January 2013 Travel Photo: Oregon Trail Wagon Ruts in Western Nebraska

Out in western Nebraska, not to far from the life giving Platte River and the rest stop of Ash Hollow are wagon ruts from the Oregon Trail.  The ruts are on private property and are near rancher motor vehicle tracks in the foreground.  The marks left by hard working historical emigrant Overlanders and present-day local ranchers compliment the tough physical terrain of the region.

Saturday Humor: Oregon Trail Movie Trailer

Long time readers will remember that I love studying the Oregon Trail.  Part of my love for the trail is based off my time playing the Oregon Trail computer game during my youth.  Half Day Today has taken the game of my youth and made a fake movie trailer based off the game.  Enjoy!

Representations of Indians and US Army along the Oregon Trail: Western Nebraska to Fort Laramie

Continuing on past Ash Hollow one drives by Chimney Rock and Scotts Bluff. Here there are museums dedicated to the Oregon Trail. Indians get passing mentions like a brief sign which tells how the Sioux called Chimney Rock “Elk’s Penis.” Army representations are light. A few paintings at Scotts Bluff show cavalry but nothing major.

In Nebraska near the Wyoming border is a mere roadside dedicated to the Great Smoke. The Great Smoke was a meeting of 12,000 Indians where the United States government negotiated peace in 1851. The various nations attending had to be separated in order to keep the peace. The only person allowed to travel freely at the meeting was Father DeSmet. The peace was short lived. However, the treaty allowed Oregon and California to be settled by hundreds of thousands of emigrants. With both coasts settled, it was only a matter of time until the once useless Great American Desert would be conquered by the United States.

The last stop in the Great Plains section of the Oregon Trail is Fort Laramie. Here the Platte River valley ends and one sees Laramie Peak off in the distance. The peak acts as a welcoming sign to mountainous lands. Army life is well documented at the fort. Many buildings have had their interiors restored and this provides a window into the past. Informational signs in rooms tell of the day-to-day life of officers and enlisted men.

The history of Fort Laramie began in 1834. Fur trader William Sublette established of his trading post which he named Fort William. Sublette sent emissaries to contact local Sioux and Cheyenne to establish trade relations. The American Fur Trading Company bought the fort in 1836 and enjoyed excellent trading relations with the Sioux and Cheyenne. Trade was so prosperous that a rival company opened a trading post a mere mile away from Fort William. The American Fur Company sold the fort to the United States Military in 1849 as part of a militarization of the Oregon Trail and the fort was renamed Fort Laramie. The fort played a critical role in American Western operations until its closing in 1890.

Indian and emigrant relations were good for the most part during the time frame of the Oregon Trail. The fort was a resting and trading spot for Dakota Sioux Indians. Whole villages would come to the fort to interact with traders, government officials, and emigrants. It is estimated that in 1846 1,200 Sioux camped at once near Fort Laramie. Indians respected the power and authority of the army post. Dakota Indians sometimes performed funeral rites in sight of the fort in hopes the army’s presence would keep violators away. Cultural exchanges also took place at Fort Laramie. Pioneer Joseph Aram wrote in his 1846 trial diary how Indians preformed several songs and dances as exchange for some goods. Although these encounters did not alter the overall historic course of the Oregon Trail, they greatly affected the emigrants and Indians. These experiences, no matter how brief, humanized each side and allowed for greater understanding between emigrants and Indians.

Unfortunately a great tragedy occurred in Fort Laramie’s past. On August 17, 1854, a lame cow took off from a Mormon expedition and wondered into a Brule Sioux camp. The Mormon owner was too afraid to enter the camp and instead headed off to Fort Laramie to ask for military assistance from Second Lieutenant John Grattan. Grattan assembled a group of thirty-one men including him and entered in the camp demanding the cow and an alleged thief Grattan blamed for stealing the cow. The United States-appointed chief of the camp, Conquering Bear, negotiated for forty-five minutes until an impatient Grattan ordered his men to open fire with a cannon and guns. Conquering Bear was quickly killed. Brule and allied Oglala Sioux counterattacked and killed all but one of the infantry soldiers. The sole army survivor died days later. The misunderstandings and rashness on the parts of the Mormon emigrant and second Lieutenant Grattan forever poisoned United States/Sioux relations. Embittered Brule conducted raids during the winter of 1854 and the public outcry led to Colonel William S. Harney being assigned to avenge the Grattan Massacre. In 1855, Harney would get his revenge at the Battle of Ash Hollow.

