Roger
Assuming it is Portland, OH not OR by todays highways it is 300 miles to
Hannibal and 870 miles to Hiawatha, KS. At ten miles a day that would be
three months to travel that.
Assuming that Portland OH had a railroad they could have taken the
train, however there would be reasons to not take the train and drive a
wagon. First taking the train with all your posessions would be
expensive. Then when you get to St. Joseph you would have to buy a wagon
and outfit it.
If you have a wagon you can load your possesions and maybe even herd a
couple head of cattle.
My grandparents moved from Iowa to Montana in 1917 and they drove a
Model T not taking a train. It cost money to move back then just like it
does today.
Ken Martin
Roger & Sylvia Hanson wrote:
>
> Here's one for the Hannibal and St.Jo historians out there. (H&STJ later
> became part of the 'Q').
>
> My great-grandfather left Portland, OR in the spring of 1857 to settle near
> Hiawatha, Brown County Kansas. Family legend has it that the trip took
> months in a covered wagon. I wondered why he didn't just take the train?
> The info that I've found so far shows that he could easily have traveled, in
> 1857, by train from Portland to at least Hannibal, MO. From there, he could
> take the Hannibal and St. Jo. at least part of the way to St. Joseph.
> I find history stating that the H&STJ started building from both ends in
> 1851 and completed the link in 1859 (carrying the mail for the Pony Express
> in 1860).
> Can anyone confirm this? - how far west of Hannibal was the H&STJ in
> 1857? - and how far east from St. Joseph had they built that same year?
>
> (My guess is that he did get outfitted in St. Jo and went by covered wagon
> only from there to Hiawatha).
>
> Thanks for the help.
> It should prove interesting.
>
> Roger Hanson
> Kansas City, MO
>
>
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