The Blackfoot optimist. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1907-1918, 1911-11-16

Toned prairie schooner. On his first
expedition, he traversed every mile Of
the trail to Independence. then con
tinued on to New York city, and final
ly to Washington, reaching the ma
tional capital November 20, 1907. II
was his intention to ask congress al
that time to appropriate funds to
make of the Oregon trail a national
highway; but from this he was dis,
suaded by President Roosevelt, who
advised him to content himself with
the comparatively modest request for
an appropriation sufficient to place
monuments and markers along the
route.
Meeker spent the winter Of 19O9-1O
campaigning through California, in
the endeavor to arouse the interest
and secure the cooperation OF the
people of that state. He has addressed
more than 100000 school children.
hundreds of public meetings in town
halls, churches, schoolhouses and pub
lie squares, and thousands OF street
corner crowds. Furthermore. he has
secured the erection of % monuments
to mark the trail, has inscribed "a
boulders and erected many wooden
posts. He has ascertained that 700
monuments will be necessary to
adequately mark the entire route,
and that the approximate cost will be
about $4,000. Through his efforts
bills We're introduced in both the Six
teth and Sixty-first congresses, pro-
vld1ng for the appropriation OF $4,000
for the marking of the trail; but these
bills never came up for action.
The Oregon and the Santa Ne
Trails both started at Independence,
Mo. For Al miles they were identical!
but where the town OF Gardner now
stands the Santa Fe Trail bore off to
the southwest. and the newer route
turned to the northwest. At the point
OF separation sign board indicated
the northern route, with the simple le-
gend, Road to Oregon" 1t followed
the direction of the Kansas and Aittle
Blue rivers to the Platte, reaching
that stream near Grand Island. 1t fol-
lowed the Platte and Sweetwater for
a distance of $50 miles, to South Pass
that hardly perceptible crossing OF
the Rockies, $50 miles from the Mis-.
souri, river. Green river was crossed.
and then came Fort Bridger, Lotto
miles from independence. Sixty miles
farther on was the ford of Bear river.
which was followed for 40 miles, to
Soda Springs, LILO miles from the
starting point. Here the later Califor-
MIA Trail turned off to the southwest
The road to Oregon continued on to
Fort Hall, 1888 miles from Independ-
ence, at the first crossing OF the Snake
river. Forty-five miles farther west.
at the Raft river. the old California
Trail diverged to the south-the trail
followed by the Forty Miners" but
later abandoned in favor of the bet
ter road that left the main trail at
Soda Springs. Then down the Snake
valley, across the Blue mountains,
through the valley of the Umatilla,
treked the pioneers. The distance
from the Missouri river to Fort Vana
couver was 1920 miles. and to tho
mouth of the Columbia 2,134 miles.
In 1849 occurred the great migra-
tion-the historic march OF the "Forl
ty-Niners" to the gold fields OF Cali
fornia. Crowds began gathering
along the Missouri early in April, and
by the last of that month 1t was esti-
mated that 10000 people were en-.
camped waiting for the grass to grow
sufficiently to insure pasturage for
live stock. The procession started
about the first of May, and by the
first OF June there was struggling
caravan thousand miles long NOV.
ing westward. Then the cholera cpl
demic that had broken out on the At
lantic seaboard reached Independence
and spread throughout the moving
host. Not less than 5000 emigrants
fell victims to the plague that year
and were buried on the plains. be-
Laramie; but $4,000 reached Califor-
MIA over the Oregon and California
Trail in spite OF plague. famine and
all the hardships and perils incident
to the passing of so great a host
through a wild, unproductive and hos
tile country. Another outbreak OF
the plague In 1852 carried of an equal
number OF emigrants that year.
The Oregon and California Trails
constituted the principal highways be-
tween the east and west until the
driving Of the spike OF gold at Pro
mcntory Point, Utah, in 1869, marked
the completion OF the first Pacific
railroad.