"The Trail ceased in part to be the highway of the trapper and became the highway for the colonist and fortune-seeker. The Mormons, after their expulsion from Illinois, used this trail in the late 1840s to reach the Great Salt Lake.
Causes Leading to the Birth and Use of the Trail.
The use of the trail was first by explorers, trappers, soldiers, and colonists. The discovery of gold in California brought a mighty stream of fortune-seekers. They started from all points in the Eastern States. They traveled the long trail over the plains and mountains in long, broken lines of men, animals, wagons and vehicles of various kinds.
The rush of gold-seekers to California was in the fall of 1849 and spring of 1850. There were but three main ways of reaching California: by ship, via Cape Horn; by ship, via Isthumus of Panama; by the overland routes, of which there were three --- the Southern from Independence, going southwest to Santa Fe' and up through Lower California; the Central route from Independence over the Oregon Trail to Idaho or salt Lake City, thence direct over the mountains to California; and the Northern route from Council Bluffs, joining the Oregon Trail west of Kearney in the Platte Valley.
"No one can picture the hardships, horrors and privations of the people who traveled the journey of any or all of these routes. All we know is that every danger, every horror, every form of disease, pain or death, was their portion. The Indians killed and scalped thousands; cholera pulled down thousands before they could reach the foothills of the Rockies, and the ravages of other diseases, storms, floods, the elements, and physical fatigue, made the highway but a dusty driveway between two long, never-ending rows of graves with bleached or charred skeletons of men and animals and wrecks of wagons and vehicles strewn along the whole highway.
"Still, thousands reached the goal after all, and California grew as a mushroom, became a state, and a part of the Union, and with its northern sister, Oregon and Washington, set for their demand for the establishment of certain, safe, speedy means of communication, travel and transportation between them and the Eastern states. The creation of the overland stages, wagon freighting trains and the Pony Express were the first fruits of this demand, and they, in time, worked out the pioneer stages of the evolution and development of travel, communication and transportation by the great transcontinental railways of the present day." --- Charles Dawson, Pioneer Tales of the Oregon Trail.
The Oregon Trail cuts a path from the southeast corner of Jefferson County to the northwest corner, carving a trail of memories and cuts through the area. Early travelers stopped along the route , at stations: Caldwell Ranch, Rock Creek Station, Whisky Run, Virginia Ranch, Little Sandy, Big Sandy and Farrell's Ranch while in the county.
Frank Helvey recounts his trip to Jefferson County:
"I was born in July 1841 in Huntington County, Ind. My father, Joel Helvey, concluded in 1846 to try his fortunes in the far West. His family was of goodly size, the boys nearing that age when they would wish to do for themselves. So two covered wagons were fitted up to haul heavy goods and materials in, and a light spring-wagon covered and fitted for the use of mother and the smaller children.
"The wagons were of the old-fashioned linch-pin type, built very heavy, carrying the customary tar-bucket on the rear axle.
"We had three teams of horses to haul our wagons and two spare horses to ride or change off with in case of need for so doing. Following behind were our cows, which furnished us milk and butter; last came the old family dog, tagging along in the rear.
"Thus the spring of 1846 found us headed for the Indian country. The family consisted of the following: my father, Joel Helvey; my mother; brothers, Thomas, Whit, Jasper; and sisters, Johanna, Sarah, and Caroline.
"The trip across the muddy, bottomless roads of Indiana and Illinois was very slow and tedious, but we eventually arrived at St. Louis. Learning here that the best route to the Platte River country was to go northward into Iowa and strike the Mormon Trail , we set out in a few days up along the west banks of the Mississippi River.
"We soon reached this trail, and joined in with one of the many Mormon trains that seemed to make the road but an endless stream of wagons and people, all going westward. This was the great movement of Mormons from the city of Nauvoo to Kanesville, or what is now Council Bluffs, Iowa. We were told that over 25,000 were expected to make this migration this year, and from the appearances I have no doubt but fully that number did so. We traveled along with them for several weeks, camping by ourselves at night, but we found out that the people along the trail had but little love for a Mormon, and classed us with them, refusing us favors, even accusing us of taking things. We decided to leave the trail, going to the south and west, aiming to strike the Missouri River near the mouth of the Platte; but for some unknown reason we got too far south , and arrived at a place called Sonora, in Atchison County, Mo. This was about seven miles above Brownville, Neb. My father and older brothers secured work, and we resided here for the next two years, doing a little farming on the side.
| "Learning that there was a good opening for a big family of boys and girls like ours up the river at a place then called Fort Kearney, which is now known as Nebraska City, father pulled up stakes, and in a short time we were housed in a log cabin on the Iowa shore. Nebraska at this time was called the Indian country, and nobody was allowed to settle in it. If they did so, the soldiers would put them out, or warn them that they need not expect protection from the Government |  |
"Father finally got tired of waiting; so he asked the Commandant at the fort if he would give him leave to cross with his family and take up residence near by. The officer, who was a good friend of my father, told him that while he could not give him official permission, he thought that there was plenty of room on the Nebraska side, but he would have to take his own chances with the Indians, and that if he got into trouble with them, not to call official recognition to that fact.
"The spring of 1854 found us comfortably housed near the fort, on the Nebraska side.
"When the word came in the fall of 1858 that gold had been discovered by wagon-loads at "Pike's Peak," that settled it; we got the "fever," and fitted out our teams and wagons for the overland journey. We decided to go by the way of Beatrice, striking the Overland Trail near Big Sandy Station. Several other outfits decided to go the same route; so early in April we started, being accompanied by an ex-soldier named Tim Taylor, who had been stationed on the Little Sandy during 1847-8 with a company of soldiers to burn lime. Our journey through Tecumseh and Beatrice was accompanied by few incidents of note. Finally we pulled up on the bluffs that overlooked the "Oregon Trail" as it wound down through Little Sandy valley and over to the broad valleys of the Little Blue and Big Sandy. I shall never forget that night. Endless lines of white-topped wagons, drawn by oxen, mules and horses, winding and toiling along through blinding clouds of dust that hung in the air, and driven to their utmost energy by the goading and hallooing of many men. I had never before seen such a sight, so we camped that night near by and watched the wonderful scene of the twinkling miles of camp-fires up and down the whole valley.
"Resting here for a few days, we met many of the returning old-hunters, who had found out the truth of the "Pike's Peak" myth. This caused us to change our plans. We noted the great travel over the Trail, and that they were illy supplied with feed and forage, also for supplies. Then Tim Taylor told us that he believed Little Sandy to be one of the best places in southern Nebraska, and we decided to build a ranch-house on the Trail at the crossing of Little Sandy.
"I several times served as a substitute stage-driver, messenger or Pony Express rider. Consequently I grew to know personally most of the boys who were regularly employed for this work.
"I suppose that I have met at some time or other nearly every noted character or "bad man" that passed up or down the Trail, and come to know many of them personally. My first recollection of "Buffalo Bill" was of meeting him up on the Little Blue River, above Kiowa Station, in the fall of 1859.
"I met "Wild Bill" for the first time at the Rock Creek Ranch, shortly after he came there. Met him often after that, and was down at the ranch shortly after the killing of McCanles, and helped to bury the dead."