This is a photo of the Oregon Trail. The Oregon trail was a major part of the labor movement during the The Oregon trail allowed for migrants, looking for labor, to migrate out to the pacific northwest in search of labor, via a stable road system. May have gotten side tracked playing oregon trail.
From Wyoming Tales and Trails This page: Oregon Trail continued from previous page, the Pacific Telegraph. |
About This Site |
Laying the Telegraph Line across the plains Telegraph Line under construction 1861 Note, the message took almost 17 hours to cross the continent. The reason is that the electrical current fades with distance and, thus, the message was required to be taken down and relayed from station to station. Nevertheless and in contrast, in December 1859, it took seventeen days and twelve hours to transmit to California a copy of President Buchanan's message to Congress. Horseshoe Station, 1863, from a drawing by Carl F. Moellman Horseshoe Station was located near present-day Glendo. Although, the stage line moved further south to avoid Indians, it was still necessary for the telegraph stations to be protected by the military. Each became a small fortified cantonment. Horseshoe Station was burned by Indians in 1866. The Moellman drawings on this page and elsewhere on this site were drawn by Carl F. Moellman (1844-1902) who enlisted in the 11th Ohio Cavalry (Volunteers) from Hillsboro, Ohio, in 1863. Moellman was born in Prussia. In Wyoming, Moellman was primarily stationed at Fort Laramie. After the end of the Civil War, Moellman returned to Ohio where he became an artist and lithographer. The Eleventh Ohio Cavalry was organized by Col. William Oliver Collins after whom Fort Collins, Colorado, was named. Col. Collins' son, Caspar Wever Collins, after whom Casper, Wyoming is named, enlisted at the same time as Moellman. Following the death of Caspar Collins, the drawings by Moellman came into the possession of Josephine 'Josie' Collins, Caspar Collins' sister. Josephine gave them to John C. Friend who was also a member of the Eleventh Ohio and who enlisted at the same time as Caspar Collins. Friend participated in the battles near the Platte River Bridge at which Caspar Collins was killed. John C. Friend gave them to Dr. Grace Raymond Hebard who published them with E. A. Brininstool in their Bozeman Trail, Arthur H. Clark Company, Chicago, 1922, from which they have been scanned. Dr. Hebard in the introduction to The Bozeman Trail indicates that they are the only known contemporaneous illustrations of many of the stations. The original drawings are held by the University of Wyoming. Rocky Ridge Station, 1863, from a drawing by Carl F. Moellman Rocky Ridge Station is one whose location has been lost in the fog of history. There is no agreement as to its location. It was located someplace west of Three Crossing Station and east of of South Pass. Allegedly, it was the location where division superintendent Joseph A Slade killed Jules Benji, after whom Julesburg, Colorado is named, by tying Benji to a post in the station corral and through the night using Benji for target practice. See The Overland Stage. Sweetwater Station, 1863, from a drawing by Carl F. Moellman Sweetwater Station was about 2 miles to the northeast of Independence Rock. Notwithstanding, the closure of the Pony Express, the various stations remained open for a time as telegraph and stage stations and as small military posts in which small detachments of soldier were stationed to guard the vital link to California. In the early 1860's as discussed on the subsequent pages, Indian attacks became more frequent on the stage and telegraph stations along the Oregon Trail. One former pony express rider, William F. Cody, later observed:
As a result after Ben Holladay took over the Overland Stage Line, the trail was moved further south and the old Oregon Trail was essentially abandoned for civilian use in favor of the Overland Trail and the Cherokee Trail discussed on later pages. Military units, nevertheless, were required to protect the telegraph line along the old Emigrants Road. Three Crossing Station, 1863, from a drawing by Carl F. Moellman Three Crossing Station took its name in that within one and a half miles of the station, one crossed the Sweetwater three times. It was located about 18 miles northwest of Independence Rock. Next page: Indian dependence upon the bison, the coming of the horse. |
Robert Stuart of the Astorians (a group of fur traders who established Fort Astoria on the Columbia River in western Oregon) became the first white man to use what later became known as the Oregon Trail. Stuart's 2,000-mile journey from Fort Astoria to St. Louis in 1810 took 10 months to complete; still, it was a much less rugged trail than Lewis and Clark's route.
It wasn't until 1836 that the first wagons were used on the trek from Missouri to Oregon. A missionary party headed by Marcus and Narcissa Whitman bravely set out to reach the Willamette Valley. Though the Whitmans were forced to abandon their wagons 200 miles short of Oregon, they proved that families could go west by wheeled travel.
In the spring of 1843, a wagon train of nearly 1,000 people organized at Independence, Missouri with plans to reach Oregon Country. Amidst an overwhelming chorus of naysayers who doubted their success, the so-called 'Great Migration' made it safely to Oregon. Crucial to their success was the use of South Pass, a 12-mile wide valley that was virtually the sole place between the plains and Oregon where wagons could cross the formidable Rocky Mountains.
By 1846, thousands of emigrants who were drawn west by cheap land, patriotism or the promise of a better life found their way to Oregon Country. With so many Americans settling the region, it became obvious to the British that Oregon was no longer theirs. They ceded Oregon Country to the United States that year.