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.
Route of the Oregon Trail
The cause of cholera, ingesting the "Vibrio cholerae" bacterium from contaminated water, and the best treatment for cholera infections were unknown in this era. Literally hundreds of travelers on the combined California, Oregon, and Mormon Trails succumbed to cholera in the 1849-1855 time period. Most were buried in unmarked graves in Kansas, Nebraska, and Wyoming.