Not all Native Americans were out to kill you!
According to popular perception, the biggest danger facing pioneers on the Oregon Trail was being attacked by Native Americans. Not so. Sure, the early pioneers did certainly fear the various tribes whose land they were to cross on the way to Oregon. But this was more due to the countless stories of clashes between wagon trains and Native Americans – most of them exaggerated, to say the least – and not really a reflection of daily life on the trail. In fact, relations between Native Americans and pioneers were often friendly or at the very least cordial.
The two parties had good reason to remain on good terms, after all. The pioneers needed goods and food, and the Native Americans were happy to trade. Native American tribes could often be hired as guides in cases of bad weather or blocked roads. Indeed, for the early pioneers, Native Americans were a valuable source of help, without whom they might not have made it. For instance, the diaries of some pioneers tell how Native Americans would be waiting at rivers with canoes to help pioneers make the crossing. Or, in some cases, they served as porters, helping out those pioneers who were traveling on foot with their luggage in exchange for a small fee. There was also a vibrant trading scene. The Native Americans would trade buffalo hides or furs and might even sell horses in exchange for beads and tobacco.
However, sometimes the pioneers’ worst fears were realized. In one much-publicized case, the Ward Train was attacked by Shoshones. In all, 19 pioneers were killed, many of them having been tortured beforehand. But the violence wasn’t all one-way. In fact, one of the biggest blood baths that occurred on the Oregon Trail was actually carried out by the pioneers. When a cow strayed into a Sioux village, the people living there slaughtered it and ate it. This infuriated the cow’s owner, a man by the name of Gratten. Even though the Sioux apologized and even offered Gratten a horse as compensation, he was not willing to back down. He and his men fired on the Sioux. Even though they didn’t fight back, the pioneers showed no mercy, killing several people, including the Sioux chief, Chief Conquering Bear. Enraged by this, the Native Americans finally retaliated, killing 29 men, including Gratten. The First Sioux War had begun.