Editing Oregon Trail (section)

===Deaths===
{| class=" wiki table float left"
|+ Oregon-California-Mormon Trail Deaths<ref name=unruh1993-408-410,516>{{harvp|Unruh|1993|pp= 408–410, 516|ps=.}}</ref>
|-
! Cause
! Estimated deaths
|-
| Disease
| 6,000–12,500
|-
| Battling with Native Americans
| 3,000–4,500
|-
| Freezing
| 300–500
|-
| [[Scurvy]]
| 300–500
|-
| Run overs
| 200–500
|-
| Drownings
| 200–500
|-
| Shootings
| 200–500
|-
| Miscellaneous
| 200–500
|-
|-
! Totals
! 10,400–20,000
|}

The route west was arduous and fraught with many dangers, but the number of deaths on the trail is not known with any precision; there are only widely varying estimates. Estimating is difficult because of the common practice of burying people in unmarked graves that were intentionally disguised to avoid being dug up by animals or natives. Graves were often put in the middle of a trail and then run over by the livestock to make them difficult to find. Disease was the main killer of trail travelers; [[cholera]] killed up to 3 percent of all travelers in the epidemic years from 1849 to 1855.

Native attacks increased significantly after 1860, when most of the army troops were withdrawn, and miners and ranchers began fanning out all over the country, often encroaching on Native American territory. Increased attacks along the Humboldt led to most travelers taking the [[Central Nevada Route]]. The Goodall cutoff, developed in Idaho in 1862, kept Oregon-bound travelers away from much of the native trouble nearer the [[Snake River]]. Other trails were developed that traveled further along the [[South Platte]] to avoid local Native American hot spots.

Other common causes of death included [[hypothermia]], drowning in river crossings, getting run over by wagons, and accidental gun deaths. Later, more family groups started traveling, and many more bridges and ferries were being put in, so fording a dangerous river became much less common and dangerous. Surprisingly few people were taught to swim in this era. Being run over was a major cause of death, despite the wagons' only averaging 2–3 miles per hour. The wagons could not easily be stopped, and people, particularly children, were often trying to get on and off the wagons while they were moving—not always successfully. Another hazard was a dress getting caught in the wheels and pulling the person under. Accidental shootings declined significantly after Fort Laramie, as people became more familiar with their weapons and often just left them in their wagons. Carrying around a ten-pound rifle all day soon became tedious and usually unnecessary, as the perceived threat of natives faded and hunting opportunities receded.

A significant number of travelers were suffering from [[scurvy]] by the end of their trips. Their typical flour and salted pork/bacon diet had very little [[vitamin C]] in it. The diet in the mining camps was also typically low in fresh vegetables and fruit, which indirectly led to the early deaths of many of the inhabitants. Some believe that scurvy deaths may have rivaled cholera as a killer, with most deaths occurring after the victim reached California.<ref>Steele, Volney M.D. ''Bleed, Blister, and Purge: A History of Medicine on the American Frontier''. Mountain Press Publishing Company, 2005. pp. 115, 116. {{ISBN|978-0-87842-505-1}}</ref>

Miscellaneous deaths included deaths by [[Maternal death|childbirth]], falling trees, flash floods, [[homicides]], kicks by animals, lightning strikes, snake bites, and [[stampede]]s. According to an evaluation by John Unruh,<ref name=unruh1993-408-410,516 /> a 4 percent death rate or 16,000 out of 400,000 total pioneers on all trails may have died on the trail.

Reaching the [[Sierra Nevada (U.S.)|Sierra Nevada]] before the start of the winter storms was critical for the successful completion of a trip. The most famous failure in that regard was that of the [[Donner Party]], whose members struggled to traverse what is today called [[Donner Pass]], in November 1846. When the last survivor was rescued in April 1847, 33 men, women, and children had died at [[Donner Lake]]; with some of the 48 survivors confessing to having resorted to [[Human cannibalism|cannibalism]] to survive.{{sfnp|Peters|1996|pp=102–109}}