How many emigrants followed the trails to California, the Pacific Northwest, and Utah?
Probably about 500,000. Perhaps 1 out of every 250 emigrants left some kind of written account. [Merrill Mattes, Platte River Narratives, p, 5.] 1812-1848: 5,000 to Salt Lake; 10,000 to Oregon; 2,000 to California. 1849: Perhaps as many as 40,000. This includes northsiders and those who failed to register either at Fort Kearny or Fort Laramie. 1850: 65,000 is a defensible figure. This was the most disastrous of the migration years with perhaps 5,000 deaths, mostly caused by cholera. 1851: Less than 10,000. 1852: Probably close to 70,000. 1853: About 35,000. 1854: Some 20,000, with over half going to California and the rest to Utah. 1855: The majority of an estimated 7,000 went to Utah. 1856: An estimated 12,000; two-thirds went to California. 1857: Not more than 6,000, with two-thirds again going to California. 1858: An estimated 7,500. 1859: Perhaps 80,000; 60,000 went to Colorado because of the discovery of gold on Cherry Creek. 1860: On the order of 20,000. This figure is more of an
