#18 Road trip. Oregon Trail
I can’t help but wonder what Nancy Walker Lloyd said when her husband announced that they were going to Oregon! The work that it took to prepare for the trip is beyond my imagination. And the work on the trip for each person had to be hard as well as difficult.
My 4th great grandfather, John Lloyd wrote letters to his brother before leaving for Oregon and after arriving in Oregon. The original letters are a source of information. (They have been digitized and are held at the Fort Walla Walla Museum in Walla Walla, Washington)
He write in 1844 to his brother, Robert in Grainger County, Tennessee from Elm Grove, Missouri on 10th of June 1844. The letter tells of his 9 children, with the youngest 3 years old. He tells of the oldest Jane, being married the year before. He continues to write information of his farm and the size of his barn. He says he has “as handsome a place as in Clay County”.
Yet 1845, John and his wife set off for Oregon,with 8 children; daughters, Mary Ann (20), Nancy(16), Elizabeth (14), and Melinda (11) and sons; Abner (18), Albert (9), John (7) and William (4).
Researching the trip, I discovered several articles. The article, which I think is the best, has excerpts from Captain Sol. Tetherow’s journal, wagon master in 1845. The following information is from this article. A meeting of those interested in emigrating to Oregon was held at Elizabethtown on 5 April 1845. At this time a constitution was adopted and the wagon train was to be known as the Savannah Oregon Emigrating Society. The constitution established rules and standards for the wagon train. They were to meet at Wolf River between the 15th and 25th of April. Each outfit would be required to of 150 lbs of flour or 100 lbs of flour & 75 lbs of meal and 50 lbs of bacon for every person in the Company excepting infants. The wagon had to be capable of bearing 1/4 (one fourth) more than their load and the Team able to draw 1/4 (one fourth) more than their load. The number of loose cattle would never exceed 33 to one driver.
At the meeting of the Oregon Encampment, Missouri bottom, April 28, 1845, John Lloyd was elected to the executive council.
The census of the wagon trail lists John Lloyd with 3 armed men, 11 persons, 2 wagons, 500 lbs of meal, 1700 lbs of flour, 600 lbs of bacon, 11 lbs of powder and 19 lbs of lead. There were 4 females over 4, 1 female under 14, 3 males under 16. His son Abner was the cattle driver for the Lloyd wagons. John also had 24 loose cattle, 18 oxen, 6 mules & horses, 5 guns and pistols. On May 6th at a meeting, it was determined that the wagons should be numbered in 4 Platoons, so as to form a hollow square at night. The wagons were charged for their share of hiring a guide to get them to Independence Trace; John Lloyd paid $0.50 for 2 wagons. The committee decided that the wagons would start at 8 o’clock in the morning and travel from ten to fifteen miles every day. And committee decided to go ahead on May 7th.
The Oregon Emigration Wagon Trail of 1845 had a total of 66 wagons, 293 persons with 100 armed men. The wagons were carrying 10450 lbs of meal, 37289 lbs of flour, 13980 lbs of bacon, 354 lbs of powder and 752 lbs of lead. There were 63 females over 14, 56 females under 14, and 68 males under 16. There 624 head of loose cattle, 398 oxen, 74 mules and horses and 170 guns and pistols. I am amazed at the expense of outfitting a wagon for the trail.
Since John Lloyd had a farm near Smithville, Missouri, which is near Independence, Missouri. I suspect that he joined the wagon train near Independence Missouri. I am not sure of where Elizabethtown or Wolf River camp was located at or where he might have crossed the Missouri. My bucket list is to discover the locations of where they departed for Oregon.
The next letter in the collection is John’s letter to his brother Robert Lloyd on 25 March 1847 from the Oregon Territory. The envelope is stamped with a postmark from St. Joseph, Missouri in July of 1847. He writes to his brother about their travels and country climate and production. He stated that they were on the trail 6 months and 3 days from the time they left our old home until we got to Linton on the Wallumette [Williamette in Oregon] . He said they had no bad luck more than is common for Oregon Immigrants. He stated that they lost 18 head of cattle out of 37 head and one horse. He continues on stating they found the road passable, a good natural one but many bad places. He stated that neither of his wagons got turned over on the trip. It is hard to read portions of the letter but I believe he writes that the the trip is almost without timber most of the way. Writing about grass and water he indicates that grass was tolerable. I wish I could read his thoughts about water. In their emigration he writes (and I presume for the year 1845) that there were 700 wagons and 10-12,000 head of cattle and a good many horses and mules but little rain and dust in abundance. He writes that they did not all travel all in the same company but a good many small companies. They were not molested by Indians but they stole a good many horses. While they crossed all the water without difficulty except the Green River which they had to raft across and the Deshouts [Deschutes] River where they had to take their wagons apart. We know from research that he chose to take the “Terrible Meeks Trail”.
And what about the food? He writes the provisions held out with the exception of flour which got somewhat scare. They had bacon, coffee, sugar, tea, rice and dried fruit and we got to our journey’s end. He wrote that the trip from the states to Oregon is a journey that can be performed with very little ease.
He asked his brother to write to him and direct the letters to Missouri Clay County Elm Grove and the letters must be in there by March as there is no mail from the states to Oregon and the emigration starts about the last of April.
1 Lloyd, John. Elm Grover, Missouri to Robert Lloyd, letter, 10 June 1844. Letter. Digitized copy privately held by Sydney Gabel. Original letters donated by Sydney Gabel to Fort Walla Walla Museum in Walla Walla, Washington.
2 Lockley, Fred. Captain Sol. Tetherow, Wagon Master. Published by Fred Lockley, 1243 East Stark St. Portland, Oregon. https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/defaults/12579t43z
Gerald W. Williams Collection
3 Ibid, page 17
4 Ibid, page 18
5 Ibid, page 20
6 Ibid, page 21
7 Ibid, page 24
8 Ibid, page 25.
9 Ibid, page 20
10 Ibid, page 21
11 Lloyd, John, Oregon Territory to Robert Lloyd. 25 March 1847. Letter. Digitized copy privately held by Sydney Gabel. Original letter donated by Sydney Gabel to Fort Walla Walla Museum in Walla Walla, Washington.
12 Clark, Kenneth and Lowell Tiller. Terrible Trail: the Meek Cutoff, 1845. The Caxton Printers, LTD. Caldwell, Idaho 1966, LOC No. 66-23403
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