So, let's talk about how the loss of life for Americans trying to fulfill Manifest Destiny was high. But first, let's recognize that the California Gold Rush dramatically accelerated "American Westward Expansion" by drawing hundreds of thousands of people to the West. That influx of settlers fueled the idea of Manifest Destiny.
The phrase "Manifest Destiny" was first used by newspaper editor John O'Sullivan in 1845, who advocated for the United States to annex Texas. Coined by John O'Sullivan, his idea was that America was "divinely ordained" to expand and settle across the entire North American continent, from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
If you're wondering why I put "divinely ordained" in quotes, it's because it seems to me that many people throughout human history have felt that God, or Gods, have ordained certain things. For example, various Native American tribes, long before Europeans ever set foot on American soil, felt that their Gods meant for them to have certain lands at the expense of war and slaughter. The same situation was with Hawaiian King Kamehameha, who believed that conquering the other islands was ordained by his Gods. Of course, he probably wouldn't have been able to do that without European warfighting arms and technology, but that's an inconvenient point of fact that Hawaiian history revisionists prefer not to discuss.
So, no, I don't see Americans in the 19th Century believing that America was guided by God to go West as being much different from many people around the world at different points in human history. While America's belief in "Manifest Destiny" is painted as American arrogance on the part of Americans at the time, I don't see it as being much different than other people who believed that their Gods ordained something or other.
The core idea that Americans had a "manifest destiny" to expand from one ocean to the other influenced a great many people and provided a powerful rationale for Westward migration, despite the high cost in American lives. And yes, the cost in American lives, those pioneers who died trying to go West, was extremely high.
That's the part of "Manifest Destiny" that no one talks about. People do talk about how Manifest Destiny played a significant role in the displacement of Native American tribes, in the role it played in the annexation of Texas, and what impact that concept had on the acquisition of territories from Mexico after the Mexican-American War. And yes, people talk about how the addition of new territories fueled debates over slavery, increasing tensions between the North and South, which contributed to the outbreak of the Civil War.
But, for some strange reason, I never hear people talk about the cost of American lives, or how much blood, treasure, and hard work it took to fulfill the idea of Americans having to go West because
God intended for it to take place. There is never a mention of the thousands of American pioneers who died expanding and spreading the American culture or attempting to spread America's democratic ideals across the continent.
So how bad was it in the case of lives lost?
For example, because of the lack of accurate records, it is almost impossible to know the exact number of settler deaths along the trail. One reason is the unrecorded burials. It's true. Graves were often unmarked to protect them from vandals or were intentionally placed in the wagon trail to be trampled over, making them undetectable to animals that might dig them up.
And frankly, between 1841 and 1869, anywhere from 350,000 to 400,000 Americans embarked on the Oregon, California, and Mormon trails. Estimates suggest that anywhere from 30,000 to 40,000 or more American settlers died on the Oregon, California, and Mormon Trails during the 20-year span between 1840 and 1860.
That means that about one in ten, or one in eight, settlers who attempted the journey died along the way. And really, those figures don't capture the overall death toll for settlers during the entire era of Westward expansion, which also includes the countless lives lost in other conflicts, accidents, and diseases. To be realistic, about one in five people during that period died from all sorts of things, including disease, accidents, the weather, starvation, violence, and dumb decisions.
The leading cause of death for American settlers was disease. That was the greatest killer on the trails, in mining camps, towns, on homesteads, farms, ranches, and other settlements. Cholera was the most feared and deadly disease. It is caused by bacteria that thrive in unsanitary water and can kill a healthy person within hours. Typhoid, dysentery, smallpox, measles, and influenza were also common due to poor hygiene and the close quarters of most temporary camps.
As for the weather and other natural disasters, they could be lethal. Extreme heat, thunderstorms, lightning, and deadly hailstones all posed risks to traveling settlers. Severe storms and early snowfalls trapped some parties, leading to starvation, as in the case of the Donner Party, where 35 people died. Of course, the Donner Party is a prime example of the consequences of a poor decision. And yes, their decision to proceed over the Sierra Mountains when they did was dumb.
