by Rinker Buck
Platte River, 179–80, 254
and Rinker’s dreams of Oregon Trail trip, 7
and Rinker’s hypoxia, 274
in Wyoming, 234, 254, 262, 272, 274, 276, 277, 291, 292, 295, 296, 307, 325–26, 328, 329, 333, 337, 338, 339–40, 348, 350, 356
weather
along the Bear River, 129
and dangers on Oregon Trail, 157, 158–60
in Kansas, 90, 125–27, 128–30, 131
mules and, 126, 153–56, 159–60, 331
in Nebraska, 151, 152, 153–56, 157, 159–60, 164, 187, 197–201, 202, 209, 221, 228, 231, 232
in Oregon, 385, 396
oxen and, 159–60
along the Platte River, 129, 131, 187
wagons and, 127, 152
in Wyoming, 234–35, 236, 270–71, 311–12, 327, 331, 333–35, 336–37, 346
Weber & Damme Wagon Company, 72
Week in Review, 194
Werner, Donald, 44, 52–53, 54, 55, 56, 58, 120, 174, 330, 341, 342, 386, 389
Werner Wagon Works (Horton, Kansas), 44, 51–54
West, American
Civil War and, 15, 16, 43
cordiality of, 343–44
culture clashes in, 411–12
development/expansion of, 15–17, 36–43, 109–12, 343–47
homesteading in, 343–44
importance of Oregon Trail to expansion of, 15–16
mules role in, 36–43
park system in, 344–45
See also pioneers; specific state or topic
Western Christian newspaper, 371
Westport, Missouri: as jumping off town for Oregon Trail, 52
wheelbarrow story, 183–84
Whitehead Light Station (Maine), 23–24
Whitehouse Drive-In (Marsing, Idaho), 404
Whitman, Alice Clarissa, 108–9, 411
Whitman, Marcus
background of, 100
and Bonneville expedition, 100
death of, 412, 413
and First Whitman Crossing (1836), 102–9
and Gantt-Whitman Train, 73, 109–12
image of, 112, 413
importance of, 108, 112, 233
marriage of, 100
and Narcissa’s trunk, 108
in Oregon, 108, 383, 409–14
and Waiilatpu Mission, 108, 409–14
Whitman, Narcissa Prentiss
background of, 99–100
and converting Indians to Christianity, 100, 411–12
death of, 412, 413
and First Whitman Crossing (1836), 102–9
and gender-breaking imagery of women, 106–7
as horse rider, 104, 112, 165, 298, 414
image of, 413
impact on American history of, 99, 101, 112, 413–14
marriage of, 100
motivation of, 253
in Oregon, 108–9, 383, 409–14
picture of, 101
pregnancy of, 108–9
Rinker’s meditions about, 413–14
at South Pass, 107, 109, 112, 298, 328, 414
talents/skills of, 112
trunk of, 108, 113
and Waiilatpu Mission, 108–9, 409–14
writings of, 103–6
Whitman, Walt, 77, 92, 127, 394
Whitman Crossing, First (1836), 100, 102–9, 113
Whitman Massacre, 412, 413
Whitman Mission (Waiilatpu), 108–9, 409–14
wild horse herds, 349
wildflowers, 125–26, 127
Willamette River, 18
Willamette Valley (Oregon), 384, 412
Williams, Elijah, 163, 164
Williams, Helen, 163
Williams, Henry Laurens, 186
Williams, Johnny, 163–64
Williams, Lucia Loraine, 163, 164
Williams, Mike, 397, 398, 401, 403–4
Willie Handcart Company, 270, 271, 303
Willie, James, 270
Willow Creek (Wyoming), 311, 312, 313
Willow Springs Camp (Oregon), 387, 389, 390
Willow Springs (Wyoming), 274, 287
Wind River Range (Wyoming), 233
Wind Rivers, 235, 273, 308, 311, 313, 327, 330, 350
Windlass Hill (Nebraska), 78, 215, 216
Windmill Lane (Hiawatha, Kansas): Nick and Rinker’s visit to, 97–98
women
on First Whitman Crossing (1836), 102–3
gender-breaking imagery of, 106–7
and horses, 104, 107, 112, 181–82
Indians first meeting of white, 105
as pioneers, 102–3, 108–9, 181–82
pregnancy of, 104, 108–9, 111
as summiting South Pass, 107
Whitman’s impact on, 106–7, 413–14
See also specific woman
Works Progress Administration (WPA), 168, 344
World War I, 35, 56, 169, 344
World War II, 35, 43
Wyoming
government subsidies in, 347
Mormons in, 262–72, 279, 281–86, 296
original Oregon Trail ruts in, 5
as park-rich state, 346–47
Pony Express in, 293, 294–95
and Rinker’s dreams of Oregon Trail trip, 7
Rinker’s getting lost in, 288–92, 296–97
Rinker’s plans for traveling through, 228
Rinker’s travels through, 233–42, 243–58, 259–72, 273–86, 287–98, 311–23, 324–37, 338–51, 352–68
traveling and tourism in, 347
water in, 234, 254, 262, 272, 274, 276, 277, 291, 292, 295, 296, 307, 325–26, 328, 329, 333, 337, 338, 339–40, 348, 350, 356
weather in, 234–35, 236, 270–71, 311–12, 327, 331, 333–35, 336–37, 346
See also specific site
Wyoming Division of State Parks and Historic Sites, 243, 276
Wyoming Highway Patrol, 339. See also Sabourin, Ed
The Year of Decision, 1846 (DeVoto), 14
Yellowstone National Park, 6, 347
Young, Brigham, 265, 266, 267, 268, 269–70, 271, 284, 285, 340
Zinn, Howard, 240, 241
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Copyright © 2015 by Rinker Buck
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Interior design by Ruth Lee-Mui
Maps by Jeffrey L. Ward
Interior and jacket illustrations by Michael Gellatly
Jacket design by Daniel Rembert
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Buck, Rinker.
The Oregon Trail : a new American journey / Rinker Buck.
pages cm
I. Title.
F597.B89 2015
978—dc23 2015001159
ISBN 978-1-4516-5916-0
ISBN 978-1-4516-5918-4 (ebook)
PHOTO CREDITS
Front endpaper: Rinker Buck; Back endpaper: Vince Holtz
Sue Holtz: iv, vii; Paul Fusco: 10, 12, 80, 144; William Henry Jackson Collection; Scotts Bluff National Monument: 52; Peter Schuttler Wagon Co. brochure: 74, 75; Author’s Collection: 90; Whitman College Collection: 101; Rufus Porter Museum: 158; Shorpy Historic Picture Archive: 168; Nicholas Buck: 20
9, 224; Samuel Peery: 308