Bartleson-Bidwell Party
Encyclopedia
In 1841, the Bartleson–Bidwell Party led by Captain John Bartleson and John Bidwell
, became the first American emigrants to attempt a wagon crossing from Missouri
to California
.
in Utah
, and the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California
. The result was a journey of 2,008 miles in a single summer and fall, by oxen or horse or mules at 15 miles a day, which meant a voyage of about five months.
's Rancho Los Meganos
at the foot of Mount Diablo in Mexican Alta California
, in present-day Contra Costa County, California
. Moving west, the emigrants traveled over the Oregon Trail
with Father Pierre-Jean De Smet
and a Jesuit party guided by mountain man
, Thomas "Broken Hand" Fitzpatrick
.
, in present day Caribou County, Idaho
, a 19th century military and trading outpost in the eastern Oregon Country
, about half of the original party changed their plans and decided to take the easier road into Oregon
. The remainder of the Bartleson-Bidwell party split off from the trappers' trail to Oregon and headed west along the north shore of the Great Salt Lake
. Crossing the desert west of the lake, they were forced to abandon their wagons. Accompanied by their surviving animals, they eventually found the Mary's River (now the Humboldt
) and followed it to its sink (near present Lovelock, Nevada
). Crossing the desert to the south, they reached the Walker River, which they ascended over the Sierra Nevadas in the same region crossed by Jedediah Smith
in 1828.
John Bidwell
John Bidwell was known throughout California and across the nation as an important pioneer, farmer, soldier, statesman, politician, prohibitionist and philanthropist...
, became the first American emigrants to attempt a wagon crossing from Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
The trail
The trail to California had been established not by the government, but by members of the "Emigrant Societies" formed in the 1840s. The efforts of three parties had established a passable wagon road over the two main obstacles: the Great Salt Lake DesertGreat Salt Lake Desert
The Great Salt Lake Desert is a large dry lake in northern Utah between the Great Salt Lake and the Nevada border which is noted for white sand from evaporite Lake Bonneville salt deposits...
in Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
, and the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. The result was a journey of 2,008 miles in a single summer and fall, by oxen or horse or mules at 15 miles a day, which meant a voyage of about five months.
The party
In May 1841, the party assembled at Sapling Grove, near Westport, Missouri under the organization of the twenty-one-year-old Bidwell. Numbering more than sixty, the group decided to travel together to John MarshJohn Marsh (pioneer)
“Doctor” John Marsh was born in 1799 in South Danvers, Massachusetts and died in Pacheco, California in 1856. He was an early pioneer and settler in California, and although he did not have a medical degree, is often regarded as the first person to practice medicine in California.-Early life:Marsh...
's Rancho Los Meganos
Rancho Los Meganos
Rancho Los Meganos was a Mexican land grant in present day Contra Costa County, California given in 1835 by Governor José Castro to Jose Noriega. "Meganos" means "sand dunes" in Spanish. Rancho Los Meganos extends eastward from present day Antioch along the San Joaquin River to the Old River...
at the foot of Mount Diablo in Mexican Alta California
Alta California
Alta California was a province and territory in the Viceroyalty of New Spain and later a territory and department in independent Mexico. The territory was created in 1769 out of the northern part of the former province of Las Californias, and consisted of the modern American states of California,...
, in present-day Contra Costa County, California
Contra Costa County, California
Contra Costa County is a primarily suburban county in the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 1,049,025...
. Moving west, the emigrants traveled over the Oregon Trail
Oregon Trail
The Oregon Trail is a historic east-west wagon route that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon and locations in between.After 1840 steam-powered riverboats and steamboats traversing up and down the Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri rivers sped settlement and development in the flat...
with Father Pierre-Jean De Smet
Pierre-Jean De Smet
Pierre-Jean De Smet , also known as Pieter-Jan De Smet, was a Belgian Roman Catholic priest and member of the Society of Jesus , active in missionary work among the Native Americans of the Midwestern United States in the mid-19th century.His extensive travels as a missionary were said to total...
and a Jesuit party guided by mountain man
Mountain man
Mountain men were trappers and explorers who roamed the North American Rocky Mountains from about 1810 through the 1880s where they were instrumental in opening up the various Emigrant Trails allowing Americans in the east to settle the new territories of the far west by organized wagon trains...
