What was the Oregon Trail?

0:00 Welcome to History's Not Boring by Kidopoly.com. I'm Mira! And I'm Finn! We have some gigantic shout-outs today! A big hello to Dougie 8 and Rhett 5 in Nova Scotia. And Sadie 8 and Axel 5 in Dubai. And a very happy 7th birthday to Finn in Austin, Texas. Plus a huge hello to 10-year-old David and his brother Ethan in West Orange, New Jersey.

0:30 Wishing Ethan a very happy 7th birthday today. And a special thanks to Dougie and Rhett, because they actually requested today's topic. If you haven't already, tap follow wherever you're listening so you never miss an episode. Now, Finn, imagine you're going on a family road trip, but you have to pack 400 pounds of bacon.

0:51 Yes, you heard me right. 400 pounds. Oh, no way! That's more bacon than I weigh. Are we driving to the moon? Not the moon, but it felt like it. We are travelling back to the 1840s to brave the longest, dustiest, and most dangerous road trip in American history. The Oregon Trail. So what exactly was the Oregon Trail?

1:17 Was it a paved road like we have today? Not even close. The Oregon Trail was a rugged dirt path that stretched 2,170 miles. It went from Independence, Missouri, all the way to Oregon City in the far west. Over 2,000 miles? How long did that take to travel? Four to six long months. And between the 1840s and 1860s, around 400,000 to 500,000 pioneers packed up their entire lives to make this journey.

1:54 Why would half a million people want to leave their homes and go that far? Free land! The US government was offering hundreds of acres of rich farmland out west. But getting there was incredibly tough and expensive. How expensive? Like a hundred bucks? Try six hundred to a thousand dollars back then.

2:16 In today's money, that's about fifteen thousand dollars just to buy a wagon, animals, and supplies. That's a ton of money! What kind of wagons did they use? Did they have shock absorbers? Definitely no shock absorbers. They used wooden wagons called prairie schooners. They were about four feet wide and ten feet long, covered with a white canvas tent.

2:42 Did horses pull them? Usually they used oxen, four to six oxen per wagon. Oxen were slower than horses, averaging only 15 miles a day, but they were much stronger and could eat the tough prairie grass. So they have their prairie schooner and their oxen. What happens next? They just start driving? Well, they had to pack first.

3:05 A wagon could only hold about 2,000 pounds of gear. And remember, they couldn't just stop at a supermarket on the way. Wait, so what did they eat for six whole months? A family of four had to pack roughly 600 pounds of flour, a hundred pounds of sugar, and sixty pounds of coffee. And don't forget the 400 pounds of bacon.

3:28 Exactly. They packed the bacon in giant barrels of bran so the hot sun wouldn't melt all the fat. That is wild! Did they have any fresh food at all? They hunted along the way, but they also had a genius trick. They would hang a bucket of milk under the wagon in the morning. Why under the wagon? Wouldn't it spill?

3:49 It was sealed tight. Because the trail was so bumpy, the wagon shook all day long. By supper time, that bumpy ride had churned the milk into fresh butter. That is the coolest life hack ever! But what about the dangers? Were there scary parts? Very scary. They had to cross deep, fast rivers in their heavy wagons.

4:12 Sometimes the wagons tipped over and people or animals drowned. Did they stay inside the wagon while it moved to be safe? Actually, no. The wagon was too full of food and it was so bumpy it would make you seasick. Almost everyone, even kids, walked the entire 2,000 miles. Since they were walking across the whole country, didn't they meet the people who already lived there?

4:36 Yes. The trail went right through the homelands of many native nations, like the Shoshone, Cheyenne, Lakota, and Darapaho. In movies, they always show epic battles between pioneers and Native Americans. Was it really like that? That's actually a huge myth. Attacks were very rare. In fact, native nations often helped the pioneers, trading horses, food, and clothes.

5:04 Oh, that's good. So they were friendly to each other. They often traded peacefully, but it's still a very sad part of history. The pioneers brought new diseases like cholera that native peoples had no medicine for. That's terrible. So the sickness spread to the tribes? Yes, and it wiped out thousands of native people.

5:25 Plus, the trail brought so many settlers that the native nations were eventually pushed off their ancestral lands. That's really unfair to the people who were there first. What about the pioneers? Did they catch cholera too? Yes, cholera was the deadliest danger on the trail for everyone. It was a disease from dirty water.

5:46 What about other dangers? Were there wild animals? Sometimes, but accidents were much more common. Things like falling off the wagon or getting stomped by the giant oxen. Stomped by oxen? That sounds like an absolute nightmare! It was. The trail was literally a dusty, dangerous test of survival. By the end, they were so tired they had to make some crazy choices.

6:11 What kind of crazy choices? Well, as the oxen got exhausted climbing the Rocky Mountains, the wagons were just too heavy. So the pioneers had to start throwing their stuff out onto the trail. Like what? Did they throw out the bacon? Never the bacon! But one pioneer named AJ McCall wrote that people packed, quote, every conceivable useless article, unquote.

6:38 Useless stuff. Like what? Giant pianos just sitting in the desert? Exactly! People walking the trail later found books, fancy furniture, stoves, and yes, even grand pianos. Imagine finding a piano in the middle of nowhere. Did the Oregon Trail ever end? Yes. In 1869, the first Transcontinental Railroad was finished.

7:04 Suddenly, a journey that took six months of walking could be done in just a week by train. That completely changed everything. But I bet they still didn't have as much bacon on the train. Probably not. Speaking of bacon, did you know they didn't just eat it? They used it as medicine. Ew! What do you mean by medicine?

7:25 If you had a sore throat, pioneers would wrap strips of salty bacon around your neck to try and cure it. They also used it on bug bites. Haha, that is the weirdest thing I've ever heard. Imagine wearing a bacon necklace. Right? It just shows how resourceful and maybe a little desperate the pioneers had to be to survive the longest road trip ever.

7:47 Alright, Finn, time for the quiz. Are you ready? Okay, I'm ready. Hit me with the facts. First question. Which US state did the Oregon Trail start in? Next one. What kind of animal usually pulled the prairie schooner wagons? Question three. What weird thing happened to a bucket of milk hanging under the bumpy wagon?

8:20 Here's number four. How long did the 2,000 mile journey take? Last question. What food did a family pack 400 pounds of? Great Great job! Let's see how you did. The first answer is the trail started in Independence, Missouri. For question two, they used oxen because they were strong and could eat prairie grass.

8:51 Number three, the answer is the bumpy ride churned the milk into fresh butter. Question four, the journey took four to six long months of walking. And the final answer is they packed 400 pounds of bacon. I still can't believe they walked 2,000 miles. My legs get tired just walking to the park. Me too.

9:16 I don't think I would have survived the Oregon Trail without throwing my stuff out of the wagon. If you think you'd survive the Oregon Trail, give us a five-star review. Just scroll down on your app and tap the five stars. And please follow us wherever you're listening so you never miss a new episode.

9:34 Oh, and we have sister shows too. Science and philosophy's not boring, and maths is not boring. Go give those a listen and a follow as well. If you want to shout out on the show or just want to say hi, email us at hello at kidopoly.com. Thanks for exploring with us. See you next time on History's Not Boring.

9:56 Bye, everyone.