In Which Time Period Was The Oregon Trail Most Used?

Photo image of South Pass area in Wyoming. — Over the superlative of the Rockies at South Pass in central Wyoming.
The Wagner Perspective

A Brief History

In 1800, America's western border reached only as far as the Mississippi River. Post-obit the Louisiana Buy in 1803 the country well-nigh doubled in size and pushed its western border past the Rocky Mountains. All the same the wilderness known as Oregon Country (which included present-day Oregon, Washington and part of Idaho) notwithstanding belonged to the British, a fact that fabricated many Americans eager to settle the region and claim information technology for the United states.

American Indians had traversed this state for many years, but for European Americans it was unknown territory. Lewis and Clark's secretly funded expedition in 1803 was role of a U.S. Regime plan to open Oregon Country to settlement. However, the chancy road blazed by this party was not feasible for families traveling by carriage. An easier trail was needed.

Robert Stuart of the Astorians (a group of fur traders who established Fort Astoria on the Columbia River in western Oregon) became the starting time white homo to use what later became known as the Oregon Trail. Stuart's 2,000-mile journey from Fort Astoria to St. Louis in 1810 took 10 months to complete; still, it was a much less rugged trail than Lewis and Clark'southward route.

Information technology wasn't until 1836 that the get-go wagons were used on the expedition from Missouri to Oregon. A missionary political party headed by Marcus and Narcissa Whitman bravely set out to attain the Willamette Valley. Though the Whitmans were forced to abandon their wagons 200 miles brusk of Oregon, they proved that families could go west by wheeled travel.

In the spring of 1843, a wagon train of near i,000 people organized at Independence, Missouri with plans to reach Oregon Country. Amidst an overwhelming chorus of naysayers who doubted their success, the so-called "Great Migration" made information technology safely to Oregon. Crucial to their success was the utilise of South Pass, a 12-mile wide valley that was virtually the sole identify betwixt the plains and Oregon where wagons could cross the formidable Rocky Mountains.

Past 1846, thousands of emigrants who were fatigued west by cheap state, patriotism or the promise of a amend life found their way to Oregon Country. With and then many Americans settling the region, it became obvious to the British that Oregon was no longer theirs. They ceded Oregon Land to the United States that year.

Experiencing the Trail Today

Modern-day Auto Tour Routes follow or closely parallel the historic road(s) with state map images and driving directions that provide opportunities for discovering the remnants and meaning resources of the trail.