Many tourists stopped to read the road signs on the old trails or not the old old road signs on their trips west of the Mississippi. On a recent six-week trip west of St. Louis to Louis, I was often remembered by the early pioneers who used St. Louis. Louis, "Gateway to the West" and other nearby cities in Missouri, as "jumping with points." Lured by gold, free land and adventure, they expected a better life at the new frontier. Many were inspired by the stories of hunters and traders who promised easy passage through the mountains, and they thought they could find their future through Oregon, Santa Fe or Overland Trails. The actual paths along the old trails or the roads that followed them, and the cities that developed as a result of the trails, can be used today by travelers.
In 1851, John Soul, editor of the Terre Haute Express, invented "Go west, young man!" phrase that remains part of the american dictionary. Although Lewis and Clark completed their journey earlier in the 19th century, the transcontinental railroad has not yet exhausted itself. It took an average of four to six months for a family to get from Missouri to Oregon or California by car. Approximately seven years after the article Soule in 1858, the first non-stop-diligence left St. Louis. Louis in los angeles This 2600-mile journey took twenty days. The transcontinental railroad did not compete until 1869 and quickly turned the carriage and stagecoach into a journey.
Lewis and Clark made a successful trip to the Pacific in the early 1800s, although it took them several months longer than they had planned. False reports of easy passage through the mountains, which participants described as “steep, like the roof of a house,” as well as deep snow and lack of food, caused their delay. Once there, they were faced with buckets and buckets of continuous rain. At the surest American moment, they decided to vote on where to spend the winter, to take part in the decision of all party members, including blacks, Indians and women. They chose the south side of the Columbia River, but still complained that they only had moose, so that there was continuous rain, and they did not like salmon. They began their return journey in March and arrived in St. Petersburg. Louis in September, where they were greeted as heroes. Many Native Americans helped them, and only a few, like Blackfoot, interfered with them when they learned that they could trade with their enemies.
Lewis and Clark began their journey in May 1804 and returned in September 1806. They traveled a total of 4,162 miles and documented 122 new animal species and 178 plants that had never been described before. More important at the time was their fulfillment of President Thomas Jefferson’s dream of opening the West to the United States.
Interesting evidence of their travel can be seen in Cairo, Illinois, where there is a marker entitled "Preceded On". Cairo is located at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. It is now a ghost town, although it was once a more grandiose city, as its architecture and wide streets testify. Marker read:
In November 1803, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark and their growing contingent of the Discovery Corps men spent five days here teaching each other celestial navigation and shooting skills. Using the sextant, octant, artificial horizon and reference tables, they successfully obtained the first data on longitude and latitude, which they will use during the Expedition. Subsequent maps of the northern and western parts of the United States, using Lewis and Clark data, began at the confluence of these great rivers, which in 1803 were located south of 2nd Street in modern Cairo.
The Spaniards had many of their own trails, and they were in competition with the United States to claim the western territories. They tried to intercept Lewis and Clark on the plains, but could not find them. The old Spanish National Historic Route is still on the map in Colorado, New Mexico and Utah, and was the historical trade route that connected the northern settlements of New Mexico near Santa Fe to the cities of Los Angeles and southern California. Approximately 1200 miles long, it passed through areas of high mountains, arid deserts and deep canyons. It is considered one of the most difficult of all trade routes ever created in the United States, and was investigated, in particular, by Spanish researchers already in the late 1500s. Trail saw was intensively used by trains from 1830 to the mid 1850s.
Today's travelers can also see traces of the old Santa Fe trail, the eastern end of which was located in the central city of Missouri Franklin on the northern bank of the Missouri River. The route through Missouri, first used by trader Becknell, was accompanied by parts of the existing Osage route and medicine trails. West of Franklin, the trail crossed Missouri near Arrow Rock, after which it followed approximately the route of the current American route 24. It passed north of Marshall, through Lexington to Fort Osage, and then to Independence, as well as one of the historic points for Oregon and California trails.
Before Lewis and Clark and Spanish explorers and even French hunters, Native Americans settled and went to the West. Tourists can visit such landmarks as the Aztec National Monument, Chaco Canyon, Gallup, Hubbell and Chinle Trading Post and Canyon de Chelly in the Navajo Nation to name a few. The ruins of Aztec are located near the banks of the River Lost Souls, named by the Spanish expedition in 1776. They marked the many ruins of ancient Pueblo when they crossed the valley of the Animas River, looking for California. For thousands of years, Native Americans took trails for harvesting, hunting, trading, plunder, war, religious fervor and celebrity. They may have forged trails at least eight or nine thousand years ago, including thousands of miles of connecting trails stretching from Texas. west to the California Pacific coast and from Mexico to the north.
