What It Was Like to Be On the Oregon Trail

Life on the Oregon Trail was both incredibly boring and extremely dangerous. Pioneers had to exercise extreme caution and a lot of bravado to cross the 2,170 mile stretch of land starting in Missouri and ending in Oregon. Accidents and disease were just waiting around the corner, but a majority of the trip was just spent trudging along next to the wagon. To say daily life on the Oregon Trail was difficult is a vast understatement. It was hard work and required uprooting your entire family and deciding to venture West for new opportunities, but that didn't stop thousands of people from emigrating and making the long journey.
#oregontrail #oregontrailgame #weirdhistory

[@WeirdHistory]

What's your essential "must bring" item if you're traveling the Oregon Trail?

[@ricky6608]

A GPS and a sat phone

[@SamRoxxJDM]

My Chinese Herbal Medicine Book lol as modern medicine won't be available

[@jambo-_-]

Anything against dysentery

[@sarahburggraf861]

fds

[@mr.personhumanson6871]

@@SamRoxxJDM yeah because the Oregon trail is full of Chinese herbs

[@chrisbedwards]

Imagine going through hell for 6 months to settle in California only for your descendants to move back to the East Coast to become social media managers.

[@johnpublic75]

You mean pussies.

[@madeline9516]

Ouch.

[@nightslasher9384]

Talk big yet act small.

[@ballslord4385]

or just move back period

[@skydiverclassc2031]

Or whining on the internet.

[@jeannevoneuw2167]

I think a reality show with the toughest people attempting the whole trail with wagons would be a huge hit!

[@Wessex90]

I’d watch that!

[@supportyourtroopsathletes6460]

Very true, I would be a fan

[@Kevs442]

They had one in the early 2000's. Nobody finished, they ALL quit.

[@Wessex90]

@@Kevs442 Just shows you how people just aren’t conditioned (if that’s the right word to use) these days to go through something like that. The closest thing I ever saw to that was the show “Frontier House”. Ah the memories.

[@Kevs442]

@@Wessex90 www.imdb.com/title/tt4549388/ I think this is the one I watched, called "The Pioneers", but there is also one called Pioneer Quest as well.

[@jerryhouck2708]

My great grandfather came to Oregon by wagon train in the 1800's as a baby and then as a young man he traveled to the east and back on a train, then as a middle aged man made the journey by car, and the as an old man he made his final trip to the east and back to Oregon by airplane. He died at Yamhill, Oregon in 1952 at the age of 98. My how time flies!

[@realPicklegod]

Ok?

[@bluestarblue22]

That’s an incredible story. He sounds like an adventurous man. 😊

[@Chris1966-]

@@bluestarblue22He’s an incredibly famous man, probably the most famous man who traveled the trail and if it had not been for him the Oregon Trail most likely never be so well known now.

[@kellychuang8373]

Really is something and not like this can be done in our times.

[@JWCinPDX]

People didn't just die on the Oregon Trail, occasionally they were born...my great-grandmother for instance. That makes me a true descendant of the Oregon Trail and I never played the game.

[@williamsprout925]

Shut up old man, I have it hard as a libtard commie living in the us!! /s

[@Dragontamer135]

That's so cool.

[@birdiec]

@@williamsprout925 yer a dickhead. Old people on the internet cant tell youre just making a vein attempt at being an edge lord teenager. Your brain isnt developed enough yet to realize you probably upset someone. I used to say a lot worse shit on here than that but youll grow up one day and realize pointless hate is just that, pointless.

[@Pilsnor]

Thats pretty amazing thats she survived being born in that enviroment, i hope her mother survived aswell.

[@RioXK]

@@williamsprout925 please shut up young asshole

[@mariposaario]

Playing The Oregon Trail on those old Mac computers was the best in elementary school

[@snakepliskin23]

And snood!!!

[@vindicatorg8392]

Died of dysentery...

[@captainfancypants4933]

I died of dysentery...... twice

[@itsmereem6748]

My teacher let us play it in the late 2000, a great game!

[@kylegohawks8604]

I destroyed Oregon trail lol

[@SpudEater]

Craziest part is the marks left by the wagon wheels are still visible for certain stretches, that blows my mind.

[@thelakeman5207]

You got that right. You can see them in the sage brush and cut into the limestone in places.

[@MxYsptzLk]

And apparently it's a massive graveyard too.

[@SpudEater]

@@MxYsptzLk Well, yeah.

[@RallyeGuy340]

You should visit Pompeii, Italy

[@whisperingsage]

No weirder yet are the trails that BECAME paved roads and highways, because naturally.

[@alexdaugherty7472]

I live at the end of the Oregon Trail. The hardest part of the the trail according to most pioneers was going over the Blue Mountains in NE Oregon and going around Mt. Hood. The trail on the west side of Mt. Hood was so steep, they had to lower the wagons down using ropes. It was a brutal trip. Once they got to the Willamette Valley, it didn't get any easier. They needed to file a claim, find the plot of land and build a house before winter. In the early years of statehood, Oregon pioneers were treated like the rockstars they were for making that journey.

[@armygirl85fuckhitler74]

I live 4 hours from where it started! I live in St. Louis, about 4 hours from Independence

[@NakMTLKane]

Now you have auto delete

[@zacharyscrimsher7319]

im from eastern WA, right where the snake and Columbia meet. everytime we go and visit my brother in Forest Grove OR, I think man the pioneers were sure rewarded if they made it. beautiful country.

[@squandabird]

I also live at the end of the Trail at Oregon City. The trail ran through my neighborhood and 50 yards behind my property. The "New Oregon Trail" runs south to north up I-5.

[@MyrnaMinkoff-yy4qd]

My 4th great grandmother Banks died on the Oregon Trail. She made it to Oregon, but died just over to border from a nasty flu, and was buried there. Her husband had died shortly after they set off and is buried, if memory serves me, in Minnesota. Two sons made it to the Willimett Valley. It's amazing that you can still see the deep ruts of their wagons 150 years later. Before they had set out, they freed all their slaves.

