The Long Road to Oregon: The Whitman Mission

The Long Road to Oregon: The Denny party

The journey beyond the trail with the Denny Party—families who didn’t stop in Oregon, but continued north in search of something more. From a difficult landing at Alki Point to the first uncertain days of settlement across Elliott Bay, this episode explores what it meant to arrive… and realize the journey wasn’t over. This is the story of early Seattle—its beginnings, its challenges, and the people who chose to stay. Now streaming on all major podcast apps. #thelongroadtooregon #pnwhistory #seattlehistory #dennyparty #oregontrail #historypodcast #pacificnorthwest #americanhistorySources: https://www.historylink.org/file/426 [https://www.historylink.org/file/426] https://www.historylink.org/file/1009 [https://www.historylink.org/file/1009] https://www.historylink.org/file/212 [https://www.historylink.org/file/212] https://www.historylink.org/file/790 [https://www.historylink.org/file/790] https://www.seattle.gov/cityarchives/exhibits-and-education/digital-document-libraries/denny-party [https://www.seattle.gov/cityarchives/exhibits-and-education/digital-document-libraries/denny-party] https://www.seattle.gov/cityarchives/exhibits-and-education/seattle-history [https://www.seattle.gov/cityarchives/exhibits-and-education/seattle-history] https://www.nps.gov/articles/denny-party.htm [https://www.nps.gov/articles/denny-party.htm] https://www.history.com/topics/us-states/seattle-washington [https://www.history.com/topics/us-states/seattle-washington] https://www.britannica.com/place/Seattle-Washington [https://www.britannica.com/place/Seattle-Washington] https://www.duwamishtribe.org/history [https://www.duwamishtribe.org/history] https://suquamish.nsn.us/home/about-us/history/ [https://suquamish.nsn.us/home/about-us/history/] https://www.washingtonhistory.org/research/collections/ [https://www.washingtonhistory.org/research/collections/] https://www.historylink.org/file/2952 [https://www.historylink.org/file/2952] https://www.historylink.org/file/410 [https://www.historylink.org/file/410] https://www.historylink.org/file/401 [https://www.historylink.org/file/401] https://www.seattlepi.com/local/seattle-history/article/Seattle-history-Denny-Party-Alki-Point-1851-12521850.php [https://www.seattlepi.com/local/seattle-history/article/Seattle-history-Denny-Party-Alki-Point-1851-12521850.php] https://www.pacificnwmag.com/the-denny-party-and-the-founding-of-seattle/ [https://www.pacificnwmag.com/the-denny-party-and-the-founding-of-seattle/]

Bonus: The Long Road to Oregon- The version we played

For this episode of The Long Road to Oregon, we’re looking at a version of the trail many of us remember a little differently. Before the research, before the real stories—for a lot of us, it started with The Oregon Trail. Decisions, supplies, river crossings… and the message we all remember. This episode looks at what the game got right, what it left out, and how that version compares to the reality behind it. Now streaming on all major podcast apps. #thelongroadtooregon #oregontrail #historypodcast #pnwhistory #nostalgia #edutainment #pnwpodcast Sources:  https://www.computerhistory.org/tdih/oregon-trail/ [https://www.computerhistory.org/tdih/oregon-trail/] https://www.oregontrail.com/history/ [https://www.oregontrail.com/history/] https://www.mnhs.org/education/resources/the-oregon-trail-game [https://www.mnhs.org/education/resources/the-oregon-trail-game] https://www.pbs.org/video/oregon-trail-game-history/ [https://www.pbs.org/video/oregon-trail-game-history/] https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/how-oregon-trail-game-became-classroom-staple-180962833/ [https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/how-oregon-trail-game-became-classroom-staple-180962833/] https://www.theverge.com/2017/4/14/15291674/oregon-trail-game-history-education-minnesota [https://www.theverge.com/2017/4/14/15291674/oregon-trail-game-history-education-minnesota] https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Oregon-Trail-computer-game [https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Oregon-Trail-computer-game] https://www.died-of-dysentery.com/stories/history-of-the-game.html [https://www.died-of-dysentery.com/stories/history-of-the-game.html] https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/03/science/03trail.html [https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/03/science/03trail.html] https://www.gamehistory.org/oregon-trail/ [https://www.gamehistory.org/oregon-trail/] https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/71204/brief-history-oregon-trail-game [https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/71204/brief-history-oregon-trail-game] https://www.wired.com/2014/07/oregon-trail/ [https://www.wired.com/2014/07/oregon-trail/]

