Links to The Oregon Trail

CUTOFFS, SEGMENTS, AND OTHER ROUTES

• Links to the Applegate Trail
• Links to The Beckwourth Trail
• Links to The Mormon Trail
• Links to The Nevada Emigrant Trail
  
• Links to The Trail To California
  
• The Barlow Road The alternative to the perils of crossing the Colombia River on primitive rafts
• The Barlow Road And lots of information about the Barlow Family
• Cutoffs In Wyoming By 1850, the Oregon-Mormon-California trail system had developed almost as many shortcuts as there were wagon masters. The emigrants called them "Cutoffs." This site has a short description of them through Wyoming.
• The Dalles Military Road To Ft. Boise through Canyon City. This article, written and published in 1869 in The Canyon City Journal, sheds some light on the political actions behind the construction of early "roads."
• Emigrant Gap The spring of 1845 saw the first covered wagons to surmount the Sierra Nevada mountains. They left this valley, ascended to the ridge and turned westward to Old Emigrant Gap. The wagons were lowered by ropes to the floor of Bear Valley.
• Emigrant Road: An Oregon Trail Adventure
• The Geography of the California Trail: The Traveled Routes-Elevation, Plains and Mountains. From the Overland Journal
• The Hastings Cutoff across the Great Salt Lake Desert. A very complete history of this trail, also includes a gallery of photos, biographies, diaries and journals
• The Hudspeth Cutoff Although short in length, the Hudspeth Cutoff, which left the main trail near Soda Springs and rejoined the main trail near Malta, Idaho, is a significant part of the western migration and can be enjoyed because the Trail is still visible in many places.
• Jefferson County: Heart of the Oregon Trail
• Hiking the Lander Cut-Off Along the Oregon Trail just north of Afton, Wy. The Lander Cut-Off was built in the 1850s as a shortcut to Fort Hall
• The Lassen Emigrant Trail: The Pit River Canyon Blazed by Peter Lassen while leading a wagon train of pioneers to California in 1848, this trail was used by thousands of goldseekers and emigrants for nearly a decade
• The National Oregon California Trail Center In Montpelier, Idaho This web site celebrates the Oregon/California Trail as it traverses the great state of Idaho and the Idaho county of Bear Lake.
• Nebraska Trail Sites along the Oregon Trail, and information about OCTA in Nebraska.
• The Nobles Emigrant Trail In 1852, William H. Nobles set out with a prospecting party to explore a route that would bring emigrants directly to Shasta City. He started out by folllowing the Applegate Trail.
• The Oregon Trail in Western Nebraska Some images and text about the sites
• The Oregon Trail through Pottawatomie County, Kansas
• Oregon Trail Kiosk Tour
• Oregon Trail Through Wyoming
• Sublette Cutoff Eighteen miles west of South Pass, the emigrants came to the first of many decision points on the road to California. Sublette's Cutoff offered a direct route west to the Bear River eliminating the southern dog-leg to Fort Bridger followed by the older, established emigrant road.
• Travel By Sea Memoirs of Eugene Ring who traveled on a long sea voyage from New York to the gold fields of California, published by his grandson, Steven Ring
• Treks along the Oregon Trail in Wyoming with the Wyoming OCTA chapter.
• The Route to Oregon Via Antarctica! Not everyone who went to Oregon used the Oregon Trail. There were other routes, including this one that went perilously close to Antarctica