Just as the historical archives record more tragedy then positives, so does the landscape. The Grattan Massacre site is marked by the Grattan Massacre Historical Monument. The 1953-erected monument contains a graphic of Indians killing soldiers as one officer bravely tries to fight troops which reminds one of the famous painting of Custer’s Last Stand. Another monument to Grattan’s troops is located along driveway to the fort’s parking lot.

“No One is Home” monuments are also common. The majority of signs at the fort are dedicated to the army. Some places have markers discussing the overland trails. Other monuments are dedicated to army wives and teamsters. One information sign, Fort Laramie and the Western Movement, prides Fort Laramie as being an “outpost of civilization.” The information center museum has displays about the history of the American west from pre-history to modern day. The last historical mentioning of Indians is the Wounded Knee Massacre. It is as if the Indians ceased to be after the massacre. Fort Laramie is a place lacking Indian history on the landscape. Not one Indian campground is marked while a hotel for stagecoach drivers, emigrant campgrounds, and trail ruts are. The gravesite of Mini-Aku, a Sioux who loved American culture so much she desired to have a funeral insight of Fort Laramie, is not memorialized in any way.

Thus ends the study area of the Great Plains of the Oregon Trail. It was a long journey and one Catholicgauze is glad to have done.

Representations of Indians and US Army along the Oregon Trail: Ash Hollow

From Kearney until Ash Hollow, the golden age of the Overland Migration (1843-1860) goes unmentioned. What is marked at places near Lexington or Maxwell is of the later West. Roadside signs discuss Indian raids, violence, Pawnee scouts against the Sioux, and Buffalo Bill. The innocence of the early years of the trail is gone. But every Garden of Eden has its own sins.

Ash Hollow near present Lewellen, Nebraska was a place of peaceful rest along the trail. The trail briefly left the Platte River to go over some arid hills. The reward was a place of vegetation and water. Sioux Indians would camp along the valley during hunts. It quickly became a place of trade and interaction. Many emigrant diaries tell of how moccasins were highly valuable items to trade for. The Inidans clearly knew how to make better footware for walking across the Great Plains.

Ash Hollow is most famous for the Battle of Blue Water in 1855. The battle was between the United States Army under the command of Colonel William Harney and Dakota Sioux lead by Little Thunder. The prelude to the battle was in 1854 with the Gratten Massacre (to be discussed in the Fort Laramie post). After the massacre Little Thunder's band raided a few wagon trains and took scalps from some emigrants. Harney arrived from the East and instructed the various nearby Sioux to camp near Fort Laramie or be crushed. Little Thunder's band refused and camped near Ash Hollow. In 1855 Little Thunder was defeated and Harney marched on to Fort Pierre in a show of force against the Sioux. His actions so frightened the Sioux that it was nearly a decade before the next confrontation.

The battle is depicted in three different ways. A sign in the Ash Hollow parking lot reads in part:

In 1855 a significant fight, commonly called the Battle of Ash Hollow, occurred at Blue Water Creek northwest of here. General Harney's forces sent out to chastise the Indians after the Grattan Massacre of 1854 here attacked Little Thunder's band of Brule Sioux while the Indians were attempting to parley, killed a large number and captured the rest of the band.

The museum has a series of displays which goes in depth into the order of the battle and following events but merely says after the parley each side prepared for battle.

A few miles outside Ash Hollow is a roadside marker which reads:

On September 3, 1855, the U.S. Army's 600-man Sioux Expedition, commanded by Col. William S. Harney, attacked and destroyed a Lakota village located three miles north on Blue Creek. The fight became known as the Battle of Blue Water, sometimes the Battle of Ash Hollow after the nearby landmark, or the Harney Massacre.

The army's attack avenged the Indian annihilation of Lt. John Grattan's command near Fort
Laramie in 1854. Harney concluded the more than 250 Brules and Oglalas camped on Blue
Creek were the guilty parties. He divided his force and led his infantry towards the village. While Harney engaged in a delaying parley with Chief Little Thunder, the mounted troops had circled undetected to the north.

