Oregon Trails: History of American Westward Explained on Maps (2023)

Introduction

Embark on a journey back in time with us as we explore the historic Oregon Trail! 🚂 This 2,000-mile route from Independence in Missouri to Oregon City in Oregon was used by hundreds of thousands of American pioneers in the mid-1800s to settle the American West. 🌄 From the Lewis and Clark Expedition to the Great Emigration of 1843, discover how this challenging trail shaped the settlement of the American West and opened up the next frontier for expansion. 🌎 Learn about the pioneers who braved the rugged landscape and faced numerous obstacles, including harsh weather ☔ and attacks by Native Americans 🏹, in their quest for a better life and the chance to own land without paying for it. Join us as we uncover the thrilling chapters in American history that led to the establishment of the Oregon Trail! 📚🌟

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Video

We're going to take a journey back in time and explore the Oregon Trail, a roughly 2 000 mile route from Independence in Missouri to Oregon City in Oregon, which was used by hundreds of thousands of American Pioneers in the mid-1800s to settle the American West.

The trail was challenging and passed through present day Kansas Nebraska, Wyoming, Idaho and Oregon.

Without the Oregon Trail, the settlement of the American West may have been delayed in 1803 president Thomas Jefferson embarked on an ambitious Mission, sending Meriwether Lewis and William Clark on an expedition to uncover the Uncharted territories of the American West.

They were tasked with exploring the mighty Missouri and other rivers in the regions of Colombia, Oregon and Colorado, uncovering connections to the Pacific Ocean for commercial purposes.

At the time the United States had just secured the Louisiana Purchase from France, which included an abundance of untapped land.

Meanwhile, the territories from California to Texas were under the domination of the Spanish Empire, and the Oregon country was an unclaimed land waiting for those who dared to settle it.

The first land wrote across the present-day continental United States was mapped by the Lewis and Clark expedition between 1804 and 1806.

Initially Lewis and Clark believed that they had found a practical Overland route to the Pacific Ocean.

However, the two passes they found through the Towering Rocky Mountains Lemmy pass and Lolo passed between Idaho and Montana, turned out to be too difficult for Prairie Schooner wagons to pass through without significant road work.

Yet their pioneering Spirits set the stage for the next phase of western expansion, as between 1811 and 1839, a small but vital Trail was forged by Intrepid fur Traders and Trappers.

This narrow, Trail, only accessible by foot or horseback, would serve as the gateway to the American West, leading to one of the most thrilling chapters in American history, the Great Plains, the vast flat area in front of the Rockies Mountain, were widely considered as an inhospitable Wasteland, Barren and unfit for human habitation.

Other Expeditions had labeled it as the Great American desert, due to the lack of Timber and surface water in the region.

These perceptions led to the Great Plains being disregarded as a potential area for settlement and were designated as off-limits for homesteading, with the U.S government envisioning it as a reserve for Native American settlements.

The Oregon Country, on the other hand, was viewed as a land of opportunity right for the taking with its fertile land, healthy climate, extensive forests, Bountiful rivers and potential seaports.

It was considered as the next Frontier for expansion, though it had a small number of British settlers.

It was perceived as a land with minimal obstacles at that time.

Yellow fever and malaria were common in much of the Missouri and Mississippi River drainage.

In the spring of 1839, a group of 19 courageous men from Peoria Illinois, known as the Peoria party, set out on a mission to claim the Wilderness of the Oregon Country as they Traverse the rugged and unforgiving Landscape of the Oregon Trail.

Not all members of the party would make it to the end.

Some members quit and headed back to Peoria While others decided to head in different directions.

Eventually, only nine out of the original 19 members of the party would make it to the Oregon Country becoming the first group of pioneers who used the Oregon Trail in September.

1840 history was made as Robert Newell and Joseph L Meek, with their families used three wagons to travel from Fort Holland Idaho, aiming to settle down in the Wilmette Valley in Oregon.

After a grueling Journey, they arrived at Fort Wala, the Hudson's Bay Company Trading Post on the Columbia River.

