The Oregon Trail

The Oregon Trail was the main route to Oregon and the gold fields of Denver and California. The people who made the journey west numbered over 300,000 during the twenty-year period that the trail was operational. Almost all the people who traveled the Oregon Trail transited through Northeast Kansas. This route, also known as the Oregon-California Trail, covered 2,000 miles beginning in Independence, Missouri, and continuing westward and then north through the Columbia River Valley in Oregon or south to the gold fields of northern California (Rollins, 1935).

Kansas was the gathering point for the wagon trains as the individual families or groups moved from their homes in the East. The main route entered into what is now the State of Kansas at Kansas City, but several feeder branches crossed at Saint Joseph, Atchison, and Leavenworth.

After departing Independence, the wagon trains would typically spend the first night at Lone Elm campsite in present-day Johnson County. Just past this point is the junction that decided the destination, a southwestern turn led to the Santa Fe Trail, and a northwestern turn led to the Oregon Trail. The groups moving along the Oregon Trail would soon find the crossings at the Wakarusa and Vermillion Rivers, which presented the first challenge of the journey as they were both steep and challenging to manage. As the trails grew busy, there was money to be made in almost every aspect. The Kansas River crossing in Topeka offered the opportunity to cross by ferry, one operated by the Pappan brothers, the other slightly west of the town operated by Sidney Smith. Perhaps the first toll bridge in the west was built by Louis Vieux at the Red Vermillion River crossing in Pottawatomie County. He charged one dollar per wagon and was making as much as $300 in a day. That indicates how busy the Oregon Trail was at the height of its activity.

There were many popular stopping spots along the Oregon Trail in Kansas before entering Nebraska and on to Colorado Territory. The Pottawatomie Baptist Mission in Topeka, the Catholic Mission in St Mary’s, and Scott Spring in Westmoreland were frequent stopping points. The most noteworthy stop was Alcove Spring. A beautiful location with a waterfall and lush greenery, it was considered romantic by many travelers. The famed and ill-fated Donner party was among the more memorable groups to stop at Alcove Springs. It was also popular because it was near the Big Blue River ford at Independence Crossing. Just north of Marysville, Kansas, the road from St. Joseph merged with the main trail (Oliva, 2001).

During the height of the Oregon Trail, Kansas was not yet open for settlement, so very few who transited the trail lived in Kansas. However, the description of the region sent back to families and newspapers described a land that was fertile and verdant, which encouraged settlement once the territory was opened and dispelled the previous explorations myth that Kansas was the “Great American Desert.”