The infantry opened fire with its new, long-range rifles and forced the Indians to flee toward the mounted soldiers, who inflicted terrible casualties. Eighty-six Indians were killed, seventy
women and children were captured, and their tipis were looted and burned. This first, yet often
overlooked, military campaign against the Lakota kept the Overland Trail open, but only
postponed until 1863-64 a war between the two nations.

The last sign is along a bend in the highway with a high speed limit. Clearly it was not meant to be read as much as the other interpretations. The importance of the parley is clearly the most controversial matter in the battle. Also, the highly read interpretations keep the style of not discussing the unpleasant negatives of the Indian Wars.

After Ash Hollow the Great Plains continue on. However, the Platte River begins to be flanked by natural wonders to the south and the sand hills to the north. The geography is changing.

Trail ruts on a hill near Ash Hollow

Representations of Indians and US Army along the Oregon Trail: Nebraska up to the Kearney Complex

The first 180 or so miles in Nebraska are uneventful. Wagon trains passed the Great Plains of Nebraska searching for an oasis in the wilderness. This stop would have full supplies and even mail for some of the emigrants. The stop was Fort Kearny, which today is in the lower-middle of Nebraska. It was a safe harbor in a sea of bad dreams.

To get to Fort Kearny the pioneers had to pass by a vast expanse of territory. After St. Marys they left the Potawatomi reservation and entered the unregulated lands of the Pawnee. Many wagon trains gave offerings for safe passage but there were reported incidents of murder and a raid or two. Tensions were high and the happy days of Kansas were behind as the realism of a 2,000 mile trek began to settle in the minds of emigrants.

Due to the Pawnee's semi-nomadic nature there were no common site for meetings and other forms of interaction. Partly because of this there are no makers or monuments relating to local Indians or anything else dealing with the Oregon Trail from Rock Creek Station to Fort Kearney. There are roadside markers at the site of Pony Express stations but the only times Indians are mentioned are when a band attacked or harassed a station.

The first stop, Rock Creek Station, is dedicated to life along the trail but does not deal with Indians or Army. However, the station began operations in the late 1850s and the Indian issue was for the most part moot in that region by then.

Flash forward many miles and one reaches the Kearney Complex of Fort Kearny and Great Platte River Road Archway Monument.

The fort was named after Stephen Kearny and opened 1848. The fort served as a center of operations for dragoons and calvary, a supply post for Oregon/California/Mormon migrants, and a trading post for Pawnee and even Sioux Indians. In 1864 there was heightened tensions leading to conflict in the area but the era of the classical Oregon Trail was over by then.

The fort today is beautiful. A gift store/information center is located in the museum while a few recreated buildings like a blacksmith shop and a wooden stockade occupy the grounds. The mueusm focuses mostly on the daily life of a solider and officer. The idealized hero on the threshold of a new frontier is replaced by the average man just trying to do a job. There is a section of the museum which focuses on the Pawnee scouts who aided the US Army against their mutual rival, the Sioux.

After Fort Kearny one visits Kearney, Nebraska's great monument to fiscal waste known as the Great Platte River Road Archway. For eight well-spent dollars one is taken on a multimedia tour of the Great Platte River "road." About 1/2 of all exhibits deal with the Oregon/California/Mormon trail while the other half deals with the Pony Express, transcontinental railroad, Lincoln Highway, and interstate system.

The Archway is a nice place for people who know little of what the trails were like. I was quite impressed by its presentation. There were some oddities however. Fort Kearny is the start of the museum and is seen as the last stop of civilization rather than an outpost. No hint is given of army patrols which sometimes aided the wagon trains. Also, Indians are given their fare mention but are separate from interactions with emigrants. Finally, all Indians are presented as the same in the sense they lost the West. However, groups like the Potawatomi never had the west and groups like the Pawnee came out much better than tribes like the Sioux.

Kearney is now behind us. Ahead is another long stretch of unmarked space until Ash Hollow.

Representations of Indians and US Army along the Oregon Trail: Waterville

I recently was advised of a Indian mural along the Oregon Trail in the town of Waterville, KS.

