The St. Joe Road: Emigration Mid-1800s

The St. Joe Road is the story of the many emigrants who traveled on the Oregon and California Trials who began their journey on the St. Joe Road, which started in St. Joseph, Missouri. Approximately 525,000 people went west on the Oregon-California Trail from 1840 to 1865, making it a major phenomena in the development of the United States. During the major emigration years of 1849, 1850, and 1851, St. Joseph, Missouri, led all other jumping-off points in number of emigrants. St. Joseph, then on the western edge of civilization, became known throughout the United States and the rest of the world for the role it played in the westward movement. From the Missouri River crossings to the junction of the St. Joe and Independence Roads, it’s still possible to go where the pioneers once walked beside their wagons. The emigrants’ own words from their diaries and journals are used to tell the story in The St. Joe Road. But, The St. Joe Road not only tells the story! of the hustle and bustle on the streets of St. Joseph, Missouri, as emigrants were preparing to cross the Missouri River, it gives explicit driving instructions for finding the trail today. The book includes information on where the Indians charged emigrants to cross the Wolf River and where the emigrants stopped to pitch camp. Although the look of the land has changed, The St. Joe Road is a guide to places where you can still see the swale of the old wagon trail leading across the prairie to the west.