Originally published in El Defensor Chieftain newspaper, Socorro, NM, Saturday, February 6, 2010.

By Paul Harden, na5n@zianet.com

Part 1:The California–Oregon TrailThe Mormon Trail

Part 1:The California–Oregon TrailThe Mormon Trail

Blazing the Overland TrailsBlazing the Overland Trails

Emigrant trails were our country's first “highways.” Unlike today's highways of smooth pavement, the emigrant trails were dusty, rough wagon tracks that stretched endlessly across the West. It was over these trails that the “westward expansion” of the United States occurred during the mid-1800s. Heading west from the Mississippi River and across the Great Plains, these trails led settlers into the Rocky Mountains, the Pacific Coast, and the American Southwest.

The most famous of the emigrant trails were the Oregon Trail, the California Trail, and the Mormon Trail. It is estimated by historians that over half a million emigrants traveled these trails to the West from the earliest wagon trains in the 1840s to the building of the transcontinental railroad in 1869.

The oldest and longest used emigrant trail in North America is our own El Camino Real, bringing immigrants from Spain and Mexico into New Mexico from 1598 until the 1880s, when the railroad arrived in New Mexico, a period of nearly 300 years. And, of course, the Santa Fe Trail, originally blazed from Independence, MO to Santa Fe in 1821 as a trade route, it was quickly used by emigrants, explorers, and the U.S. Army for years.

New Mexico also saw the trail blazed by the Mormon Battalion (which passed through Socorro) that led the way for the Southern Emigrant trail and the famous Butterfield Overland Mail route through the southern part of the state to California.

So successful were these early pioneers in eventually finding the most direct routes across the West, they are

closely shadowed by today's modern highways. Interstate 80 closely follows the Oregon-California Trail, I-10 the Butterfield and Southern Emigrant trails, and I-25 the Camino Real and the Santa Fe Trails.

The formation of these trails, and the thousands of emigrants that traveled them, changed the face of the West, and New Mexico, during the 1800s. Due to their historical significance, most of the major emigrant trails are now designated National Historic Trails, administered by the National Park Service.

Early 1800s Trails to the WestIn the early 1800s, the Pacific Coast was only accessible by ship. Departing New York City, sailing around the tip of South America took months to reach the Pacific Coast. Due to the long journey and expense, only a handful of these ships of both British and American registry had made the trip. Most were engaged in buying furs for foreign markets, not for emigration.

The first overland trail is often attributed to Meriwether Lewis and William Clark – the famous Lewis and Clark

Oregon Historical SocietyMeriweather Lewis and William Clark, of the famed Lewis and Clark Expedition, were the first to blaze a route to the Pacific Ocean in 1805. Unfortunately, their route proved unsuitable for an overland wagon trail.

expedition of 1804–1806. Commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson to explore the new Louisiana Purchase and find the headwaters of the Missouri River, they had also hoped to establish an overland route to the Pacific Ocean.

To avoid entering Mexico, which included present day California, Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, Lewis and Clark stayed well to the north through today's Dakotas, Montana, Idaho and Oregon. Their route is shown on the map accompanying this article.

They were successful in blazing the first trail to the Pacific Ocean, arriving near present day Portland, Oregon. However, this was a circuitous route through treacherous mountain ranges and rafting down rivers. They also discovered that winter along the northern Continental Divide was outright brutal. These factors made their route unsuitable for establishing the hoped-for overland wagon road to the Pacific.

They returned to Washington D.C. to report to President Jefferson the wondrous country of the Louisiana Purchase, but no “magic route” to the Pacific Ocean. Like finding the Northwest passage, an overland route to the Pacific seemed a myth.

The very year of Lewis and Clark's return, Zebulon Pike and a handful of U.S. Army soldiers were sent by President Jefferson to explore the Arkansas River and the headwaters in Colorado. By February 1807, Pike and his men hunkered down for the winter in the San Luis Valley of Colorado – though in 1807, well inside New Spain. Historians still argue whether ending up in Spanish territory was by accident, or if Pike was ordered by President Jefferson to “get a peek” inside the territory controlled by Spain.

Regardless, Pike and his men were promptly discovered by Spanish soldiers, arrested for spying for the United States, and imprisoned in Santa Fe and later

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San Diego HistoryFur trapper Jedediah Smith was arrested for trespassing in Mexico in 1826 for his attempt to establish a trail through California to the Pacific Ocean.

Courtesy Historic Trails websiteTracks of the Oregon-California Trail through South Pass, Wyoming as they appear today. This is where the trail crossed the Continental Divide.

Library of CongressZebulon Pike and his band of U.S. soldiers were arrested by Spain for tresspassing in the

San Luis Valley in Colorado – then a part of New Spain.