The mural shows shirtless Indians chasing buffalo while on horseback. The mural is partly has some buffalo near the edge of a cliff but no actual signs of hunting the buffalo are present much like the St. Marys and the Blue Rapids murals. After Topeka the representations of Indians on the Great Plains are much more pronounced. The second thing with the mural is the presence of a travois on the left side of the mural. The travois was used by plains Indians to move possessions around due to their nomadic nature. A travois would never be brought on a hunt. Its use can be surmised as giving the message that while Indians were in the local area, they're presence was not permanent.

Now we are finally done with Kansas. Many thanks to the wise one who told me about the mural.

Representations of Indians and US Army along the Oregon Trail: Wamego, Blue Rapids, and Marysville

After leaving the Saint Mary's cluster one begins the last leg through Kansas. The road one travels on can be either US Highway 24 or the Military Trail road. The military trail road was the path patrolled by US Army cavalry from Fort Leavenworth to Fort Riley. The road reached its peak during Bleeding Kansas. No markers commemorate the patrols or mention the violence committed by bushwhackers and jayhawkers.

The trail goes through the town of Wamego which was incorporated in 1868. The town is supposedly named after a Indian maiden according to an urban legend. Wamego is currently trying to cash into Kansas' tie in with the Wizard of Oz but the town does have a nice park dedicated to town history. Unfortunately, the only tie-in with the areas Indian (either Kansas or Pottawatomi) past is a caricature Indian bust that is about as accurate as the cigar store Indian.

After going north one passes through the town of Blue Rapids and "passes through" is the correct use of the term. About a block away off US 77 is a small city park with plaques and murals. The plaque is dedicated to war dead from World War I to Vietnam. The lightly populated area has gave alot for freedom.


One of the murals portrays the Oregon Trail. In the mural there is a wagon train, a farmer family, and Indians hunting buffalo. The inclusion of a white farmer family pumping a well shows white permanence and claim to Kansas. The Indians are in the background and just observing (a long running theme in Oregon Trail representations).

Continuing the journey past the Big Blue River and Alcove Springs is Marysville. Marysville was founded on the site of a ferry for pioneers and also served as a station along the Pony Express.

In Marysville there is a museum officially dedicated to the Pony Express but in reality it has the town's complete history. The way Indians are represented is unique to the Oregon Trail. During the Great Depression the WPA hired a local artist to create panorama of the tribes which lived in the area. Besides the use of the stereotypical body physic the panoramas acturaely show the living conditions and life of the tribes like the Kansas.




After Marysville on is down with all the sites in Kansas. The next four-hundred miles plus is spent in Nebraska which for the eastern half will earn the title Great American Desert of Oregon Trail remembrance.

Representations of Indians and US Army along the Oregon Trail: Outside of Saint Marys

After leaving the Saint Marys Mission the Oregon Trail began to divert away from the Kansas (Kaw) River and begin the long jot to the Platte River. The land itself was given to tribes like the Osage and Delaware. The path way was traveled not only by Frémont but later was the military road for troops going from Fort Leavenworth to Fort Reilly.

Right outside of Saint Marys is a sign advertising the excellent pay station. The sign has an Indian chief with a fancy headdress on, a prairie-style headdress. It was a disappointment to see that the historical society which made a great and accurate museum put up a horribly off sign.


Near the town of Belvue are several markers which interpret the story of Louis Vieux. A road sign markers says he was a "Potawatomi leader of French and Native American lineage" who operate a toll bridge over the Vermillion River. The sign brief talks about how he ran a successful business offering services and supplies to the emigrants. The sign also mentions a series of cholera graves from the outbreak of 1849, nothing is mentioned concerning Uniontown. On the military side it mentions the military road between forts. The Kansas State Historical Society and the Kansas Department of Transportation were responsible for the sign.


Diverting off Highway 24 will take one to the Vieux family graveyard. Near the cemetery is a sign by the Pottawatomie County Highway Department which gives a slightly different view of Vieux. While mentioning he was of Indian and French ancestry, it is worded very carefully to make him and the tribe operate on different parallels. Going up the hill one gets to his actual grave. Only here does it say he was a chief of the tribe, and only on his grave marker from 1872. However, the iconography of the various graves makes it clear he was Catholic. The synergy is perfectly captured. I theorize that the Potawatomi who said "being Indian was worse than being black" was and still is to a partial extent still correct. The sign made by the local county was most distant to the truth of Vieux's role while only his family and then the state sign could give a more realistic depiction of who exactly he was.

