The Oregon Trail was first traveled in 1836 but saw its largest westbound populations from 1843 to 1869. Some of the tens of thousands of pioneers that traveled the Oregon Trail walked the route on foot, while others took covered wagons. Some traveled all the way to the Willamette Valley of Oregon, while others segued to California for its hopeful gold propects. By the time the transcontinental railroad was completed, the Oregon Trail was no longer needed as a method of transport, but parts of the trail have been preserved for posterity.
On the Oregon Trail, waterborne contamination was the largest contributor to illnesses such as cholera according to the website Pacific Northwest Journeys. Pioneers in search of drinking water would be forced to drink from the same water holes as previous wagon parties and cattle, which often were battling diseases that contaminated the water.
According Idaho State University's Oregon Trail website, cholera was one of the biggest killers of men, women and children traveling on the Oregon Trail, with some wagon groups losing up to two-thirds of their families. Caused by bacteria in drinking water, cholera was a fact-acting illness that could show symptoms and kill a pioneer in a matter of hours.
Aside from cholera, diseases and illnesses such as small pox, the flu, measles, mumps and tuberculosis were spread through bad sanitation and contaminated drinking water. According to the website of the National Oregon/California Trail Center, diseases and serious illness were responsible for killing nine out of 10 pioneers on the Oregon Trail.
With deaths along the Oregon Trail mounting due to poor sanitation and waterborne illness, many pioneers did not want the disease to spread and were forced to bury family members immediately and directly on the trail, where the scent would be trampled by other wagons and would not attract wolves. Many victims were left behind without a burial or buried but then dug up by animals, which caused additional sanitation issues. According to the National Oregon/California Trail Center, there are an average of 10 graves for every mile of the 2,000-mile trail.