[@thelakeman5207]

While I was in Wyoming, I had my friend drop me off and I walked 6 miles on the Oregon trail near Independence Rock where he waited for me. Imagining all those people that took the trail and I was walking in their footsteps. Saw a rattlesnake during my walk and wondered how many died along the trail from snakebites. You can go to a National Park and see the sights, but here, all alone, on the Oregon Trail, you can relive an experience that people had 140 years ago. It's admission is free and the experience is priceless! Next time I'm out there, I plan on doing 30 or 40 miles and camping overnight. When you get to Independence Rock, you'll see all the names carved in it from the 1840's and 50's wagon trains.

[@seppyq3672]

Been there before. It is pretty cool

[@dominickjustave3558]

Cool

[@vintaqe_vibez5978]

I'll have to add that to my bucket list! It's getting longer the older I get. Ha!

[@tamipalin8171]

I've done that along a section here in southwest Idaho.

[@AmmoDude]

A fishing buddy and I did a similar thing in 1980, in southern Idaho near a place called Crane Falls, just off the snake river. We ran up on a 3 ft. rattle snake crossing the trail ( a gravel road ), chased it into the sage brush ( I know, stupid! ) and whacked it with a piece of 2x4 we had for firewood. I skinned the snake and we ate the meat that evening, roasted over an open fire. I saved the skin and rattle and made a hat band and pouch to hold the rattle with the preserved skin. Hat is long gone now but I still have the rattle and pouch. Buck list item is to travel the entire route, as close as possible, from St Louis all the way to Oregon in a travel trailer. I can imagine spending the night at the places they frequently stopped, listening to the sounds of the prairie and taking in the stars. Next year.......

[@thebadfairyprincess]

"You have died of dissing Terry."

[@thebalancedvirgin4893]

😂😂😂

[@monicapyle]

Lmao

[@jamesfracasse8178]

Infection of the wound or a cut!

[@yeiazannez8595]

Lol 😂😂😂😂😂

[@derek-64]

terry sure didn't appreciate being dissed very much

[@lilj4818]

I was disappointed the top comment wasn’t a joke about the game, but then I died of dysentery.

[@sassmacfru]

lol he would go on about all the different deaths and all I could do was think "and Dysentery!!"

[@collectorofcats294]

I love those precious kittens in your profile picture!!!

[@paddyjoe1884]

I died of dissing Terry. He's very sensitive about his name

[@DamonNomad82]

In my youth, I met the last known pioneer who actually traveled by covered wagon from Missouri to Oregon on the Oregon Trail, other than modern reenactors. Her family made the journey many decades after the trail's heyday, in 1912. At the time I met her, just before the turn of the millennium, she was in her 90s and living in a small town retirement home. She had some fascinating stories to tell, like the family's dog chasing a prairie dog down a burrow, and her dad having to dig it out.

[@supportyourtroopsathletes6460]

I would of loved to hear her stories. They have modern day people who do this but we refer to them as homeless who travel city to city now of days. I hear stories often online how they move coast to coast. Talking about having it hard that is impressive in it's own right but sad also. I would love to hear your friends stories though.

[@thelast344]

@@supportyourtroopsathletes6460 I'm a homeless traveler, I've ridden across America on a bicycle. Getting sick sucks and this is kinda how it still is. I've spent days riding to reach the next point of civilization. There was alot less civilization back then but atleast you could camp anywhere you like without having to worry about waking up to a cop shining his flashlight in your face.

[@supportyourtroopsathletes6460]

@@thelast344 .. interesting life you have on your bike. I frankly don't know how you do it. I thought about doing it around Florida and Georgia during my youth being fit back then and used to be on my bike for 6 to 7 hours a day training for freestyle contest and did bmx racing on the weekends but I never went through with it ever. Getting sick on the road with a bad flu or even covid19 now of days would be miserable without question. I have a mini RV and was thinking and do periodically travel with it now to state parks but that is about it now of days. But you are right that you could go places without police shining their flashlights in your face. To me it would just get to lonely out there today to do what you do. I only wish you the best out there. At least you have a electronic device that you could watch movies and shows when you want. Do you ever get to Florida by any chance? The reason I asked is I have things that may come in handy like nice sized tents, sleeping bags brand new and even a powerful portable solar panel for your device. I use them for other things but have a few spare ones. Of course if you travel around Florida though. Not sure how you would transport the larger tents though as it would be a bit difficult.

[@thelast344]

@@supportyourtroopsathletes6460 I work odd jobs when I can and panhandle when I can't. I don't drink so I'm able to afford a phone, power packs, and a small solar panel. You're right about one thing, it's a young man's game. I'm in my early 40s and I'm wearing out I can't put down the miles like I could even 5 years ago. The hardest part for people starting out isn't the riding, it's getting used to sleeping outside and dealing with bad weather, heat, and bugs. The silver comet trail outside of Atlanta it turns into the Chief Ladiga trail at the Alabama line almost 100 miles long ending in Anniston Alabama was one of my favorite places to ride.

[@supportyourtroopsathletes6460]

@@thelast344 .. we are very similar ages actually. And glad you are making it, I love Georgia also and want to go up next winter to be around snow again in my small RV. If you were closer I would give you odd side jobs as I hire a friend every week but it's not enough for full time work at all. I hope you could get a mobile home or something with you getting older now. It's great that you have a small solar panel recharger for your phone though. I breed rare turtles and rare fish for profit as a hobby that turned into a business as you most likely would see my albino and snow turtles on my KZbin channel. I use these powerful small solar panels to filtrate and heat the water when needed, nothing more. Now today, I am looking to buy a 3600 watt solar generator that I can steadily upgrade to first control my air conditioner as my electric bill is skyrocketed sort of speak monthly due to it. But feel free to Subscribe to my channel and if you are in need of basic supplies when I can and you are around, drop me a message . I could put my phone number on my channel where you can text or call if needbe. I currently have a 10 and 12 man tent and supplies I do not need but as mentioned, it would be really difficult for you to transport these items unless you had a cart hooked up to the bike. That is a possibility that I could get used over time. I don't mind dropping money in a PayPal account Periodically when I can. I tend to give to the less fortunate as I believe in doing good deeds for my faith but only when I can of course. But $30 or $50 periodically I think I can manage. Keep in touch though as mentioned. Keep safe out there also and God bless.