Near the grave of Vieux and his family are the graves of 49ers that died from the cholera outbreak. The stones are worn but still present. A sign gives a quick breakdown of what happened. Only the emigrants are mentioned and nothing concerning Uniontown is present. Indians are mentioned as conducting raids along the trail in general.


Continuing to walk from the 49er graves one crosses the Vermillion River on a bridge built on the exact spot of Vieux's old bridge. On the west side is the ruined Luis Vieux Elm tree, a national champion tree from 1979 which was later directly hit by a tornado. Near the tree are six markers which say "SOLIDER" on them. I presume these are soldiers’ graves, possibly from the cholera outbreak. However, no marker and no book so far have been able to tell me why these signs are there. A sad mystery.

The last thing to see outside of Saints Marys is the Oregon Trail Nature Park constructed by Westar Energy. I have blogged about this before so I will keep this part short. The park is truly a sight to see but it needs work. Its main depiction of Indians is some sort of hybrid between Sioux, proto-Indians with only spears, and political correctness to the extreme (why are they not killing the buffalo in the hunt?). The only mention of the army is a few words of military passing along the trail.

The node of Saint Marys is behind us. The last hour or two of Kansas is ahead of us until we hit Nebraska.

Category: Oregon Trail

Representations of Indians and US Army along the Oregon Trail: Rossville, Uniontown, and Saint Marys

After leaving Topeka one diverts off the interstate onto Highway 24. This stretch of land along the Kansas River has significant Army and Indian history. The river itself was originally named the Kaw River after the Kaw Indians (who were also known as the Kansas Indians). Before the hump of overland migration John Frémont led his men west on the expedition that earned him the name "the Pathfinder." During Bleeding Kansas United States Cavalry and Dragoons patrolled the road in a vain attempt to keep the peace. No markers along Highway 24 mentioned these facts.

The first stop was at the Citizen Potawatomi Center in Rossville. The Citizen Pottawatomi are the descendents of Potawatomi Indians who accepted citizenship in the 1860s and merged into the popular culture. They are the largest tribe in Kansas yet have no reservation due to the 1860s treaty.

The center itself is merely a few offices and a convention center. Decorations are the tribe’s constitution and general, stereotypical Indian depictions. Included are a painting of an Indian maiden of a stereotypical tribe and the "Founding Fathers" Rushmore painting. Through sheer luck I was able to meet one of the leaders of the tribe. He was a man in his 60s with white skin and a rather heavy mustache. We talked about the tribe’s history in the area. I remarked about the family portraits he had on his wall. They were from the early 1900s and the people had clothing on which would make my blue-blooded ancestors seem like poppers. Fancy dresses and suits abound. I mentioned how they all seemed "white" and he replied that half the people in the picture would "deny with all their effort they were part-Indian. Being Indian was worse than being black back then." I found it a bit ironic that the convention center had generalized Indian decorations and only the office of one of the officials would have tribe related history.

As I left the center I was told the nearby housing project was being built by and for tribal members. It looked like any small town housing project. He also told me a bit of Rossville's history. The last treaty with the Pottawatomi in Kansas was signed here. No maker existed in the town about this. Local history ignores that fact.

Near Rossville was once Uniontown. The thousand plus town was the largest population center in Kansas before the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Uniontown was setup by the government as a place where white artesian could do work for the Pottawatomi and where Pottawatomi could run stores selling supplies to emigrants along the trail. The town was devastated by a cholera outbreak in 1849. The only thing left of the once great town are graves marking the white victims while the Pottawatomi were buried in a mass grave. The gravesites are now on private property in a corn field but are in the process of being transferred over to the Citizen Pottawatomi where they plan to memorialize the town and dead.

Next up is Saint Marys. Blogged about before St Marys was the site of a Jesuit missionary and school founded by Farther DeSmet. The mission served the Pottawatomi and offered housing and supplies (for a price of course) to emigrants. The mission site is now in the hands of the Society of Saint Pius X (who is in schism against Rome and has a great distrust of Catholics- including Catholicgauze).