As for bison stampedes? Yes, they could also cause injuries and wreak havoc on wagon trains. As for bear attacks, there are documented instances of attacks occurring when settlers set out from their wagon trains in search of game.
Of course, just because people made it to where they were going, it didn't mean they would survive. The death toll statistics of those making the journey don't include the deaths of settlers who died in less-documented land acquisition, skirmishes, new homesteads, on farms, ranches, in towns, mining camps and mines, in mills, and in forests falling trees, on ships, during the building of the railroad. And yes, while in reality relatively uncommon compared to dying from disease, starvation, and accidents, deaths from Native American conflicts did take place. Of course, it is impossible to determine exactly how many lives of settlers were lost in various battles and skirmishes throughout the decades of Westward expansion.
As for deaths by criminals, those outlaws who stole and murdered? Widespread lawlessness and the resulting vigilantism did take place for a reason. It's a fact that, along with the good, comes the bad, even during the Western expansion. What took place during the rapid, often chaotic, expansion into new territories was the creation of conditions that led to lawlessness. This resulted in a high incidence of crime, particularly in newly settled mining and cattle towns.
The rise of vigilante justice? Yes, as you've heard me talk about before, from mining camps to new towns springing up, there was no organized law enforcement. So yes, the people had to create what they already knew as "Citizens Committees," also known as "Vigilance Committees." And with official law enforcement often sparse and ineffective, settler communities formed vigilante groups to enforce their own versions of justice, often with brutality. This led to lynchings and summary executions. Was it effective in deterring crime? In most cases, it was. Of course, as is in life, some outlaws were too stupid to understand that the outlaw life was not a really healthy way of life until they were dancing on the end of a rope under some lone tree.
The romanticized image of the American outlaw arose from this era of lawlessness. Figures like Jesse James and Butch Cassidy, who committed acts of violence and theft, became iconic figures in the frontier mythology. As life in the West became more settled, the crime rate in the West did come down. This was mainly because most residents were armed, and outlaws were dealt with accordingly.
If memory serves me right, long before the outlaw Johnny Ringo became famous and his family journeyed to San Jose, California, in a wagon train, he lost his father as a result of a gun accident. It's said that he was pulling a shotgun out of a wagon from the muzzle when it went off. It killed him instantly. And yes, he was buried in an unmarked grave along the trail.
In mills, exposed gears, moving belts, and unguarded blades on machines led to amputations and other severe injuries. Lack of safety regulations, poor ventilation, and crowded environments increased the risk of accidents and illness. Of course, fires and explosions were frequent. For example, from flour dust in mills to methane gas in mines, faulty steam boilers in factories and on trains, fires, and explosions were frequent causes of death and injury.
So yes, besides the large number of Americans who died heading West, Manifest Destiny created harsh conditions and devastating consequences for Native Americans and American settlers alike.
The perilous journey, traveling westward on trails like the Oregon Trail, was a long, difficult, and dangerous ordeal that lasted for months. American pioneers faced brutal weather, starvation, and diseases like cholera, which in many cases wiped out entire wagon trains. Of course, after arriving, they found frontier life brutal.
In most instances, settlers, especially those who moved to the Great Plains, found it difficult to cultivate the dry, tough soil with limited rainfall. Many homes were poorly constructed from mud, and the lack of supplies made for an extremely tough existence. And, in reality, many faced financial failure since the cost of starting a farm was high, and many who took advantage of acts like the Homestead Act were unable to make their farms profitable. Many failed and ended up working as migrant laborers for larger commercial farms.
So, please, when discussing Manifest Destiny, let's not make the mistake of portraying it as though it was a cake walk for American settlers heading West. Let's remember that, driven by a belief that justified America's Westward expansion, American settlers faced many hardships. And yes, the loss of life for Americans trying to fulfill Manifest Destiny was high. Let's refrain from criticizing or belittling, especially in an unfair manner, or disparaging and downplaying what those American pioneers accomplished.
Those American pioneers, those who followed the promise of Manifest Destiny, faced extreme difficulties, a high rate of failure, at a huge loss of life. And for that, they should be admired for their tenacity.
Tom Correa
