Oregon Trail

People moved out west and started new colonies, and the colonies expanded, thus the growth of the US rose.

Contaminated water.

This was part of the reason most quality guidebooks to the trails recommended using "oxen and one yoke of cow to pull your wagon as the cows can give milk on the trail and they can be sold when you arrive at your destination" as although the reason why drinking the water made people sick was not understood, it was known that people drinking fresh milk on the trail got sick much less often.

The Oregon Trail was a roughly 2,000-mile route from Independence, Missouri, to Oregon City, Oregon, which was used by hundreds of thousands of American pioneers in the mid-1800s to emigrate west

fort laramie and fort bridger

Missouri

yellowstone

des chutes

big horn

Well, that depends on how you look at it. Officially, according to an act of Congress, it begins in Independence, Missouri, and ends in Oregon City, Oregon. To the settlers, though, the trail to the Oregon Country was a five-month trip from their old home in the East to their new home in the West. It was different for every family. Some people got ready to leave the East, or "jump off" as they called it, in towns like St. Joseph or Council Bluffs, and others jumped off from their old homes in Illinois or Missouri and picked up the Oregon Trail in the countryside. Along the way, they could choose to take shortcuts or stick to the main trunk of the Trail, and the end of their journey didn't really come until they settled a claim somewhere in the vast Oregon Country.

They faced many problems on the epic journey. They faced muddy rivers, swift rapids, vast desserts, steep mountains, scorching heat, violent thunderstorms, and fierce blizzards. Some people fell off the wagons and others would get in accidents with other wagon travelers.

A variety of incentives led people to attempt the 2,000 mile journey west. Many in the 1840s sought a new beginning following a widespread economic depression in the late 1830s. Some hoped to escape the political strife preceding and during the Civil War. A few settlers had patriotic motives, to ensure American possession of territory jointly claimed by the U.S. and Great Britain in the Northwest, or occupied by Mexico in the Southwest. Some religious groups wished to establish missions and communities. Some moved to join family members. Many emigrants made the trip seeking adventure and new opportunities. The majority of emigrants had as their main reason either land or gold. In Oregon, various land acts, most notably the Donation Land Act of 1850, provided free land, up to 320 or 640 acres, to settlers. The discovery of gold in California in 1848 lured nearly 150,000 people west over the trail in five years. New gold discoveries in Oregon, Idaho, Colorado, and other western states led continuing migrations of fortune seekers to all regions of western America.

There were several hardships that were encountered on the Oregon Trail. Some or all of these included the following: lack of supplies, such as food, water, shelter etc. Also they may have been attacked by Native Americans and wild animals.

Most kids were so busy with chores and travel that school was set aside during the journey. Some wrote letters and kept diaries, and many read from the family Bible to improve their reading skills. They learned a lot from their adventures on the trail, but formal schooling waited until they were settled in Oregon.

You would most likely find 18th - 19th century materials and tools, as well as common foods and water.

courthouse & jailhouse rock, chimney rock, fort laramie, Independence rock, fort bridger, soda springs, fort hall, fort boise, whitman mission, the dalles and oregon city

It took 22 days to cross the river on the Oregon trail.

The Oregon Trail is a computer game originally developed by Don Rawitsch, Bill Heinemann, and Paul Dillenberger in 1971 and produced by the Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium in 1974.

the oregon trail ran in Missouri River to valleys in Oregon. the eastern part of th Oregon trail spanned part of the future state of kansas and nearly all of what are noe the states of Nebraska and Wyoming

in winter its started ok ppl in winter its started ok ppl

It was used by many settlers as they moved west.

Some most likely did.There were many dangers. Life was very hard.. At the start the land was flat and everyone was still fresh, but as the trip went along things got harder. They were going 2400 miles across land that was a combination of prairie , mountains, and deserts. Each had their own problems. They faced awful storms, floods, loosing family members and friends to the various diseases and accidents. Some lost everything in mountain passes or in flooded rivers. Most of the women and children walked the entire way. Today the prairie in some places is still pretty much the way they found it with bugs, heat, and winds blowing all day every day. They were brave stubborn people who put everything on a small wagon, left family, and left on a six month trip to a place they only heard about. The one thing it was NOT was boring.

it started in the city of Independence, Missouri

On the Oregon Trail, to cure Cholera they would give the infected person laudanum (an opium tincture useful in combating the disease). If the travelers didn't have laudanum, they would increase fluid and salt intake to prevent dehydration, and give the person lots of rest.

4-5 months. If you left too late, you could get caught up in the Rockies in the winter, which often proved fatal. If you left too early, there was mud ans snow and not enough grass for the oxen.

The distance was about 2,000 miles. Not just 1mile because they went practically over the whole United States. I HOPE I COULD HELP!!!!

Explorers and fur traders first traced the course of the Oregon Trail. In 1805, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark traveled on a western section of the route in the region of the Snake and Columbia rivers. Trader Robert Stuart also used the trail while returning from Fort Astoria. Benjamin Bonneville is credited with taking the first wagons through South Pass in the 1830's. Nathaniel J. Wyeth also led companies over the trail. John C. Fremont surveyed a portion of the route in 1842 for the United States Army. http://www.worldbookonline.com/advanced/article?id=ar405360&st=oregon+trail---my source
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