New Mexico.

A few years later, Jedediah Smith traveled along the Colorado River and through the Mojave Desert looking for a route to California, another stronghold of Mexico. Arriving in 1826, Smith learned the Mexicans in California were not nearly as friendly as those in Santa Fe. Like Zebulon Pike, he was promptly arrested for entering Mexican California without permission. Convinced Smith was a harmless fur trapper and not a United States spy, he was released and told never to return. Another trail to the Pacific hit a dead end.

Not discouraged, Smith returned to California by the same route the following year – and again, promptly arrested by the Mexican governor of Alto California for trespassing. After some negotiations, he was again released with the promise never to return to Mexico's California. Jedediah Smith must have finally gotten the message for he headed north and explored Oregon instead, but never developed his hoped-for trail.

The Oregon– California TrailThe most traveled route to the West and the Pacific became known as the Oregon– California Trail.

In 1841, about 100 people are the first known emigrant party to make the overland trip to Oregon. The following year, Methodist missionary Dr. Elijah White organized and led a party of 200 people to Oregon. They followed the Missouri River to its headwaters in central Wyoming, then the Sweetwater River to the Continental Divide.

crossing several mountain ranges and greatly attributed to the success of the Oregon Trail.

From South Pass, the White party continued west and northwest, following the Snake River through Idaho until meeting the Columbia River. From there, the river was followed to the Pacific Ocean; the trail ended in Oregon City, Oregon, a distance of nearly 2,000 miles from Independence, Missouri.

Word of the new route and their successful arrival in Oregon made its way back to Missouri. Oregon fever had begun. By the following year, between 700 and 1000 emigrants were assembled for the trip to Oregon.

Chihuahua. Though finally released to the United States, it sent a strong message that New Spain was not open to “outsiders.”

In 1821, the Spanish empire fell and much of today's western United States became part of Mexico. The n e w l y f o r m e d Mexican government in Santa Fe was more friendly towards the U n i t e d S t a t e s , permitting the opening of the Santa Fe Trail, allowing some of the first Anglos to enter

From the Sweetwater R i v e r , e a r l i e r explorers continued w e s t f o r t h e treacherous climb over the Rocky Mountains, t hen t he equa l l y treacherous Bitteroot Mountains in Idaho.

I n s t e a d o f t h i s mountainous route, the White party ventured further south to find a natural pass through the Rockies missed by ear l ie r explorers . Called South Pass, this gentle 20-mile gap in the Continental Divide eased the rigors of

Leaving Missouri in the spring of 1843, this massive wagon train became known as the “Great Migration” and is the celebrated beginning of the Oregon Trail.

Emigrants relocating to Oregon were those looking for a better life. Oregon offered excellent farm land, a lumber industry and trapping. Gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill in California in 1848, luring thousands of more to head West. They also followed the Oregon Trail to beyond South Pass, then blazed a new trail to the gold fields near Sacramento. The branch to California renamed the route to the Oregon-California Trail.

Over the years, literally hundreds of thousands of emigrants followed the 2,000 mile trek to chase one dream or another. About one-tenth of the emigrants died on the trail.

In spite of movies and western stories, attacks by Indians were relatively rare; most died of cholera – a gastrointenstinal disease caused by ingesting contaminated water or food, or from other diseases. Others lost their lives from accidents along the trail or getting stranded in the mountains in the winter months – such as the ill fated Donner Party. The scarcity of good, clean water and fire wood for cooking food killed far more travelers than did the Indians.

However, the largest organized migration over the trail was not by emigrants from the East, but by thousands of Mormons heading for the Great Salt Lake. They blazed their own trail from the Mississippi River to intercept the Oregon Trail in Nebrask. Their route to Utah became known as the Mormon Trail.

The contribution made by the Mormons in establishing new trails through the West is often under appreciated. They became skilled pioneers, developing survival

techniques along the trail that were unequalled. In addition to the Mormon Trail to Salt Lake, they also blazed trails and established communities throughout eastern Arizona, western New Mexico, and southern Colorado. The trail to California blazed by the Mormon Battalion became the Southern Immigrant Trail, the approximate route of today's I-10. (The Mormon Battalion is presented in Part 2 of this article).

Why did 50,000 Mormons make the trek to Utah – marking the largest organized migration in American history?

The Early Mormon ChurchJoseph Smith, of Palmyra, NY, received prophetic visions from the angel Moroni beginning at a young age. Moroni guided Smith to locate a set of ancient golden tablets. The Book of Mormon is the translation of these tablets.