[@MrKen-wy5dk]

If they had just waited 150 years, they could have just flown over it in three or four hours. Jeez, people are just so impatient.

[@harvey4892]

Touché, but wouldn’t it be disappointing to know that there are no tarmacs in the west to land the planes? lol

[@GodsFavoriteBassPlyr]

LOL Spot on!

[@jamesfracasse8178]

A human body couldn't survive 150 yrs it would essentially break down from wear and tear, god read a coffee table book

[@ChassityNOubre_88]

😂😂😂

[@LITTLE1994]

You think a CENTURY and half is short time?

[@hypernerdhd1610]

I do not understand how such a quality filled KZbin channel does not have over 500k , you guys have quickly grown to become my favorite you tube channel out

[@TheElderize]

HyperNerdHD Because half of the things are false on most videos

[@hypernerdhd1610]

Exde why you say that?

[@TheElderize]

@@hypernerdhd1610 Because it's true?

[@quintenpalmer76]

You’ve never seen secureteam then

[@puncheex2]

It's gotta be all the puking.

[@enash19303]

So, what you're saying is Essential Oils won't cure my tuberculosis???

[@atechocolateinpublicbathro5817]

Sadly no but it does cure unvaccinated kids :D

[@clowntrooper61]

Nope but willow bark would help

[@thelakeman5207]

Only the Elixer that the snakeoil salesmen sells you works on curing TB. (or not)

[@thetillerwiller4696]

Aron Toulouse people could pack it with them

[@donHooligan]

won't cure it, but will prevent it.

[@lyria8469]

My great grandparents were on that trail. The family never stopped talking about it. I still have a piece of furniture they brought.

[@faroukabad]

My great great grandparents came from Wisconsin to California, they even went back and forth a few times. They got a Spanish land grant in Nevada and ended up very rich. They still kept their covered wagon in their barn. I saw a pic of my great great grandmother, she looked pretty toguh and scary. I can see why.

[@powpowouchy5]

Did you inherit any of their wealth

[@edwardsanchez3708]

I contracted typhoid just watching this video!

[@danacoleman4007]

And I contracted herpes from reading this comment. Sheesh, it's tough out here on the trail!

[@winnifredforbes8712]

Yeah. I feel itchy all over!

[@Psychol-Snooper]

@@winnifredforbes8712 You stole mah lice, yah thievin sob!

[@ladymaiden2308]

I had to seal my wagon and float it across a river. Never again, I tell you. Never again.

[@kaylew108]

I got cancer from hearing that "you go girl" comment

[@n3v3rg01ngback]

When they arrived in Portland, they were surprised at all the rainbow hair dye and ukulele players.

[@repetemyname842]

And bum poop.

[@nelzelpher2088]

And hypodermic needles scattered across the grass across a pile of trash with rats.

[@Nightmareman3]

Yes , lots of libtards and lots of heroin.

[@mark3212]

And terrible hygiene

[@BlueSky-tw6iq]

Nightmare Man nobody asked you, republican

[@_will795]

Imagine traveling all that way, never getting sick and dying, just to end up in Oregon

[@namedoesntmatter9330]

Really that does sound depressing in today's world, I guess it was a bit different back then lol Maybe worse!

[@veng3r663]

I suppose you'd rather prefer filthy New Orleans..??

[@namedoesntmatter9330]

@@veng3r663 been there twice and I'll say I love New Orleans. Its the people I love not the trash all over the place. Where I live in NC is a lot more clean But I do not like most of the people around here as most are ass holes (myself included)

[@Justin_80]

Could be worse, end up in Utah with a bunch of wives and in a cult.

[@MaineCoonMama18]

All that beautiful landscape with very few people? Sounds pretty nice to me.

[@rickkinki4624]

The well-known outlaw Johnny Ringo, of Tombstone fame, was traveling the Oregon Trail as a teenager with his family. His father accidentally dropped his shotgun, and blew his own head off. Johnny saw this happen, and was left with PTSD for the remainder of his life.

[@spunky6692]

Fuck that's sad

[@rolandsnyder9703]

"You killed 12,548 lbs of meat but we're only able to carry 25 lbs"

[@javierescuella731]

That was always the most annoying part of the game

[@John231984]

@@javierescuella731 Basically if you killed anything more then a squirll it was pointless. Also (unless dead) you have five people. Why didn't 2 stay with the Wagon, and another two come to help you bring food back?

[@Archangelglenn]

@@John231984 They did end up fixing that issue in the later editions of the game, to jumping the amount up to 200lbs I only wish someone would remake the game for like Steam, GoG or heaven forbid...Origin.

[@conesinker_4209]

@@John231984 you had to kill like 2 or 3 dear to max the food out

[@Benkenobi8118]

stop for a day. hunt. stop for a day. hunt. stop for a day. hunt. Hunt every day until you fill your wagon. Put all your money in for oxen. Buy another oxen for a full team, and clothes at the nearest station by selling meat. Hunt more.

[@TheLuci915]

I love these videos. I'm homeschooled so when my dad comes home and asks what I learned I just repeat what I learned from this. It's actually entertaining, too!

[@redlaserfox3988]

Modern problems require modern solutions! Haha

[@ladymaiden2308]

Good job, that's brilliant kiddo!

