Misplaced Pages

#122877

113-467: The LCRL or LCR (L) ( Landing Craft Rubber Large ) was an inflatable boat which could carry ten men that was used by the United States Marine Corps and US Army from 1938 to 1945. 10,125 LCRLs were made during World War II . It had a weight of 320 pounds (150 kg) and measured 20 ft × 8 ft (5.5 m × 2.4 m). An outboard motor could be mounted if stealth

226-641: A dome of rock they named Independence Rock and started their long trek on foot to the Missouri River. Upon arriving back in a settled area they bought pack horses (on credit) and retrieved their furs. They had discovered the route that Robert Stuart had taken in 1813—eleven years before. Thomas Fitzpatrick was often hired as a guide when the fur trade dwindled in 1840. Smith was killed by Comanche natives around 1831. Up to 3,000 mountain men were trappers and explorers , employed by various British and United States fur companies or working as free trappers, who roamed

339-705: A dozen companies in other countries. In the 1960s, the British company Humber was the first to build Zodiac brand inflatable boats in the United Kingdom. Some inflatables have inflated keels whose V-shape help the hull move through waves reducing the slamming effect caused by the flat hull landing back on the water surface after passing over the top of a wave at speed. Contemporary inflatable boats are manufactured using supported fabric. They are made of rubberized synthetic fabrics, PVC and polyurethane , providing light-weight and airtight sponsons . Depending on fabric choice,

452-518: A former U.S. Army Captain and fur trader who was contracted to guide the train to Fort Hall for $ 1 per person. The winter before, Marcus Whitman had made a brutal mid-winter trip from Oregon to St. Louis to appeal a decision by his mission backers to abandon several of the Oregon missions. He joined the wagon train at the Platte River for the return trip. When the pioneers were told at Fort Hall by agents from

565-490: A friend of Bombard, the diver Jacques-Yves Cousteau began to use it, after Bombard sailed across the Atlantic Ocean with his inflatable in 1952. Cousteau was convinced by the shallow draught and good performance of this type of boat and used it as tenders on his expeditions. The inflatable boat was so successful that Zodiac lacked the manufacturing capacity to satisfy demand. In the early 1960s, Zodiac licensed production to

678-439: A letter to her sister, Lucy P. Griffith, described how travelers responded to the new environment they encountered: The mountains looked like volcanoes and the appearance that one day there had been an awful thundering of volcanoes and a burning world. The valleys were all covered with a white crust and looked like salaratus . Some of the companies used it to raise their bread. While women experienced many deaths and hardships on

791-512: A limited extent during the American Civil War. In 1866, four men crossed the Atlantic Ocean from New York to Britain on a three-tube raft called Nonpareil . From 1900 to 1910, the development of rubber manufacturing enabled attempts at producing circular rubber inflatable boats, similar to modern coracles . These were only usable as rafts, and could only be propelled by paddling. In addition, they tended to crack at seams and folds due to

904-525: A more comfortable ride when traveling fast in rough conditions. The structure of the hull is capable of supporting a more powerful transom mounted outboard engine or even an inboard engine. A soft inflatable boat (SIB) lacks the solid hull of a RIB and often has a removable slatted floor, so the boat can be deflated and transported in a car or other vehicle. Such boats have a low draft and are therefore useful for traveling across shallow water and beaching in places without landing facilities. Some SIBs have

1017-423: A number of sporting events and for recreational purposes, such as whitewater rafting , inflatable rescue boat racing , water skiing and fishing . An inflatable boat can be transported in various ways: Deflated and Packed: The most significant advantage of inflatable boats is their ability to be deflated, folded, and packed into a compact size. Once deflated, they can be stored in a carry bag and transported in

1130-489: A rendezvous a year's worth of trading and celebrating would take place as the traders took their furs and remaining supplies back east for the winter and the trappers faced another fall and winter with new supplies. Trapper Jim Beckwourth described the scene as one of "Mirth, songs, dancing, shouting, trading, running, jumping, singing, racing, target-shooting, yarns, frolic, with all sorts of extravagances that white men or Indians could invent." In 1830, William Sublette brought

1243-859: A rigid transom that can support an outboard engine. Inflatable boats with transoms have an inflatable keel that creates a slight V-bottom along the line of the hull to improve the hull's seakeeping and directional stability. These vessels are very light, so if powered with an engine, it is best to put weight in the bow area to keep the bow from rising while the boat is going up on plane. Soft inflatable boats are available with several floor choices: Inflatables are commonly between 2 and 7 metres (6.6 and 23.0 ft) long and are propelled by outboard motors of 2.3 to 300 horsepower (1.7 to 223.7  kW ). Due to their speed, portability, and weight, inflatable boats are used in diverse roles: Inflatable and rigid-hulled inflatable boats are often used for short scuba diving excursions. The International Convention for

SECTION 10

#1732851288123

1356-448: A small volume, so that they can be easily stored and transported. The boat, when inflated, is kept rigid cross-ways by a foldable removable thwart . This feature makes these boats suitable for liferafts for larger boats or aircraft , and for travel or recreational purposes. There are ancient carved images of animal skins filled with air being used as one-man floats to cross rivers. These floats were inflated by mouth. The discovery of

1469-475: A trail through heavy timber. The wagons were stopped at The Dalles , Oregon, by the lack of a road around Mount Hood. The wagons had to be disassembled and floated down the treacherous Columbia River and the animals herded over the rough Lolo trail to get by Mt. Hood. Nearly all of the settlers in the 1843 wagon trains arrived in the Willamette Valley by early October. A passable wagon trail now existed from

