by Sarah Kirk . The pilot movie opens on Thorpe's wedding day. Most Oregon Trail pioneers didn’t settle in Oregon. He marries Jessica (Blair Brown), two years after the death of his first wife, Mary. In the days of the Pioneers, many people dreamed of going to Oregon or California. The reports, sometimes conflicting or confusing, paint a compelling story of life, hardship and death along the Oregon Trail. Otherwise, Shannon's book is an excellent reference for those interested in the drama of westward expansion. The Oregon Trail (1976-77) Rod Taylor played Evan Thorpe, a widower with three children heading from Illinois to a new life in the Oregon Territory in 1842. The True Story of the Sager Family. Roll up your sleeve. When a mysterious lone rider appears with rope burns on his neck, strange things begin to happen. They estimate one in ten travelers didn't survive, and the National Oregon/California Trail Center says the 2,000-mile trail averaged 10 deaths per mile. The causes of these deaths were usually related to drowning, accident and disease. It misses the mark a bit in not discussing the broader social/political stage upon which the drama was played. Death on the Trail . If you’re traveling to an impoverished, disease-ridden country, take the proper precautions to prevent coming down with an Oregon Trail ailment: 1. John Unruh Jr. in his book, The Plains Across, noted that in the years from 1840 though 1850 there were only 362 documented emigrant deaths due to Indian attack. Life and Death on the Oregon Trail When a perennially pleasant third-grade teacher invents a game that blends Dungeons & Dragons with The Oregon Trail, the mood in … The National Park Service calls the Oregon Trail "this nation's longest graveyard." Oregon Trail summary: The 2,200-mile east-west trail served as a critical transportation route for emigrants traveling from Missouri to Oregon and other points west during the mid-1800s. Facts, information and articles about The Oregon Trail, a part of Westward Expansion from the Wild West. "If cholera doesn't claim the lives of his company, the threat of Indian violence just might. According to the Idaho State University website, traveling the Oregon Trail involved "walking 2,000 miles barefoot--and that was the easy part." But obviously people are mostly excited at the chance to play a cornerstone from their childhood: Oregon Trail. Thousands of travelers on the combined California, Oregon, and Mormon Trails succumbed to cholera between the years of 1849 and 1855. Injury, disease, and exhaustion were all causes of death on the trail. If you were a gold prospector, you might have decided to go to California for the gold. Although also considered part of the Mormon Trail, the grave of Rebecca Winters is one of the few marked ones left. One in 10 people did not survive the Oregon Trail, according to the Oregon-California Trails Association. 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