, Thomas "Broken Hand" Fitzpatrick
Thomas Fitzpatrick (trapper)
Thomas Fitzpatrick, known as "Broken Hand", was a trapper and a trailblazer who became the head of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company. With Jedediah Smith, he led a trapper band that discovered South Pass, Wyoming....
.
The trip
At Fort HallFort Hall
Fort Hall, sitting athwart the end of the common stretch shared by the three far west emigrant trails was a 19th century outpost in the eastern Oregon Country, which eventually became part of the present-day United States, and is located in southeastern Idaho near Fort Hall, Idaho...
, in present day Caribou County, Idaho
Caribou County, Idaho
Caribou County is a county located in the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2010 Census the county had a population of 6,963. The county seat and largest city is Soda Springs, followed by Grace and Bancroft.- History :...
, a 19th century military and trading outpost in the eastern Oregon Country
Oregon Country
The Oregon Country was a predominantly American term referring to a disputed ownership region of the Pacific Northwest of North America. The region was occupied by British and French Canadian fur traders from before 1810, and American settlers from the mid-1830s, with its coastal areas north from...
, about half of the original party changed their plans and decided to take the easier road into Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
. The remainder of the Bartleson-Bidwell party split off from the trappers' trail to Oregon and headed west along the north shore of the Great Salt Lake
Great Salt Lake
The Great Salt Lake, located in the northern part of the U.S. state of Utah, is the largest salt water lake in the western hemisphere, the fourth-largest terminal lake in the world. In an average year the lake covers an area of around , but the lake's size fluctuates substantially due to its...
. Crossing the desert west of the lake, they were forced to abandon their wagons. Accompanied by their surviving animals, they eventually found the Mary's River (now the Humboldt
Humboldt River
The Humboldt River runs through northern Nevada in the western United States. At approximately long it is the second longest river in the Great Basin, after the Bear River. It has no outlet to the ocean, but instead empties into the Humboldt Sink...
) and followed it to its sink (near present Lovelock, Nevada
Lovelock, Nevada
Lovelock is a city in western Nevada that is the county seat of Pershing County, the location of a prison, and the namesake of the area's Cold War gunnery range...
). Crossing the desert to the south, they reached the Walker River, which they ascended over the Sierra Nevadas in the same region crossed by Jedediah Smith
Jedediah Smith
Jedediah Strong Smith was a hunter, trapper, fur trader, trailblazer, author, cartographer, cattleman, and explorer of the Rocky Mountains, the American West Coast and the Southwest during the 19th century...
in 1828.
See also
- California TrailCalifornia TrailThe California Trail was an emigrant trail of about across the western half of the North American continent from Missouri River towns to what is now the state of California...
- Hastings CutoffHastings CutoffThe Hastings Cutoff was an alternate route for emigrants to travel to California, as proposed by Lansford Hastings.In 1845, Hastings published a guide entitled The Emigrant's Guide to Oregon and California...
- Josiah BeldenJosiah BeldenJosiah Belden was an American pioneer and politician.-Life:Born in Connecticut, Belden was orphaned by the time he was 14. He later moved to St. Louis, Missouri and became a successful businessman. In 1841 he joined the Bartleson-Bidwell Party, the first organized emigrant party to use the...
- Joseph ChilesJoseph ChilesColonel Joseph Ballinger Chiles was an early California pioneer and guide.Born in Kentucky, Chiles moved to Missouri around 1830 and fought for the United States Army in the Seminole Wars. Widowed, he abandoned his children to join the Bartleson-Bidwell Party of 1841, the first wagon train to...
- Michael GillisMichael GillisMichael Jerome Gillis was an American academic and writer.Born in Walpole, Massachusetts, Gillis served as a history instructor at Butte College and, for twenty-five years, as a lecturer at California State University, Chico...
- Nancy KelseyNancy KelseyNancy Roberts Kelsey was the first white woman to visit Utah, and she was the first to cross the Sierra Nevada mountains, arriving in California on November 25, 1841.With those words Nancy Kelsey began a journey across country no white woman had ever made...