1582-549: A waterproof blanket for camping on wet ground. The Admiralty was sceptical about potential uses for Halkett's designs; on 8 May 1845, Lord Herbert , First Secretary to the Admiralty , wrote to Halkett that "My Lords are of an opinion that your invention is extremely clever and ingenious, and that it might be useful in Exploring and Surveying Expeditions, but they do not consider that it would be made applicable for general purposes in

1695-527: Is best to put weight in the bow area to keep the bow from rising while the boat is going up on plane. People increasingly use inflatables for personal recreational use on lakes, rivers, and oceans—and for white water rafting and kayaking , and for scuba divers to reach dive sites. Users can deflate, fold, and store fabric bottom inflatable boats in compact bags, making them ideal for limited storage and quick, easy access. Sail rigs are available for inflatable dinghies, kayaks, and catamarans. In keeping with

1808-684: Is to explore the Missouri river, and such principal stream of it, as, by its course and communication with the waters of the Pacific Ocean, whether the Columbia, Oregon, Colorado and/or other river may offer the most direct and practicable water communication across this continent, for commerce." Although Lewis and William Clark found a path to the Pacific Ocean, it was neither direct nor practicable for prairie schooner wagons to pass through without considerable road work. The two passes they found going through

1921-534: The Advanced SEAL Delivery System . They have also been used by other forces without government sponsorship, such as guerrillas and pirates . Lifeguards use inflatable boats or jet skis to reduce the time to reach a swimmer in distress. Inflatables are also used in conjunction with larger rescue craft, such as the Y class lifeboat used with the Tamar and Severn class lifeboats. They are used in

2034-648: The Battle of Arawe by the 112th Cavalry Regiment and parts of the Battle of Tarawa involved amphibious landings in inflatable boats against heavy enemy resistance. One of the models, the Zodiac brand inflatable boat, became popular with the military, and contributed significantly to the rise of the civilian inflatable boat industry in Europe and in the United States. After World War II, governments sold surplus inflatable boats to

2147-581: The California gold rush . It is estimated that about two-thirds of the male population in Oregon went to California in 1848 to cash in on the opportunity. To get there, they helped build the Lassen Branch of the Applegate-Lassen Trail by cutting a wagon road through extensive forests. Many returned with significant gold which helped jump-start the Oregon economy. Over the next decade, gold seekers from

2260-568: The Great Basin to the eastern slope of the Sierras . Upon return in early August, Simpson reported that he had surveyed the Central Overland Route from Camp Floyd to Genoa, Nevada . This route went through central Nevada (roughly where U.S. Route 50 goes today) and was about 280 miles (450 km) shorter than the "standard" Humboldt River California trail route. The Army improved

2373-468: The Halkett boat , the "boat cloak" served as a waterproof poncho or cloak until inflated, when it became a one-man boat. A special pocket held bellows for inflation, and a blade to turn a walking stick into a paddle. A special umbrella could double as a sail. Halkett later developed a two-man boat carried in a knapsack. When inflated, it could carry two men paddling on either side, and when deflated it served as

SECTION 20

#1732851288123

2486-531: The LCRL and LCRS . The Marine Raiders were originally trained to carry out raids and landings from Landing Craft Rubber Large (LCRL) inflatable boats carried by high speed transports . In August 1942 the submarines USS  Argonaut  (SM-1) and USS  Nautilus  (SS-168) carried elements of the 2nd Raider Battalion who carried out the Makin Island raid from LCRL inflatable boats. Invasions of

2599-595: The Midwestern United States and East Coast of the United States dramatically increased traffic on the Oregon and California Trails. The "forty-niners" often chose speed over safety and opted to use shortcuts such as the Sublette-Greenwood Cutoff in Wyoming which reduced travel time by almost seven days but spanned nearly 45 miles (72 km) of the desert without water, grass, or fuel for fires. 1849

2712-541: The Oregon Dragoons . They carried a large flag emblazoned with their motto " Oregon Or The Grave ". Although the group split up near Bent's Fort on the South Platte and Farnham was deposed as leader, nine of their members eventually did reach Oregon. In September 1840, Robert Newell , Joseph L. Meek , and their families reached Fort Walla Walla with three wagons that they had driven from Fort Hall. Their wagons were

2825-665: The Red River Colony (located at the junction of the Assiniboine River and Red River near present Winnipeg , Manitoba , Canada) into the Oregon territory. This attempt at settlement failed when most of the families joined the settlers in the Willamette Valley, with their promise of free land and HBC-free government. In 1846, the Oregon Treaty ending the Oregon boundary dispute was signed with Britain. The British lost much of

2938-759: The Rocky Mountains , Lemhi Pass , and Lolo Pass , turned out to be much too difficult. On the return trip in 1806, they traveled from the Columbia River to the Snake River and the Clearwater River over Lolo Pass again. They then traveled overland up the Blackfoot River and crossed the Continental Divide at Lewis and Clark Pass, as it would become known, and on to the head of the Missouri River. This

3051-427: The U.S. Army's Corps of Topographical Engineers and his guide Kit Carson led three expeditions from 1842 to 1846 over parts of California and Oregon. His explorations were written up by him and his wife Jessie Benton Frémont and were widely published. The first detailed maps of California and Oregon were drawn by Frémont and his topographers and cartographers in about 1848. In 1834, The Dalles Methodist Mission

