Photos

: Goodland, Kansas

: Topeka, Kansas

: Independence, Missouri, the starting point of the trip

: National Frontier Trails Museum in Independence

: Civil War Expo, Gardner, Kansas

: Civil War Expo, Gardner, Kansas

: Making mats on a wagon wheel on the Civil War Expo

: Demonstration of firing a rifle on the Civil War Expo

: Demonstration of firing a canon

: Demonstration of firing a canon

: Anachronism on the Civil War Expo

: Abraham Lincoln likes my pack mule

: I think I’m on the right track

: So this is it, the prairie

: Welcome to America

: Red Vermillion River

: Gravel road in Kansas

: Emigrants saw them in herds of thousands of animals; the buffalo, or bison

: Illegally parked on a reconstructed ferry

: The stone where James Frazier Reed of the unfortunate Donner Party carved his name in

: In Holland we have church towers, on the prairie they have water towers to be able to spot a town from the distance

: A statue of a Pony Express rider in Marysville, Kansas. A large stretch of this postal route went over the Oregon Trail

: A musk thistle on the prairie

: The Hollenberg Pony Express Station near Hanover, Kansas

: Vertical bends in Kansas

: Oregon Trail marker in Nebraska

: Oops…

: Pony Express Station in Nebraska

: Twix at a 100 degrees (40 graden)

: Nebraska

: Nebraska

: Fort Kearny museum; sometimes even the experts have no idea

: Blacksmith shop in museum Fort Kearny, Nebraska

: Fort Kearny, Nebraska

: James is restoring a ‘house’, that’s previously been a gas station and a souvenir shop

: They’re not afraid of cars, but motorcycles they think are weird

: Taking a break somewhere in Nebraska

: ‘Too thick to drink, and too thin to plow’ Platte River, Nebraska

: A monument to commemorate the Old Oregon Trail. In the background modern ‘prairie schooners’

: Somewhere along the road in Nebraska

: Ole’s Big Game Saloon, Paxton, Nebraska

: Often seen in the midwest; old cowboy boots on poles

: Before the shootout

: Not all the roads were nice and smooth

: Many children of immigrants wore no shoes on their journey westward. Because of this plant, the prickly pear, they learned to be careful where they walked

: An old Oregon Trail marker, abused by cattle for many years

: A pageant about the Oregon Trail, Near Ash Hollow, Nebraska

: Sunset in Nebraska

: Emigrants had to be creative. For the marking of the grave of Rebecca Winters an old wagon wheel was used

: Traffic education in Nebraska

: Turtle in the desert of Nebraska

: Lark sparrow in the desert of of Nebraska. Chimney Rock in the background

: Chimney Rock, Nebraska

: Grave near Chimney Rock, Nebraska

: ‘Prairie schooner’ at Scotts Bluff Monument, Nebraska

: View from Scotts Bluff National Monument

: View from Scotts Bluff National Monument

: Natural Bridge, Wyoming

: Natural Bridge, an idyllic spot in the middle of the dry desert of Wyoming. Also a popular camping spot of the emigrants

: Torrington, Wyoming

: Monument to commemorate the Grattan Massacre, 1854, where the loss of a cow of an emigrant ultimately resulted in the death of 29 soldiers and their translator

: GPS controlled irrigation on the fields in Wyoming

: Somewhere in Wyoming

: The River Platte

: The jackalope, mythical creature of the western U.S.: a jackrabbit with antlers of an antelope

