were these early pioneers in eventually
finding the most direct routes across the West, they are
The first overland trail is often attributed to Meriwether
Lewis and William Clark – the famous Lewis and Clark
WESTERN EMIGRANT TRAILS
From the period of Mexican occupation (pre–1848) through
1869 completion of the Trans-Continental Railroad
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DISTANCES
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1,300 mi. Mormon Trail Nauvoo to Salt Lake
1,800 mi. Railroad Omaha to Sacramento
1,940 mi. Oregon Trail Independence to Oregon City
2,040 mi. California Trail St. Louis to Sacramento
2,400 mi. Mormon Battalion Council Bluffs to Monterrey
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1847–1882
expedition of 1804–1806. Commissioned by President
Thomas Jefferson to explore the new Louisiana
Purchase and find the headwaters of the Missouri
River, they had also hoped to establish an overland
route to the Pacific Ocean.
They returned to Washington D.C. to report to
President Jefferson the wondrous country of the
Louisiana Purchase, but no “magic route” to the Pacific
Ocean. Like finding the Northwest passage, an
overland route to the Pacific seemed a myth.
To avoid entering Mexico, which included present day
California, Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, Lewis and
Clark stayed well to the north through today's Dakotas,
Montana, Idaho and Oregon. Their route is shown on
the map accompanying this article.
The very year of Lewis and Clark's return, Zebulon
Pike and a handful of U.S. Army soldiers were sent by
President Jefferson to explore the Arkansas River and
the headwaters in Colorado. By February 1807, Pike
and his men hunkered down for the winter in the San
Luis Valley of Colorado – though in 1807, well inside
New Spain. Historians still argue whether ending up in
Spanish territory was by accident, or if Pike was
ordered by President Jefferson to “get a peek” inside
the territory controlled by Spain.
They were successful in blazing the first trail to the
Pacific Ocean, arriving near present day Portland,
Oregon. However, this was a circuitous route through
treacherous mountain ranges and rafting down rivers.
They also discovered that winter along the northern
Continental Divide was outright brutal. These factors
made their route unsuitable for establishing the hopedfor overland wagon road to the Pacific.
Regardless, Pike and his men were promptly
discovered by Spanish soldiers, arrested for spying for
the United States, and imprisoned in Santa Fe and later
Chihuahua. Though
finally released to the
United States, it sent a
strong message that
New Spain was not
open to “outsiders.”
In 1821, the Spanish
empire fell and much
of today's western
United States became
part of Mexico. The
newly formed
Mexican government
in Santa Fe was more
friendly towards the
United States,
permitting the opening
of the Santa Fe Trail,
allowing some of the
first Anglos to enter
New Mexico.
From the Sweetwater
River, earlier
explorers continued
west for the
treacherous climb over
the Rocky Mountains,
then the equally
treacherous Bitteroot
Mountains in Idaho.
Library of Congress
Zebulon Pike and his band of
U.S. soldiers were arrested by
Spain for tresspassing in the
San Luis Valley in Colorado –
then a part of New Spain.
A few years later, Jedediah Smith traveled along the
Colorado River and through the Mojave Desert looking
for a route to California, another stronghold of Mexico.
Arriving in 1826, Smith learned the Mexicans in
California were not nearly as friendly as those in Santa
Fe. Like Zebulon Pike, he was promptly arrested for
entering Mexican California without permission.
Convinced Smith was a harmless fur trapper and not a
United States spy, he was released and told never to
return. Another trail to the Pacific hit a dead end.
Not discouraged, Smith returned to California by the
same route the following year – and again, promptly
arrested by the Mexican governor of Alto California for
trespassing. After some negotiations, he was again
released with the promise never to return to Mexico's
California. Jedediah Smith must have finally gotten the
message for he headed north and explored Oregon
instead, but never developed his hoped-for trail.
Instead of this
mountainous route, the
White party ventured
further south to find a
natural pass through
San Diego History
Fur trapper Jedediah Smith the Rockies missed by
was arrested for trespassing in e a r l i e r e x p l o r e r s .
Mexico in 1826 for his attempt Called South Pass, this
to establish a trail through gentle 20-mile gap in
California to the Pacific Ocean.
the Continental Divide
eased the rigors of
crossing several mountain ranges and greatly attributed
to the success of the Oregon Trail.
