The National Park Service lists the main causes of death along the trail from 1841 to 1869 as disease, gunshot wounds, accidents, river crossings and drowning, and weather. It also says accidental shootings were common and that many emigrants shot themselves with their own guns through careless and inept handling of firearms.

The Oregon-California Trails Association says the two biggest causes of death were disease and accidents, and that shootings, drownings, wagon-wheel crushings, and injuries from handling domestic animals were the biggest accidental killers on the trail. It also says shootings were common and that one usually shot oneself, a friend, or a draft animal when a gun discharged accidentally.

A BLM Oregon Trail interpretive handout says the majority of deaths occurred because of disease caused by poor sanitation, but that mishaps with firearms caused many injuries and deaths. It also lists drowning at river crossings among other recorded causes of death.

The Scotts Bluff brochure says the main causes of death along the Oregon/California Trail included disease, drowning, gun shot wounds, river crossings, accidents, and weather. It states that accidental shootings were common and that shootings, drownings, wagon-wheel crushings, and injuries from domestic animals were the biggest accidental killers.

The PDF says that death on the Overland Trail was driven mainly by illness, cold, fatigue, hunger, and accident. It notes that negligent firearm discharges and wagon runovers were among the fatal hazards, and that only about ten percent of emigrant fatalities were due to accidental shootings, drownings, murders, Indian attacks, and similar trail-specific causes combined.

The Historic Oregon City article says disease was the single biggest threat, but that accidental injuries also occurred, including people being run over by wagons and gunshot wounds. It states that most gunshot wounds on the emigrant trails were the result of careless or inexperienced firearm handling.

The source quotes historical accounts of gun accidents on the trail and says that gun accidents were very common for a variety of reasons. It provides primary-source examples of emigrants dying after a loaded pistol fired accidentally from a breast pocket or while taking a gun out of a wagon.

This article states that, according to the historian it discusses, the biggest pioneer-specific risk was drowning, while wagon-related fatal injuries were another major cause. It also says the most common cause of death overall on the Oregon Trail was disease.

This blog post says gunshot wounds, drowning, wagon accidents, and illness were major causes of death on the trail, and that gun accidents were the second major cause of death. Because it is a personal blog, it is less authoritative than museum and park sources.

Firearms were the second leading cause of emigrant injury and death. A number of people were injured from accidental firearm discharges. … Mishaps with firearms caused many injuries and deaths. Other deaths on the trail are recorded in diaries as: stampeding livestock, attack by emigrants on other emigrants, lightning, gunpowder explosion, drowning at river crossings, and suicide. An estimate of 20,000 fatalities means an average of ten graves per mile.

The four most common causes of death were disease, wagon accidents, accidental gunshots, and drownings during river crossing. Gun accidents were the second major cause of death. Although the threat of Indian attacks was statistically rare, pioneers were terrified of the possibility and carried irrational amounts of arms. Gun accidents killed probably a hundred times more pioneers than Indian attacks!

TIL that the most common way to die on the Oregon Trail was actually by wagon accident, followed by accidental shootings. … I had a healthy female team member die from an accidental gun discharge.

Many emigrants on the Oregon Trail carried firearms for hunting and protection, and numerous contemporary diaries and later historical summaries note that accidental shootings, drownings during river crossings, wagon accidents, and disease were major causes of death. Modern syntheses generally describe disease as the leading cause of mortality, with firearm accidents listed among several prominent accidental causes rather than being formally ranked as the second leading cause after drowning.

Ten percent of travelers attempting the Oregon Trail died along the way, often from disease, infection, or injury. One of the most common ways to die on the Oregon Trail was drowning; the path from the Midwest to the West Coast involved crossing numerous bodies of water. With so many guns around mishaps were common; after disease, accidental shooting was a biggest cause of death on the Oregon Trail. A man with the ironic name of John Shotwell has been identified by historians as the first Oregon Trail gunshot fatality.

The video transcript says that accidental shooting was a major cause of death on the Oregon Trail and that firearms ranked as the second leading cause of injuries and fatalities among immigrants. It also says the first recorded immigrant fatality from an accidental gunshot was John Shotwell in 1841.

This YouTube narration claims accidental firearm injuries were one of the more common dangers and says firearms were listed as the second most common cause of death on the trail. As a secondary, unsourced narration, it is weak evidence compared with primary or institutional sources.

TIL that the most common way to die on the Oregon Trail was actually by wagon accident, followed by accidental shootings. This is a summary based on historical sources about the Oregon Trail, suggesting wagon accidents as the leading accidental cause and accidental shootings as another major cause of death.

This Facebook post repeats that mishaps with firearms caused many injuries and deaths on the Oregon Trail, but it is user-generated content and should not be treated as reliable evidence.