THIS 'N THAT ALONG THE TRAIL

• Animated Map of Oregon Showing the evolution of Counties, from 1851 to 1917
• Buffalo along the Platte River Valley
• Fantastic Facts About the Oregon Trail including "Fun With Buffalo Dung," "The $100 Glass of Water," "Wind Powered Wagons," and many more!
• Fish and Wildlife Along the Oregon Trail
• Food on the Oregon Trail from Saleratus to "Just Plain Mush."
• Hardships Along the Trail Includes accidents, disease, the weather and more
• The Historical Gazette Published in Portland, Oregon: "Linking the Past with the Future" with historic headlines and trail stories.
• Horse, Mule or Oxen. The great debate on how to power your covered wagon.
• Illustrations Of the Oregon Trail: Frederick Remington, N.C. Wyeth and Thomas Hart Benton
• PBS's In Search of the Oregon Trail including Myths, Trivia, Facts, and a Teacher's Guide.
• Iowa City: Handcart Beginnings Human-powered handcarts proved to be one of the most brilliant--and tragic--experiments in all western migration
• John McLoughlin, Father of Oregon A biography of McLoughlin, and other information about early settlers in Oregon
• Jumping Off! Preparing for the adventure of a lifetime
• Landsat Thematic Mapper Image of South Pass
• List of Units of Measure from an 1877 math book. These range from Surveyor's Measures and Coins, to Weights and Lengths. For example, 3 barleycorns equals 1 inch....
• Medical Terms From The Past Just so you'll know when you're reading and come upon some medical terms used in past days you'll not have to wonder.... "WHAT did they have??"
• Outfitting For The Trail Essentials along the route: from oxen to chamber pots
• The Overland Wagon came in many varieties, ranging from the reinforced farm wagon to the speciifically designed Murphy Wagon.
• Relive the days of 1850 on an Oregon Trail Wagon Trek!
• Wagons: their construction, the team, contents, provisions, and a drawing of a wagon. Good information on what the wagons carried and how they carried it.
• WPA Project done in the late 1930's is an oral history of The Overland Trail and Early Life in Oregon.

SITES IN OREGON

• The Dalles It was here that Jason Lee set up a Methodist mission in 1838. History does not tell us how many were converted at Lee's tiny outpost, but The Dalles did become a critical stop for the emigrants.
• The Dalles: A History The area began as an Indian home thousands of years before white men came. They called the area Win-Quatt, meaning a place encircled by rock cliffs
• Emigrant Springs State Park Early emigrants blazed trails and established routes, and in the Blue Mountains many along with James W. Nesmith, emigrant of 1843, "went in advance and cut timber all day." Although later emigrants found a well- worn path to Oregon, they too often had to clear the trail of rocks, fallen trees, and other debris.
• The GORP Oregon Resources Page for historical sites, books and maps, and sightseeing.
• Historical Museums in Oregon Oregon pioneers began early by preserving the historic records. Historical museums are now found in nearly every city in the state.
• History of Oregon Names Places are named after animals, disasters, people, and other assorted things. This is especially true in Oregon, pioneers traveled from the East to the "new frontier" and valleys, creeks, and other landmarks were named along the way.
• Modern Day Oregon Trails A guide to a number of routes following history within the state of Oregon
• Oregon City: The End of the Trail From the Historical Gazette
• Oregon City The final stop
• Oregon Facts: Interesting Names and Places in Oregon One of the most intriguing things about Oregon is how places received their names and the history behind those names. Also includes a Timeline.
• The Oregon Historical Society Information on their publications, exhibits and collections.... for 125 years.
• Sisters: A History A crossroads for Native American travelers from the Willamette Valley to the West, the Columbia River to the north, and the high desert country to the east and south.
• Union County, OR: Oregon Trail Attractions Although early travelers on the Oregon Trail had their sights on reaching the famed Willamette Valley, still over 250 miles way, many emigrant journals comment on the beauty of the Grande Ronde Valley, its rich soil, and the likelihood that it would make top quality farmland.
• Fort Vancouver The final stop on the Trail for many of the emigrants was Ft. Vancouver--the massive British outpost on the north bank of the Columbia.
• The Willamette Valley What the Oregon Trail pioneers crossed the continent to find

And.....

The Oregon-California Trails Association. Find out about their purpose, how to join, The Overland Journal a quarterly publication, The Overland Trails Mailing List an excellent forum for discussion of trail related issues, and other ongoing activities sponsored and promoted by this group.

OCTAs On-Line Bookstore OCTA has one of the most comprehensive bookstores for trail literature about all the Trails West, including Emigrant Diaries, Women's Experiences, Mountain Men, and Indian Affairs. OCTA members get a 10% discount off all book orders.

The Oregon-California Trails Association's regional or state chapters that have web sites include:

Utah

St. Joseph, MO and northeast Kansas

Kansas

Nebraska

Oregon, Washington, and Western Canada

Arizona and New Mexico

Kansas City area

Wyoming

California-Nevada

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The Overland Trail | Links | OCTA

Created and maintained by Elizabeth Larson
Copyright © 1996-2002 All Rights Reserved

(04/25/01)Broken links: (E-mail me if you know where they are now.)

Landmarks to the Oregon Trail A great website from Beaverton Oregon Schools. Lots of links to student work.

History of the Oregon Trail from Jefferson County, Nebraska

Didn't The Oregon Trail Go By Here? The answer is not simple as there was no single route, just a destination