While most Native American routes traveled, others fulfilled vague objectives, such as puzzling the 400-mile network of “roads” that radiate from the accused Chaco Canyon Anasazi Puebloan complex, the early second millennium “Rome” of northwestern New Mexico. These roads had long straight sections, sometimes 30 feet wide, with curbing, border walls, berms and small road "motels". They usually associated the Chaco Canyon, the commercial and religious capital of the region, with emerging communities. Some archaeologists believe that they were for trade, while others believe that they are ceremonial, but their goal remains a mystery.
Although many crossroads of Native American and Pioneer cultures resisted conflict or bloodshed, the happy exception was the Hubbell Trading Post. It still remains the same as it was originally, and was declared a National Historic Site. The first established use of the route of the old car was an expedition of Dominguez-Escalante in 1776.
John Lorenzo Hubbell acquired the trading post in 1878; ten years after the Navajo were allowed to return home from their terrible exile in Bosque Redondo, Ft. Sumner, New Mexico. During the four years spent in Bosque Redondo, Navajos were introduced to many new subjects. Traders, such as Hubbell, supplied these items as soon as they returned home.
Hubbell had a lasting impact on the weaving of Navajo and Silver, because he constantly demanded and promoted excellence in craftsmanship. He built a trading empire that included scenes and cargo lines, as well as several trading posts. Out of the question, he was the forerunner of the Navajo trader of his time. Members of the Hubbell family ran a trading post until it was sold to the National Park Service in 1967. Trading post is still active and managed by a non-profit organization.
Religious and ethnic persecution also led groups to take walks to the west. The trail of tears and the Navajo long walk are examples of ethnic persecution leading to forced migration, while Mormons thought they were avoiding religious persecution. In 1846, Navajo was offered US peace, but in 1863, Colonel Keith Carson launched a brutal campaign against the Navajo. The Navajo used the Canyon de Chelly as a refugee, hiding in rocky niches. They stored food and water. After these precedents, Carson's troops entered the eastern end of Canyon de Chelly and pushed the Navajo to the mouth. Most of them were captured or killed. Troops destroyed hogans, gardens and sheep. Then the survivors were forced to go over 300 miles to Fort Sumner in New Mexico. Many died on the way and suffered from poor food, shelter and disease at Fort. In 1868 they were allowed to return to their homes. Trading positions, such as Hubbell, helped the Navajo to survive. Today Dine thrive in Chinle and around Canyon de Chelly. As the leader of the Navajo once said, "We will be like a rock, the river will have to go." (Aylema Benally, Navajo)
Mormons were expelled from Missouri and Illinois and were forced to travel west through the Mormon Trail. It stretched from Nauvoo, Illinois, which was the main settlement of Latter-day Saints from 1839 to 1846, to Salt Lake City, Utah, which was settled by Brigham Ian and his followers since 1847. From Council Bluffs, Iowa, to Fort Bridger in Wyoming, the trail follows the same path as the Oregon trail and the California trail; These paths are known as the “Emigrant Path”.
In 1856, the church opened a system of handcart companies to allow poor European immigrants to make the trip cheaper. Hand trucks, two-wheeled carts, which were driven by migrants, instead of being animals, were sometimes used as an alternative method of transportation from 1856 to 1860. They were viewed as a quicker, easier and cheaper way to bring European transformations to Salt Lake City. Difficult sections of the trail were littered with heaps of “leverites,” objects that migrants had to “leave” here to light up their cars. In later years, Mormons created a cottage industry to rescue levers and sell them to migrants passing through the Salt Lake Valley.
Although most of the handcart groups went through this, there were many casualties in several groups. The two groups began dangerously late and were eaten by heavy snow and heavy temperatures in the center of Wyoming. One group did this at Fort Laramie, hoping to replenish their food supplies, but there were also few products. Despite the dramatic rescue efforts, more than 210 of the 980 pioneers in these two companies died along the way. John Cislette, a survivor, wrote: "Many father fastened his basket with small children on it until the day before his death." Enthusiast trailers will enjoy visiting Laramie, which was not far from the Overland Stage route and on the Union Pacific section of the first railway.
If you are traveling in June, the Mormon Wonderful Avenue, which is held every June at Manti Temple Hill, Utah is an exciting historical reconstruction. It includes the entire community and retells a wonderful story of how the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the pioneers of Mormons who colonized the West were founded.
