In movie serials and cheap westerns, the Oregon Trail became a scene for danger and derring-do, full of sinister forces determined to prey upon innocent settlers and tragedy around every bend. Before long, the Oregon Trail was a relic of a bygone age, of hardy adventurers and America's first age of westward migration.
Where travel by wagon might have cost $200 per person, the train fare was $60 and that with a roof over everybody's heads. On the Last Spike was driven in tiny Corinne, Utah, thereby joining the Union and Central Pacific railroads a journey that had taken half a year was abruptly reduced to one week. Quite a few did not survive the long and arduous journey.Īnd then, almost overnight, it was over. Some split from the path to colonize Utah or join the California gold rush and some safely reached Oregon's Willamette Valley. Arriving early meant a better chance of claiming prime locations with control over river valleys with water for irrigation.įrom 1843–1869, four hundred thousand brave pioneers had heeded the call to "go west, young man", making the arduous trip on trails and infrastructure which had seen few gradual improvements. On arrival, a successful party could claim contiguous 320-acre parcels for each adult in an entire extended family. At night, groups circled the wagons with the livestock in the middle to prevent animals from being stolen or wandering away. The people and animals often needed to stop for food and water, resting if they were injured or had fallen ill. Mules had their own stubborn characteristics.
Horses were faster but more expensive, and needed to be fed, while an ox could graze like a cow. An ox-drawn cart at two miles an hour would need to crawl ten hours a day for more than a hundred days to cover the 2,200 mile trail – and obstacles and delays routinely increased that time. Migrants traded with other travellers when supplies ran low, abandoning items on the trail when wagons became too heavy for animals to pull. Hundreds of settlers travelled together as large wagon trains, keeping mutual assistance available in time of need. Weather was a major concern as some mountain passes and river crossings went from treacherous to impossible in winter, expeditions departed in early spring to give time for safe arrival. Travelling by wagon, an average group of migrants could complete the Oregon Trail in about six months. The Emigrant Trail flooded with Oregon-bound homesteaders (1843–1854), who were soon followed by Mormon pioneers (1846–1847) and California gold rush prospectors (1849) heading west.
Unimproved homestead land was often free or available for as little as $1.25/acre. federal authorities free rein to promote homesteading and westward expansion.
The weakened position of southern states during the American Civil War (1861–1865) gave U.S. The Organic Act of the Oregon Territory (1843) granted 640 acres (a square mile, 2.56 km²) of free homestead land per couple in the vast Oregon Territory, which covered what is now Washington state, Oregon, Idaho and parts of Wyoming and Montana. Nearly a thousand settlers crossed the Rocky Mountains in that single year. The first known mountain passes were barely adequate for a horse and rider.Īs better routes were found, wagon trails gradually were built westward, laying the groundwork for the Great Migration of 1843. The "mountain men" and fur traders who travelled upstream in the early 19th century were few. The Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark Expedition opened the Northwest for white settlement, and marked the beginning of the Wild West era.