[@TheLuci915]

@Something Mildly Homophobic If that was meant to be an insult, maybe you need to look inwardly at yourself and your understanding of your/you're before trying to attack an actual child for getting information where she can.

[@Dovahbruhh]

Something Mildly Homophobic >misspells jesus

[@chocomanger6873]

Go to school. I'm not joking.

[@jackielinde7568]

6:17 - "There was a wrong time to travel, like to Arizona in the middle of July." Me: Laughing from Arizona in the middle of July.

[@klairdelun456]

I lived in AZ for awhile in Tuscon. My grandparents lived in Phoenix and I'd visit them sometimes. It was the hottest I've ever been. Not to mention, I was going thru my emo phase and wearing all black

[@zugdarr]

Me too. When I emigrated to AZ and via the Texas-Arizona Trail, my horse and I arrived on July 18th. Was a cool day, like in the high 90s. Sadly my horse had to be put down 2 weeks later. It just couldn't take the heat.

[@jamieyoho2310]

Arizona would be be uninhabitable if not for modern tech. An entire state clinging to life by a thread if u ask me.

[@MaineCoonMama18]

My ancestor, William Porter, went on the Oregon Trail and wrote a trail diary that's now at an Oregon Trail Museum. Unsurprisingly, his father died on the trail and his wife died not long after arriving in Oregon (he then married her sister). I also have 49er ancestors who came to California by boat from New England.

[@stankyfingers3030]

I live on the Oregon trail!! Some amazing sights for sure! Register rock is just a few miles away. This was an interesting listen.

[@awt1989]

im in north platte, ne ... i seen i made the list too:D

[@benski8610]

AF or Poky?

[@charlesnash2748]

I alos live on the Trail, on the south branch along the Snake River. These were determined people.

[@sophiewells7318]

i lived near there from grades 3-5, i went on part of the wyoming trail/fort laramie on a field trip!

[@hypernerdhd1610]

Also ok the topic of Oregon Trail, “What life was like in the Wild West” would be such a good video especially with the growth in popularity of red dead redemption 2, just a thought lol

[@hankaustin7091]

I agree.. that would make for a fantastic and fascinating video!

[@robvangessel3766]

This video - very importantly, and sadly, I think - also reveals the injustice done to the image of native Americans by 100 years of Hollywood myth.

[@tadanarilee6003]

Yess please

[@arthurmorgan3972]

Yes

[@hypernerdhd1610]

Adolf Bin Laden my bad dog I just changed it

[@cashstore1]

I would imagine if one was overweight at the beginning of the trek, they would be nice and slim on arrival. The Oregon trail diet.

[@nicoletighe8751]

Some of my family members crossed the trail and then married to receive more land! They stayed married until my Ancestor, Daniel Test in 1900! Oddly enough I was born and raised in Michigan but once I was married we moved west ourselves and I now live less than 1 mile from some of the still existing wagon ruts! Thank you for this video!

[@stacieorico5624]

You are the Lord The famous One, famous One Great is Your Name in all the earth The heavens declare You're glorious, glorious Great is Your fame beyond the earth

[@drunk_on_milkshakes3279]

If you could can you do life during the Great Depression or the 1920s?

[@robvangessel3766]

Or the chain gang prison system of that era, which included convictions for minor infractions and plenty of torture sessions.

[@katedaphne4495]

It didnt start until 1929. You really know nothing about it dont you?

[@drunk_on_milkshakes3279]

@@katedaphne4495 Wow I really enjoy people on KZbin purposely being rude for the fun of it. I was talking about him doing a video on general 1920s lifestyle (1920-1929) or the Great Depression (which bled into the 1930s from 1929) separately. Maybe you should get off your high horse once and a while.

[@katedaphne4495]

@@drunk_on_milkshakes3279 You sure are a softy.

[@katedaphne4495]

@@drunk_on_milkshakes3279 Thats nice.

[@realazduffman]

Even driving the highways out there today you wonder how they did it. Nothing by empty for hours at 75 mph in an A/C SUV. Then you think to those wagons.

[@isaiahjones1587]

I know this is months and months after you posted this, but I just want to say. With all gratitude and from the bottom of my heart... thank you. For showing candlestick park. I love it❤️❤️❤️

[@thelakeman5207]

I walked just 5 miles of the Oregon trail near Independence Rock. Can't imagine what 2,000 miles would be like and I'm a seasoned hiker. I spent most of the time dodging rattlesnakes.

[@snakepliskin23]

I had to sacrifice 3 oxen to watch this

[@FLYIN_DAGGERZ]

😂

[@zexvit9242]

😂😂😂

[@GVoodoo]

I noticed a group of strangers.... I kept my distance.... due to the virus

[@rere2425]

😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@trentfox6100]

I had to sacrifice 5 ;-;

[@Sad_Crys]

I will not last 5mins on the Oregon trail good job to the people who did it

[@Robloxchat123]

5 minutes in your cart falls on you

[@robvangessel3766]

I confidently maintain that I never would have tried it, but that's easy for me to say from a pampered 21st century perspective, where I don't have to live around outhouses, cholera, and feces being tossed out New York tenement windows.

[@anarchy2118]

Dude, I would've tried, and completed the Oregon Trail.

[@Robloxchat123]

@@anarchy2118 based off my knowledge I know I would die

[@anarchy2118]

@@Robloxchat123 ha, I would've been out west while your stuck in the east

[@DisWldFrk90]

When you talked about bodies being tossed on the side of the road, I was surprised you didn't bring up that many people were tossed on the side of the road before they were even dead. If they could tell somebody wasn't going to make it, a good number were just abandoned on the road and left to die. One of them being an elderly man who was with the Donner party and couldn't keep up with the wagon train so they left him by the river never to be seen again.

[@stacieorico5624]

Bonjour = Hello, Good morning. Au revoir = Goodbye. Oui = Yes. Non = No. Merci = Thank you. Merci beaucoup = Thank you very much. Fille = Girl. Garçon = Boy.