The Long Road to Oregon: The Donner Party

For this episode of The Long Road to Oregon, we follow one of the most infamous stories of the overland journey—the Donner Party. What began as a hopeful crossing turned into a fight for survival in the Sierra Nevada, where early snow, starvation, and impossible choices reshaped every life in the camp. This episode traces the full story—from the decision to take the Hastings Cutoff to the winter that held them in the mountains, told through firsthand accounts and historical record. Now streaming on all major podcast apps. #thelongroadtooregon #donnerparty #oregontrail #pnwhistory #historypodcast #westwardexpansion #americanhistory #truehistory Sources: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/donner-history/ [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/donner-history/] https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/donner-primary-sources/ [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/donner-primary-sources/] https://www.nps.gov/places/donner-memorial-state-park.htm [https://www.nps.gov/places/donner-memorial-state-park.htm] https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/the-donner-party.htm [https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/the-donner-party.htm] https://www.history.com/topics/westward-expansion/donner-party [https://www.history.com/topics/westward-expansion/donner-party] https://www.britannica.com/topic/Donner-Party [https://www.britannica.com/topic/Donner-Party] https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/donner_party/ [https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/donner_party/] https://www.legendsofamerica.com/ca-donnerparty/ [https://www.legendsofamerica.com/ca-donnerparty/] https://www.utahhumanities.org/stories/items/show/96 [https://www.utahhumanities.org/stories/items/show/96] https://www.truckeehistory.org/donner-party [https://www.truckeehistory.org/donner-party] https://www.sierranevadageotourism.org/entries/donner-party/ [https://www.sierranevadageotourism.org/entries/donner-party/] https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/donner-reed-diary/ [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/donner-reed-diary/] https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/donner-breen-diary/ [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/donner-breen-diary/] https://www.library.ucdavis.edu/special-collections/donner-party/ [https://www.library.ucdavis.edu/special-collections/donner-party/] https://digitalcollections.library.unlv.edu/donner-party [https://digitalcollections.library.unlv.edu/donner-party]

The Long Road to Oregon: The Whitman Mission

For the next episode of The Long Road to Oregon, we follow the story of the Whitman Mission—a place many emigrants passed through at the end of the trail, and where rising tension, disease, and cultural misunderstanding came to a breaking point in 1847. This episode looks beyond a single version of the story, tracing what led to that moment and what followed—through firsthand accounts, historical context, and the realities of a region already deeply lived in. Now streaming on all major podcast apps. #thelongroadtooregon #pnwhistory #oregontrail #historypodcast #americanhistory #nativehistory #pnwpodcast Sources: https://www.nps.gov/whmi/learn/historyculture/index.htm [https://www.nps.gov/whmi/learn/historyculture/index.htm] https://www.nps.gov/articles/whitman-mission.htm [https://www.nps.gov/articles/whitman-mission.htm] https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/whitman_massacre/ [https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/whitman_massacre/] https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/cayuse_war/ [https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/cayuse_war/] https://www.historylink.org/file/5296 [https://www.historylink.org/file/5296] https://www.historylink.org/file/5297 [https://www.historylink.org/file/5297] https://www.britannica.com/event/Whitman-Massacre [https://www.britannica.com/event/Whitman-Massacre] https://www.loc.gov/item/2006679053/ [https://www.loc.gov/item/2006679053/] https://www.loc.gov/collections/oregon-trail-miscellany/articles-and-essays/whitman-mission/ [https://www.loc.gov/collections/oregon-trail-miscellany/articles-and-essays/whitman-mission/] https://www.whitman.edu/whitman-mission-history [https://www.whitman.edu/whitman-mission-history] https://www.nps.gov/whmi/learn/historyculture/cayuse.htm [https://www.nps.gov/whmi/learn/historyculture/cayuse.htm] https://www.nps.gov/whmi/learn/historyculture/measles.htm [https://www.nps.gov/whmi/learn/historyculture/measles.htm] https://www.oregonhistoryproject.org/articles/historical-records/whitman-massacre/ [https://www.oregonhistoryproject.org/articles/historical-records/whitman-massacre/] https://www.wsna.org/whitman-mission-history [https://www.wsna.org/whitman-mission-history] https://www.history.com/topics/native-american-history/whitman-massacre [https://www.history.com/topics/native-american-history/whitman-massacre] https://www.historylink.org/File/5192 [https://www.historylink.org/File/5192]

