We’re launching a brand new Oregon Trail series—digging into the real stories behind the wagon ruts, the dangerous shortcuts, the lost parties, and the moments where hope and survival collided on the road west.
Our first episode drops this week, starting with the Meek Cutoff, often called Oregon’s “other Donner Party.” A massive wagon train. A promised shortcut. A deadly desert passage. And a winter that nearly broke them long before the Willamette Valley came into view.
Step into the trail with us. The Oregon Trail wasn’t just a road… it was a gamble—one many never returned from.
#oregontrail #pnwpodcast #historypodcast #spookypodcast #truehistory #meekcutoff #oregonsdonnerparty #pacificnorthwest #graveyardofthepacific #podcastseries #historynerds #westwardexpansion #pnwhistory #americanhistory #storytellingpodcastSources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meek_Cutoff
https://www.oregonpioneers.com/CooleyDiary.htm
https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Meek_Cutoff
https://www.oregonhistoryproject.org/articles/historical-records/king-burial-and-a-letter/
https://uwapress.uw.edu/book/9780295993096/the-meek-cutoff/
https://www.historylink.org/File/10727
https://oregonoverland.com/4-new.pdf
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/en%3AOregon_Historical_Quarterly/Volume_35/Route_of_Meek_Cut-Off%2C_1845
https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvcwnmpg
https://historicoregoncity.org/2019/04/02/free-emigrant-road-1853/
https://oregontic.com/oregon-historical-markers/cutoff-fever/
https://www.oregonpioneers.com/CooleyDiary.htm
https://www.oregonoverland.com/4-new.pdf
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/en%3AOregon_Historical_Quarterly/Volume_35/Route_of_Meek_Cut-Off%2C_1845
https://thatoregonlife.com/2023/06/meek-cutoff-oregon-trail-1845/
https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Meek_Cutoff