: Bad weather in Wyoming

: Leaving the storm behind

: Een antilope, of pronghorn, watching me from a safe distance

: Swallow nests under a bridge

: Fort Laramie, Wyoming

: Fort Laramie, Wyoming

: Fort Laramie, Wyoming

: U-haul in 1860, Fort Laramie, Wyoming

: Fort Laramie, Wyoming

: Fort Laramie, Wyoming

: Fort Laramie

: Yukka country

: Black Hills, Wyoming

: Register Cliff, Wyoming

: Register Cliff

: Deep wagon ruts in Guernsey, Wyoming

: Statue at National Historic Trails Interpretive Center in Casper, Wyoming

: National Historic Trails Interpretive Center in Casper, Wyoming

: National Historic Trails Interpretive Center in Casper, Wyoming

: Fort Caspar Museum, Casper, Wyoming

: Ferry replica, Fort Caspar Museum, Casper, Wyoming

: ‘Suttlers store’ in Fort Caspar Museum in Casper, Wyoming

: ‘Suttlers store’ in Fort Caspar Museum in Casper, Wyoming

: We all travel in our own way

: Names in Independence Rock, Wyoming

: View from Independence Rock, Wyoming. If the emigrants would make it to this landmark before the 4th of July, they were on schedule

: Independence Rock, Wyoming

: Empty skies in Wyoming

: De Wind River Range is coming closer

: The Hudson-Atlantic City Road, Wyoming

: Subalpine daisy along The Hudson-Atlantic City Road, Wyoming

: Marker on South Pass

: Stone monument to commemorate the first two white women to cross the continental divide

: South Pass, Wyoming, the crossing of the Rocky Mountains at 7,411 feet (2259 meters)

: Off road just after South Pass

: Pacific Springs, the Wind River Range in the background

: View at Pacific Springs and Wind River Range, Wyoming

: Just after the town of Farson, Wyoming, it is so empty that even a sign that warns for cattle on the road is a real sight

: Lyman, Wyoming

: I’ll take the red and white one

: Fort Bridger, Wyoming

: Fort Bridger store

: Kelvin Hoover tells me everything about the Black & Orange Lincoln Highway Motel

: Some explanation about the 120 pound (55 kilogram) ox yoke

: National Oregon/California Trail Center in Montpelier

: Geyser in Soda Springs

: Deserted house with bad teeth in Idaho

: North of Soda Springs, Idaho

: Finally, some flowers! Pontneuf River valley, north of Soda Springs, Idaho

: Pontneuf River valley

: Pontneuf River valley, Idaho

: Pontneuf River valley, Idaho

: Not a bad place to live. Chesterfield Reservoir, Pontneuf valley, Idaho

: Pontneuf River valley

: Fort Hall Indian Reservation

: Fort Hall Indian Reservation

: Fort Hall, Pocatello, Idaho

: In the West, this is how you hang your rifle on the wall. Fort Hall, Pocatello, Oregon

: Pelicans in the Snake River at the American Falls dam, Idaho

: Pelicans waiting for fish at the narrow passage along the dam at American Falls

: In this valley of the Raft River, emigrants had to make a final choice; are we going to Oregon … or California after all?

: Caldron Linn, on the north side of the Snake River

: A northern blazing star. The Snake River valley in the background

: The Snake River

: Twin Falls, or Shoshone Falls

: Thousands Springs, Idaho

: A Bull snake, warming itself on the warm concrete at the end of the day

: North of Mountain Home, Idaho

: At Mountain Home, Idaho, I expected some cool forest, but all there was waiting for me was hot and dry desert

: View at Boise, Idaho

: The Snake River

: No, behind you!

: Stampede!

: Oregon Trail Interpretive Center in Baker City, Oregon

: Oregon Trail Interpretive Center in Baker City, Oregon

: Oregon Trail Interpretive Center in Baker City, Oregon

: View a the Blue Mountains from the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center in Baker City, Oregon.The white dot on the foreground is a wagon the emigrants traveled in

: You see some interesting things on the road

: Mount Hood on the horizon

: Hay Canyon, Oregon

: Hay Canyon, Oregon

: First View Monument; this is where the emigrants would have their first view of the Columbia River

: Columbia River, Oregon

: Mount Doom…uh Hood!

: The Old Barlow Road

: Barlow Road, Oregon

: Small detour on the Barlow Road

: Laurel Hill in Oregon was the most difficult descent of the entire trail, the wagons had to be lowered here with ropes

: A campsite pole is really useful when you want to lubricate your chain

: The end of the Trail, Oregon City, Oregon

: Portland, Oregon

: On my way home it’s hot

: Almost home. Our back yard, Rocky Mountains National Park