First Three Wagon Trains

Herein lies three absorbing accounts of the first wagon trains to California (1841), Oregon (1842) and Washington (1853). The sixty nine men, women and children of the 1841 Bidwell-Bartleson party were the first to attempt any such overland migration to the west. Bidwell describes many features such as the disputable election of Bartleson as captain; securing Fitzpatrick as guide; praiseworthy comments on traveling companion Father DeSmet; provisions and daily routines; making roads for the wagons; buffalo stampedes; "cyclones"; half the party dividing at Soda Springs to continue traveling north with Fitzpatrick and the missionaries; getting lost a few times in Utah and Nevada due to vague geographical directions; making pack-saddles from the wood of their abandoned wagons; Bartleson and others deserting; etc. The Hubert Bancroft account of the 1842 Elija White party of one hundred twelve descibes daily routines also, along with rules and regulations for the journey; the controversial slaughtering of twenty two of the emigrants' dogs as ordered by White, thereby resulting in Lansford Hastings elected as captain and the division of the party; the somewhat dubious tactics at Fort Laramie to obtain the emigrants' oxen and wagons in exchange for worn-out, haggard horses, and supplies at exhorbitant prices; securing Fitzpatrick as guide; etc. The 1853 James Longmire account to Washington has the emigrants traversing the treacherous Cascade Mountains, using ropes and rawhide from freshly butchered cattle to lower their wagons down steep canyon walls. Although only 104 pages, this little book gives armchair "overlanders" an intriguing glimpse into the many hardships, sacrifices and speculations these early day pioneers had to overcome.

This 104 page volume, illustrated with black and white engravings and paintings by Frederic Remington and others, brings together the accounts of the first three wagon trains from "the States" to the West. John Bidwell's account of the "First Emigrant Train to California: Kansas River to Marsh's Rancho, May 19 to November 5, 1841," is the longest of the three, providing a great deal of insight into the daily life, hardships and encounters of this pioneer journey to the Sacramento area.Hubert Howe Bancroft and others, write about the "Elijah White Party," which left the Independence, Missouri, area on May 14, 1842 for the Oregon country, where Elijah White was to commence his duties as the first U.S. Government agent in the region. Bancroft's account, with insertions from other diaries, gives us a glimpse not only of the journey, which is fascinating, but of the political squabbles among the leaders. Among other things, we learn about White's infamous order to kill all the dogs in the party. The group reaches the Whitman Mission, near Walla Walla, and most continue on to Fort Vancouver.The shortest account, but the one that interested me the most, is "Through Naches Pass," by James Longmire. It tells of the 1853 Longmire party, giving a brief account of their travels to Fort Walla Walla, but providing more detail on their struggles to be the first wagon train to arrive in the Puget Sound area, crossing the Cascade Mountains just north of Mount Rainier. This was the first party to arrive in the West with most of their wagons. Here we see a tired, ragged party on the western slopes of the Cascades celebrating by clubbing and eating their fill of humpback salmon, although Mrs. Longmire preferred to buy a pheasant from a nearby Indian hunter.I'd recommend these first-hand accounts of the overland journey to the West to anyone interested in the westward movement, as well as to teachers and students studying this period of history.