K.W. Todd has written a wonderful song called "The Oregon Trail" which can be found on Tania Opland's CD. A review of that CD can be found here. That track alone was enough to make me want to buy the CD. It sings of the hardships and the folks who didn't live to see the other end of the trail. Here's a bit of it:

Where the mountains rise,the wagons got heavy.
So the oxen were doubled to lighten their load.
It snapped the yoke shackle while Darcy Jones was droving.
She landed in pieces so far down below.

It was because of this song that I was so pleased when Sorcha invited Bill and me to visit the Oregon Trail wagon ruts near her home in Wyoming. The song is even more real to me now.