USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -When they left their homes in the east, they had to leave most of their belongings. The covered wagon was mostly filled with food. It took over a 1, 000 pounds of food to feed a family of four on the trip out west. They took preserved foods such as hard tack, coffee, bacon, rice, beans, and flour.

Detailed explanation-2: -Shootings, drownings, being crushed by wagon wheels, and injuries from handling domestic animals were the common killers on the trail. Wagon accidents were the most prevalent. Both children and adults sometimes fell off or under wagons and were crushed under the wheels.

Detailed explanation-3: -The real enemies of the pioneers were cholera, poor sanitation and–surprisingly–accidental gunshots. The first emigrants to go to Oregon in a covered wagon were Marcus and Narcissa Whitman (and Henry and Eliza Spalding) who made the trip in 1836.

Detailed explanation-4: -Certain accessories and tools for making emergency repairs to a wagon were necessary to bring along. These included rope, brake chains, a wagon jack, extra axles and tongues, wheel parts, axes, saws, hammers, knives, and a sturdy shovel.

Detailed explanation-5: -It started in Independence, Missouri, and passed through present-day Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Idaho, and Oregon. Approximately 500, 000 people made the journey on foot, in covered wagon trains, or on horseback on the Oregon Trail and two other famous trails: the California Trail and the Mormon Trail.