Oregon Trail - Other Trails West

Other Trails West

There were other possible migration paths for early settlers, miners, or travelers to California or Oregon besides the Oregon trail prior to the establishment of the transcontinental railroads.

From 1821–1846, the Hudson's Bay Company twice annually used the York Factory Express overland trade route from Fort Vancouver to Hudson Bay then on to London. James Sinclair led a large party of nearly 200 settlers from the Red River Colony in 1841. These northern routes were largely abandoned after Britain ceded its claim to the southern Columbia River basin by way of the Oregon Treaty of 1846.

The longest trip was the approximately 13,600 miles (21,900 km) to 15,000 miles (24,000 km) trip on an uncomfortable sailing ship rounding the treacherous, cold, and dangerous Cape Horn between Antarctica and South America and then sailing on to California or Oregon. This trip typically took four to seven months (120 to 210 days) and cost about $350–$500 dollars. The cost could be reduced to zero if you signed on as a crewman and worked as a common seaman. The hundreds of abandoned ships, whose crews had deserted in San Francisco Bay in 1849–50, showed many thousands chose to do this.

Other routes involved taking a ship to Colón, Panama (then called Aspinwall) and a strenuous, disease ridden, five to seven day trip by canoe and mule over the Isthmus of Panama before catching a ship from Panama City, Panama to Oregon or California. This trip could be done from the east coast theoretically in less than two months if all ship connections were made without waits and typically cost about $450/person. Catching a fatal disease was a distinct possibility as Ulysses S. Grant in 1852 learned when his unit of about 600 soldiers and some of their dependents traversed the Isthmus and lost about 120 men, women, and children. This passage was considerably speeded up and made safer in 1855 when the Panama Railroad was completed at terrible cost in money and life across the Isthmus and the treacherous, disease ridden 50 miles (80 km) trip could be done in less than a day. The time and the cost for transit dropped as regular paddle wheel steamships and sailing ships went from ports on the east coast and New Orleans, Louisiana to Colón, Panama ($80–$100), across the Isthmus of Panama by railroad ($25) and by paddle wheel steamships and sailing ships to ports in California and Oregon ($100–$150).

Another route established by Cornelius Vanderbilt in 1849 was across Nicaragua. The 120 miles (190 km) long San Juan River to the Atlantic Ocean helps drain the 100 miles (160 km) long Lake Nicaragua. From the western shore of Lake Nicaragua it is only about 12 miles (19 km) to the Pacific Ocean. Vanderbilt decided to use paddle wheel steam ships from the U.S. to the San Juan river, small paddle wheel steam launches on the San Juan river, boats across Lake Nicaragua, and a stage coach to the Pacific where connections could be made with another ship headed to California, Oregon, etc.. Vanderbilt, by undercutting fares to the Isthmus of Panama and stealing many of the Panama Railroad workers, managed to attract roughly 30% of the California bound steam boat traffic. All his connections in Nicaragua were never completely worked out before the Panama Railroad's completion in 1855. Civil strife in Nicaragua and a payment to Cornelius Vanderbilt of a 'non-compete' payment (bribe) of $56,000 per year killed the whole project in 1855.

Another possible route consisted of taking a ship to Mexico traversing the country and then catching another ship out of Acapulco, Mexico to California etc. This route was used by some adventurous travelers but was not too popular because of the difficulties of making connections and the often hostile population along the way.

The Gila Trail going along the Gila River in Arizona, across the Colorado River and then across the Sonora Desert in California was scouted by Stephen Kearny's troops and later by Captain Philip St. George Cooke's Mormon Battalion in 1846 who were the first to take a wagon the whole way. This route was used by many gold hungry miners in 1849 and later but suffered from the disadvantage that you had to find a way across the very wide and very dry Sonora Desert. It was used by many in 1849 and later as a winter crossing to California, despite its many disadvantages.

Running from 1857 to 1861 the Butterfield Stage Line won the $600,000/yr. U.S. mail contract to deliver mail to San Francisco, California. As dictated by southern Congressional members the 2,800 miles (4,500 km) route ran from St. Louis, Missouri through Arkansas, Oklahoma Indian Territory, Texas, New Mexico Territory, and across the Sonora Desert before ending in San Francisco, California. Employing over 800 at its peak, it used 250 Concord Stagecoaches seating 12 very crowded passengers in three rows. It used 1800 head of stock, horses and mules and 139 relay stations to ensure the stages ran day and night. A one way fare of $200.00 delivered a very thrashed and tired passenger into San Francisco in 25 to 28 days. As quoted by New York Herald reporter, Waterman Ormsby after traveling the route: "I now know what Hell is like. I've just had 24 days of it."

Other ways to get to Oregon were: using the York Factory Express route across Canada, and down the Columbia River; ships from Hawaii, San Francisco, or other ports that stopped in Oregon; emigrants trailing up from California, etc.. All provided a trickle of emigrants, but they were soon overwhelmed in numbers by the emigrants coming over the Oregon Trail.

The ultimate competitor arrived in 1868—the First Transcontinental Railroad which cut travel time to about seven days at a low fare (economy) of about $60.00 (economy)