This scent could be considered treasure for which the adventuresome dig. It is deep and musky, roses preserved from an important event, but less brittle, more supple.
Mission – a resting place along the Oregon Trail. Many of those who settled in missions believed their calling was to provide for emigrants who often ran low on provisions. One such mission, the Whitman Mission or "Waiilatpu," "place of the rye grass," as it was called, served emigrants with its gristmill and blacksmith and acres of crops. The settlers tried to grow enough to meet the needs of so many passing by. Sometimes the pleasant scent of roses also charmed the weary travelers.
Chimney Rock Sage
Imagine the east wind riding the rolling hills of eastern Oregon. Imagine sage brush surviving the ice of winter storms and the heat of brief summer. This soap is spicy and enduring.
Chimney Rock – a great spire of natural eroded rock 500 feet tall that could be seen from thirty miles away. This natural monument, which some believed could be the eighth wonder of the world, served as a beacon for the pioneers crossing Nebraska.
Emigrant Castile
This subtle natural scent is reminiscent of a sunrise over the prairie. Its light is soft and respectful. It awakens your senses slowly and completely. This soap has no added scenting and is designed for those sensitive to scented soaps.
Emigrant – name for those migrated out. The pioneers who crossed America from one of the many jumping off places along the Missouri River to the western states constituted the largest overland migration in history. Unfortunately, ten percent perished along the route (30,000 died of calamity, disease, or other nasty things).
Green River Lemon Grass
As if steeped in rich milk, the lemon grass awakens your senses. It is tangy, and it replenishes like a generous river.
Green River – a treacherous river crossing for the emigrants. They had to disassemble the wagons and convert them into boats. When ferries were constructed, sometimes boatmen fleeced the emigrants with exorbitant crossing fees and often the boats swamped. The Green River dug huge canyons in the desert and provided the only water source for many miles.
Soda Springs Elixer
An invigorating soap harkening to the effervescent effect experienced by the pioneers as they bathed in the natural hot springs of Soda Springs.
Soda Springs was a popular stop-off for the weary pioneers. Its natural hot springs were thought to have healing powers. The town of Soda Springs, Idaho has a geyser in the middle of town that erupts every hour on the hour.
Pioneer Oatmeal & Honey
A scent so warm and replenishing, just like a steaming bowl of oatmeal and honey, you'll feel satisfaction all day long. This sturdy scent stands up to a rugged day's activity.
Pioneer – someone who breaks new ground, leads the way. From outside Independence, Missouri, pioneers often waited months for the grass to grow long enough after the harsh winters of the prairies so that the animals pulling their simple farm wagons could graze. These animals hauled the hundreds of pounds of flour, oats, bacon, and other supplies needed for the journey lasting six months or more.
Trail Hand Soap
Cleaning qualities of citrus with an infusion of finely ground pumice mean the defeat of even the toughest wagon axle grease.
Trail Hand - The grueling journey of the Oregon Trail required a person of many talents. From repairing broken wagon wheels to rounding up stray livestock, the trail hand was always in the thick of it. He would have been glad to have this soap in his saddle bag.
Canemah Cucumber
Reminiscent of spring and summer, this soap is clean and crisp. The cooling, cleansing properties of cucumber, leaves your skin feeling fresh and youthful
Canemah means "canoe place," a stop along the Willamette River above the huge Willamette Falls. The name also refers to the Indian tribe who claimed the fishing rights to this rich part of the river and demanded payment from other tribes to fish and trade at the falls. Unfortunately for this tribe, the payment became too much for other tribes who eventually overran the Canemahs. Later this area became a small community and developed into a major site for sternwheel river boat construction. The small community, with its pioneer cemetery, still stands west of Oregon City along the Willamette River.
Sweetwater Lavender
Over fields of lavender a light breeze blows. This is the scent of petticoats and Sunday suits, of pioneers in their finest. It is elegant and distinct.
Sweetwater – a rich and fertile land in Wyoming in which Shoshone and Ute tribes hunted and gathered. A great flood of settlers crossed the Sweetwater River at "Three Crossings." Because they caught trout and found other fresh game, the pioneers believed this land to be bountiful and blessed.
