![]() ![]() Historian Aaron Smith (via Deseret News) notes that the later settlers left, the more susceptible to cholera they would be, mostly because you were following in the footsteps of people who were essentially pooping out cholera as they went. There were a few reasons for it, and Brian Altonen says part of the problem was the saline-alkaline waters of the Platte were the perfect breeding ground for cholera left behind in settlers' waste products. By 1850, the area was swimming with cholera. ![]() Those who didn't wait tended to drown in full view of others. Even as they started ferrying wagons across, they found they couldn't keep up - dozens of wagons were lined up waiting for their turn to cross. The river crossing was massively dangerous, and according to WyoHistory, it was made safer but more expensive by the Mormon ferries that were set up in 1847.
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