Was Everyone’s Experience Of The Journey West The Same? Flashcards
How common was poor equipment?
Point: all travellers experienced difficult conditions made worse by bad equipment.
Evidence: took 5 months had wagons pulled by horses or even worse by hand and had to pass through isolated and cold rocky mountains.
Analasys: rocky mountains were difficult for wagons to pass through on horse but for people who pulled them by hand it was incredibly difficult. There also werent that many supplies so if you ran out and didnt get to a food hall in time your party may starve. Equipment wasnt well adapted for these tasks therefore it made the journey difficult for everyone.
Was it common to have tension with natives?
Point: some travellers experienced hostility while others didnt.
Evidence: shoshone tribe didnt attack travellers but whitman mission experienced native attacks by the cayuse in 1847.
Analasys: whites were seen as intruding on sacred land that belonged to natives therefore it may have insulted certain tribes which may have incited violence. Depending on different routes it would have effected different tribes some of which may have been violent and others not therefore travellers would have had different interactions with natives.
Were high death rates a common experience?
Point: many died on the oregon trail because of harsh conditions.
Evidence: some died of disease like the mormons while others ran out of food and resorted to cannibalism like the donner party.
Analasys: along the trails there wouldnt have been many sanitory places like toilets so if one person got diseases and they were travelling with a larger party then they could spread it incredibly easily which would kill the already weak people due to the grueling journey. Due to food limitations if people got stranded without food then they may start starving if they couldnt get to a fort hall where there was an opportunity for them to stop and get food and supplies. Stuck in difficult conditions also meant people were already weak and without any food they died even quicker.
Was the experience of the mormons common?
Point: they had a more difficult experience than other travellers due to a combination of reasons.
Evidence: followed platte river to avoid other travellers and they used hand carts.
Analasys: pulling hand carts was incredibly difficult work over the whole journey but it also meant you could not carry as many things such as food. There was poor food and bad conditions which lead to the spread of disease which ultimately killed 600 people. The other mistake they made was by choosing a differeny trail. If they had picked to normal trail other travellers may have been able to help them by giving some food away which would not have solved the disease issue but it would have helped some along the way so they did not have a typical journey west.