3164-623: The Yellowstone River to the Sweetwater River. They were looking for a safe location to spend the winter. Smith reasoned since the Sweetwater flowed east it must eventually run into the Missouri River. Trying to transport their extensive fur collection down the Sweetwater and North Platte Rivers, they found after a near-disastrous canoe crash that the rivers were too swift and rough for water passage. On July 4, 1824, they cached their furs under

3277-461: The 1840s, the Great Plains appeared to be unattractive for settlement and were illegal for homesteading until well after 1846—initially, it was set aside by the U.S. government for Native American settlements. The next available land for general settlement, Oregon, appeared to be free for the taking and had fertile lands, disease-free climate ( yellow fever and malaria were then prevalent in much of

3390-630: The British government pressured the two companies to merge. The newly reconfigured HBC had a near monopoly on trading (and most governing issues) in the Columbia District, or Oregon Country as it was referred to by the Americans, and also in Rupert's Land . That year the British parliament passed a statute applying the laws of Upper Canada to the district and giving the HBC power to enforce those laws. From 1813 to

3503-504: The California gold rush , and sex ratios did not reach essential equality in California (and other western states) until about 1950. The relative scarcity of women gave them many opportunities to do many more things that were not normally considered women's work of this era. After 1849, the California gold rush continued for several years as the miners continued to find about $ 50,000,000 worth of gold per year at $ 21 per ounce. Once California

LCRL - Misplaced Pages Continue

3616-499: The Columbia River aboard the merchant ship Tonquin , the other dispatched overland under an expedition led by Wilson Price Hunt . Hunt and his party were to find possible supply routes and trapping territories for further fur trading posts. Upon arriving at the river in March 1811, the Tonquin crew began building what became Fort Astoria . The ship left supplies and men to continue work on

3729-593: The English scientist Thomas Hancock designed inflatable craft using his new methods of rubber vulcanization and described his achievements in The Origin and Progress of India Rubber Manufacture in England published a few years later. In 1844–1845, British naval officer Lieutenant Peter Halkett developed two types of inflatable boats intended for use by Arctic explorers. Both were made of rubber-impregnated " Mackintosh cloth." In

3842-587: The Father of Oregon. The York Factory Express , establishing another route to the Oregon territory, evolved from an earlier express brigade used by the North West Company between Fort Astoria and Fort William , Ontario on Lake Superior . By 1825 the HBC started using two brigades, each setting out from opposite ends of the express route—one from Fort Vancouver on the Columbia River and the other from York Factory on Hudson Bay—in spring and passing each other in

3955-558: The HBC, tried to discourage any U.S. trappers, traders, and settlers from work or settlement in the Pacific Northwest. By overland travel, American missionaries and early settlers (initially mostly ex-trappers) started showing up in Oregon in the late 1820s. Although officially the HBC discouraged settlement because it interfered with its lucrative fur trade, its manager at Fort Vancouver, John McLoughlin , gave substantial help, including employment, until they could get established. In

4068-525: The Hudson's Bay Company that they should abandon their wagons there and use pack animals the rest of the way, Whitman disagreed and volunteered to lead the wagons to Oregon. He believed the wagon trains were large enough that they could build whatever road improvements they needed to make the trip with their wagons. The biggest obstacle they faced was in the Blue Mountains of Oregon where they had to cut and clear

4181-521: The Missouri River to The Dalles. Jesse Applegate's account of the emigration, " A Day with the Cow Column in 1843 ," has been described as "the best bit of literature left to us by any participant in the [Oregon] pioneer movement..." and has been republished several times from 1868 to 1990. In 1846, the Barlow Road was completed around Mount Hood, providing a rough but completely passable wagon trail from

4294-605: The Missouri River to the Willamette Valley: about 2,000 miles (3,200 km). In 1843, settlers of the Willamette Valley drafted the Organic Laws of Oregon organizing land claims within the Oregon Country. Married couples were granted at no cost (except for the requirement to work and improve the land) up to 640 acres (2.6 km ) (a section or square mile), and unmarried settlers could claim 320 acres (1.3 km ). As

4407-543: The Missouri River, finally arriving in St. Louis in the spring of 1813. The route they had used appeared to potentially be a practical wagon route, requiring minimal improvements, and Stuart's journals provided a meticulous account of most of the route. Because of the War of 1812 and the lack of U.S. fur trading posts in the Pacific Northwest, most of the route was unused for more than 10 years. In August 1811, three months after Fort Astoria

4520-655: The Missouri and Mississippi River drainage), extensive forests, big rivers, potential seaports, and only a few nominally British settlers. Fur trappers, often working for fur traders, followed nearly all possible streams looking for beaver in the years (1812–40) when the fur trade was active. Fur traders included Manuel Lisa , Robert Stuart, William Henry Ashley , Jedediah Smith , William Sublette , Andrew Henry , Thomas Fitzpatrick , Kit Carson , Jim Bridger , Peter Skene Ogden , David Thompson , James Douglas , Donald Mackenzie , Alexander Ross , James Sinclair , and other mountain men . Besides describing and naming many of

4633-605: The Mormon emigrants followed the main Oregon/California/Mormon Trail through Wyoming to Fort Bridger , where they split from the main trail and followed (and improved) the rough path known as Hastings Cutoff , used by the ill-fated Donner Party in 1846. Between 1847 and 1860, over 43,000 Mormon settlers and tens of thousands of travelers on the California Trail and Oregon Trail followed Young to Utah. After 1848,

