Law and Order on the Overland Trails

Each traveler was a marching ordnance department.

- Erik J. Wright

Over the span of about 30 years, an estimated 300,000 emigrants traveled the overland trails to points west in places like California, Oregon, and Utah. Many of these intrepid travelers were inexperienced farming families from the East or individuals from overseas with no practical experience with the kinds of dangers that could befall them on the journey ahead. Disease, accidents, Indian depredations, and harsh environmental conditions all played into the dangers of Manifest Destiny. The journals and letters of overland trail emigrants often begin with an idyllic and optimistic tone, but that quickly sours once the traveling became arduous as they neared the Rocky Mountains. Adding to the danger was the probability that most of the emigrants had no experience with firearms outside of hunting. As a reaction to the dangers that lay ahead, emigrants often armed themselves heavily.