Smith and five others founded the Church of Christ in 1830, renamed the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in 1834. To many, the Book of Mormon filled a

An 1850s map of the “Old Oregon Trail” as published in Ezra Meekers guide book. Many guidebooks and maps were printed for travelers along the Oregon Trail. Earlier travelers, however, did not have the luxury of a map.

Courtesy LDS ChurchJoseph Smith

void many had in expressing their love and faith in God and Jesus as the Christ. The church quickly began to grow.

The great westward m i g r a t i o n o f t h e M o r m o n s a c t u a l l y began in 1831 when Joseph Smith selected Kirtland, Ohio to be the home of his church.

About 2,000 Mormons quickly moved to Kirtland. Just as quickly, the locals began persecuting the Mormons for their communal life, opposition to slavery, and other views.

Within two years, they had moved to Independence, Missouri, then to western Missouri, finally settling at Commerce, Illinois in 1838. Joseph Smith renamed the town Nauvoo and received a charter from the state legislature, giving the Mormons full control of the police and courts. Joseph Smith was elected mayor.

Nauvoo was a small village on the swampy banks of the Mississippi River. In two short years, 10,000 hard working Mormons had drained the swamps into fruitful farmland and built an impressive city and river port town. By 1844, Nauvoo grew to 12,000 residents – rivaling Chicago at the time. Joseph Smith was elected mayor and proved successful at organizing and building a fruitful community.

Joseph Smith for PresidentIn 1844, at age 38, Joseph Smith ran for president, choosing church elder Sydney Rigdon as his vice presidential running mate. Fellow Mormon William Law started a local newspaper called the Nauvoo Expositor. The first issue of the Expositor attacked Smith's stance for straying from the church in order to run for president and other criticisms.

The night after the first issue was printed, some zealous Mormon followers set fire to the newspaper office and printing press. Joseph Smith, and his brother Hyrum, were arrested for their suspected involvement in ordering the newspaper's destruction and were jailed.

Before the guilt or innocence of Joseph Smith could be determined in a court of law, an angry mob broke into the jail and shot and killed both the prophet and his brother.

Church TurmoilJoseph Smith had left no clear line of succession for the rapidly growing Mormon church, throwing the membership into turmoil. Several men stepped forward claiming their rightful inheritance to the church leadership. This included elder Sydney Rigdon (Smith's presidential running mate), William Law, the owner of the Nauvoo Expositor newspaper, those who felt Joseph Smith's 11-year-old son should be church leader, and another young Mormon prophet named James Colin Brewster. [Brewster eventually moved his splinter group to Socorro, New Mexico in 1850 – see Part II of this article.]

Others stepped forward as well, some no doubt with a zeal to lead the church, and others simply being opportunistic. Numerous splinter groups of the Mormon church were formed during this time.

However, the Mormon church was not in the total state of disarray that many historians portray. Most churches have some sort of governing body to determine the policies, doctrine and theocratic direction of the church. Though Joseph Smith did not leave a successor, he did hand-select a governing body called the Quorum of Twelve. After praying on the matter, they selected Brigham Young, who was ordained President of the church in December 1847.

After Brigham Young's selection, persecution of the Mormons continued to mount. Non-Mormons felt threatened by the political and economic power of the Mormons, escalating into what is sometimes called “The Mormon Wars.” Fields and homes were burned and people killed. It was this maltreatment of the Mormon people that drove Brigham Young to make the

Courtesy Mormon History OnlineJoseph Smith for president of the United States. He was killed by an angry mob before the 1844 elections.

Nauvoo forced the crossing of the Mississippi to begin in February. The earlier than planned departure left many ill-prepared for the trip and less organized than originally planned. Over 3,000 Mormons had crossed into Iowa by the end of February.

In June 1847, the advanced guard of Brigham Young's push to Utah arrived at Fort Laramie. Departing the Oregon Trail at Fort Bridger, Wyoming, they entered the Salt Lake Valley on July 7. Brigham Young and his party arrived on July 27 and declared their long anticipated destination to be “the right place.” By December, 1,600 Mormons had made the 1,300 mile trip.

However, an early series of snow storms stranded nearly 10,000 others across the Great Plains, forcing them to stop for the winter. The exhausted pioneers, many living in tents or their wagons, suffered greatly in the bitter cold and from lack of food. Many perished. When Spring finally arrived, many struck to the trail, struggling for months until reaching their brothers in Salt Lake by late 1848.

These hardships taught the Mormons to be skilled pioneers. They built their road across the Great Plains to where it joined the Oregon Trail near present day Kearney, Nebraska. They sent out parties to establish small communities along the trail about every five days of travel. These people built designed communities consisting of housing, lodging, and farms for growing crops – specifically to sustain the emigrants traveling along the Mormon Trail. Never again would they perish from want for food or the ravages of weather.

