I am at the junction of 20 and 75 about 26 miles east of Fairfield. I have been riding on a sections of the Oregon trail for about a week. I am on the Goodale’s Cutoff now. Here is some history about the route.
The Oregon Trail
In 1843 wagons first rolled past Fort Hall, ID and faced the harshness and desolation of the Snake River Plain. Dust, sagebrush, lava rock, mosquitoes, a burning sun, cold nights, rattle snakes and a concerened Native American population made the journey an arduous one. The journey across the ‘Great American Desert’ took five months,averaging 12 miles a day. After decade of heavy use by emigrants of the Oregon Trail and over utilization of resources created a need for new roads. Several alternate routes were created. Timothy Goodale, a former fur trapper, agreed to guide a large wagon train on an old Indian path discovered in 1820. Many were attempting to reach the newly discovered Salmon River gold mines along the new route.
Goodale’s cutoff as it was called became a regular Hudson’s Bay Company supply route between Fort Boise and Fort Hall. The road was rough and hard to navigate.
“The road winds around the foot of the mountain. Today’s drive was over the worst roads I ever saw, heard of or read of; they were so rocky. Some places the road is next to impassable. Actually, one of our wagons got wedged in between some large rocks or stones.”
-Eakin Family
July 20, 1866
“Started this morning, traveled through rocks from one to five feet high and had to make our road through the best we could. Some of the boys found in the rocks a trunk which was lost or hid in 1853. It was full of clothes, dishes and other small articles.”
-Nellie Slater
July 29, 1862
It has been interesting following the route of the Oregon Trail so far. I think that I might stick with it a little longer. Looks like it goes all the way to Independence, Missouri. I also enjoyed reading the quotes from people making the journey. Apparently there is a book of letters and journals of people who made the trip called ‘Letters and journals from the western trail 1840-1890′. It might have been interesting to have along the way.