[@LassieFarm]

That's actually kinder than how we warehouse the elderly today

[@haleybee123]

When I was a kid my family followed the trail from Oregon back to Missouri. It was really cool to see so much history.

[@namelessro]

A video on the life of a merchant on the Silk Road please!

[@valfletcher9285]

Marco....

[@kevinp6812]

@@valfletcher9285 POLO!

[@openbun1283]

I was born and have lived in Africa all my life but know a lot about the USA(from its beginnings) and I’ve always wondered how it would feel to drive right across the country taking in ALL the sights,experiencing the different traditions etc.Well a chap can dream can’t he?

[@ladymaiden2308]

Well, come on up! I highly recommend the road trip you are talking about. It's fantastic. Make sure to hit some hot springs, they're mostly out west but there's some in North Carolina. And welcome to you!

[@otterhero6229]

@@itsokaytobeclownpilled5937 I mean you did have the buffalo, until the whites rolled up

[@otterhero6229]

@@branon6565 What was racist about that? It's true. There were buffalo in North america, until white Americans moved west and exterminated them.

[@openbun1283]

Madam Maiden ......If ever I was to settle there NC would be my state of choice.Weird coincidence.

[@prewartomatoes]

Itayi Chieza I’ve done it, it’s kinda boring

[@annabelleeh]

As an Oregonian, we usually learn about this multiple times throughout school. Didn’t know it back then, but my moms side of the family has been here since the trail

[@MegaDubrock]

Did you key my Jeep, her name was anne

[@annabelleeh]

@@MegaDubrock No? What are you talking about?

[@philipmendisco6656]

I've heard stories of my great-great-great-grandparents traveling the trail in the covered wagon. They brought along two dozen chickens. Most of them were egg layers. They did not want to take up space in the wagon with cages, so they chained each Chicken around its neck, similair to a chain gang. They forced them to march single file all the way from St Louis to Oregon. It was a long miserable walk for the chickens

[@InvaderGIR98]

How was that even worth it? surely the chickens wouldn't be laying eggs under those conditions?

[@deborahacolephotography7823]

The picture of John and Tillie (Matilda) Bakken with Eddie, in front of the soddie at 1:35 is my ancestor. Only deceased people were permitted on the American stamp so it was rather a mistake that it happened. This picture was also on the American and Norwegian 1962 postage stamps commemorating the Land Grant Act of 1862. That stamp photo has been dramatically altered though. John’s parents were Norwegian coming from the Saugherad area of southern Norway.

[@repetemyname842]

LPP: Very cool!

[@Mohawks_and_Tomahawks]

Although I never did the "Oregon Trail", I did hitch-hike across Canada in 2000, with just a backpack and tent.

[@2or3ministry48]

Proud descendant of people who traversed the Oregon trail and survived. Thankful I go by car from Missouri to Oregon. There is more family on my precious Mother’s side (God rest her soul) in Oregon than in my home state of MO. I try make the trek every 3 or 4 years. Much more Cush than a covered wagon.

[@OchaFauzan01]

Those diseases scream "you've yeed your last haw"

[@ultimatebishoujo29]

Definitely

[@jeskvell3254]

"Maybe it was moving away from their annoying neighbor." neighbors: *ha! jokes on y'all we're coming too!*

[@rere2425]

Oh that would suck😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@Itried20takennames]

There was an early reality show where a few modern families agreed to live on replicas of an prairie homestead, and see if they could get through a summer, and were supposed to put up enough food and hay/grass for the winter, as a regular farm family had to do. As with all reality TV, had some exaggerated drama, but did a decent job showing how hard and comfort-scarce that life was. The dad of one family called the supervising doctor in because he thought he had lost weight and was now “skin and bones,” and while he was on the thinner side of normal, the doc had to explain that isn’t concerning and is just normal when you do chores all day and don’t have access to the calorie-dense processed foods we generally eat now.

[@kellychuang8373]

Yeah most attempts at recreating this isn't all going to work it's one things dealing it in a video game and seeing and hearing about it on TV and movies quite another when dealing with it in real life.

[@kellychuang8373]

Also we have to think nowadays since back in that time set in the Oregon Trail railroads didn't reach that far, roads and highways we have now didn't exist and cars really also didn't exist along with the infrastructure we have now.

[@janhoffman5624]

My husband and I played the Oregon Trail card game with our 6-year old, and have since had several conversations about it. Our talks and research on the subject included leading us to this video. Thank you for this condensed, enjoyable resource. You have earned a new subscriber!

[@Bigandrewm]

I have to imagine the absolute worst part of the Oregon Trail was roughly the last third, going through eastern Oregon and Idaho. It's all desert, and the terrain is hell for wagons, being either mountains, or vast lava plains. And they would have to hit this area around late summer so they get through the Oregon mountains before winter.

[@Nighthawk268]

I live in Eastern Oregon in the Blue Mountains and it's still a pain to travel in modern times during the winter. The interstate that goes through here gets shut down often because of winter. Most other county roads are "At your own risk".

[@cosmopeaches2604]

I live in eastern Oregon also, and around here you have only two choices: travel the long way through the high desert or try scaling the mountian terrain. I couldnt imagine doing either on foot! Way to be, pioneers!

[@annalisette5897]

The main trail went north from Farewell Bend on the Snake River, near present day Huntington, Oregon. The trail then went up the Burnt River which tastes slightly salty, IMO. My hunting dogs do not like to drink it but lots of ranchers have cattle grazing along the banks. As others have commented, that track up the Burnt River is rocky and extremely hot in summer, extremely cold in winter. The trail gains elevation to Baker City and shortly after the wagons began crossing the Blue Mountains. The wagons could not wind along the hillsides but had to go straight up, over and down. Otherwise they would have rolled over and gone to the bottom. Many wagons were winched to trees at top and eased down or drag logs were attached to slow the descent. Once out of these mountains, all the way to the Columbia River near Pendleton, Oregon there were more desert plains before reaching the Willamett Valley of Western Oregon. Nearing that, pioneers frequently had to pay for boat passage down the Columbia or the old toll road, the Barlow Road around the back side of Mt. Hood. Attempts were made to shorten the journey, such as the disastrous Meek's cutoff through southern Oregon where the people became lost, deathly ill and starved before staggering north to The Dalles on the Columbia River.