LCRL - Misplaced Pages Continue

4746-599: The Naval Service". The Admiralty saw no use for Halkett's designs in general naval service, but explorers liked this larger design. John Franklin bought one for the ill-fated 1845 expedition , in which the entire expedition party of 129 men and two ships vanished. In his explorations along the Oregon Trail , and the tributaries and forks of the Platte River in 1842 and 1843, John C. Frémont recorded what may have been

4859-530: The North American Rocky Mountains from about 1810 to the early 1840s. They usually traveled in small groups for mutual support and protection. Trapping took place in the fall when the fur became prime. Mountain men primarily trapped beaver and sold the skins. A good beaver skin could bring up to $ 4 at a time when a man's wage was often $ 1 per day. Some were more interested in exploring the West. In 1825,

4972-671: The Oregon Trail and wrote extensively about their explorations. Captain Benjamin Bonneville on his expedition of 1832 to 1834 explored much of the Oregon trail and brought wagons up the Platte, North Platte, Sweetwater route across South Pass to the Green River in Wyoming. He explored most of Idaho and the Oregon Trail to the Columbia. The account of his explorations in the West was published by Washington Irving in 1838. John C. Frémont of

5085-567: The PFC management at Fort Astoria of the destruction. The next day, the ship was blown up by surviving crew members. Under Hunt, fearing attack by the Niitsitapi , the overland expedition veered south of Lewis and Clark's route into what is now Wyoming and in the process passed across Union Pass and into Jackson Hole , Wyoming. From there they went over the Teton Range via Teton Pass and then down to

5198-604: The Rocky Mountains to the Hawaiian Islands , and from Russian Alaska into Mexican-controlled California. At its pinnacle in about 1840, the manager of Fort Vancouver watched over 34 outposts, 24 ports, 6 ships, and about 600 employees. When American emigration over the Oregon Trail began in earnest in the early 1840s, for many settlers the fort became the last stop on the Oregon Trail where they could get supplies, aid, and help before starting their homesteads. Fort Vancouver

5311-647: The Safety of Life at Sea publishes recommended regulations for inflatable boats used in rescue operations. Some life rafts also contain additional inflatable sections to ensure that the raft self-rights in heavy seas. Inflatable life rafts have also been used since the 1930s on military aircraft that operate over water. These boats are often used by special-operations units of the armed forces of several nations, for such purposes as landing on beaches . Because inflatable craft can be stored compactly they can also be transported on midget submarines such as those operated by

5424-513: The Snake River into modern Idaho . They abandoned their horses at the Snake River, made dugout canoes, and attempted to use the river for transport. After a few days' travel, they soon discovered that steep canyons, waterfalls, and impassable rapids made travel by river impossible. Too far from their horses to retrieve them, they had to cache most of their goods and walk the rest of the way to the Columbia River where they made new boats and traveled to

5537-607: The United States most of what it wanted, a "reasonable" boundary and a good anchorage on the West Coast in Puget Sound. While there were few United States settlers in the future state of Washington in 1846, the United States had already demonstrated it could induce thousands of settlers to go to the Oregon Territory, and it would be only a short time before they would vastly outnumber the few hundred HBC employees and retirees living in

5650-526: The United States that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon Territory . The eastern part of the Oregon Trail crossed what is now the states of Kansas , Nebraska , and Wyoming . The western half crossed the current states of Idaho and Oregon. The Oregon Trail was laid by fur traders and trappers from about 1811 to 1840 and was initially only passable on foot or horseback. By 1836, when

5763-498: The West and western migration in the same way. Whereas men might deem the dangers of the trial acceptable if there was a strong economic reward at the end, women viewed those dangers as threatening to the stability and survival of the family. Once they arrived at their new Western home, women's public role in building Western communities and participating in the Western economy gave them a greater authority than they had known back East. There

SECTION 50

#1732851288123

5876-537: The Willamette Valley, as well as various locations in the future states of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. On May 1, 1839, a group of eighteen men from Peoria, Illinois , set out with the intention of colonizing the Oregon country on behalf of the United States of America and driving out the HBC operating there. The men of the Peoria Party were among the first pioneers to traverse most of the Oregon Trail. They were initially led by Thomas J. Farnham and called themselves

5989-405: The age of 13, mentioned the fascination she and other children felt for the graves and loose skulls they would find near their camps. Anna Maria King, like many other women, also advised family and friends back home of the realities of the trip and offered advice on how to prepare for the trip. Women also reacted and responded, often enthusiastically, to the landscape of the West. Betsey Bayley, in

6102-402: The area known as Oregon and its surroundings, with traffic especially thick from 1846 to 1869. The eastern half of the trail was also used by travelers on the California Trail (from 1843), Mormon Trail (from 1847), and Bozeman Trail (from 1863) before turning off to their separate destinations. Use of the trail declined after the first transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869, making

6215-771: The assassination of their prophet Joseph Smith in 1844, Mormon leader Brigham Young led settlers in the Latter Day Saints (LDS) church west to the Salt Lake Valley in present-day Utah. In 1847 Young led a small, fast-moving group from their Winter Quarters encampments near Omaha , Nebraska, and their approximately 50 temporary settlements on the Missouri River in Iowa including Council Bluffs . About 2,200 LDS pioneers went that first year; they were charged with establishing farms, growing crops, building fences and herds, and establishing preliminary settlements to feed and support

