<- Play some in another window while you read these pages.

The two mules in the photo above are bigger than they seem.  The guy in the top hat is my late brother, Doug Houk [1938-1997 ], and he was 6'6"; or as he liked to say, "I'm 5'18". Why do you ask....shortie?"

     I'm not sure how many miles I have driven in my lifetime, but I've put 106,000+ miles on the 1988 Pontiac Grand AM LE that I bought new (and still own).  In December of 1999 we bought a 2000 Pontiac Grand AM GT1 .  In August of 2000 my wife and I took off on a 7,150 mile trip in the GT1, and I thought about the people who traveled 150+ years ago in wagons.

     Many of my ancestors crossed the Oregon Trail in the 1800's.  My great great grandfather Nineveh Ford , in 1843, was the first that I am aware of, and he traveled a route that Earl Leggett in the photo above tried to duplicate in 1993.  As far as I know, my great grandfather Jacob Houk was the last in 1868.  My wife Rachel and I drove through many of the areas my ancestors passed through in wagons, and on foot !  I do not know how they had the guts to make their journey!

     Many of my ancestors came from Europe; several from Germany.  I have crossed the Atlantic twice; once by sea and once by air.  In 1976 I reported aboard USS Albany CG10 ; which changed her home port from Norfolk, Virginia to Gieta, Italy about a month after I arrived in Norfolk.  In May of 1978 I flew back to the US in a Boeing 727.  Needless to say the flight took hours instead of days.  But that's material for another web page.

 

We had/they had: 2000 vs: 1843 + 1868

Getting ready: WE
Getting ready: THEY

We: kept a limited log about our trip
They: kept detailed diaries

We: had a 2000 175 HP V6 Pontiac GRAND AM GT1
They: had a wagon and some oxen or mules

We: had no trouble obtaining gas for the car
They: had to constantly look for water for the animals

We: had no problems with the car
They: had no end of problems with things like.

broken wheels and lost animals

We: had a sun roof
They: had almost no roof

We: traveled from Minnesota to California in 5 days
They: traveled from MO to OR/WA/CA in 6 months !
 

There is one thing to be said in favor of NOT going 75 MPH.
If a bird flies into you when you're going 1-4 MPH there will
be little damage.  To you or the bird.  When you're driving down
the road at 75 MPH and a bird flies into your windshield....
The bird that flew into us did not damage the glass because of
the low angle of the windshield of the GT1.

We: got 30 MPG
They: got 5 - 20 MPD (miles per day)

We: had Rand McNalley maps
They: had almost no idea where they were going

We: had Interstates : I-5 , I-90 , I-94 , I-80 , I-70 , I-15 , etc. (warning! etc is a large file)
They: had the Oregon Trail(s)

We: went " through " some hills and mountains
They: went around mountains they could not go "over"

We: had Motel Six, etc.
They: had dirt

We: had 7/11 and other such stores
They: had a few forts here and there

We: traveled when and where we wanted to
They: traveled when they could/had to !
 

(I must admit that we did have to stop for a few minutes
in SW Colorado because of VERY heavy rain.)

We: never got wet
They: got very wet !  (see also )
 

(The GT1's sun roof doesn't leak.)

from Linda V.
"We: encountered very little dust
They: had dust up to a foot deep!

"We: had a warm shower whenever we felt dusty
They: had the cold river whenever they could stop

"We: tried to keep our meals balanced
They: ate what they had -- or could kill or catch "

We: saw signs , "Next service 30 miles"
They: didn't see many signs and darn little service

We: found REST STOP s along the freeway that had hot water
to wash our hands after using the toilet
They: found no freeways and very little hot water.  Rest stop???
Toilet ???

We: had plenty of safe drinking water
They: didn't always find goodwater

click on the image to see where this bridge is located

We: drove over bridges to cross every river in our path
They: very often didn't make it across some rivers without
loosing something or someone  -  there were some bridges
 

We: didn't loose anyone or anything on our trip
They: lost many people along the trail to Cholera and
such, and they had to discard "useless" items
 

One of my pioneer families lost 6 members making the trip to
Oregon.  This included a mother of three who died giving birth
to a fourth; who died a few months later.  The patriarch of the
group also died on the trail.