[@feeberizer]

I've flown over Craters of Moon National Monument in a small plane. NOT a place to have to make an emergency landing. I don't see how a wagon could possibly cross it.

[@annalisette5897]

@@feeberizer I'm not sure they went through Craters of the Moon. If they did, there would have been a passable track. Whenever possible they stayed near rivers. A huge problem on rocky terrain was damage to the hooves of the draft animals. Horses fared worse than oxen. Meek's Cutoff out of Vale, Oregon, up Cottonwood and Bully Creeks, even destroyed the feet of the oxen. There was much good ground between St. Louis and the Willamette Valley but a sort of greed took hold, IMO, and neither human nor animal life was spared.

[@sifubseyes100]

Who remembers playing the pc game in school ? I loved this game i really would want to have had an experience like the one we see here

[@jellyfishbrained]

No u wouldn't

[@Americarocks64]

My school played as a group thing on a board we got to one choice and i everyone wanted to do one thing and i was the only one to object to it since it had to be unanimous they threatened to kick me out of the wagon so i gave in , and we went with their plan......we ended up losing the game badly because they made poor decision and my idea would have gotten us ahead

[@claysoggyfries]

I guess only old people did that because I never did

[@naturalselectioninterventi4805]

whoa, whoa, whoa there with the "old people", soggyfries! Some of us played it in school back in the day because we lived in a small ND town (300 people) and we had dial up until 2005! We are old AND technology deprived!!

[@theworldoverheavan560]

@@jellyfishbrained lol

[@jongrant1215]

My family came across the Oregon Trail in the 1850s starting in eastern Missouri but took the California Trail at Fort Hall. They ended up gold mining in Plumas County. My great-great-grandfather was a trained engineer. They lost at least three children to cholera at the mining camps. They later migrated to near Eugene, OR, and later to the Phoenix, OR area. Their story is found at the Southern Oregon Historical Society. He built log mills and many of the older houses in Medford were built with his lumber.

[@joywebster2678]

I have a friend who is currently a retired gold miner living just outside Medford. I'm in Canada, but the pictures of the land are beautiful.

[@Yarsig]

"One of America's favorite pastimes, doodling!" Ah, only second to America's favorite pastime, diddling.

[@cindyalexander6450]

I wanna be in the diddling group ☺️

[@gbae636]

😄😄

[@misterkaos.357]

What about fiddling?!

[@zugdarr]

This is the most underrated comment on here.

[@elizabethorsillo7187]

It’s just a miracle anyone at all survived!

[@531ff]

Kristie C why is Shirley an idiot? Americans are tough .

[@brentdraper4382]

@Kristie C stupid bitch

[@phantomblade89]

@@531ff sKristie C got mad at the remark about snowflakes. Leftist are extremely emotionally unbalance. That is why they have to lash out at everything.

[@kawanzaii8698]

phantomblade89 ...

[@ohapplesauce]

If you’re interested in life on the Oregon trail you should read The Stout-Hearted Seven. It’s a very good (and true!) story about the hardships that occurred on the journey west.

[@annalisette5897]

I have not read that one. "The Indifferent Stars Above" about the Donner party gives one of the best day-to-day descriptions of life on the trail but the ending horrors were not typical of these trips. There are also good books about 'Meek's Cutoff' and the 'Blue Bucket Mine' expedition which was haunted by starvation and deadly disease and lack of water and direction.

[@abdulrehmanjajja1894]

Or Centennial maybe

[@donttalktomeyoureannoying8736]

Oh, Applesauce thanks!!!

[@user-fx9jj2xh1n]

Or you might read Francis Parkman’s The Oregon Trail. Written in 1849, it’s his first-hand account of traveling the Oregon Trail in 1846. A classic.

[@marinarhettsturgill6085]

When I first moved to Wyoming, we did a lot of stuff like walk around and looked at a lot of stuff in the desert and one of those things was the part of the Oregan Trail that went through Wyoming! It looked like a two track dirt road about 7 feet wide and the only way you could travel on it was by wagon, by foot or by horseback because driving motorized vehicles on it was forbidden and not allowed!!

[@janoahlee7499]

I absolutely love the new version of the Oregon Trail . I have the switch version but it’s so much more fun than when I was a kid in the 90s and I used to love playing it as a kid. My own teenage kids love playing the new one.

[@bambiebrinson8822]

I would like to hear about the Cherokee, and the Trail of Tears

[@scottyb003]

The trail of tear is known as anywhere Chuck Norris has been.

[@sweettater42]

The Oregon Trail Museum in Baker City has the best exhibits about the trail. It has a walk that takes you where the ruts from the wagons cut in the earth. A station where you have scale models of wagons and various supplies, and houshold items for you to try and fit what you wanted to take along the trail. I recomend a visit if you are ever in the area.

[@Gamble661]

I was in Green River Wyoming years ago for work with a mining company that was located out in the high desert outside of town. There were pioneer graves everywhere out there. Many were maintained by a historical preservation association but every once in a while we'd come across one that wasn't and was barely discernable, some still had markers but most didn't, and those that did the markers were usually unreadable. It was incredible how many there were and how often you would just stumble across one in the middle of nowhere.

[@patricksanders858]

I have pictures of my ancestors doing just that! Covered wagon and all!