6328-535: The bow and stern. To lessen the danger of accidents to the boat, these were divided into four different compartments, and the interior was sufficiently large to contain five or six persons, and a considerable weight of baggage. In 1848, General George Cullum , the US Army Corps of Engineers , introduced a rubber coated fabric inflatable bridge pontoon, which was used in the Mexican–American War and later on to

6441-414: The car. Using a Boat Dolly: For short distances, like moving the boat from a parking area to the water’s edge, a boat dolly or hand cart can be useful. These are especially handy for heavier inflatables or those with motors . Oregon Trail This is an accepted version of this page The Oregon Trail was a 2,170-mile (3,490 km) east–west, large-wheeled wagon route and emigrant trail in

6554-403: The coated fabric from hydrogen airships. The Air Ministry was impressed with trials of his boat on a lake near Guildford and began to give his firm contracts for the production of life-saving equipment. Meanwhile, in France a similar pattern emerged. The airship company Zodiac began to develop inflatable rubber boats, and in 1934, invented the inflatable kayak and catamaran . These led to

6667-399: The cost of traveling the trail by roughly $ 30 per wagon but decreased the speed of the transit from about 160 to 170 days in 1843 to 120 to 140 days in 1860. Ferries also helped prevent death by drowning at river crossings. In April 1859, an expedition of U.S. Corps of Topographical Engineers led by Captain James H. Simpson left Camp Floyd, Utah , to establish an army supply route across

6780-413: The early 1840s the British, through the NWC and HBC, had nearly complete control of the Pacific Northwest and the western half of the Oregon Trail. In theory, the Treaty of Ghent , which ended the War of 1812, restored possession of U.S. property in Oregon territory to the United States. "Joint occupation" of the region was formally established by the Anglo-American Convention of 1818 . The British, through

6893-446: The early 1840s thousands of American settlers arrived and soon greatly outnumbered the British settlers in Oregon. McLoughlin, despite working for the HBC, gave help in the form of loans, medical care, shelter, clothing, food, supplies and seed to U.S. emigrants. These new emigrants often arrived in Oregon tired, worn out, nearly penniless, with insufficient food or supplies, just as winter was coming on. McLoughlin would later be hailed as

SECTION 60

#1732851288123

7006-559: The early Oregon Trail pioneers. When the fur trade slowed in the 1840s because of fashion changes in men's hats, the value of the Pacific Northwest to the British was seriously diminished. Canada had few potential settlers who were willing to move more than 2,500 miles (4,000 km) to the Pacific Northwest, although several hundred ex-trappers, British and American, and their families did start settling in what became Oregon and Washington. In 1841, James Sinclair , on orders from HBC Governor Sir George Simpson , guided nearly 200 settlers from

7119-431: The expedition confirmed that there was no "easy" route through the northern Rocky Mountains as Jefferson had hoped. Nonetheless, this famous expedition had mapped both the eastern and western river valleys (Platte and Snake Rivers) that bookend the route of the Oregon Trail (and other emigrant trails ) across the continental divide—they just had not located the South Pass or some of the interconnecting valleys later used in

7232-478: The fabric panels are assembled using either hot or cold manufacturing processes. Different styles of one-way valves are used to add or remove air, and some brands include inter-communicating valves that reduce the effect of a puncture. Inflatable boats with transoms have an inflatable keel that creates a slight V-bottom along the line of the hull to improve the hull's seakeeping and directional stability. These vessels are very light, so if powered with an engine, it

7345-399: The first migrant wagon train was organized in Independence, Missouri , a wagon trail had been cleared to Fort Hall , Idaho. Wagon trails were cleared increasingly farther west and eventually reached the Willamette Valley in Oregon, at which point what came to be called the Oregon Trail was complete, though further improvements in the forms of bridges, cutoffs, ferries, and roads would make

7458-420: The first significant American Rendezvous occurred on the Henry's Fork of the Green River . The trading supplies were brought in by a large party using pack trains originating on the Missouri River. These pack trains were then used to haul out the fur bales. They normally used the north side of the Platte River—the same route used 20 years later by the Mormon Trail . For the next 15 years, the American rendezvous

7571-455: The first to reach the Columbia River over land, and they opened the final leg of the Oregon Trail to wagon traffic. In 1841, the Bartleson-Bidwell Party was the first emigrant group credited with using the Oregon Trail to emigrate west. The group set out for California, but about half the party left the original group at Soda Springs , Idaho, and proceeded to the Willamette Valley in Oregon, leaving their wagons at Fort Hall. On May 16, 1842,

7684-438: The first use of an inflatable rubber boat for travel down rivers and rapids in the Rocky Mountains . In his account of the expedition he described his boat: Among the useful things which formed a portion of our equipage, was an India-rubber boat, 18 feet long, made somewhat in the form of a bark canoe of the northern lakes. The sides were formed by two airtight cylinders, eighteen inches in diameter, connected with others forming

7797-406: The first wagons carrying his trading goods up the Platte, North Platte, and Sweetwater rivers before crossing over South Pass to a fur trade rendezvous on the Green River near the future town of Big Piney , Wyoming. He had a crew that dug out the gullies and river crossings and cleared the brush where needed. This established that the eastern part of most of the Oregon Trail was passable by wagons. In

7910-649: The formerly very popular beaver felt hats and prices for furs rapidly declined and the trapping almost ceased. Fur traders tried to use the Platte River, the main route of the eastern Oregon Trail, for transport but soon gave up in frustration as its many channels and islands combined with its muddy waters were too shallow, crooked, and unpredictable to use for water transport. The Platte proved to be unnavigable. The Platte River and North Platte River Valley, however, became an easy roadway for wagons, with its nearly flat plain sloping easily up and heading almost due west. Several U.S. government-sponsored explorers explored part of

