{"id":914,"date":"2010-11-05T10:38:45","date_gmt":"2010-11-05T17:38:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.russbishop.com\/blog\/?p=914"},"modified":"2015-11-10T09:52:37","modified_gmt":"2015-11-10T17:52:37","slug":"the-oregon-trail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/russbishop.com\/blog\/the-oregon-trail\/","title":{"rendered":"The Oregon Trail"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Conestoga<\/a><\/p>\n

Travelling down the interstate across the heartland of America it’s hard to imagine what it was like 170 years ago when the pioneers first set out west for a better life. What can now be covered in a\u00a0few days\u00a0took months of hardship and danger dealing with the likes of broken wheels, disease, and native Americans who were often less than welcoming to this new unknown tribe. The Lexus of the day (actually more of an RV) was a Conestoga wagon, which was outfitted with everything\u00a0needed to live and\u00a0establish a new life\u00a0at the end of the journey.<\/p>\n

The Oregon Trail, which\u00a0began in Independence, Missouri,\u00a0had been improved so much by the 1840s\u00a0that it quickly became\u00a0one of the main overland commerce and migration routes on the North American continent, competing with the already prosperous Santa Fe Trail to the south. It spanned over half the continent covering\u00a0nearly 2,000\u00a0miles\u00a0west through territories and land that later became six states, and ended in the fertile Willamette Valley in Oregon.<\/p>\n

This image of wagons under Eagle Rock in Scott’s Bluff National Monument, Nebraska\u00a0was typical of the day.\u00a0Scott’s Bluff\u00a0was\u00a0an\u00a0important landmark along the route both as a navigational aid for the wagon trains and as a psychological milestone for the pioneers.\u00a0After travelling across the seemingly endless prairie, it was the first visual indication that the Great Plains were starting to\u00a0give way to the foothills of the Rocky Mountains and a better life beyond.<\/p>\n

\u00a9Russ Bishop\/All Rights Reserved<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Travelling down the interstate across the heartland of America it’s hard to imagine what it was like 170 years ago when the pioneers first set out west for a better life. What can now be covered in a\u00a0few days\u00a0took months of hardship and danger dealing with the likes of broken wheels, disease, and native Americans … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “The Oregon Trail”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wpmdr_menu":1,"wpmdr_menu_extended":{"individualPostRemove":1,"individualPostRemoveDate":1,"individualPostRemoveAuthor":1,"individualPostYoastRemovePublished":1,"individualPostYoastRemoveModified":1},"footnotes":""},"categories":[61,20],"tags":[213,228,618,211,214,425,215,569,619],"class_list":["post-914","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-history","category-travel","tag-conestoga-wagon","tag-eagle-rock","tag-national-monument","tag-nebraska","tag-oregon-trail","tag-photography","tag-pioneers","tag-russ-bishop","tag-scotts-bluff"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t