USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Horses were used by some emigrants, but mules and oxen were better suited, since they had greater endurance and were less likely to be stolen.

Detailed explanation-2: -Famous explorers like Robert Stuart, Jedediah Smith, and Marcus Whitman found the South Pass through the mountains and blazed the trail that made wagon travel across the continent possible.

Detailed explanation-3: -Oxen were most often used for pulling this type of wagon. It required two yoke (pairs) of oxen. A spare yoke often trailed behind so that the livestock could be rotated and rested. For those who preferred mules, an equivalent number of harnessed mules could have been used in place of oxen.

Detailed explanation-4: -On the Oregon Trail, Oxen were both more pliable and durable than horses or mules. Gregory Crouch’s review of Rinker Buck’s “The Oregon Trail” (Books, Aug. 1) properly emphasizes the superior value of mules versus horses as motive power for hauling covered wagons overland.