So today in class we had a substitute and we had to read these sheets about the Oregon trail. I learned some things such as the fact that because there were not that many trees around and due to the increasing number of travelers on the Oregon Trail, what little wood was available was used up. Due to this they had to collect...buffalo dung. It sounds nasty right? Ya I would agree with you there. That wasn't the worst part though, the children would actually take pellets that they found and they would toss them around. I understand that it was a substitute to wood for a fire and it didn't stink but still...just gross...  I also learned that many children died because they got run over with a wagon wheel. Also, everyone wanted to leave at once and this caused congestion and traffic jams on the trail. Some who were on the trail didn't even know how to control the oxen because they never had to do it before. When it came to bedtime for them they often feel asleep on the ground because of how tired they were from the long journey. It was about 2000 miles long and many illnesses were a problem for the travelers. It seemed like a very long and painful journey to make I don't think that I would have survived that if I had to go on it.