8023-409: The future Canada–U.S. border). The fort quickly became the center of activity in the Pacific Northwest. Every year ships would come from London to the Pacific (via Cape Horn ) to drop off supplies and trade goods in its trading posts in the Pacific Northwest and pick up the accumulated furs used to pay for these supplies. It was the nexus for the fur trade on the Pacific Coast; its influence reached from

8136-464: The group was a provisional government with no authority, these claims were not valid under United States or British law, but they were eventually honored by the United States in the Donation Land Act of 1850. The Donation Land Act provided for married settlers to be granted 320 acres (1.3 km ) and unmarried settlers 160 acres (0.65 km ). Following the expiration of the act in 1854 the land

8249-585: The high country. They did show the way for the mountain men , who within a decade would find a better way across, even if it was not an easy way. Founded in 1810 by John Jacob Astor as a subsidiary of his American Fur Company (AFC), the Pacific Fur Company (PFC) operated in the Pacific Northwest in the North American fur trade . Two movements of PFC employees were planned by Astor: one sent to

8362-538: The imperfect manufacturing process of the rubber. In the early 20th century, independent production of inflatable boats began with the airship manufacturing company RFD in England and the Zodiac company in France. This was brought about by the development of rubber-coated fabrics for the airship industry. Reginald Foster Dagnall , English designer and founder of RFD, switched in 1919 to the development of inflatable boats, using

8475-522: The land for Britain and stating the intention of the North West Company to build a fort on the site. When the War of 1812 broke out, the managers at Fort Astoria were concerned the British navy would seize their forts and supplies, and in 1813 they sold out to the North West Company. By 1821, intense competition between the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) and the North West Company reached the point of armed hostilities, and

8588-491: The land they had so long controlled. The new Canada–United States border was established at the 49th parallel to the Pacific Coast, then dipping south around Vancouver Island. The treaty granted the HBC navigation rights on the Columbia River for supplying their fur posts, clear titles to their trading post properties allowing them to be sold later if they wanted, and left the British with a good anchorage at Victoria. It gave

8701-532: The late 1830s, the HBC instituted a policy intended to destroy or weaken the American fur trade companies. The HBC's annual collection and re-supply Snake River Expedition was transformed into a trading enterprise. Beginning in 1834, it visited the American Rendezvous to undersell the American traders—losing money but undercutting the American fur traders. By 1840 the fashion in Europe and Britain shifted away from

8814-422: The limited springs and acceptable camping places on the trail. The much larger presence of women and children meant these wagon trains did not try to cover as much ground in a single day as Oregon and California-bound emigrants, typically taking about 100 days to cover the 1,000 miles (1,600 km) trip to Salt Lake City. (The Oregon and California emigrants averaged about 15 miles (24 km) per day.) In Wyoming,

8927-524: The many thousands of emigrants expected in the coming years. After ferrying across the Missouri River and establishing wagon trains near what became Omaha, the Mormons followed the northern bank of the Platte River in Nebraska to Fort Laramie in present-day Wyoming. They initially started in 1848 with trains of several thousand emigrants, which were rapidly split into smaller groups to be more easily accommodated at

9040-403: The middle of the continent. This established a "quick"— about 100 days for 2,600 miles (4,200 km) one way— to transport personnel and transmit messages between Fort Vancouver and York Factory on Hudson Bay. The HBC built a new much larger Fort Vancouver in 1825 about 90 miles upstream from Fort Astoria, on the north side of the Columbia River (they were hoping the Columbia would be

9153-650: The modern Zodiac inflatable boat. The company became Zodiac Nautic in 2015. Development continued after World War II with the discovery of new synthetic materials, such as neoprene and new adhesives, which allowed the boats to become sturdier and less prone to damage. Submarine warfare in the Battle of the Atlantic led to casualties among warships and merchant ships. In the military, inflatable boats were used to transport torpedoes and other cargo. They also helped troops land in shallow water, and their compact size made overland transport possible. The US had two standard boats

9266-424: The multiple deaths experienced by her traveling group: But listen to the deaths: Sally Chambers, John King, and his wife, their little daughter Electa and their babe, a son 9 months old, and Dulancy C. Norton's sister are gone. Mr. A. Fuller lost his wife and daughter Tabitha. Eight of our two families have gone to their long home. Similarly, emigrant Martha Gay Masterson , who traveled the trail with her family at

9379-458: The newly established Fort Astoria. The expedition demonstrated that much of the route along the Snake River plain and across to the Columbia was passable by pack train or with minimal improvements, even wagons. This knowledge would be incorporated into the concatenated trail segments as the Oregon Trail took its early shape. Pacific Fur Company partner Robert Stuart led a small group of men back east to report to Astor. The group planned to retrace

9492-610: The party accompanied American fur traders going to the 1836 rendezvous on the Green River in Wyoming and then joined Hudson's Bay Company fur traders traveling west to Fort Nez Perce (also called Fort Walla Walla ). The group was the first to travel in wagons to Fort Hall, where the wagons were abandoned at the urging of their guides. They used pack animals for the rest of the trip to Fort Walla Walla and then floated by boat to Fort Vancouver to get supplies before returning to start their missions. Other missionaries, mostly husband and wife teams using wagon and pack trains, established missions in

