The Oregon Trail
Page 52
Point of Rocks stage road, 300
Poison Spider Creek (Wyoming), 259, 260, 272, 399
Pony Express
Cody and, 294–95
and expansion of American west, 16
at Farson, 339, 340
Hollenberg Ranch as station for, 2–7
Marysville stop of, 118
in Nebraska, 185–86
reenactors of, 296
stops along Oregon Trail for, 174, 197
and trails to the west, 89, 90
and western development, 346
in Wyoming, 293, 294–95, 300, 301, 339, 340
See also specific stop
“Pony Express Highway,” 90, 122, 124–25. See also St. Joseph Road
Poopy (cat) problem, Nick’s, 25–26
Porter, Rufus, 157–58, 158
Portland, Oregon, 385
Portneuf Range (Idaho), 372, 375
post office, South Pass, 326
Potter, Thomas, 279
Powder River, 397, 401
Powder River War, 244
Powell, Joab, 255, 256
Powell, John Wesley, 186
prairie schooners, 44, 66, 71
The Prairie Traveler (Marcy), 43, 115
Prawl, Doyle, 54, 82, 83, 86, 88
pregnancy: of women, 104, 108–9, 111
Presbyterians: as pioneers, 371
Pringle, Virgil K., 231
prints, hoof: reading cattle and horse, 290, 291–92
Prospect Hill (Wyoming), 276
public corrals, 137, 346, 347
Public Works Administration (PWA), 344
“putting” mules, 212
Quartermaster Corps, U.S. Army: mules with, 34
Queen Bute (mule), 49
railroads
and history of Oregon Trail, 16, 17
See also trains; specific railroad
ranching system: development of, 346
Rattlesnake Grazing Association Ranch (Wyoming), 274
Rattlesnake Hills (Wyoming), 107, 233, 272
Rattlesnake Pass (Wyoming), 281, 283
Rattlesnake River, 273
recreational vehicles (RVs), 122–25
Red Buttes (Wyoming), 107, 271, 308
reenactors
of Civil War, 243, 245
Mormons as, 272
of Oregon Trail trips, 7, 55–56, 58, 272, 303
of Pony Express, 296
Register Cliff (Wyoming), 116
Register Rocks (Idaho), 17, 369
Reif, Jonas, 9
religion
pioneers and, 110, 255, 371
Rinker’s views about, 20, 309, 413
and Whitmans, 410–11
See also specific religion
Rendezvous Point (Wyoming), 5
The Reveille (St. Louis newspaper), 18–19
Rifle Pit Hill (Wyoming), 236
rivers
braided flow, 130
drownings in, 132–33
and First Whitman Crossing, 105–6
weather and, 131
See also specific river
Riverview Cutoff (Wyoming), 311
road ranches
layover style for, 156
See also specific ranch
Robb Ranch (Nebraska), 184
Rock Creek Hollow (Wyoming), 271
Rock Creek Ridge (Wyoming), 352–56, 360–68
Rock Slide (Wyoming), 355–56, 360–62
Rocky Mountains, gateway to, 216
Rocky Ridge (Wyoming)
best route to, 299
and Cody’s Pony Express ride, 294
description of, 299–300
as gateway to South Pass, 299
Mormon handcart disaster at, 269–71, 284–85, 300, 312
mules at, 399
Peerys at, 302–4, 305, 307, 308–10
Rinker’s summitting of, 299–310, 308, 337, 407
Rinker’s travels to, 297
Stevenson’s concerns about, 297
rodeo corrals, 374–79, 386
Roosevelt, Franklin D., 344
Roosevelt, Theodore “Teddy,” 17, 167, 186
Ropp, Philip, 43–44, 48, 49, 50, 54, 57, 58, 59, 62, 91, 120, 330, 400
Ropp’s Mule Farm (Jamesport, Missouri), 43–44, 48–50, 54, 57–62, 93
Rorabaugh, W.J., 265
Roughing It (Twain), 42
Rousseau, Cindy, 373–79
Rousseau, George, 373
Royal Gift (mule), 33, 148, 207
“rugged individualism,” 204, 314, 347
runaways
and Beck at Midway Station, 189
at Fort Fetterman, 246–51
“hitch,” 84–86, 85, 87
Rush Creek Ranch (Nebraska), 220
Russell, Majors and Waddell Company, 92
Rut-Swale Indentification Certification Course, 170
Sabourin, Ed, 339, 343, 347–48