From South Pass, the White party continued west and
northwest, following the Snake River through Idaho
until meeting the Columbia River. From there, the river
was followed to the Pacific Ocean; the trail ended in
Oregon City, Oregon, a distance of nearly 2,000 miles
from Independence, Missouri.
Word of the new route and their successful arrival in
Oregon made its way back to Missouri. Oregon fever
had begun. By the following year, between 700 and
1000 emigrants were assembled for the trip to Oregon.
The Oregon– California Trail
The most traveled route to the West and the Pacific
became known as the Oregon– California Trail.
In 1841, about 100 people are the first known emigrant
party to make the overland trip to Oregon. The
following year, Methodist missionary Dr. Elijah White
organized and led a party of 200 people to Oregon.
They followed the Missouri River to its headwaters in
central Wyoming, then the Sweetwater River to the
Continental Divide.
Courtesy Historic Trails website
Tracks of the Oregon-California Trail through South
Pass, Wyoming as they appear today. This is where the
trail crossed the Continental Divide.
An 1850s map of the “Old Oregon Trail” as published in Ezra Meekers guide book. Many guidebooks and maps were
printed for travelers along the Oregon Trail. Earlier travelers, however, did not have the luxury of a map.
Leaving Missouri in the spring of 1843, this massive
wagon train became known as the “Great Migration”
and is the celebrated beginning of the Oregon Trail.
Emigrants relocating to Oregon were those looking for
a better life. Oregon offered excellent farm land, a
lumber industry and trapping. Gold was discovered at
Sutter's Mill in California in 1848, luring thousands of
more to head West. They also followed the Oregon Trail
to beyond South Pass, then blazed a new trail to the gold
fields near Sacramento. The branch to California
renamed the route to the Oregon-California Trail.
Over the years, literally hundreds of thousands of
emigrants followed the 2,000 mile trek to chase one
dream or another. About one-tenth of the emigrants
died on the trail.
In spite of movies and western stories, attacks by
Indians were relatively rare; most died of cholera – a
gastrointenstinal disease caused by ingesting
contaminated water or food, or from other diseases.
Others lost their lives from accidents along the trail or
getting stranded in the mountains in the winter months
– such as the ill fated Donner Party. The scarcity of
good, clean water and fire wood for cooking food killed
far more travelers than did the Indians.
However, the largest organized migration over the trail
was not by emigrants from the East, but by thousands of
Mormons heading for the Great Salt Lake. They blazed
their own trail from the Mississippi River to intercept
the Oregon Trail in Nebrask. Their route to Utah
became known as the Mormon Trail.
The contribution made by the Mormons in establishing
new trails through the West is often under appreciated.
They became skilled pioneers, developing survival
techniques along the trail that were unequalled. In
addition to the Mormon Trail to Salt Lake, they also
blazed trails and established communities throughout
eastern Arizona, western New Mexico, and southern
Colorado. The trail to California blazed by the Mormon
Battalion became the Southern Immigrant Trail, the
approximate route of today's I-10. (The Mormon
Battalion is presented in Part 2 of this article).
Why did 50,000 Mormons make the trek to Utah –
marking the largest organized migration in American
history?
The Early Mormon Church
Joseph Smith, of Palmyra, NY, received prophetic
visions from the angel Moroni beginning at a young
age. Moroni guided Smith to locate a set of ancient
golden tablets. The Book of Mormon is the translation
of these tablets.
Smith and five others founded the Church of Christ in
1830, renamed the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day
Saints in 1834. To many, the Book of Mormon filled a
void many had in
expressing their love
and faith in God and
Jesus as the Christ. The
church quickly began to
grow.
The great westward
migration of the
Mormons actually
began in 1831 when
Joseph Smith selected
Kirtland, Ohio to be the
home of his church.
Courtesy LDS Church
Joseph Smith
About 2,000 Mormons quickly moved to Kirtland. Just
as quickly, the locals began persecuting the Mormons
for their communal life, opposition to slavery, and other
views.
Within two years, they had moved to Independence,
Missouri, then to western Missouri, finally settling at
Commerce, Illinois in 1838. Joseph Smith renamed the
town Nauvoo and received a charter from the state
legislature, giving the Mormons full control of the
police and courts. Joseph Smith was elected mayor.