About a year before the retirement of the Latter-day Saints, the Reid-Donner carriage cut the first trail through the final geographical obstacle between Great Mountain and Salt Lake City. About halfway through, the group changed course and rose, and around the final narrowing near the mouth of the valley. The result of the cruel collapse over the stones and the sage, most likely, contributed to their historical tragedy, postponing them for several days. When the advanced team from the Last Day avant-garde company passed through the same area, it chose to stick to the valley floor and made its way to the bench overlooking the Great Salt Lake pool in less than four hours. Lansford Hastings, who proposed an alternative route, received death threats. The emigrant encountered Hastings about the difficulties they faced, saying: "Of course, he could say nothing, but he was very sorry, and what he had in mind." Historians have described this episode as one of the most impressive tragedies in the history of California and in the record of western migration. Travelers through the Wasatch Mountains can see a marker saying that the Donner Party has passed there. They can almost be felt, and they seem to be marked by the many beautiful wildflowers that adorn the path.
As Douglas Adams once wrote: "In the infinite universe, living life alone cannot afford it - it is a sense of proportion." Some of the early settlers and later historians blamed leaders, such as Brigham Young or George Donner, for these tragedies, but the pioneers themselves were so eager to go west for a better life that probably no one was to blame. They did not know or preferred to ignore the size of the vast desert in proportion to their small cart or trolley. Of the approximately 360,000 people who traveled westward along the Oregon trail to the Transcontinental Railway, about ten percent died, or between 20,000 and 30,000 people. This number is less than one would expect, given the chances for them, including the weather, large bodies of water, deserts, mountains, food shortages and diseases. Ironically, some sick people thought that traveling would heal them. Pioneer medication kits for treating diseases and wounds include pharmaceutical pills “physics”, castor oil, rum or whiskey, peppermint oil, quinine for malaria, harthorn for snakebite, citric acid for scurvy, opium, loudanum , morphine, calomel and camphor tincture. Interestingly, only one out of every ten migrants died on this path. Contrary to popular belief, Native Americans did not pose a serious threat to these pioneers.
Boredom was another problem that modern travelers do not think about. One of the pioneers said that it was so boring that he welcomed the attacks of India (although there were few of them). Children, as is known, had a good time, breaking away from a bloated buffalo, like a trampoline. Toys and pets were often used by children, while adults enjoyed songs, dances, and stories. At the appointed time of the year there were famous rendezvous places for celebrations, and inns, taverns and trading posts facilitated monotony. Women often had a much longer day than men who enjoyed hunting and fishing, while women taught children, cooked, washed and fixed clothes and did a lot of tedious tasks.
Upon returning to St. Louis, travelers may take the old highways, such as US 40, the old national road, which was previously a national trail. It runs parallel and close to Interstate 70 for most of the journey back to St. Louis. Louie Arrow Rock is an interesting stop. This high level of limestone silica glitter first appeared on the French map of 1732 as a “pyrrh flash”, literally translated as “stone of arrows”. Archaeological evidence suggests that for almost 12,000 years, indigenous cultures have used the brilliance of Arrow Rock as a production site for flint tools and weapons.
In the 1820s, the earliest travelers on the Santa Fe Trail, crossed the river on the Strelka-Rock ferry and filled their barrels with water from the Big Spring fresh water before heading west. Although the village is small, it remains a vital community. In 1963, the entire city was designated a National Historic Landmark due to its connection with the expansion to the west. Arrow Rock, Missouri is also a certified site on the Lewis and Clark and Santa Fe highways.
Back in St. Louis, travelers must cross the Mississippi to Illinois to see the Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site, which is an excellent center of the local Mississippi culture. The location of Cahokia near three large rivers and four ecosystems has made it an ideal place for raising the agricultural center. In 1250 he was bigger than London. But the knowledge gained from previous prisoners, dating back to 10,000 BC, allowed these people to be so successful. They also benefited from traveling at great distances along the trade routes already established by the forest Indians. They received copper, mica and sea shells, and also incorporated aspects of other cultures into their own. Today we use some of our paths.
Узнав больше о старых путях, и группы, которые их взяли, добавили измерение «путешествия во времени» в поездку и значительно улучшили посещение исторических сайтов и музеев. Сегодня путешественникам больше не нужно беспокоиться о том, чтобы принять неправильный горный перевал или множество других трудностей, перенесенных в более ранние времена, но они могут испытать путешествие в комфорте. Следуя по стопам пионеров, вы можете путешествовать по тропам в прошлое.
Примечание: благодаря Ассоциации Oregon-California Trails, которая является крупнейшей и самой влиятельной организацией нации, посвященной сохранению и защите наземных маршрутов и опыта иммигрантов.