[@emanulecasillas9349]

I live in Nebraska and let me tell you, it still is ghastly and desolate

[@sasquatchhunter86]

Emanule Casillas better than in California where there’s homeless people sleeping in the parks of your suburban town 30 miles away from the nearest big city.

[@deanwinchester3356]

Emanule Casillas Massachusetts is desolate and dark unless you live in the city. When I moved to Mass from New Jersey my entire family kinda gasped at how dark and rural it was. My friend from Atlanta (who moved up there) would even joke when he saw a street light “Wow! The first light built in Massachusetts in 1999!”

[@alainarchambault2331]

Trade places?

[@arnenelson4495]

Pioneers would joke abt the "coast of Nebraska".

[@janethartwig774]

Emanule Casillas We took a road trip across the US when our children were small. I’ll never forget my 5 year old saying in the middle of Nebraska, ‘Don’t these flat corn fields ever end?!’ We live in California between two mountain ranges; the kids had never seen so much flat land before.

[@rolandtheracist390]

When you kill your first 500lb bear on the Mac Version of Oregon Trail.

[@laurenthomas9305]

But can only carry back 100lbs. 😑

[@itsmereem6748]

Ikr

[@geniekish1417]

Been chasin the dragon ever since

[@michaelknapp8961]

This is how my great great grandmother and her family got to Oregon. She walked a huge portion of the trip beside the wagon pregnant. The wagon was so full there wasn’t a place to sit. Along the Columbia river, you can still see the ruts from the wagon wheels where they rolled on by back in the day.

[@scottlewisparsons9551]

Thank you for another great video. When I was about ten or twelve years old I did a school project about the Oregon Trail. That was a long time ago. I found the task very interesting and still remember bits of it. At the time I was a school boy in Wellington, New Zealand. We all had to pick a topic from US history. It was a good experience I think. Have a good day.

[@armchairrocketscientist4934]

I have a lot of respect for my ancestors. They didn't even have wagons, but pulled handcarts all the way to Utah. They left comfortable homes in England, only to come to a wasteland called the Salt Lake Valley. And somehow, they took the place, colonized it, then basically started most of the settlements in the Intermountain west. It still baffles me how they did it.

[@chomama1628]

Hard work and perseverance.

[@armchairrocketscientist4934]

@@chomama1628 darn right.

[@rickkerschner1407]

Or why!😂

[@leahreese6772]

please do the salem witch trials

[@deasttn]

I always thought that was Oregon

[@PureVikingPowers]

@@deasttn Yes oregon witch trials 🤗

[@ashleysmith8402]

@@deasttn no that was Salem Massachusetts.

[@SkinnerNoah]

When I was in 8th grade, my history teacher emailed students a link to the Oregon trail app game, except he chose the wrong app, and the link was for a zombie fighting game called organ trail

[@Thomas-ei1yk]

People are now packing up their wagons and leaving Oregon just as fast as the protesters will allow them to.

[@baptizednblood6813]

Thomas I wanna move I’ll tell you that. Grew up in Eugene, now living in Portland. I’m tired of peoples passive aggressive and lazy attitudes, driving like pussies, shit weather and small towns (Portland is a small town fronting like a city) the only thing I like here at this point is the death metal scene

[@ap8697]

Life during the great depression would be interesting to watch

[@Renwoxing13]

I am not American, so I never got to learn about the Oregon Trail in school. I have been hearing about it from other KZbin sources, but basically all I heard was "it was rough, alot of people died". Now, this video really opened my eyes to what an interesting topic it was!《DAMN INTERESTING》 I never really did like History in school, but hearing you tell this bit of history has really opened my eyes to how cool history is... THANK YOU!!!

[@robertmckinley4825]

Travel on board ship was a rough experience too. The Panama Canal did not exist then, so the journey was much longer and went around cape horn. The storms in that part of the world are/were extremely nasty.

[@cecrabt]

My mom and I drove a portion of the Oregon Trail during a cross country move. We saw Independence Rock and some old wagon ruts, and at the Interpretive Center in Casper Wyoming there’s a Mormon hand cart on a treadmill weighted so you can see how hard it was to push. It was an amazing journey. I would not have wanted to make it back then, though! So brutal, and it took so long. My mom and I were going crazy after two weeks together! 😂

[@seppyq3672]

I've been to that center. I had forgotten about the handcart thing.

[@Someonesaidthis]

The pioneers were tuff as nails.. Something I could surely never do..

[@aydentorres7644]

I would love to see a video on the Dust Bowl!

[@robvangessel3766]

I've seen a few great ones on the Dust Bowl, but it's still a good subject to detail because the science behind the dust bowl is significant. It was one of the most impactful examples of how human activity affects environment drastically. Its cost to us economically, and in lives. We're not learning enough from chapters of the past, as such disasters on larger scales are waiting for us.

[@janethartwig774]

Watch The Grapes of Wrath with Henry Fonda

[@Yoshikarter1]

Storytelling was another favorite past-time on the Oregon Trail. So in a way, "live" podcasts were a thing even back then.

[@michelepascoe6068]

Your videos are well produced and you have a pleasant voice, good choice of art and I like your jokes. Always an enjoyable watch!

[@livlee1897]

When I was in 6th grade we did an Oregon Trail simulation, I was the first to die 😂😭

[@emilyalmendras1240]

this is my homework right now haha 1 year later

[@SamRoxxJDM]

I really love that I stumbled upon this channel a few weeks ago, you guys make some of the most interesting videos keep it up. Make a patron so I can donate lol

[@sherryrobinson7389]

Loved it! Well done! Yeppa the terrain and conditions were rough, even driving it in car is bad!😄😄😄😄😄😄😄Th u for refreshing memories!

[@johnbouwens2024]

I found that my family did come over the Oregon trail from Iowa and Wyoming and south Dakota ,,, no joking lots of my family ,,, I myself came from Wyoming,,, and now live in Oregon ,,, loved your video God bless

[@tiedyedowl8367]

How about a video on The Donner Family?