Right next by is the Pottawatomi Pay Station and Saint Marys Museum. While the operators are very clearly SSPX members I was able to befriend the ladies and gain a tour of the museum and unlimited access to their library. The pay station was where the government handed out money to tribe members as promised in the various treaties. White traders attempted to secure crooked deals with various Indians but were prevented by Louis Vieux, a Métis and chief of the tribe at the time. The Museum prided itself with local Pottawatomi history and my tour guided repeatedly mentioned how the Jesuits tried to help and save the Indians from complete cultural destruction. Various exhibits showed the history of the tribe and Church.

Saint Marys town emblem is a great contrast to the accuracy of the museum. The local Indians like the Pottawatomi lived in multi-family log houses and the Kansas lived in permanent huts. However, the teepee, a temporary housing structure used by nomad tribes, was used to represent the Indian heritage of the town. Shame.

I left Saint Marys for the long drive into Nebraska. Several stops were in my way; however, before I left the Sunflower State.

Category: Oregon Trail

Representations of Indians and US Army along the Oregon Trail: Kansas up to Topeka

After leaving Independence heading west I quickly entered the state of Kansas. Not many people know that Kansas was once the original Indian Territory. Tribes like the Pottawatomi, Sacs and Fox, and Delaware were forced from their eastern homes and made to live with the Osage, Pawnee, and others. Whites could enter Kansas to trade, emigrate out west, and a few were allowed to live in Kansas as government agents and missionaries (not always exclusive in nineteenth-century America). The United States Army, based at Fort Leavenworth, kept the piece in Indian Territory until 1854 with the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act which made Kansas a territory and singled the end of for the aborted Indian land.

The first city one enters in Kansas is Kansas City, Kansas. Here some of the main, historical roads are based on old Osage paths that connected the various nearby villages. No acknowledgement can be found by markers along the roads in either Kansas or Missouri.

The Oregon National Historic Trail Auto Tour Route then takes a highway along side the interstate through Lawrence and passed Lecompton, sit of the pro-slavery capital of Kansas, and into Topeka; which is the capital of Kansas and served as the anti-slavery capital of Kansas.

In Topeka there are three sites of interest. The first is Burnett Hill. The hill is named after Chief Burnett who was a leader of the Potawatomi Tribe. The hill was named by John "The Pathfinder" Fremont. The hill is now the resting place for Burnett. The cemetery is on private property but the landowner does his best to preserve its history. A little marker tells of Burnett. No mention of Fremont is made.

The next stop is the Kansas State Historical Society Museum. The Museum is full of history from pre-Cambrian times to modern day. The Indians section; with everything from paelo-Indians of the Clovis time up until circa 1850 was between the entrance and the pioneer section. The chosen symbol for this on the floor map is a teepee, the seemingly international symbol for American Indian. This ignores the fact that most of the native and transplanted Indians of Kansas lived in either wigwams or wooden lodges. Some members of the Citizen Band of Potawatomi lived in single family housing made in the style of the average white American farm house. The displays are kept separate from the continuous stream of white Kansan history. A shame really because the local Oregon Trail and many local towns were key meeting points for both whites and Indians. While there was a section dedicated to Bleeding Kansas there was no mention of Fremont, Pike, Kearny, or the other Army explores who went through Kansas.

The main affront (and I may be completely wrong about this; further research is need) is the White Buffalo Monument. I blogged about this before and I still can only locate evidence that Sioux, a group found nowhere in Kansas, worshiped white buffalo historically.

The compensation was the Pottawatomie Baptist Mission near the museum. The mission museum shows what life was like for the Indian students who went to the school detailing duties, schooling, and showing off the rooms were their days were spent. The exhibits point out most of the students were mixed blood.

So concludes the brief time from Kansas City to Topeka. Next up were the relatively unknown towns of Rossville, Saint Marys, and Marysville. These towns were to be of monumental value of study covering the three themes of accurate portrayal, "all Indians are the same," and "nothing to see here." Making key appearance would be the mixed bloods of the Pottawatomi and Father DeSmet.

Category: Oregon Trail

Representations of Indians and US Army along the Oregon Trail: Independence

And so begins my project to blog my findings concerning my trip along the Great Plains section of the Oregon Trail. I set out to examine interpretations of the US Army and Indians from the time of the trail. The geographical journey begins in the same town where the trail first started: Independence, Missouri.