The Long Road to Oregon: Sovereign Lands- The Native Peoples of the Oregon Trail

This episode of The Long Road to Oregon, we’re tracing the trail through the homelands of the sovereign nations who lived along its length—Otoe-Missouria, Pawnee, Sioux, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Shoshone, Nez Perce, Cayuse, Umatilla, Walla Walla, Chinookan peoples, and many more. This episode honors their history, their endurance, and the world emigrants entered long before the trail had a name. Sovereign Lands: The Native Peoples of the Oregon Trail, is out now everywhere you listen to Podcasts! #thelongroadtooregon #oregontrail #pnwhistory #historypodcast #indigenoushistory #nativehistory #oregonhistory #pnwpodcast Sources: https://www.oregontrailcenter.org/indians [https://www.oregontrailcenter.org/indians] https://historicoregoncity.org/2019/04/02/disrupting-the-natives/ [https://historicoregoncity.org/2019/04/02/disrupting-the-natives/] https://pacificu.libguides.com/c.php?g=1050460&p=7794169 [https://pacificu.libguides.com/c.php?g=1050460&p=7794169] https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/death-on-trails.htm [https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/death-on-trails.htm] https://pacificu.libguides.com/c.php?g=1050460&p=7636236 [https://pacificu.libguides.com/c.php?g=1050460&p=7636236] https://www.historylink.org/file/10365 [https://www.historylink.org/file/10365] https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/war-on-the-oregon-california-trails.htm [https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/war-on-the-oregon-california-trails.htm] https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/oregon_trail/ [https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/oregon_trail/] https://www.human.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/History/State_and_Local_History/Oregons_History%3A_People_of_the_Northwest_in_the_Land_of_Eden/01%3A_Chapters/1.04%3A_Native_Americans_in_the_Land_of_Eden-_An_Elegy_of_Early_Statehood [https://www.human.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/History/State_and_Local_History/Oregons_History%3A_People_of_the_Northwest_in_the_Land_of_Eden/01%3A_Chapters/1.04%3A_Native_Americans_in_the_Land_of_Eden-_An_Elegy_of_Early_Statehood] https://oregontrail101.com/native.html [https://oregontrail101.com/native.html] https://www.legendsofamerica.com/indians-emigrants/ [https://www.legendsofamerica.com/indians-emigrants/] https://ndnhistoryresearch.com/2023/12/14/integrating-tribal-perspectives-into-an-oregon-trail-history/ [https://ndnhistoryresearch.com/2023/12/14/integrating-tribal-perspectives-into-an-oregon-trail-history/] https://www.obbg.org/blog/2023/08/the-oregon-trail-and-indigenous-people-heritage/ [https://www.obbg.org/blog/2023/08/the-oregon-trail-and-indigenous-people-heritage/] https://ctuir.org/about/brief-history-of-ctuir/ [https://ctuir.org/about/brief-history-of-ctuir/] https://www.oregontrailcenter.org/indians [https://www.oregontrailcenter.org/indians] https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/oregon_trail/ [https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/oregon_trail/] https://www.oregontrail101.com/native.html [https://www.oregontrail101.com/native.html] https://www.historyonthenet.com/american-old-west-in-depth [https://www.historyonthenet.com/american-old-west-in-depth] https://www.oregonhistoryproject.org/narratives/this-land-oregon/the-first-peoples/the-first-peoples/ [https://www.oregonhistoryproject.org/narratives/this-land-oregon/the-first-peoples/the-first-peoples/] https://online.ucpress.edu/ch/article/99/3/53/189887/Retracing-The-Oregon-Trail [https://online.ucpress.edu/ch/article/99/3/53/189887/Retracing-The-Oregon-Trail] https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/war-on-the-oregon-california-trails.htm [https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/war-on-the-oregon-california-trails.htm] https://www.ndnhistoryresearch.com/2023/12/14/integrating-tribal-perspectives-into-an-oregon-trail-history/ [https://www.ndnhistoryresearch.com/2023/12/14/integrating-tribal-perspectives-into-an-oregon-trail-history/] https://www.eugenecascadescoast.org/blog/post/native-peoples/ [https://www.eugenecascadescoast.org/blog/post/native-peoples/] https://www.history.com/articles/oregon-trail [https://www.history.com/articles/oregon-trail]