[@iimdiego]

Tiedyed Owl I was about to type the same thing. My teacher had relatives that had died in that. Very sad. I had to do a project and writing about it was very depressing

[@robvangessel3766]

Donner Party has already been covered many times, and there are some really excellent videos abt it. The best ever, I think, has to be PBS' The American Experience. For these online minidocumentaries, however, I prefer historical subjects that haven't been touched much, and/or were so long buried in myth that we never had a notion of what it was really like.

[@josephmariani732]

@@robvangessel3766 Thats a great history series!

[@andreacarpenter8824]

@@robvangessel3766 I saw that one!

[@hood_TheJoker]

use to play this game all day in school, it was the 1st game we played in 4th grade on the computer

[@KingVirgo44]

Lol my first pc game was "who wants to be a millionaire"😂😂😞.

[@JustinAbroad]

Same. Way back in the early 2000

[@juliehanks5583]

I love the selections you chose. A good representation of the Oregon Trail.

[@grungeera4561]

That game inspired my life. For 38yrs i lived in Kansas where the trail goes through. Finally one day i quit my job got on an Amtrak and came out to Oregon. I had never seen the ocean in my life..so there i was in Oregon. I then decided to walk 600miles down the coast to see the redwoods & eventually ended up in San Francisco.. Now 2yrs later im back in Oregon living a whole new life 😀.....Epic journey

[@glitch2023]

Fun fact: In Puerto Rico (I honestly couldn’t say what other countries do this) they call a speed bump “muerto” which is spanish for someone dead.

[@Fealo31]

I just drove across the country, NYC to LA, took me just 4 days I can’t imagine crossing the country in the 1800s

[@nicolehegarty4749]

Wow. I feel bad for the woman who went crazy while traveling, and her family of course etc. That's tragic.

[@timbillings6884]

Good show! 👍👍 I have been on the trail. All the way!!! 😁

[@robvangessel3766]

I recall reading that there had also been lots of deceptive advertising promising "rich, fertile land out west for the taking". One of the reasons so many people were enticed to take the deadly risks. In many cases, when the would-be pioneers reached their destination, the land proved unfertile and useless. Lots of grim shams went on throughout the 19th century.

[@repetemyname842]

RVG: One of the more "famous" pamphlets being circulated back East was written by a man who never even traveled the trail. Shysters were all over the place back in those days, much like now.

[@mikewhite9818]

Repete Myname You meant much like the Democrats today.

[@mikewhite9818]

Rob Van Gessel Actually the land in the Willamette valley was very rich. But the Willamette valley was 9 months of wet. Very wet. They would arrive in Oct/Nov and had to get housing built by no later than the end of Nov. or suffer greatly. Even with housing they suffered still. Even getting healthy water was a real struggle. But little by little the women made men build better facilities.

[@bobrobert319]

That was after the railroads had been built. They were drumming up business.

[@hankaustin7091]

EXCELLENT video!!!! please do more of them about the old West, it's fascinating!

[@deborahcasey7239]

As a western novelist, I loved your video! Loved your commentary. What a hoot!!

[@BamBam_PDX]

My grandparents are buried less than a mile from where the pic of the red barn and mountains at 1:14 was taken. Those are the Wallowa mountains in eastern Oregon.

[@MissBlueEyeliner]

The Oregon trail is the American version of the Irish leaving Ireland on “coffin ships” in the 1840s.

[@annalisette5897]

Not really because American pioneers started out as middle to upper class people. It took a lot of money to purchase supplies, wagons and teams. The Irish were very poor and just looking for a better chance at life. The pioneers had definite dreams of acquiring land and expanding their fortunes. In those days, bringing together large numbers of people could easily lead to deadly epidemics.

[@Ilovevintage77]

I’m so obsessed with this channel binge watching !!!! And living for this smooth funny narrator who sounds like Steven Colbert !! You have amazing comedic timing sir!!!! I tip my hat to you!!!!!

[@gizzygaz7922]

I'll never forget playing this game in 8th grade and yelling "God damn it i died of dysentery agen" across the class

[@asrieldreemurr3832]

“You got 15,000 Ibs of food but we’re only able to carry back 100 Ibs.”

[@jessehawkes1298]

One of my ancestors came all the way from Pennsylvania all the way to the Bitterroot Valley in Montana after he was wounded in the civil war. Nothing more than a wagon and his family. The sons names were Ulysses Grant McKinney, Lafayette McKinney, and George Washington McKinney. They were a real American family

[@repetemyname842]

JH: Cool story!

[@justincash1181]

Wow modern technology spoils us “I have a 7 hour flight kill me”

[@BrickMediaStudios]

These people could walk around, look around, talk with others. Sitting in an airplane is just a challenge of sitting in one positiob

[@robvangessel3766]

Can't stop counting the number of people who'd like to kill themselves taking a 7 hour flight! It does make one appreciate the modern luxury of being a wimp. I'll take that to cholera and corpses lying along the path ANY day!

[@BrickMediaStudios]

@@robvangessel3766 this video is just over-dramatized. if people massively died then why'd they still try it? the US government wouldnt send people into their death just to settle there. this wasnt even that long ago either. Human rights were a thing

[@robvangessel3766]

@@BrickMediaStudios: you don't have the facts right at all. As the author abt it, and I'd also encourage you to look up the details of the history, as there are ample sources online. Throughout the 19th century a lot of scam advertising went on, and part of it was a promise to the public of "rich, fertile land or the taking out west", and that was a big reason so many went for it. In many cases, when the pioneers DID get to their destination, the land was unfertile and useless.

[@aliceakosota797]

Yeah and if anything happens not like you'll notice anyways

[@foxmulder4269]

Interesting, I love old west history of the U.S, thanks....more please !!

[@andrewbunch6596]

The Paramount+ series "1883" is a good depiction of this trail