Manly's Pioneer Route West

The Oregon Trail

(or California Trail)

The historic Oregon Trail was established in the early 1800s and was used by Native Americans, farmers, trappers, and traders. After the discovery of gold in California in 1848, emigrants flooded the edge of the frontier to towns like St. Joseph and Independence, Missouri, and Council Bluffs, Iowa. From there, most would start their long trek west to California via the Oregon Trail, which followed the south bank of the Platte River.

William Lewis Manly joined an Oregon Trail wagon train. He hoped to catch up and travel with his friends, the Bennett family. But the Bennetts had taken the Mormon Trail, which followed the north bank of the Platte River.

Green River Shortcut

Manly and a few men left the wagon train after crossing the Continental Divide. They gambled on an shortcut to California, thinking they could get there by rafting the Green River. A benevolent Indian Chief, Wakara, warned them of dangers on the river ahead and sent them on a trail to Salt Lake.

Salt Lake City

Manly and his group walked for days in the Utah desert with death at their heels before they finally reached their destination. Quite by accident, Manly found Bennett and his family in Salt Lake City.

Old Spanish Trail

Manly, his friend John Rogers, and the Bennett family joined a group of 107 wagons headed south on the Old Spanish Trail. Led by early LDS pioneer, Captain Jefferson Hunt, the emigrants intended to get to the gold fields by way of Los Angeles. It wasn't long before a bogus map circulated the train and caused chaos and defection.

Shortcut through Death Valley

Of the 107 wagons, 100 wagons were lured off the Old Spanish Trail. Most turned back when they hit an impassible canyon. Manly, his friends, three families, and a loose group of bachelors known as the "Jayhawkers" persisted. They blundered into Death Valley where they lost everything - some even their lives.