This marked a defining moment, as they became the first pioneers to reach the Columbia River over land by wagon opening the final leg of the Oregon Trail to Wagon traffic.

The Bartles and Bidwell party was the first organized wagon group of pioneers to use the Oregon Trail to migrate westward in 1841.

The party which was led by John bartelsen and Thomas.

Fitzpatrick was comprised of around 90 individuals, including families and their servants who were seeking to establish new homes in the Oregon Country.

They set out from Independence Missouri in May of 1841 and followed the trail Westward facing many challenges along the way, including harsh weather, difficult terrain and attacks by Native Americans.

After several months of travel, they arrived at the end of their journey in the Willamette Valley in Oregon 1842, another missionary Elijah white LED, over 100 Pioneers across the Oregon Trail a year later, Marcus Whitman, a doctor and Protestant missionary, headed west, with a huge Wagon Train Bound for Oregon.

The group included 120 wagons about 1 000 people and thousands of livestock.

Their Journey began on May 22 and lasted five months.

It effectively opened the floodgates of pioneer migration along the Oregon Trail and became known as the great emigration of 1843 or the Wagon Train of 1843.

Foreign attractions of settling in the region was the ability to own land without having to pay for it in 1843, the settlers of the Wilmette Valley drafted a constitution that established a process for reclaiming land in the region.

Under this system, couples were allowed to claim 640 acres or 260 hectares of land for free, while single people could claim 320 acres in 1848.

The United States officially declared the remaining parts of the Oregon Country as American territory after effectively dividing it with Great Britain the land division, Act of 1850 replaced the previous law, but still recognized land that had been claimed under the old system after 1850 settlers who were married could be granted 320 acres of land, while single people could be granted 160 Acres.

The only condition was that they had to live on and cultivate the land for at least four years in 1854 land was no longer free, but it was still very cheap at about 1.25 cents per acre through the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848 Mexico ceded, California Nevada Utah, most of Arizona about half of New Mexico, a small section of Wyoming and parts of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas to the United States.

In the same year, James Marshall discovered gold in the Sierra Nevada region of the American River sparking the California Gold Rush.

It is estimated that about two-thirds of the male population in Oregon went to California that year to take advantage of the opportunity to get there.

They helped build the Lassen branch of the Applegate Lassen Trail by cutting a Wagon Road through dense forests.

Many of them returned with significant amounts of gold which helped jump start the Oregon economy over the next decade, gold Seekers from the Midwest and east coast of the United States greatly increased traffic on the Oregon and California trails.

1849 was the first year of large-scale chaler epidemics in the United States and thousands are fought to have died along the trail on their way to California, most of them buried in unmarked Graves, along the Oregon Trail in Kansas and Nebraska.

The California Gold Rush continued for several years, as miners continued to find about 50 million dollars worth of gold per year at 21 dollars per ounce, as California had established itself as a prosperous State.

Many thousands more men emigrated there from Oregon and other states each year to take advantage of the opportunities.

This was the primary reason that the population of California during this period and later was mainly male.

The first Transcontinental Railroad was completed in 1869, providing faster, safer and often cheaper travel between the east and west of the United States, leading to the decline of the Oregon Trail.

The journey took seven days and could cost as little as 65 dollars, equivalent to one thousand three hundred dollars in 2021 by train compared to several months by The Wagon Trail.

Some immigrants still continue to use the trail well into the 1890s later modern highways and additional railroads were built along parts of the trail, including U.S Highway, 26, Interstate 84 in Oregon and Idaho and Interstate 80 in Nebraska.

These Transportation networks completely met the needs of Travelers going between the East and the West.

The western expansion and the Oregon Trail in particular.

Inspired many songs about the settlers experiences Uncle Sam's Farm encouraged the East Coast residents then come along come along.

Make no delay come from every nation come from every way our lands.

They are broad enough, don't be alarmed for Uncle.

Sam is Rich enough to give us all a farm.

The story of the Oregon Trail inspired an educational video game of the same name.

The Oregon Trail.