After the Smith brothers’ assassination, the Mormons were forced from their land and compelled to leave their beautiful Nauvoo. The original agreement was they would leave in spring, but they fled for their lives early in February 1846. They were on the road, sometimes waiting out the winter, until July 1847 when they entered the Great Salt Lake Valley.

The Mormon trail runs from Council Bluffs, Iowa to Fort Bridger, Wyoming and parallels the Oregon Trails. The third major trail would be the California Trail or the Gold Rush Trail. The three trails are often referred to as the Emigrant Trail and merge near the Humboldt Sink.

The land was Mexican Territory. That was part of its attraction. The Mormons had been harassed and abused by non-Momons, albeit, not without reason. They were eager to find a place where they could live their lives according to their religion in peace. One of the attractions of the Great Salt Lake Basin was it was outside the United States.

While the Missourians and Mormons were fighting, the local government promised and failed to supply protection for the prophet and his brother while in jail. The Mormons felt God had a hand in the development of the Constitution, but experience informed them the people who ran government were not always trustworthy.

Bagley’s book about blazing the trails from 1812 to 1848 may seem odd as research material for the writing of a book that begins in 1847, but I found it gave me great insight as to what life was like on the trails prior to the Mormons first trek west.

For a while, I saw this as a book of firsts:

Four relevant forts: Fort Kearney was located where all the trails merged making it a winner for a place to resupply.

Fort Laramie was the headquarters for the American Fur-Trading Company and was used as a stopping place for wagon trains and defense of emigrants against the Indians.

Fort Bridger and its owners played important roles in westward migration. For travelers, it was a place to stop and repair the wagons, resupply the pantry, get directions, buy liquor and ammunition, all of which were most certainly overpriced.

William A. Hickman (See Nefarious Elders / Wild Bill Hickman and the Mormon Frontier) and his brother burned down the fort in 1857 when Albert Sidney Johnston’s army was trying to enter Salt Lake City.

An estimated two-hundred seventy thousand travelers passed through Fort Hall on their westward journey. It was one of the most significant forts on the trail as it was a key point in the overland route where the Oregon Trail split off to the California Trail and Oregon.

The bulk of the territory west of the Missouri was under the firm command of the natives. The trappers and traders had no legal title to land, but the Indians had treaties. They proved worthless.

The Great Basin was a large swath of land–two hundred thousand square miles in area. The Mormons were familiar with the mountain trails and Indian tribes. While in Utah, there were the Utahs, Northern Paiutes, Southern Paiutes, and the Utes. When in the northern country or away from home, there were other tribes, each with different characteristics and personalities to deal with. Sometimes, the tribes traveled afar. Without the support of dozens of tribes, overland immigration would have been impossible.

Mahican John Quinney spoke at an Independence Day celebration in New York and put the truth on the table: “Smallpox, cholera, measles, and firewater have done the work of annihilation. It is only a question of time before these people lose their lives or their freedom to live where they will.”

In 1831, the United States acquired the Louisiana Purchase. The Indians were classified as domestic dependent nations with full control over their internal affairs with limited external sovereignty.

In 1848, Mexico’s Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo provided “the sacredness of this obligation shall never be lost sight of…when providing for the removal of the Indians from any portion of the said territories” and “special care shall be taken not to place its Indian occupants under the necessity of seeking new homes.”

The 1853-1854 Gadsden Purchase arose from a disagreement between Mexico and the United States. The two countries each claimed the New Mexican Mesilla Valley as part of their own country. The Mexican Government demanded monetary compensation for Native American attacks in the region because, under the Treaty, the United States agreed to protect Mexico from such attacks. The United States refused to pay the demand claiming they never agreed to financially compensate for any attacks that might occur. The persistent efforts of private American citizens to enter Mexico illegally and incite rebellions in an effort to gain territory exacerbated tensions between the governments.

In the 1950s, Congress passed a resolution and began a federal policy of termination. Tribes were disbanded, their land sold, and a companion policy moved the Indians off reservations.

There were a myriad of differences between the dozens of Indian cultures that roamed the land, hid behind sagebrush bushes, and watched from some craggy spots in the hills. Overland emigrants believed an Indian was an Indian, so if an Indian killed a travel companion, one could exact retribution from another Indian–any other Indian. This same philosophy existed among many tribes.

