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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125638
Renegades On The Oregon Trail
By Dennis Cronse
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In the spring of the early 1840's, tile
cry "The grass Is up" could be heard
along tile Missouri River near 1ndepend_
ence. The start of the trek to Oregon was
at hand. The Oregon TraIl was f1nal1y
tree of bUzzards for about six months.
Emigrants loaded their wagons with
food, school books, essentl.al furniture,
and the family to travel the Marly 2,000
miles from Independence, Missouri,
through what Is now Nebraska, Wyoming,
Idaho and Oregon to settle in tile WUllamette Valley near tile Pacific Ocean.
Nearly 300,000 hardy pioneers succeeded. Many others didn't. The canses of
death were varied, but one cause could
readily be forecast. U the travelers
arrived later than the 4tb at July at
IDdependence Rock, (about half way
through Wyoming,) the b11ZZards near
the peak of the Rockies brought calamity
to the wagaon trains.
Late last spring three modern
pioneers decided to follow the Oregon
TraU. Being Californians, we had Uttle
knowledge of the TraIl. When an article
about It appeared in a magazine, we
heard tile haunting cry "The grass Is
UP". The article gave us the Idea to
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l1m1t our trek to just tile portion of tile
Trail from TorrtngtoD. Wyoming to Fort
Br1cIger, Wyoming. My father-in-law,
and brother-in-law, Ed Craven and Ed
Jr., respectively, and myself, are ardent
motorcycle buffs and the mixture of
bikes and the TraIl was our challenge.
Selection of the proper trail hikes was
of primary Importance to us since the
bikes we normally rode were not suitable for tile rough trail. We selected a
new lIgbtweIght, small displacement
(15OCc) trail bike. The bikes wereRenegada TraIl/Scramblers manufactured by
American Eagle Products D1vts1on of
McCormack International Motors.
By trial and error, we determined
that the standard street gearing was
sutrtcient, but we would need knobby
tires for better traction and lean jets for
the high altitude, (about 8,000 feet).
In order to dupUcate the early effort,
we arrived late in May at Torrington,
Wyoming, which Is a mere six miles
from Nebraska on the Oregon Trail.
Upon inquiring about the location of the
Trail, we were informed that It was on
privately owned land which was fenced to
Casper. When we examined the map, we
found that State HIghway 26 closely
paralleled the, TraIl to Casper. Since the
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bikes were street legal, we traveled on
the blacktop to Fort LaramIe which was
located on the Trail. We then continued
on to Guernsey Reservoir taking time to
enjoy the country as we traveled.
The next morning brought with It another challenge. The morning temperature had fallen to 41 degrees when an
early bandit awoke us. A raccoon was
trying to break into our C-rations. We
Get Cycle Hews West II Cycle Hen East
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One of the 20th Centur)' plan.." uses his up dated prairie schooner Into d..p ruts carved b)'
thousands of C_stoea waeons dlIrlnc the 1100's.
1 Year for"
2 Years for $16
Via lSl class ull lor Ole year S18.
Via Air Mall lor oae Year S26.
TIlls is a
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I eaclose died or -DeY onIer 0
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please bill
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TlIflEE IlEEIS FOR
lIE1f SUlSCRIPTIOltS
TO START.
shared our meager breakfast with bim
and then rode to Register Clltt at 5 a.m.
with the cold biting our faces.
The clltt Is made of sandstone into
which thousands of pioneers had scratched their names, hometowns and dates. I
copied three of the more legible names.
Among them the name of C.O. WUlard,
Boston, 1855, turned out to be enshrined
forever. About 200 miles further along
the Trail we came to a grave with his
name, dated 1855. Near Guernsey we
visited a site on the Trail known as The
Ruts. The Ruts were formed by the
passage of the many 1bousands of Conestoga wagons crossing this area.
We went to Casper by thefastestroute
and arrived there in time to buy face
shields.
Beyond The Ruts access to the TraIl
was via Polson Spider Roed according
to an 1nhah1tant of Casper. But Po1son
Spider Roed runs right into a "No
Trespassing" sign and a fence that disappeared in the dusk of evening. We
needed to find a campsite and It began
to sprinkle. But our day wasn't quite
over yet. Just as we were starting to
make camp on the Platte River, we
were attacked by hordes at moquttoes.
Between the rain and mosquitoes, the
decls10n was made to hurry back to the
comfort of a motel in Casper.
The next morning when we could see
and feel the degree of the burn, Ed Sr.
decided to lay over for one day to heal a
Uttle and meet us further on at Jeffrey
City. The three pioneers were reduced
to two. We found the Trail with the help
of the American Eagle dealer. That
morning he rode with us three or four
. mUes along the Trail and then he p