Foods Carried on the Oregon Trail

[livingston]

The Oregon Trail was an exhausting, sometimes treacherous, 2,000-mile journey that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon and locations in between. Over half a million stalwart souls were brave enough to leave the relative comfort of civilization at that time and venture off into strange and unknown lands.

We know a surprising amount of the Oregon Trail experience because so many travelers wrote journals, sent letters home, and even wrote books and newspaper articles. True Accounts of Life in a Covered Wagon and Ox-Team Days on the Oregon Trail are vivid, first-person accounts of this harrowing journey.

Most of these pioneers traveled by covered wagons, which were pulled by oxen and horses. Those wagons carried not only passengers and a few personal belongings, but over 1000 pounds of food! They were hoping to add to those food stores with hunting, fishing, and foraging, but none of that was guaranteed, so they had to give careful consideration to the most essential food items.

Foods Carried on the Oregon Trail - Preparedness AdvicePreparedness Advice

 

[GOPerfect]

A bunch of us were talking a bit about prepping earlier this week. While we did not discuss the Oregon Trail, the bulk of the conversation was in regards to the way people lived so many years ago.

Here we are, preparing by doing this and doing that when all we need to do is learn and remember what Americans before us knew and did.

 

[livingston]

In the early years Mormons sent scavenging parties back along the trail to salvage as much iron and other supplies as possible and haul it to Salt Lake City, where supplies of all kinds were needed. Others would use discarded wagons, wheels and furniture as firewood. During the 1849 gold rush, Fort Laramie was known as “Camp Sacrifice” because of the large amounts merchandise discarded nearby.

I can see (like today ) a wife insisting they bring this piece of furniture on the trip only to find out they needed to throw it away because the oxen were getting too plum wore out to haul it.
There was an excellent write up by a person about Katrina .. folks fleeing and what to keep ready for a grab and go .. ( He mentioned a college diploma) and the like .. They ended up staying in Houston for a year . Because he had a file of papers that he needed in applying for a job in his profession he quickly found work .. Others left that behind and were SOL. .. ... He did mention that one of the odd things he saw on his flight to Houston was trailers that had wide screen TVs on them .... discarded on the side of the road . ... Flat tires on the trailers ....No spares.... Think about that .. The most important possession these folks thought they owned ... a wide screen TV set ... He mentioned he passed perhaps hundreds of them left on the roadside . Another reason was gas stations were only pumping 5 gallons of gas per car .. with lines backed up miles ... How do you improve your fuel mileage ... Ditch the trailer.....How do you get more mileage out of the oxen .. ditch that dresser ...