I thought I would share a little of those that went before us,

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1750-1843
I thought I would share a little of those that went before us, I think you'll find this very interesting as well as informative.

The Busy West

It is surprising to hear of the all the people that went west during the fur trade. In fact, many more than most think made the trip, or trips west. These trips were to supply forts and trading houses, to bring goods to the rendezvous and to change personnel at the trading posts. Along with a few tourists, who came west for their health and adventure. As time went on, the trails were easier and more known (marked or even surveyed, as in the Santa Fe trail’s case) and this helped make the journeys shorter. Here is a partial list of the groups that went west from various points in Missouri. The information on these bands of men (and a few women) came from journals in my collection and from newspapers of the time.

Remember: these are only west bound trips. The lines I have made below show leader, date leaving, how many men and the guides for the trip, if known. If any well-known individual travels with the group or it had a affiliation with a fur trade company, you will see it mentioned. I have shown this is chronological order, to give an idea of how the trade increased and declined. You will notice a few things as you digest this: the Santa Fe Trail had much more travel on it, since more than one group traveled on it. The Oregon (or Rendezvous Trail, as I like to call it) had only one or two going to the west each year, then returning.

It was interesting to see the number of times that a individual made the trip west.

Some made this trip quite a few times. Another item I noticed was some of the supply trains that traveled to the forts on the south Platte went on the Santa Fe Trail instead of the Oregon Trail. They went along the southwest trail till Bent’s Fort and turned west along the Arkansas and then north to get to the small trading houses. They did this for a few reasons; one, the southern trail was used both in spring and fall to go west, while the more northern way was used only in the spring or early summer. This was to have the “greenup” (when the new grass was growing and the creeks were falling in depth). Second, some of the caravans that went to the small forts along the South Platte were connected with Bent’s Fort and they may have dropped off supplies, mail and personnel while going through.

These caravans I listed here coming west had a average number of 45-6 men in them. Some of the old news papers noted the number of wagons instead of number of men or had incomplete information, which makes it hard to figure out some of the information we like to have. But we do know that the 3165 men in these groups is a sizeable number. Some of them are repeats, they came out regularly or in more than one trip west.

Saint Louis was not the only starting point for the groups. Westport, Independence and others could be used, depending on where the supplies for the trip were purchased at or the point of meeting was agreed upon. The numbers here do not include the men who came west on steamships, which were quite a few, but that is another article.

You will note the women who came west in 1831, this is not a misprint. The women who came west were Mexican women traveling with their husbands, returning to their homeland. They came out the previous year, so considering that most people date Susan Magoffin’s 1846 trip as the first white woman down the Santa Fe trail, this fifteen year earlier date is impressive.

The routes west was busy at this time. In various journals, they mention meeting, passing and camping with other groups while on the trails, which we sometimes overlook. The west was a complicated set of events as far as its history goes, and this is just a small part of it.

For those who would like to get more information like this, check out Louise Barry’s The Beginning of the West. It must have taken Louise a lifetime to gather all the information found in her book.





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