My great great great grandmother Mary Anne Ashbaugh Courtney
flat refused to toss her twenty gallon copper kettle, but she did give
away her many books.  As long as she lived she would wish for the
books left in Iowa.

We: had an AM/FM/CD/Cassette stereo radio to listen to
They: had to make their own music 
 

There was one stretch of I-90 in the mountains of Washington
where I could not pick up anything on the radio.  Nothing!  It's
a good thing I had that Kitty Wells - Webb Pierce C-90 tape.  I
didn't want to mess with tapes or CD's.  This tape is one I made
a year ago and put in the car the day we got it. :-)

We: had cellular phone service almost everywhere we went
They: had....  What the heck is a "cellular phone "?
 

Rachel forgot to pack the AC charger for her cell phone; the car
charger was already in the car.  The only time she could charge
her battery was when we were in the car or we were parked in a
secure place.

We: had access to e-mail almost everywhere we went
They: didn't have Algore to build the internet
 

Most of the e-mail I got while on the road was spam.  I wonder
what Nineveh Ford , et al, would have given for some real SPAM ?

We: were never very far from medical aid
They: were seldom near it or a doctor

We: saw some graffiti
They: created some graffiti

We: thought that we might see some Indians
They: prayed that they wouldn't!    (more )

We: looked for buffalo , and saw a few
They: looked for buffalo chips

We: looked for deer to avoid hitting them
They: looked for deer to eat them

We: went around most cities (freeway bypass , etc.)
They: didn't see a lot of cities

We: would make this trip again
They: probably wondered why they made the trip
 

It seems that a great many of my ancestors moved around a lot.
When my great grandmother, Sarah Jane Courtney Houk , got to
Linn County, Oregon, she refused to move again.   My parents
lived in at least 22 different houses between 1939 and 1961.  When
I got to San Diego in the early 1960's I lived in several houses.  In
1969 I grew roots, and have lived in the same house since then .  I
know how Sarah felt; but then I'm not pregnant - she was.  My
grandfather was born 3 weeks after they arrived in Linn County.

We: were seldom in any danger
They: were always in danger
 

Several people connected to my family died along the Oregon Trail.
In the case of Catherine Carney (Sager) Pringle both parents died
making the trip .  Catherine did gain a sister on the way west.  The
only danger we encountered was when we drove into a down pour
on I-70 in SW Colorado.  The rain came down so hard that I could
not see where I was going;  I hit the brakes, and pulled to the side
of the freeway.  It's a good thing that everyone else stopped too!

We: seldom had to ask for directions
They: seldom found anyone to ask for directions
 

We did call a Radio Shack store in Salem, Oregon to get directions
to that store from Woodburn .  It's too bad that Woodburn is north
of Salem as the directions they gave me were for coming from the
south.  We found the store anyway.

I must admit that I sorta got lost in Denver; but I knew where I
was.  It's just that I really didn't want to go to Boulder .

I do admit that the pioneers had guides.

We: had fun
They: didn't always have fun

Cecil Houk, USN Ret.
Walt Davies

Include your e-mail address and web page URL with your comments if you wish to be
linked from this page.

LINKS 

 

OREGON-TRAIL. A mailing list for those who want to research their
family history concerning anything to do with the Oregon Trail.
The history of the trail is an appropriate topic for discussion
as well as postings of wagon train lists, and anything else
genealogical including stories of life as a pioneer, diaries,
queries, books, etc. - these are all welcome! Western states
involved would mostly be Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming,
Idaho, Oregon, and Washington; maybe even California, Utah and
others. Time periods include around 1840-1900. Tell us about your
pioneer ancestor! You must be a subscriber to post to the list.
To subscribe send the word "subscribe" (without the quotes) as
the only text in the body of a message to
[email protected] (mail mode) or
[email protected] (digest mode).

FastCounter by bCentral