Provisions Price List

The prices listed below were gathered from a number of sources, including diaries, bills of lading, estate appraisals, and accounts from general stores back East. This price list is a broad generalization of the cost of outfitting for the Oregon Trail in the 1840s and early '50s; it should not be interpreted as representing the cost of food and goods in any particular town at any particular time. If you would like to estimate the cost of items not listed here, you can make a rough adjustment for 150 years of inflation by dividing the price by 20.

DRAFT ANIMALS
ox $30-35 minimum of four needed, but six or eight would be better || milk cow $70-75 || cattle $8-20, priced by age (typically 1-3 years old) || mule $10-15 || pack horse $25 || riding horse up to $75 || bridle & blinders $3 || tack & harness $5 || mule collar $1.25 || horse blanket $2 || whip $1 || pack saddle $2.50 || saddle & saddle bags $5
WAGONS
covered wagon $70, there's no evidence that wagons made for the emigrant trade held up any better than ordinary farm wagons farm wagon $25-30 || wagon bows $3/set for converting a farm wagon to a covered wagon || cloth cover up to $1/yard some emigrants bought heavy canvas sailcloth, while others wove their own linen wagon covers and waterproofed them with beeswax or linseed oil grease potentially free before petroleum could be distilled, animal fats were used as lubricants; the tallow was usually mixed with pine resin, or sometimes beeswax thinned with turpentine || bucket $1
SUNDRIES & CAMP EQUIPMENT
woolen blanket $2.50 || tent $5 - 15 prices varied with size || nails $0.07 per pound || soap $0.15 per pound || sheet iron stove $15 - 20|| coffee mill $1.00 || coffee pot $0.75 || frying pan $1.50 || stew kettle $0.50 || bread pan $0.25 || butcher knife $0.50 || tin table settings $5 includes flatware, plates, and cups for a family of eight || candles $0.15 per pound || 10-gallon wash tub $1.25 || bucket $0.25 "tar buckets" for storing axle grease had tight-fitting tops to keep flies out and cost $1 || axe/shovel/hoe $1.25 || hand tools $2.50 such as augurs, planes, and saws || rope $2.50 50' - 75' coil of 3/4" hemp rope
WEAPONS
rifle $15 double barreled rifles were sometimes seen on the frontier, as repeating rifles were not widely available until after the Civil War || shotgun or musket $10 there were also double barreled shotguns, as well as hybrids fitted with one rifled barrel and one smooth-bored shotgun barrel || Colt revolver $25 || single-shot pistol $5 || powder & shot $5 shot was generally sold by the pound || hunting knife $1
FOOD
flour $0.02 per pound Recommended for each adult: 150 pounds of flour, 50 pounds of corn meal, 50 pounds of bacon, 25 pounds of sugar, 15 pounds of coffee, 25 pounds of dried fruit || Also necessary in varying quantities: salt, pepper, lard, vinegar, saleratus (baking soda) || Optional, but desirable: tea, rice, beans || corn meal $0.05 per pound || bacon $0.05 per pound || sugar $0.04 per pound || coffee $0.10 per pound || dried fruit $0.06 per pound || salt $0.06 per pound || pepper $0.08 per pound || lard $0.05 per pound || vinegar $0.25 per gallon || saleratus $0.12 per pound || tea $0.60 per pound || rice $0.05 per pound || beans $0.06 per pound
ON THE TRAIL
Some examples of expenses the emigrant encountered while en route...
Indian moccasins $0.50 many emigrants wore out several pairs of shoes on the road to Oregon || tanned buffalo hide $4.00 || crossing bridges from $0.15 to $0.50 per wagon prices for bridges and ferries were generally negotiable, and additional charges per head of livestock were common || ferrying rivers $2 - $5 per wagon || resupplying once beyond the frontier, prices at trading posts along the Oregon Trail were typically at least twice those back East and could be much higher
PRICES IN OREGON (1852)
oxen and cows $50 - 100, the first herds of cattle in Oregon were Mexican longhorns driven up from California, but the American settlers considered them to be an inferior breed and were willing to pay top dollar for cattle of known breeds which survived the journey to Oregon, while the longhorns went for as little as $9 a head
wagon $100 - 200 || bacon $0.25 per pound || pork $0.125 per pound || beef $0.10 per pound || tallow $0.15 per pound || lard $0.25 per pound || butter $0.60 per pound || flour $0.06 per pound || coffee $0.20 per pound || sugar $0.10 - 0.16/lb || rice $0.06 per pound || dried peaches $0.12 per pound || apples $0.12 per pound || saleratus $0.25 per pound || salt $0.03 per pound || wheat $1.03 per bushel || oats $1.25 per bushel || onions $2.50 per bushel || potatos $0.75 per bushel || beans and peas $1.50 per bushel || chickens $1 prices for chickens and turkeys are for whole, living birds || turkeys $2 - 2.50 || nails $0.17 per pound || tobacco $0.25 per pound || candles $0.75 per pound || plow iron $62.50 || lumber $25 per thousand board feet lumber prices varied somewhat according to how it was cut and what sort of tree it used to be

Prices in Oregon were typically subject to even more fluctuation than those back East, as the local economy was very much in flux. Labor costs were a major headache for entrepreneurs in Oregon, as gold strikes throughout the 1850s drove wages sky-high. Prices for farm produce were low during the summer and fall and rose during the winter and spring; prices for imported goods dropped when several ships carrying such cargo arrived within a few weeks of one another, but would then rise again as the supply dwindled. Traditional boom-and-bust cycles (in which a commodity in limited supply commands high prices, thereby inspiring people to make so much of it that the price collapses) were also a serious problem in Oregon's early economy. Additionally, there was a constant shortage of capital in the economy even after the gold strikes, as most of the gold soon found its way out of Oregon to pay for imports. Barter remained a fairly common means of transacting business until after the Civil War, though cash on the barrelhead was preferred.
"The gold mines have ever been a curse and a drawback to this country. Prices of labor do not correspond with the prices of our produce... How can farmers afford to pay $40 per month for second rate hands, fifty dollars for common two horse harness, two hundred dollars for a common two horse wagon, twenty-five dollars for a two horse plow, twelve cents a bushel for threshing grain -- and sell their wheat at 75 cents, oats 40 cents, potatoes 25 cents, pork 5 to 6 cents, onions $1, peas 75 cents, etc. etc. I pay sawyers on my mill $60 per month, log choppers $40 to $50 per month, teamsters the same, and yet I sell good flooring, fencing, ceiling, and weatherboards at $12 per thousand feet! Hence many, very many, will vote for Slavery in order to cheapen labor!"
- David Newsom, 1857

Taken from: http://www.endoftheoregontrail.org/