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
Several Oregon Trail branches and route variations led to the Willamette Valley. The most popular was the Barlow Road, which was carved though the forest around Mount Hood from The Dalles in 1846 as a toll road at $5.00 per wagon and 10 cents per head of livestock. It was rough and steep with poor grass but still cheaper and safer than floating goods, wagons and family down the dangerous Columbia River.