Ox

Oxen were the working power behind the enormous overland freight trains described in the account, drawing wagons across distances that could stretch for miles. Their condition and survival mattered to the success of the trade: in 1860, Solomon Young’s forty-wagon shipment reached Utah without losing an ox.

Work in the Freight Trains

A customary overland train comprised forty to eighty large, canvas-covered freight wagons. Each wagon required six yoke of oxen or mules and two drivers; wagon and team together stretched 90 to 100 feet, and wagons were kept about 100 feet apart. A train could therefore extend across the prairie for as much as three miles. Oxen were not incidental to this undertaking: their pulling capacity made it possible to move heavy commercial loads through the overland routes.

The 1860 Utah Shipment

In 1860, Solomon Young took forty wagons to Utah carrying goods and salt pork for the Army. The wagons were coupled in pairs, with about 6,000 pounds aboard each pair, and each pair was drawn by six pairs of oxen. The arrangement drew attention on the train’s arrival at Salt Lake, where Young was said to consider coupling two wagons together the most economical way to freight goods to the territory.

Condition and Consequence

The oxen were reported to have looked remarkably well, and Young lost none through accident or other causes during the trip. When the officer responsible for receiving the goods refused the shipment, Young arranged a credit sale with Brigham Young, who agreed to take the whole consignment. The intact team and successful sale together show the animals’ practical importance to the venture: they had carried the cargo through the journey that made the transaction possible.