Each tribe had their own philosophies and ideas about the nature of honorable and polite behavior, truth-telling and the meaning of gift-giving. While their customs often varied, tribes often shared attitudes toward land ownership, religion and governance. No Indian regarded the earth as a thing a person could possess. The land, and all the animals therein, belonged collectively to The People.

Native belief systems varied greatly but all found that proselytizing, or forcing others to adopt their beliefs, was an alien concept. Missionary schools and federal Agencies actively sought to convert Indians into civilized Christians and farmers.

Many of the eastern tribes were forced to the west, crowding the western tribes. For ages, tribes had learned to use Chief Joseph’s sign language, and there were other varieties, as well as making lines in the dirt with a pointed stick. There were no signs for recorded land titles, state and federal jurisdiction, and other concepts alien to the natives. Communication became problematic.

The tribes typically found on a crossing of the Great Plains were the Pawnees, Sioux, or Shoshones. Horse raiding was an intrinsic right of passage for young warriors. Many Indian tribes had a reputation for running off any animal that was not closely guarded. Theft aside, many Indians came to realize the whites made better allies and trading partners than they did enemies.

The why of emigration:

By the end of 1848, twenty thousand Americans left civilization behind and headed west. These travelers were unaccustomed to mile after mile of treeless land and seemingly endless prairies. One look into the distant horizon exposed a vastness that defied imagination. Phenomena such as mirages inspired imaginations with the splendor of the new lands.

While in New York, the famous newspaperman, Horace Greeley, wrote in reference to the emigrants, “There is probably not one among them whose outward circumstances will be improved by this perilous pilgrimage…” He also called it “palpable homicide.” That was in 1843. In 1854, he wrote: “Go west, young man, go west.”

Many emigrants were easily persuaded they would find a better life in the west. Promoters worked hard to convince their listeners the west was where good health and good fortune lie. They gave hope to adventurers and a reason for change.

Emigrants heading for the gold fields were inspired by a desire for wealth. Many just walked off their fields without harvesting the crops and headed west.

We all know about horses, mules, and oxen as a form of transportation, but I would like to share a little about Red River Carts. They are large and two-wheeled. My impression in looking at the pictures is that it is half a wagon, and as such, moves swiftly and steers more readily than if it were whole. My interest in carts as a means of crossing comes from the bad rep that Brigham Young and the Mormons got for their handcart tragedies. It is often interpreted that Young’s decision to make finances work by bringing immigrants from Europe and letting them make the crossing with handcarts was insensitive and parsimonious to the extreme. The fact is, many crossed quite comfortably and successfully in carts. It was necessary to make an early enough start to be off the trail when the harshness of winter arrived.

There seemed to be some variety in wagons and carts. A spring cart was a light one horse, two-wheeled vehicle with road springs. It was a general purpose wagon widely popular with farmers. Many were seen crossing the trail. The prairie wagon or schooner was most popular for crossing the plains. The Conestoga, was named after the Conestoga River Valley in Pennsylvania

While many emigrants merely walked away from their farms, for most people the decision to move west was both complicated and expensive. There were supplies, wagons, and livestock to purchase. Preparation for the four- to six-month camping trip meant the travelers had to be ready to supply all their needs. There were trading posts along the way. In the early years, many posts were ramshackle and poorly supplied.

The first overlanders had no one to rely on for safety but themselves. Before the Treaty of Hidalgo Guadalupe, there was not a single American soldier stationed north of Texas.

Day-to-day life along the trail often was dangerous and miserable. Supplies ran low, rations were tight, and stomachs growled. After heavy spring rains, the trails could be pure mud. There were insects to be dealt with, as well as weather–too hot, too dry, too wet, too cold. Was there enough grass for the animals? Was there plenty of clean water? It wasn’t easy finding comfort but many did. One journalist wrote: “I never believed we could travel so far with so little difficulty.” One writer called the feat a bold achievement, one of the most conclusive tests of character and the very best school in which to study human nature. Statistically, ten to fifteen percent died along the trail. Some winter crossings caused almost the entire loss of the wagon train before a rescue could be made. Many found the trip a pleasure and a means for real personal growth. Some actually made the trip more than once.