In 1840 John Bidwell established the Western Emigration Society and published news that he intended to take a large wagon train from the Missouri River to California. The idea was very popular and soon the society had 500 names of people who wanted to take part in this momentous event. Bidwell later admitted that the party included no one who had ever been to California: Our ignorance of the route was complete. We knew that California lay west, and that was the extent of our knowledge. But people signed up anyway. They were enticed by the promise of bettering their condition -better crops, better weather, better opportunities, better health. These promises outweighed the 2000 plus miles of rough roads, $1000 per family plus $400 for a specially outfitted wagon. And once you paid, you were stuck in a wagon that averaged two miles an hour with no springs. With rivers to cross and rains that made mud, a good wagon might get ten miles a day. Local newspapers published stories about the dangers of travelling overland to California - Shootings, drownings, Indian and Mormon attacks, starvation, sickness, cold and lack of water. In 1843, Horace Greeley, the editor of the New York Tribune wrote: It is palpable homicide to tempt or send women and children through this distance and danger. John Bidwells trip was a testimony to that. Of the sixty nine people that actually set out only thirty two of them reached CA. *
Posted on: Sun, 27 Jul 2014 15:00:59 +0000
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