TRAIL
BASICS
A Day on
the Trail
Eighteen to twenty miles a day over prairie was considered a good days travel
Pioneers were awakened shortly before daybreak by the sound of
a bugle or a shotgun from the guard.
After
several days on the trail,
certain routines were followed:
4:00 am: a bugler blows a trumpet or a rifle
is fired by the night guards to wake up the camp.
5:00
am: cattle are rounded up after being allowed
to graze during the night (except when Indians
threatened).
5:30
am: women and children are up and fixing breakfast
of usually bacon, corn porridge or “Johnny Cakes” made
of flour and water.
6:30 am: women
rinse plates and mugs and stow bedding, while the men
haul down tents and load them in the wagons.
7:00
am: after every family has gathered their teams
and hitched them to wagons, a trumpeter signals a “Wagons
Ho,” to start the
wagons down the trail. Average distance covered in a day
was usually fifteen miles, but on a good day twenty could
be traveled.
7:30 am: men
ride ahead on horses with shovels to clear out a path,
if needed.
“Nooning Time”: animals and people stop to eat, drink and rest.
1:00
pm: back on the trail.
5:00
pm: when a good
campsite with ample water and grass is found, pioneers
stop to set up camp for the evening. Wagons are formed
into a corral.
6:00
pm: families unpack
and make supper.
7:00
pm: mothers do
chores, men smoke and talk, young people dance.
8:00
pm: camp settles down for the night, guards go out
on duty.
Midnight: night guards
are changed.
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