Although many pioneers started from other parts east and south of Missouri, the greatest majority passed through Missouri and left for the Oregon Trail around St. Joseph, Missouri.
With 500 to 600 thousand people passing through this one area it must have been a busy place from 1840 to1860.
Not only did many tons of equipment and materials get shipped to this area by steamboat and wagons and trains, these pioneers brought tons of goods with them for this arduous trip out west.
While we tried to follow the Oregon Trail as close as possible, you have to take into consideration that many of the routes have been concreted or asphalted and built over in the last 150-plus years.
Many of the records do give detailed explanations through topography and river routs, though. We still use highway routes that were game trails used for hundreds of years because of the ease passing through our country.
As we were getting ready to leave on the trip to Oregon, there were a few places we wanted to visit before we left. One of the first places was the Pony Express station (museum) in St. Joseph.
This museum was a Pony Express office or outpost where the riders took the mail, particularly the eastern newspapers delivered by the railroads.
News sent out west was at a premium and a big price was charged to have them delivered.
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