Nauvoo was a small village on the swampy banks of the
Mississippi River. In two short years, 10,000 hard
working Mormons had drained the swamps into fruitful
farmland and built an impressive city and river port
town. By 1844, Nauvoo grew to 12,000 residents –
rivaling Chicago at the time. Joseph Smith was elected
mayor and proved successful at organizing and
building a fruitful community.
Joseph Smith for President
In 1844, at age 38, Joseph Smith ran for president,
choosing church elder Sydney Rigdon as his vice
presidential running mate. Fellow Mormon William
Law started a local newspaper called the Nauvoo
Expositor. The first issue of the Expositor attacked
Smith's stance for straying from the church in order to
run for president and other criticisms.
Courtesy Mormon History Online
The night after the first issue was printed, some zealous
Mormon followers set fire to the newspaper office and
printing press. Joseph Smith, and his brother Hyrum,
were arrested for their suspected involvement in
ordering the newspaper's destruction and were jailed.
Before the guilt or innocence of Joseph Smith could be
determined in a court of law, an angry mob broke into
the jail and shot and killed both the prophet and his
brother.
Church Turmoil
Joseph Smith had left no clear line of succession for the
rapidly growing Mormon church, throwing the
membership into turmoil. Several men stepped forward
claiming their rightful inheritance to the church
leadership. This included elder Sydney Rigdon
(Smith's presidential running mate), William Law, the
owner of the Nauvoo Expositor newspaper, those who
felt Joseph Smith's 11-year-old son should be church
leader, and another young Mormon prophet named
James Colin Brewster. [Brewster eventually moved his
splinter group to Socorro, New Mexico in 1850 – see
Part II of this article.]
Joseph Smith for president of the United States. He was
killed by an angry mob before the 1844 elections.
Others stepped forward as well, some no doubt with a
zeal to lead the church, and others simply being
opportunistic. Numerous splinter groups of the
Mormon church were formed during this time.
However, the Mormon church was not in the total state
of disarray that many historians portray. Most churches
have some sort of governing body to determine the
policies, doctrine and theocratic direction of the
church. Though Joseph Smith did not leave a successor,
he did hand-select a governing body called the Quorum
of Twelve. After praying on the matter, they selected
Brigham Young, who was ordained President of the
church in December 1847.
After Brigham Young's selection, persecution of the
Mormons continued to mount. Non-Mormons felt
threatened by the political and economic power of the
Mormons, escalating into what is sometimes called
“The Mormon Wars.” Fields and homes were burned
and people killed. It was this maltreatment of the
Mormon people that drove Brigham Young to make the
very difficult decision
to abandon their
beloved city and move
his people out West
where they could live
in peace.
The Mormon Trek to
Utah – The Mormon
Trail
B r i g h a m Yo u n g ' s
planned exodus to
Utah, then a province
o f M e x i c o , w a s Courtesy LDS Church
planned for April Brigham Young led 50,000
1 8 4 6 . H o w e v e r , Mormon’s to Salt Lake
beginning in 1846, building
continued persecution the famed Mormon Trail.
of the Mormons in
Nauvoo forced the crossing of the Mississippi to begin
in February. The earlier than planned departure left
many ill-prepared for the trip and less organized than
originally planned. Over 3,000 Mormons had crossed
into Iowa by the end of February.
In June 1847, the advanced guard of Brigham Young's
push to Utah arrived at Fort Laramie. Departing the
Oregon Trail at Fort Bridger, Wyoming, they entered
the Salt Lake Valley on July 7. Brigham Young and his
party arrived on July 27 and declared their long
anticipated destination to be “the right place.” By
December, 1,600 Mormons had made the 1,300 mile
trip.
However, an early series of snow storms stranded
nearly 10,000 others across the Great Plains, forcing
them to stop for the winter. The exhausted pioneers,
many living in tents or their wagons, suffered greatly in
the bitter cold and from lack of food. Many perished.
When Spring finally arrived, many struck to the trail,
struggling for months until reaching their brothers in
Salt Lake by late 1848.
These hardships taught the Mormons to be skilled
pioneers. They built their road across the Great Plains
to where it joined the Oregon Trail near present day
Kearney, Nebraska. They sent out parties to establish
small communities along the trail about every five days
of travel. These people built designed communities
consisting of housing, lodging, and farms for growing
crops – specifically to sustain the emigrants traveling
along the Mormon Trail. Never again would they perish
from want for food or the ravages of weather.
