The emigration of 1853 was not so great as that of the previous year, yet 3,700 wagons, 105,000 cattle and 15,000 people passed Fort Kearney.[1] Many followed the north bank of the Platte as usual and so are not included in this count. Kanesville was crowded with people in May and the river banks about the ferries on the Missouri, the Elkhorn and the Loup Fork were crowded with people waiting to cross.[2] No very definite estimate can be made for the following year. The governor of California placed the overland emigration for that year at over 61,000[3] but that included those who came by the southern route as well, and moreover too much reliance should not be placed on such figures. Probably the emigration of 1854 fell off little, if any, from that of 1853. Little more can be said.
In order to gain an adequate conception of the conditions confronting the emigrant we must be able to see the movement across the plains as a whole, yet not lose sight of the individuals. Without an understanding of the magnitude of the movement the details cannot be rightly understood, without some understanding of the details the story is colorless. To appreciate the conditions which the emigrants faced we must follow them in their journey from east to west.
From all over the East and the Middle West the crowds gathered at the outfitting towns along the Missouri. They came overlnad in covered wagons, or on steamboats, or partly by rail and partly by steamboat. In some cases, during the gold rush, special trains were run for the emigrants.[4] Many bought wagons and supplies at St. Louis and steamers carrying emigrants up the Missouri were loaded with wagons, mules, oxen and supplies, as well as with men.[5] In the spring of the year,