Independence was founded in 1827 near the banks of the Missouri River. It served primarily as a trading town and shipping port. Many Indian groups which were forced into Kansas (at that time Kansas was dumping ground for Indian tribes from the Eastern states) went to Independence to trade. In 1831, Joseph Smith Junior led the Mormons to the town. He claimed he had received a vision in which God told him the third temple of New Jerusalem would be located just west of the Jackson County Court House. The town steadily grew in size with the influx of Mormon and frontiersmen.

Also in 1831 an event occurred which would herald the greatest intranational migration in American history. Four Flatheads Indians passed through Independence on their way to Missouri to request medicine men and their religion. The call was issued forth by both Protestants and Catholics that the Indians desired to have the Christian religion. One of the people who answered the call was Marcus Whitman. He, his wife, and some other missionaries left Independence in 1836 for Oregon Territory. The importance of their journey was that they proved a wagon could travel the "Great American Desert." Another important person to answer the call was Father Pierre-Jean De Smet. De Smet was a Belgium-born Jesuit Priest who would play a great role not only with the Oregon Trail but also American history.

The Oregon Trail started in earnest in 1843. Wagons and people would arrive at Independence landing. Supplies would be bought from the local stores. Men would gather in the court house square to discuss the formation of wagon trains. Because of its history as the start of the Oregon and other trails Independence is known as the "Queen City of the Trails."

In Court House Square there are plaques to the start of the Oregon and Santa Fe Trail. The place to go for history is the National Frontier Trails Museum. The Museum has displays showing the many aspects of western expansion via the trails.

While the museum is a very nice place and very informative it lacks some necessary interpretation. The only depiction of the military is concerning the Mexican-American War. No solid mentioning of the famous forts of Kearny or Laramie. There is a section dedicated to Indians. However; all encounters are written accounts by the emigrants. The museum does a good job showing the wide range of opinions the emigrants had. Having something from the Indian's point-of-view would have been nice however. The museum has a variety of paintings of the trails. The majority of paintings which depicting Indians had them in the background as the wagon trains (progress) marched onwards. It felt like the part of the Passion "... and John looks on." Relegated to background noise.

At Jackson County Courthouse Square there is a store, operated by Indians, which sales a variety of overpriced Indian trinkets. Most of the things were from tribes from the Southwest or Upper Midwest. The logo for the store is an Indian Chief with a huge feather headdress. The stereotype of Midwestern Indians being the model of all Indians is alive and well- a trend which will continue.

No where to be found in the rest of the city were any more interpretations of Indians or US Army from the time of the Oregon Trail. I surmise the lack of Army representation was because Missouri was already a state at the trail's time and the counties had their own militias to keep the peace. The lack of Indian representations is a little bit more shocking. Osage Indians had created the path ways which would become the roads of Independence and Kansas City hundreds of years before any whites were in Missouri. I am NOT a "revisionist" historian/geographer but give the people some credit!

One of the oldest churches in town is Saint Mary’s Catholic Church which was founded as an Indian mission. Only a small marker tells of its past. Nothing inside the church could be found discussing its past. Why does the church not take pride with its past?

It is time to leave Independence and Missouri. 700 miles and many more places separate us from the end of the Great Plains section at Fort Laramie.

Category: Oregon Trail

Geography and Games: Oregon Trail

This post is dedicated to some of my friends who have never played "Oregon Trail." I pity you for never having a fun and educational childhood. Freaking Philistines.

835 miles to go Karen, suck it up!

Oregon Trail has a cult following in my generation. It was the game to play beating out others like Wolfenstein 3D (I remember when my computer teacher gave us all copies), Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe, and even Life and Death! Many others like Gamespot and Gamespy consider the game one of the greatest ever made. I agree with them.

The purpose of the original Oregon Trail game was to journey from Independence, Missouri to Oregon City, Oregon Territory in 1848 along the Oregon Trail. One would have a family, need to buy supplies, cross rivers, trade, hunt, and all the "fun" stuff people would do crossing half of the United States. Throughout the game choices have to be which will have consequences. Over hunting in one area will reduce the amount of game; river crossing are dangerous, and pushing too hard may kill sick members of the wagon train.

