The Oregon Trail and other delights

View Trip east to Voyageurs National Park in a larger map
After three fun filled weeks with our friends Glenn and Karin, we were ready to head east on our way to see our grandson Grady (and his parents, Katie and Stephen) in Wisconsin. We followed the Oregon trail from Oregon to Idaho to Montana to Wyoming to Nebraska to Iowa.

I-80 (and U.S. 30) follow the route closely.

This is the Wyoming countryside the first evening of our journey.

We traveled the western states rapidly, but we did make stops in places such as Ft. Laramie WY. The fort started as an outpost for trade with the local Native Americans. It is at the convergence of Platt River and the Laramie River. It was also a stop on the famed Pony Express route.

But the big claim to fame was as a stop on the Oregon Trail. The wide open pasture land and abundant water provided a great place for the travelers to stay a few days and get needed rest and supplies for the hard part of their trip. Ft. Laramie also was important in the moving of the indians to the reservations.

The site has many restored buildings and easy to spot military parade grounds. We have visited many forts along on our trip, but this one reminds us what we face with base closures today. The economy of the area pretty much died as the fort was abandoned. Our government does try to ease those pressures today, but back then it was pretty much goodbye, so sad. The people survived, but it took a long time to get the area back up to the population when the fort was operational.

Of course, we went to the NCO bar and had a sarsaparilla and root beer.

After a warm afternoon walking around Ft Laramie, Tom stayed home while Sally went exploring a fcouple more Oregon Trail landmarks. The neatest was a set of wagon ruts about 6 feet deep into the rock near Guersney, WY.

Nearby was Register Cliff, where hundreds of people carved their names into the soft sandstone. At one time there were names dating back to the 1840's but most of those have eroded away. There were a few legible ones in the 1850's though.

And some much more recent - the tradition still persists, though only outside fences protecting the older inscriptions.

There were several landmarks along the Oregon Trail. Scotts Bluff in Nebraska is a ridge that follows the Platte River for many miles. On the west bound trail, before Scotts Bluff, you see Chimney Rock.

It is a little difficult to understand at this time in history what the pioneers coming west were going through. We travel the interstate highways going farther in a half an hour than they could travel in a day. We drive across bridges in places they had to ford a raging river. We have the solid footing (albeit a rough ride) of pavement while they had to go over rock and wet soft soil.

Our life is very good compared to theirs, at least as we look back. Their choices were a hard life in the east, where they knew they could not get ahead, or go somewhere else with a chance to find an easier life. They gave up menial jobs to have a chance to farm (not exactly an easy life) in the vast expanses of the west. They wished to become dependent only on themselves, grow their own food, till their own land, create their their cloth and live within the means handed to them. Many of them had high aspirations of becoming self made, only to discover the life in the west was too difficult, so they wished for life back in the east at the menial jobs they left. Be careful what you wish for, you may actually get it.

We stopped in Iowa for needed repair work on the motor home. We have spent too many dollars in repairs this year, but our little house on the prairie, big woods, on the banks plum creek, and by the shores of Silver Lake. Some of you may notice a theme, you will see more about that.
We got off the highway briefly and toured an imported Danish windmill near Council Bluffs. The community got together, raised the money to buy and transport the windmill from Denmark to Iowa. Then they reconstructed it. Quite a sight.

One night was spent at a fairgound near Winterset, IA. It is the birthplace of Marion Morrison. It is also the location setting of the Bridges of Madison County. We saw several of the covered bridges. By the way, Marion Morrison is the real name of John Wayne.

On the way east, we also stopped at Amana (yes that's where the refrigerators and air conditioners come from). But the story is even better. Back in the mid 1800's, Amana was founded by a German group who wanted to live a Christion, communal lifestyle. They shared the farms and stores in common. Some worked in the fields, some in the bakeries, some taught children. It worked well until the Depression, so in the 30's they put the farmland under control of a jointly owned group, and everyone got to own their homes and earn money.

On our fourth day in Iowa (we had only planned two days), Sally went to another Laura Ingalls Wilder home. This is Burr Oak, IA (no book about this town - it was a hard time for the Ingalls.). They lived in this room in a hotel where Ma cooked and Pa ran the bar and hotel for the owner.

The hotel is smaller than most people's houses today! For 25 cents men could sleep 3 to a small double bed. 24 cents would be about $65 today. And for 75 cents they could have a nice bath - but they didn't get fresh water. The last guy bathed in the dirty water from all the previous bathers.

Tom has had enough LIW on other trips, so he went to a sports bar to watch the NASCAR race.
Sally only has a few more sites to visit (Pepin WI - Little House in the Big Woods, New York - Farmer Boy, Independence Kansis - Little House on the Prairie, and Walnut Grove MN - Little Town on the Prairie).

Well that's about it - sorry we waited so long to post this. In closing, here are a couple of pictures or our beautiful country. We are so grateful that we have the chance to see and enjoy it this special way. Th picture above is in Wyoming.

And this one is looking across the Mississippi from Iowa to Wisconsin from Pike's Peak State Park. Coming very soon is a post on our Wisonsin stay and then on to Voyageurs!