Today, the Mormons are well known for their

emergency preparedness, food storage, and generous gift offerings to others in need, including non-Mormons. This is not necessarily in anticipation of some end-of-the-world apocalyptic event, but in response to their years of persecution in Ohio, Missouri and Nauvoo, Illinois, and their early sufferings on the trail to Utah.

Many of these Mormon trail communities still exist today. For example, many of the Mormon pioneers stranded in Nebraska built shelters on the Missouri River at a place they called Winter Quarters. This became a popular winter stopping point for future emigrants along the Mormon Trail. Today, Winter Quarters is Omaha, Nebraska.

Over the following years, over 50,000 Mormons would make the exodus to Salt Lake. It was a two year trip, traveling to their Winter Quarters community in Nebraska during the first year, then continuing to Utah during the second year.

Seeing the suffering of his people during the first two years on the trail, Brigham Young organized wagon companies with experienced guides to carry and escort the Latter Day Saints to Utah. They built bridges and ferries along precarious portions of the trail and dug wells where there was no water. Combined with their communities across the Great Plains, this ensured safe travel for their brothers and sisters, and the growing number of others that quickly learned to “tag along” with the Mormons.

By 1852, many of the original Nauvoo members had arrived in Salt Lake. However, persecution of Mormons throughout the eastern United States caused many more to follow the Mormon Trail to Utah over the next fifteen years. This included many poor European emigrants who had converted to the LDS faith.

Indeed, the once ill-prepared Mormons had become skilled pioneers and orchestrated the largest mass migration in American history, and one of the largest organized movements of a religious group in world history. They employed techniques of improving survival on the trail not used by any other group of emigrants to ensure their safe travel.

However, it was not just the Mormons that benefited from their efforts, but nearly everyone who traveled the Mormon and Oregon-California trails. Though the Mormons migrated to Utah to escape religious persecution, their successful resettlement encouraged others being persecuted for other reasons to migrate to

Courtesy LDS ChurchBrigham Young led 50,000 Mormon’s to Salt Lake beginning in 1846, building the famed Mormon Trail.

very difficult decision to abandon the i r beloved city and move his people out West where they could live in peace.

The Mormon Trek to Utah – The Mormon TrailBr igham Young ' s planned exodus to Utah, then a province o f M e x i c o , w a s planned for April 1 8 4 6 . H o w e v e r , continued persecution of the Mormons in

the West as well. As a result, Germans, Italians, Quakers and others comprised many of the thousands that settled the West, following the Mormon lead.

In 1869, the golden spikes were driven into the rails at Promontory, Utah – not far from bustling Salt Lake City – marking the completion of the transcontinental railroad. The completion of the railroad marked the end of the Oregon and Mormon trails, and the end of the true days of the trail pioneers. Mormon emigrants continued to arrive at Salt Lake, but now by the railroad, not the trail. Those arriving by train after 1869 are not considered a Mormon Pioneer a distinction reserved only for those who toiled by wagon or foot along the Mormon Pioneer Trail.

The Salt Lake basin became so full of Mormons, the church began to assign newly arriving families to new locations to settle and evangelize. Many were sent south where they established many of today's Eastern Arizona communities, such as St. Johns. Ramah and Luna are examples of Mormon established towns in western New Mexico.

Just as the Mormons founded communities throughout the West, so did others. Those traveling along the Oregon Trail founded today's cities of Portland, Tacoma and Seattle. Those traveling to California founded Sacramento, Reno, Carson City, and about every other town where an ounce of gold was found.

The Oregon-California and Mormon Trails were only in use for about 30 years, far short of the 300-year history of El Camino Real. Still, the West as we know it today, from the Rio Grande to California and the Pacific Northwest, is due to the westward expansion by the tens of thousands of people who toiled along these emigrant trails.

–

Next month, in Part II, a look at the Mormon Battalion through Socorro in 1846, the Butterfield Overland Mail route through New Mexico, and an off-shoot group of dissident Mormons that attempted to build a utopian society near Luis Lopez in 1850.

Some of the references used in this article:“The Emigrant Trail” by Geraldine Bonner (1910); “The Old Oregon Trail” by Ezra Meeker (1907); C h u r c h H i s t o r y o f t h e L D S C h u r c h (http://www.lds.org); Oregon-California Trail Association (OCTA); National Park Service, National Historic Trails; “The Gathering of Zion”by Wallace Stegner (1964); and field research by the author.

National Park ServiceA photograph of a 1930s reenactment of travel along the Oregon-California and Mormon Trails. Wagon trains of 100 or more wagons were not uncommon along the famous trail.