How much did it cost to take a wagon train west?

Crossing the continent to settle in Oregon was not a journey for the faint of heart, and neither was it a journey for the poor. It required a minimum of about $500 to outfit for the trip, and this could easily become $1000 or more if an emigrant needed to purchase a wagon and draft animals.



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Passenger train travel in the 1880s generally cost 2-3 cents per mile. Transcontinental (New York to San Francisco) ticket rates as of June 1870 were $136 for first class in a Pullman sleeping car; $110 for second class; $65 for third or “emigrant” class seats on a bench.

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Rail travel may even be cheaper today, in real terms, than 150 years ago. With $1.30 in 1860 equaling about $35 today, Amtrak's $11 Baltimore-Washington fare looks like a bargain. One travel reality hasn't changed: the toll of war.

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The covered wagon made 8 to 20 miles per day depending upon weather, roadway conditions and the health of the travelers. It could take up to six months or longer to reach their destination.

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Travel by wagon train occurred primarily between the 1840s–1880s, diminishing after completion of the first transcontinental railroad.

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Most wagon trains had at least 25 wagons. Perhaps the largest wagon train to travel on the Oregon Trail left Missouri in 1843 with over 100 wagons, 1,000 men, women and children, and 5,000 head of oxen and cattle. The train was led by a Methodist missionary named Dr. Elijah White.

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Surprisingly, considering how many wagons went West, very few faced attacks by the Indians. A well-led and disciplined train was more likely to get through without problems. The opposite was often true for small trains where discipline was lacking.

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Travelers used grass or leaves or just plain dirt. Bark was also a paper substitute. It wasn't pretty, but no worse than many other realities pioneers faced on the emigrant trail.

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