9605-537: The path followed by the overland expedition back up to the east following the Columbia and Snake Rivers. Fear of a Native American attack near Union Pass in Wyoming forced the group further south where they discovered South Pass, a wide and easy pass over the Continental Divide. The party continued east via the Sweetwater River , North Platte River (where they spent the winter of 1812–13), and Platte River to

9718-417: The portability of the inflatable hull, sail attachments fold or disassemble to fit in a compact bundle. Leeboards on the sides perform the same function as a centerboard, so users can tack these boats into the wind. The modern rigid inflatable boat (RIB) is a development of the inflatable boat, which has a rigid floor and solid hull. The external shape of the hull lets it cut through waves more easily giving

9831-485: The process to vulcanize rubber was made by Charles Goodyear in 1838, and was granted a US patent in 1844. Vulcanization stabilized the rubber, making it durable and flexible. In late 1843, Thomas Hancock filed for a UK patent, which was also granted in 1844, after the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company patent had been granted. In 1852, while traveling in England, Charles Goodyear discovered that Thomas Hancock's company

9944-565: The public. Inflatable liferafts were also used successfully to save crews of aircraft that ditched in the sea; bombing, naval and anti-submarine aircraft flying long distances over water being much more common from the start of WWII. In the 1950s, the French Navy officer and biologist Alain Bombard was the first to combine the outboard engine, a rigid floor and a boat shaped inflatable. The former airplane -manufacturer Zodiac built that boat and

10057-546: The region. Reports from expeditions in 1806 by Lieutenant Zebulon Pike and in 1819 by Major Stephen Long described the Great Plains as "unfit for human habitation" and as "The Great American Desert ". These descriptions were mainly based on the relative lack of timber and surface water. The images of sandy wastelands conjured up by terms like "desert" were tempered by the many reports of vast herds of millions of Plains Bison that somehow managed to live in this "desert". In

10170-491: The rivers and mountains in the Intermountain West and Pacific Northwest, they often kept diaries of their travels and were available as guides and consultants when the trail started to become open for general travel. The fur trade business wound down to a very low level just as the Oregon trail traffic seriously began around 1840. In the fall of 1823, Jedediah Smith and Thomas Fitzpatrick led their trapping crew south from

10283-428: The second organized wagon train set out from Elm Grove, Missouri, with more than 100 pioneers. The party was led by Elijah White . The group broke up after passing Fort Hall with most of the single men hurrying ahead and the families following later. In what was dubbed "The Great Migration of 1843" or the "Wagon Train of 1843", an estimated 700 to 1,000 emigrants left for Oregon. They were led initially by John Gantt,

10396-424: The station and ventured north up the coast to Clayoquot Sound for a trading expedition. While anchored there, Jonathan Thorn insulted an elder Tla-o-qui-aht who was previously elected by the natives to negotiate a mutually satisfactory price for animal pelts. Soon after, the vessel was attacked and overwhelmed by the indigenous Clayoquot, killing many of the crew. Its Quinault interpreter survived and later told

10509-514: The trail for use by wagons and stagecoaches in 1859 and 1860. Starting in 1860, the American Civil War closed the heavily subsidized Butterfield Overland Mail stage Southern Route through the deserts of the American Southwest. In 1860–1861, the Pony Express , employing riders traveling on horseback day and night with relay stations about every 10 miles (16 km) to supply fresh horses,

10622-533: The trail, the trail was also a place for women to take on roles they had previously not been allowed to take on back east. Women started to use their journals on the trails to express themselves as “reporters, guides, poets, and historians.” They would jot down botany and different species on the trail to help feed their family. Women used their resourcefulness and creativity on the trail. Following persecution and mob action in Missouri , Illinois , and other states, and

10735-667: The travelers headed to California or Oregon resupplied at the Salt Lake Valley, and then went back over the Salt Lake Cutoff , rejoining the trail near the future Idaho–Utah border at the City of Rocks in Idaho. Along the Mormon Trail, the Mormon pioneers established several ferries and made trail improvements to help later travelers and earn much-needed money. One of the better-known ferries

10848-462: The trip faster and safer. From various starting points in Iowa, Missouri, or Nebraska Territory , the routes converged along the lower Platte River Valley near Fort Kearny , Nebraska Territory. They led to fertile farmlands west of the Rocky Mountains . The Oregon Trail and its many offshoots were used by about 400,000 settlers, farmers, miners, ranchers, and business owners and their families to get to

10961-577: The trip west substantially faster, cheaper, and safer. Since the mid-20th century, modern highways, such as Interstate 80 and Interstate 84 , follow parts of the same course westward and pass through towns originally established to serve those using the Oregon Trail. The first land route across the present-day contiguous United States was mapped by the Lewis and Clark Expedition between 1804 and 1806, following these 1803 instructions from President Thomas Jefferson to Meriwether Lewis : "The object of your mission

11074-446: The trunk of a car or the bed of a truck. On a Trailer: If the inflatable boat is larger or if it has a hard bottom (like a RIB ), it might be more convenient to transport it on a trailer. This is especially useful if the boat has an outboard motor attached. On Roof Racks: Some individuals use roof racks on their vehicles to transport inflatable boats. The boat is either deflated and packed or partially inflated and secured on top of

11187-697: The while upholding the virtues of the Culture of Domesticity . Some of the additional tasks women had on the wagon trail included collecting "buffalo chips" for fire fuel, unloading and loading up the wagons, driving teams of oxen, pouring bullets to help in Indian attacks, and striving to keep their men and children at peace. They were the backbones of life on the wagon trail and took up not only their regular duties but many duties of men as well. However, feminist scholarship, by historians such as Lillian Schlissel, Sandra Myres, and Glenda Riley, suggests men and women did not view