saddle
for Jake, 59–62
Rinker’s old riding, 21–22, 162
Sage Creek Camp (Wyoming), 300–301, 303
Sand Hills (Nebraska), 55, 220
sandstorm
in Nebraska, 197–201, 202
in Wyoming, 236
Santa Fe Trail, 66, 91
Scenery of the Plains, Mountains and Mines (Langworthy), 116–17
Schrock, Ivan, 57
Schuttler, Peter, 72–77. See also Schuttler wagon
Schuttler wagon
advertising for, 75–76, 75
development and manufacture of, 65, 72–77, 74, 75
drawing of, 69
Mormons and, 76, 268
popularity of, 69, 76
reenactors and, 55
Schuttler wagon, Rinker’s
brakes on, 53, 85, 86, 174–75, 211, 212, 237, 307, 361, 362–64, 365
at Burnt Ranch, 315–23
children and, 136
comfort/discomfort of, 127, 337
crash at South Pass of, 329–33
and daily life on the trail, 118, 127
driver for, 87–88
driving styles for, 121
effects of traveling on, 94
felloes on, 216–18, 227–28
and launching of Oregon Trail Trip, 64, 82, 84–86
and overturning of Trail Pup cart, 222–28
and plans for Rinker’s Oregon Trail trip, 26
purchase of, 44, 330
repairs on, 53–54, 57–59, 62, 64, 120, 174–75, 222–28, 259–62, 339, 341, 342, 343, 386
Rinker’s feelings about, 390
and Rinker’s walking, 176
at Rock Creek Ridge, 360–66
at Rock Slide, 361–62
at Rocky Ridge, 305–10, 308
at Ropp’s farm, 54
roughlocking of, 363, 364
Schuttler wagon, Rinker’s (cont.)
sale of, 399–404
SEE AMERICA SLOWLY sign on, 10, 63–64, 223, 282, 391
tongue-relievers for, 57–58
“Trail Pup” cart as complementary to, 388
weather and, 152
Werner’s modifications to, 51–54, 120, 174
wheels on, 54, 217–18, 329–33, 341, 342, 362–64, 380
Scott, Abigail Jane, 125–26, 179–80, 181–82, 229, 355
Scotts Bluff National Monument (Nebraska), 168
Scotts Bluff (Nebraska), 29, 182, 216, 231, 233, 238
Scottsbluff, Nebraska
and preservation of Oregon Trail, 5
Rinker’s trip to, 193
Searls, Niles, 157, 159–60, 235
Sears, Roebuck Company, 71, 72, 160
SEE AMERICA SLOWLY sign, 10, 63–64, 223, 282, 391
“see the elephant,” 19, 20, 29
Seeing Eye Foundation, 160
Seminoe Cutoff (Wyoming), 300, 311–13, 314, 322, 335
Seneca, Kansas, 124
September 11, 2001, 35
Shickley, Nebraska: Rinker’s stop at, 153–62, 407
Shoshone Indians, 16, 100,
105, 233, 353
Signal Bluff (Nebraska), 5, 216–18, 399
Signature Rock (Wyoming), 278
Sinclair convenience stores, 55, 122, 123–24, 374
Sinnard, Bill, 243, 246, 249, 250, 251
Sioux Indians, 4, 131, 163, 212, 213–15, 216, 244, 313
Sisley Creek (Oregon), 395
Slate Creek Cutoff (Wyoming), 352
Slaughterhouse Gulch (Wyoming), 300
sleep
for Nick, 83, 98, 139, 336, 338, 340, 356, 398
for Olive Oyl, 28, 98, 202, 336, 377, 398
and plans for Rinker’s Oregon Trail trip, 28
on Rinker’s Oregon Trail Trip, 83, 94, 98, 139, 152, 162, 176, 184, 202, 210, 242, 292, 336, 338, 340, 350, 368, 378, 397
Slotkin, Richard, 16
Smith, Hyrum, 267
Smith, Joseph, 263, 264–65, 266–67
Snake Indians, 353
Snake River
campgrounds along the, 346
dead animals along, 371
and geology of Idaho, 370, 370
Hanna’s description of, 371
pioneers on, 384
Rinker’s travels along, 372, 375, 379–81, 385, 389, 391
and Rinker’s visit with Holtzs, 404, 414, 415
weather along the, 129
Whitmans travel along the, 100, 106, 107–9, 112, 113
Snake River Garage (Huntington, Oregon), 391
Snake River Gorge (Idaho), 369
Snodderly, Jacob, 254–55
Snodderly, Quintina, 254–58
Snow, John, 179
Soda Springs, Idaho, 4, 369
South Hills (Nebraska), 29, 174, 176, 182, 184, 187, 190, 196, 197, 218, 228