Independence Rock Vanilla
This scent is smooth, as subtle as the vanilla in a Root Beer float. It is somewhat elusive and alluring, like the names etched in a rock battered by wind and rain.
Independence Rock – also known as "The Register of the Plains," is a landmark in Wyoming where emigrants would stop and engrave their names. This humpback rock rose out of the desert and broke up the landscape. Hunters, trappers, and adventurers before the 1830s named the rock, and single men were known to offer their service for matrimony by chiseling messages in the rock for single women in the wagon trains stopping to rest. Thousands of names are still visible, inscribed in the granite face.
Prairie Wildflower
As rare as true native prairies today, this soap is reminiscent of coneflowers, prairie flowers, and pasture roses. You’ll feel the texture of flowers and rolling grasslands.
Prairie Wildflowers of the Oregon Trail – the fragrant wildflowers along the trail provided the travelers with much needed respite from the daily odors of the journey. With names like blazing star, trumpet creeper, wild indigo and cardinal flower, some plants also were used in herbal remedies.
St. Joe’s Tea Tree
Not as sweet as the elixir, more subtle, this soap works wonders on the skin. Tea Tree is a natural anti-fungal.
St. Joseph, Missouri – one of the important jumping off points for pioneers heading to Oregon or California. Platted in 1842 by Joseph Robidoux, and named after the patron saint, it was where the Pony Express was first started on April 3rd, 1860.
Fort Casper Mint
Known to strengthen and soothe nerves and sinews, this mint has a penetrating menthol, good for muscles, lasting through the lng work day.
Fort Caspar, Wyoming – Built late, this fort was a staage stop, a Pony Express transfer station, and a telegraph office, but it was also a battleground where soldiers were killed after native people were massacred. A mint of this name can both soothe and replenish.
Windlass Hill Refresher
Welcome as shade in a Nebraska grassland, this soap offers flowers and a refreshing spring.
Windlass Hill – Pioneers were willing to risk everything, wrecking their wagons, losing belongings, cracking bones in order to descend down this steep hill to access the spring, shelter, and relief of Ash Hollow. The descent was so steep, the road was said to “hang.”
Blue Mountain Floral
This scent is easy. It’s tropical flowers and waterfalls in the middle of Old Growth pine.
Blue Mountains – In northeastern Oregon, these mountains were hard, one of the hardest parts of the trail, with rocky ridges, steep desceents, and dense forests. But the mountains gave the settlers hope because they were at last in the Oregon Territory, near their goal.
Hemp Oil Soap
Why Hemp Oil?
Hemp oil is derived from commercially produced, organically grown hemp seed. The oil is a rich source of polyunsaturated fats including the essential fatty acids (EFA) Omega 3 and Omega 6 plus GLA (Gamma Linolenic Acid). These EFAs are not created naturally by the human body and must be introduced from external sources.
This combination of fatty acids makes hemp seed oil a natural emollient and moisturizer. The regular use of Oregon Trail Soap Company Hemp Soap will replenish the skin’s natural moisturizing barrier that is lost by exposure to the heat and radiation of the sun and other detrimental environments the skin is exposed to.
Shea Butter
Oregon Trail Soap Company also uses Shea Butter in the formulation of our handcrafted Hemp Soap. Shea Butter is cold-pressed from the nut pulp of the Karite tree, growing in western Africa savannas, French West Indies and the Caribbean Sea islands. Shea butter exceeds Cocoa Butter in its skin protecting capabilities. A rich emollient, Shea Butter is a natural moisturizer that maintains and protects the skin.
Oregon Trail Soap Company has combined these two superior moisturizers to produce a soap bar that, with continued use, will leave your skin feeling smooth and refreshed and your hair glossy and manageable.
Foot Rejuvenator
A round bar of white glycerin soap encapsulating a loofa sponge, contains tea tree oil and is lightly scented with sandalwood. The earthy scent of sandalwood, the natural antiseptic properties tea tree, and the gentle but firm abrasive action of the loofa helps restore tired, trail-trodden feet.
Shaving Soap
Refreshing Bay Rum scent, harkens back to the barber chair, hot towels, and a supreme trust in the man with the razor. All that’s missing is the barber’s banter and the striped pole.