Today, the Mormons are well known for their
emergency preparedness, food storage, and generous
gift offerings to others in need, including nonMormons. This is not necessarily in anticipation of
some end-of-the-world apocalyptic event, but in
response to their years of persecution in Ohio, Missouri
and Nauvoo, Illinois, and their early sufferings on the
trail to Utah.
Many of these Mormon trail communities still exist
today. For example, many of the Mormon pioneers
stranded in Nebraska built shelters on the Missouri
River at a place they called Winter Quarters. This
became a popular winter stopping point for future
emigrants along the Mormon Trail. Today, Winter
Quarters is Omaha, Nebraska.
Over the following years, over 50,000 Mormons would
make the exodus to Salt Lake. It was a two year trip,
traveling to their Winter Quarters community in
Nebraska during the first year, then continuing to Utah
during the second year.
Seeing the suffering of his people during the first two
years on the trail, Brigham Young organized wagon
companies with experienced guides to carry and escort
the Latter Day Saints to Utah. They built bridges and
ferries along precarious portions of the trail and dug
wells where there was no water. Combined with their
communities across the Great Plains, this ensured safe
travel for their brothers and sisters, and the growing
number of others that quickly learned to “tag along”
with the Mormons.
By 1852, many of the original Nauvoo members had
arrived in Salt Lake. However, persecution of
Mormons throughout the eastern United States caused
many more to follow the Mormon Trail to Utah over the
next fifteen years. This included many poor European
emigrants who had converted to the LDS faith.
Indeed, the once ill-prepared Mormons had become
skilled pioneers and orchestrated the largest mass
migration in American history, and one of the largest
organized movements of a religious group in world
history. They employed techniques of improving
survival on the trail not used by any other group of
emigrants to ensure their safe travel.
However, it was not just the Mormons that benefited
from their efforts, but nearly everyone who traveled the
Mormon and Oregon-California trails. Though the
Mormons migrated to Utah to escape religious
persecution, their successful resettlement encouraged
others being persecuted for other reasons to migrate to
the West as well. As a result, Germans, Italians,
Quakers and others comprised many of the thousands
that settled the West, following the Mormon lead.
In 1869, the golden spikes were driven into the rails at
Promontory, Utah – not far from bustling Salt Lake City
– marking the completion of the transcontinental
railroad. The completion of the railroad marked the end
of the Oregon and Mormon trails, and the end of the
true days of the trail pioneers. Mormon emigrants
continued to arrive at Salt Lake, but now by the
railroad, not the trail. Those arriving by train after 1869
are not considered a Mormon Pioneer – a distinction
reserved only for those who toiled by wagon or foot
along the Mormon Pioneer Trail.
The Salt Lake basin became so full of Mormons, the
church began to assign newly arriving families to new
locations to settle and evangelize. Many were sent
south where they established many of today's Eastern
Arizona communities, such as St. Johns. Ramah and
Luna are examples of Mormon established towns in
western New Mexico.
Just as the Mormons founded communities throughout
the West, so did others. Those traveling along the
Oregon Trail founded today's cities of Portland,
Tacoma and Seattle. Those traveling to California
founded Sacramento, Reno, Carson City, and about
every other town where an ounce of gold was found.
The Oregon-California and Mormon Trails were only
in use for about 30 years, far short of the 300-year
history of El Camino Real. Still, the West as we know it
today, from the Rio Grande to California and the Pacific
Northwest, is due to the westward expansion by the tens
of thousands of people who toiled along these emigrant
trails.
National Park Service
A photograph of a 1930s reenactment of travel along the
Oregon-California and Mormon Trails. Wagon trains of
100 or more wagons were not uncommon along the
famous trail.
Next month, in Part II, a look at the Mormon Battalion
through Socorro in 1846, the Butterfield Overland Mail
route through New Mexico, and an off-shoot group of
dissident Mormons that attempted to build a utopian
society near Luis Lopez in 1850.
Some of the references used in this article:
“The Emigrant Trail” by Geraldine Bonner (1910);
“The Old Oregon Trail” by Ezra Meeker (1907);
Church History of the LDS Church
(http://www.lds.org); Oregon-California Trail
Association (OCTA); National Park Service, National
Historic Trails; “The Gathering of Zion”by Wallace
Stegner (1964); and field research by the author.