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.
The Oregon Trail (1959 film)
In the midst of the Oregon boundary dispute, James K. Polk is secretly sending military agents, disguised as pioneers, west on the Oregon Trail so that they may protect American settlers in the event of war with British North America. Rumors of this conspiracy reach James Gordon Bennett Sr. at the "New York Herald". He assigns one of his reporters, Neal Harris, to go on the Oregon Trail himself and find out the truth. On the trail, Harris befriends the eccentric Zachariah Garrison, who is bringing apple trees to Oregon. Harris clashes with Capt. George Wayne, the leader of Polk's agents, and they become involved in a love triangle over a young pioneer woman named Prudence Cooper. After they survive various hardships on the trail, Harris discovers who Wayne really is and declares that he will expose the military buildup in Oregon. Wayne tries to have Harris arrested, but he escapes.