11300-659: The years many ferries were established to help get across the many rivers on the path of the Oregon Trail. Multiple ferries were established on the Missouri River, Kansas River , Little Blue River , Elkhorn River , Loup River , Platte River, South Platte River , North Platte River, Laramie River , Green River, Bear River , two crossings of the Snake River, John Day River , Deschutes River , Columbia River, as well as many other smaller streams. During peak immigration periods several ferries on any given river often competed for pioneer dollars. These ferries significantly increased speed and safety for Oregon Trail travelers. They increased

11413-473: Was a "female frontier" that was distinct and different from that experienced by men. Women's diaries kept during their travels or the letters they wrote home once they arrived at their destination support these contentions. Women wrote with sadness and concern about the numerous deaths along the trail. Anna Maria King wrote to her family in 1845 about her trip to the Luckiamute Valley Oregon and of

11526-412: Was an annual event moving to different locations, usually somewhere on the Green River in the future state of Wyoming . Each rendezvous, occurring during the slack summer period, allowed the fur traders to trade for and collect the furs from the trappers and their Native American allies without having the expense of building or maintaining a fort or wintering over in the cold Rockies. In only a few weeks at

11639-620: Was erected in 1843 and became the headquarters of operations in British Columbia, eventually growing into modern-day Victoria , the capital city of British Columbia. By 1840, the HBC had three forts: Fort Hall (purchased from Nathaniel Jarvis Wyeth in 1837), Fort Boise and Fort Nez Perce on the western end of the Oregon Trail route as well as Fort Vancouver near its terminus in the Willamette Valley . With minor exceptions, they all gave substantial and often desperately needed aid to

11752-707: Was established as a prosperous state, many thousands more emigrated there each year for the opportunities. The trail was still in use during the Civil War , but traffic declined after 1855 when the Panama Railroad across the Isthmus of Panama was completed. Paddle wheel steamships and sailing ships, often heavily subsidized to carry the mail, provided rapid transport to and from the East Coast and New Orleans , Louisiana, to and from Panama to ports in California and Oregon. Over

11865-402: Was established, David Thompson and his team of North West Company explorers came floating down the Columbia to Fort Astoria. He had just completed a journey through much of western Canada and most of the Columbia River drainage system. He was mapping the country for possible fur trading posts. Along the way, he camped at the confluence of the Columbia and Snake Rivers and posted a notice claiming

11978-518: Was founded by Reverend Jason Lee just east of Mount Hood on the Columbia River . In 1836, Henry H. Spalding and Marcus Whitman traveled west to establish the Whitman Mission near modern-day Walla Walla , Washington. The party included the wives of the two men, Narcissa Whitman and Eliza Hart Spalding , who became the first European-American women to cross the Rocky Mountains. En route,

12091-573: Was no longer free but cost $ 1.25 per acre ($ 3.09/hectare) with a limit of 320 acres (1.3 km )—the same as most other unimproved government land. Consensus interpretations, as found in John Faragher's book, Women and Men on the Overland Trail (1979), held that men's and women's power within marriage was uneven. This meant that women did not experience the trail as liberating, but instead only found harder work than they had handled back east, all

12204-401: Was not needed. The LCRL had a mount for a .30 cal. machine gun . With no armor, LCRL were often used at night for Amphibious warfare . Most were built by the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company . * This article about a specific civilian ship or boat is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Inflatable boat Some inflatable boats can be disassembled and packed into

12317-480: Was producing vulcanized rubber and sued. Thomas Hancock had been shown a sample of Goodyear's rubber in 1842, but had not been told the process that made it—and Hancock said he had developed his process independently. The last of the suits were settled in 1855. Shortly thereafter, several people expanded on experimentation of rubber coated fabrics. In 1839 the Duke of Wellington tested the first inflatable pontoons. In 1840,

12430-695: Was the Mormon Ferry across the North Platte near the future site of Fort Caspar in Wyoming which operated between 1848 and 1852 and the Green River ferry near Fort Bridger which operated from 1847 to 1856. The ferries were free for Mormon settlers while all others were charged a toll ranging from $ 3 to $ 8. In January 1848, James Marshall found gold in the Sierra Nevada portion of the American River , sparking

12543-474: Was the first year of large scale cholera epidemics in the United States, and thousands are thought to have died along the trail on their way to California—most buried in unmarked graves in Kansas and Nebraska. The adjusted 1850 U.S. census of California showed this rush was overwhelmingly male with about 112,000 males to 8,000 females (with about 5,500 women over age 15). Women were significantly underrepresented in

12656-402: Was the main re-supply point for nearly all Oregon trail travelers until U.S. towns could be established. The HBC established Fort Colvile in 1825 on the Columbia River near Kettle Falls as a good site to collect furs and control the upper Columbia River fur trade. Fort Nisqually was built near the present town of DuPont , Washington, and was the first HBC fort on Puget Sound. Fort Victoria

12769-461: Was ultimately a shorter and faster route than the one they followed west. This route had the disadvantages of being much too rough for wagons and controlled by the Blackfoot tribes. Even though Lewis and Clark had only traveled a narrow portion of the upper Missouri River drainage and part of the Columbia River drainage, these were considered the two major rivers draining most of the Rocky Mountains, and

#122877