South Pass Station. See Burnt Ranch
South Pass (Wyoming)
barbed-wire enclosure at, 328
and Cody’s Pony Express ride, 294
description of, 325, 326
efforts needed for crossing, 324–25
and First Whitman Crossing, 107, 109, 112
gold discoveries in, 293
map of, 302
Mormons and, 271–72
post office at, 326
retrieval of Trail Pup cart from, 339, 340, 341
and Rinker’s retrieval of “packing cubes,” 331–33
Rinker’s summitting of, 327–28
Rinker’s travel to, 251, 296, 297, 299–310, 311–23
Rocky Ridge as gateway to, 299
as separating deserts, 325–26
and terrain in Wyoming, 234
wagon crash at, 329–33
Whitman (Narcissa) at, 107, 109, 112, 298, 328, 414
women summiting, 107
See also Burnt Ranch; continental divide; Rocky Ridge; Twin Mounds
Spalding, Eliza, 100, 105, 106, 107, 328
Spalding, Henry, 100
Split Rock Ranch (Wyoming), 290, 292–98
Split Rock (Wyoming), 273, 287–92, 288, 294, 296. See also Split Rock Ranch
Spring Creek (Wyoming), 367
St. Joseph, Missouri
as beginning of Oregon Trail, 16
founding of, 51
and inspiration for Rinker’s trip, 6, 7
as jumping off town for Oregon Trail, 51, 75
tent cities near, 115
St. Joseph Road, 19, 54, 56, 82, 83, 89, 115, 118, 122–25, 133
St. Mary’s Pony Express stop (Wyoming), 300, 301
Stacy, Steve, 391, 392
Stansbury, Howard, 214–15
Steele City, Nebraska, 151, 152
Stegner, Wallace, 262–63, 378
Stevenson, Cooper, 295, 296, 297–98
Stevenson, Jennifer, 295–97, 298
Stevenson, Mattie, 295, 296, 297–98
Stevenson, Travis, 296, 297
Strawberry Creek (Wyoming), 300
Studebaker wagons, 71, 72, 75, 193, 383
Stull, Charles, 252–53
Sublette Cutoff (Wyoming), 55, 313, 326, 334, 338, 352, 354, 355, 356, 367. See also Rock Slide
Sun Ranch (Wyoming), 282, 284, 286, 287, 288, 289, 290
Sun, Tom, 281
Sunnyside Sinclair and Deli (Idaho), 374
Sutherland Reservoir (Nebraska), 196–97
Sutton Creek (Oregon), 396
Swan, Ripley “Rip,” 83–84
Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office, 339
Sweetwater River
and inspiration for Rinker’s trip, 7
“last crossing” of, 313, 315–23
Mormon travel along, 300–301
Rinker’s travels along, 233, 270, 271, 272, 275–86, 275, 287–98, 299, 300, 304, 310, 311–12, 315–23, 337, 340
weather along the, 129
Whitmans travel along the, 106, 107
Tea Party, 347
Telegraph newspaper (Painesville, Ohio), 111
tent cities, 39, 115
Texas (Buck family pony), 11, 79, 142, 143
Thesiger, Wilfred, 20
Thoreau, Henry David, 18
Three Island Crossing (Idaho), 369
Tiffany, Dexter, 36
tongue-relievers, 57–58, 58
trading camps, 353–54
Trail Boss Burger (Baker City, Oregon), 409
trail families, 171, 397, 398, 402, 409. See also specific family
“Trail Pup” cart
abandonment of, 331, 335, 337
axle for, 44, 388–89, 391
at California Hill, 204, 208
cantilever extension for, 175
costs for, 386, 387, 388, 400
as emergency backup plan, 59–60
equipment and supplies in, 113–14, 223, 331, 335–36, 337, 389, 399
getting rid of possessions in, 113–14
importance to Rinker’s Oregon Trail trip of, 58
oak tongue of, 223–24, 226–27
at O’Fallon’s Bluff, 199, 200
in Oregon, 386, 388–91, 392
overturning of, 222–28, 224, 342, 407
and plans and preparations for Oregon Trail trip, 44, 47, 50, 51–54, 58–59
purchase of, 44
repair of, 58–59, 340, 341–42, 387, 388–89, 391, 392, 400
retrieval of, 339, 340, 341, 390–91
Rinker’s design of, 44, 59, 388
at Rocky Ridge, 305, 306, 308
