Thousands of pioneers journeyed over 1,000 miles to reach this point, and illness and death were common along the trail. People died and were buried all along the route, and it is estimated that one out of ten emigrants who started on the trail died before completing the trip. Roughly 90 percent of the deaths were caused by disease, while the rest resulted from childbirth, accidents, and violence. In the late 1840s and early 1850s, cholera reached epidemic proportions on the trails after being caught by drinking tainted water, bringing high fever, vomiting, and dehydration; in a few instances, almost entire wagon companies were wiped out by its painful and rapid death. Buried on this ridge, safe from tramping feet and iron-wheeled wagons, are over 20 known American Indian and emigrant graves.