I learned about many sites along the trail from this game. The game is also my inspiration for my current study of the trail. It is a worthy addition to any educational program involving United States History.

The highlight of the series was Oregon Trail 2. It was the very first computer my family ever purchased (bought the same day we purchased our $2,000+, 100 MHz Packard Bell) and it is the best Oregon Trail. The game had the right amount of multimedia and a fairly wide cast of fellow emigrant characters. One has to buy food individually (bacon, veggies, fruits) and one must choose the exact medicines they will need. The game has more choices like trying to heal wounds, encounters, and cut-offs. More places are depicted like trading posts, ferries, and natural wonders. The icing on the cake is the multiple trails on can take. One can travel on the Oregon, California, or Mormon trail departing from four different jumping-off towns from 1840 to 1860.

Afterwards three more Oregon Trail games were released but these have gone the route of more multimedia and less interactivity. So stick with the first games.

The original Oregon Trail can be downloaded here while the deluxe edition (colorful graphics) can be download here. Enjoy and have fun with the tombstones!

Along the Oregon Trail

This is related to, in part, my earlier post on depictions of Indians along the Oregon Trail in Kansas.

Jumping Off

We started our journey in Independence, Missouri. There were many starting points for the Oregon and California Trails but Independence was the primary town at first and has the best historical marketing.

The two things of interest here are Jackson Courthouse Square and the National Frontier Trails Museum. The courthouse square is the sight where people would meet and form wagon trains and also shop for supplies.

The museum is very nice. It is dedicated to the various trails of the old west. A history buff would greatly enjoy a trip there.

Saint Mary’s Kansas

Along the way in Kansas we stopped at the Pottawattamie Indian Mission/Saint Mary's Historical Museum. We were given a private tour and learned much about the area. The town was founded by Jesuit missionaries and served as an Indian mission. With help from mixed bloods the local Indians lived in log houses, farmed, and were protected from most of the troubles which affected other Indian tribes.

After the mission shut down the Jesuits opened up a school and seminary. Famous students include Catholicgauze's hero Spencer Tracy. Future Vice-President Charles Curtis; part Kaw, was baptized here as a child.

The town is in a sad state. The overwhelming Catholic majority is split between communion with Rome and the Society of Saint Pius X. The once beautiful church on the mission grounds burned down and has not been repaired. It was like seeing ghostly European ruins. Restaurants and stores on Main Street are closing down as is the National Guard building. The town has rich history and hopefully one day will be saved, hopefully.

Alcove Springs

In summer the spring were the Donner Party encountered death for the first time lacks its waterfall.

Fort Kearny and area

Fort Kearny was interesting. Much of the displays were dedicated to day-to-day solider life. The fort itself is gone and one must make due with reconstructions of the blacksmith shop and fort walls.

Near the city of Kearney is the Archway. The Archway is a fancy, modern, multimedia experience about the historic trails and the Lincoln Highway. I was surprised how good this museum was. While I did not learn anything new here I do recommend it for those wishing to gain a general knowledge of the experiences along the trails.

Ash Hollow

Something bad happened near here. Really, really bad. While signs say the army went to "chastise" Indians for a massacre, a sign five miles away, almost hidden talks about how the army gained Indians trust by faking parley and then ambushing the Indians. The wild west was ugly. Atrocities and crimes committed by both sides.

Chimney Rock


Really neat. Erosion, cannon ball practice, lightening, and World War II training air raids have cut down the height however. The rock was known as the Elk's Penis by the Indians.

Fort Laramie


The neatest fort I have ever been too. Some of the buildings are ruins while others have been kept in ship shape. The officer quarters were prairie mansions while the enlisted men had to sleep in barracks on boarded beds.

The museum and displays unfortunately solely focus on the fort itself while ignoring its importance on the trail and in the area. I saw no markers discussing the 1868 Sioux treaty. Only general information was given about helping emigrants. A grounds keeper/tour guide however was a great source of information about the soldiers, civilians, and Indians who lived at the fort.

In the distance Laramie Peak was visible. Bluffs and hills encircled the area. The Great Plains section of the Oregon Trail was over and so was my trek. I had a wonderful time but am now physical exhausted.