at Ropp’s farm, 54
shipping to Idaho of, 341
sign for, 63–64
at South Pass, 328, 329–33, 335, 339
as symbol of Rinker’s vanity, 332
water supply in, 197
and Werner-Rinker relationship, 341–42
Werner’s work on, 51–54
wheels for, 54, 59, 386, 388, 389
trains
mules and, 392–95
See also specific railroad
Transportation Department, Oregon, 386
Travelers in the Swiss Alps (Cole), 286
Tribune Company, 13
Troy, Kansas: and launching of Rinker’s Oregon Trail trip, 88
truck, Nick’s pickup
accident in, 261
at American Falls, 380
in Casper, 259, 260, 261, 262
and launching of Oregon Trail trip, 82
leapfrog plan for, 193
in Nebraska, 193
and Nick’s return to the East, 406, 408
in Oregon, 387–88, 389, 390, 396, 397, 398, 406
servicing/detailing of, 260, 262
truck, Rinker’s, 404, 415–16
Tub Mountain (Oregon), 388
Tufts University: Buck’s (Tom) antiwar speech at, 240–42
Turnbull Wagon Company, 71
Turner and Allen Pioneer Line, 157, 158–60, 178
Turquie, Charles, 299, 300, 301
Twain, Mark, 41–42, 229, 313, 340
Twin Mounds (Wyoming), 323, 324, 327
Umatilla Indians, 412
Umatilla National Forest (Oregon), 410, 412
uncertainty
Rinker’
s views about, 1, 201, 202, 294, 416
Whitmans ability to live with, 112
Union Pacific Railroad, 16, 17, 98, 139, 172, 186, 191, 218, 367, 368, 392–95
Unruh, John D. Jr., 14, 132–33, 214, 252
Vale, Oregon, 386, 387
Vietnam War, 413
Wagon Train (NBC-TV), 8–9, 145
wagons
American Heritage article about, 19–20
“bolster” for, 68–70
box, 74
brakes for, 70–71, 85, 86, 87
breakdowns of, 67–68
Buck family trips in, 8–9, 10, 11–12, 12, 13, 63, 79–81, 80, 141–43, 144, 145–46, 191, 194, 202, 332, 372
and Buck’s (Tom) collections, 62–63
Buck’s (Tom) love of, 95
canals and, 70–71
as castoffs along Oregon Trail, 40, 235, 394
as community vehicles, 78–79, 203–4
Conestoga, 66–68, 70, 74
as cultural symbol, 65
Dearborn, 107–8
and difficulties descending Dempsey Ridge, 355
drivers of, 87
in eastern Oregon, 383
Erector Set quality of, 77
and families as pioneers, 100–101, 102
first known crossing of Oregon Trail by, 100
and Gantt-Whitman Train, 109
graveyard for, 394
history of, 65–79
impact on economy of, 71, 73–74
importance of, 100–101, 102
manufacturing of, 71–77, 74, 75
military and, 71
misconceptions about, 66
modern making of, 51–54, 56
“mover,” 68–70, 71, 110
names and geographic origins on, 77–78
Nick’s love of, 95
and number of wagons crossing the Oregon Trail, 385
and pioneer families, 102
prairie, 44, 66, 71
price of, 72
and quantity of possessions, 115
rebuilt as carts, 108
and Rinker’s dreams of Oregon Trail trip, 7
rituals of traveling by, 209–10
salvage of, 384–85
tongue-relievers for, 57–58, 58
weather and, 127, 152
for Whitman Crossing (1836), 102–3, 107–8
and women as pioneers, 102–3
See also Schuttler wagon, Rinker’s; “Trail Pup” cart; type of wagon
Waiilatpu Mission (Oregon), 108–9, 409–14
Wal-Mart slippers, Rinker’s, 245–49, 250
walking, and Whitmans crossing, 107
walking, Rinker’s trail
at Bear River bottomlands, 367
at Burnt Ranch, 314–16
in Idaho, 372
in Nebraska, 162, 164–65, 176
and number of miles walked, 378
in Oregon, 386–87
at Rock Creek Ridge, 364–65
at Rocky Ridge, 304–5
at Twin Mounds, 327–28
in Wyoming, 238, 290
Walla Walla River, 108, 413
Washington, George, 31–32, 33–34
water
in Idaho, 372
for mules, 185, 188–89, 272, 307, 329, 335, 338, 339, 350, 368, 381