Homesteading Carnival: Oregon Trail Edition

Posted June 9th, 2008 by Jen in blog stuff, carnivals, the ranch

Welcome to the Homesteading Carnival Oregon Trail Edition! The articles will be arranged around details of the Oregon Trail, so let’s pack our wagons and head west.

The Oregon Trail was a route to not only Oregon, but the only feasible pathway to the entire western United States. Travel to places like Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Idaho, Utah, and California was only possible because of this passage over the mountains. The 1843 wagon train, with about 1,000 pioneers making the journey, kicked off the big westward expansion, with over half a million travelers over the next 25 years braving the journey.

Carole DeJarnatt presents Build A Chicken Feeder Series posted at Fowl Visions.

Also commonly found slung on the sides of emigrant wagons were water barrels, a butter churn, a shovel and axe, a tar bucket, a feed trough for the livestock, and a chicken coop. A fully outfitted wagon on the Oregon Trail must have been quite a sight, particularly with a coop full of clucking chickens raising a ruckus every time the wagon hit a rock. From End of the Oregon Trail.

GP presents The Innside Scoop on Hosting House Guests posted at Innstyle Montana- Come on Inn.

Bush established a successful farm near present day Olympia on land that became known as Bush Prairie. He and his family were noted for their generosity to new arrivals and for their friendship with the Nisqually Indians who lived nearby. From HistoryLink.

Jennifer Bogart presents Planting Rhubarb posted at Measure Twice, Cut Once.

A typical day started before dawn with breakfast of coffee, bacon, and dry bread. The bedding was secured and wagon repacked in time to get underway by seven o’clock. At noon, they stopped for a cold meal of coffee, beans, and bacon or buffalo prepared that morning. Then back on the road again. Around five in the afternoon, after traveling an average of fifteen miles, they circled the wagons for the evening. The men secured the animals and made repairs while women cooked a hot meal of tea and boiled rice with dried beef or codfish. Evening activities included schooling the children, singing and dancing, and telling stories around the campfire. From End of the Oregon Trail.

Belle presents Did You Know……All Soaps Have Lye (Sodium Hydroxide)? posted at Born 100 Years to Soon.

One pound of Castile soap was recommended for the journey (for one man on a three month expedition).

Dora Renee’ Wilkerson presents Soap Creations review posted at Y-2K Hippie.

Minimal cooking utensils included a cast iron skillet or spider, Dutch oven, reflector oven, coffee pot or tea kettle, and tin plates, cups, and knives, forks, spoons, matches, and crocks, canteens, buckets or water bags for liquids. A rifle, pistols, powder, lead, and shot were recommended for hunting game along the way, and for self-defense. Candles were used for lighting, as they were far less expensive and lighter than transporting oil, and several pounds of soap was included. Only two or three sets of practical, sturdy, and warm clothing of wool and linen had to last the wear and tear of the journey, and a small sewing kit for repairs was important. Basic tools such as a shovel, ax or hatchet, and tools to repair wagon equipment were essential. Bedding and tents completed the list of necessities. From BLM Oregon Trail Interpretive Center.

Jacque presents Summer Plans posted at Walking Therein.

June 3 Passed through St. Joseph on the Missouri River. Laid in our flour, cheese, crackers and medicine, for no one should travel this road without medicine, for they are almost sure to have the summer complaint. Each family should have a box of physicing pills, a quart of castor oil, a quart of the best rum and a large vial of peppermint essence. Elizabeth Dixon Smith. From End of the Oregon Trail.

Miss Jocelyn presents Making The Home: Washin’ The Laundry posted at Growing In Grace Magazine.

Resting on Sundays, in addition to giving the oxen and other animals a needed break, also gave the women of the wagon train a chance to tend to their domestic chores — particularly doing the laundry, as the dust on the Trail pervaded every article of clothing exposed to it. Occasionally, a wagon train’s arrival at a source of clean water was enough to prompt a special stopover for laundry day. From End of the Oregon Trail.

Lady Olivia presents Cherry Pie in a Cup posted at Growing In Grace Magazine.

In procuring supplies for this journey, the emigrant should provide himself with, at least, 200 pounds of flour, 150 pounds of bacon; ten pounds of coffee; twenty pounds of sugar; and ten pounds of salt. From Emigrants’ Guide to Oregon and California, 1845.

Thanks for visiting, this is the end of the trail! The next Homesteading Carnival will be hosted by The Daily Planet. You may submit your post HERE.

photo credits:
www.historyglobe.com
www.isu.edu
Diary of 1

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