Cholera outbreaks and pandemics
That year, cholera was transmitted along the California, Mormon and Oregon Trails as 6,000 to 12,000 are believed to have died on their way to the California Gold Rush, Utah and Oregon in the cholera years of 1849–1855. It is believed more than 150,000 Americans died during the two pandemics between 1832 and 1849.
Oregon Trail Memorial Association
The Oregon Trail Memorial Association (OTMA) was an American organization founded by pioneer Ezra Meeker in 1922 as the Old Oregon Trail Association to memorialize those who traveled to the U.S. West Coast via the Oregon Trail. The group was incorporated in New York in early 1926 as the Oregon Trail Memorial Association. The organization is best known for promoting the Oregon Trail Memorial half dollar. It was succeeded by the American Pioneer Trails Association (APTA) in 1940. Oregon-California Trails Association is considered a successor to OTMA.