The Oregon Trail The Oregon Trail had an extensive impact on early America. It spread the population with approximately 50,000 people moving 2,000 miles west. The trail conceded of a group of paths. The route started in Missouri and finished in Oregon. The journey was 2,000 miles long and last about 5 months. With about 10 grave per mile by the end of a 30 year rage it was the longest graveyard in America. What was so bad with where they were at that they were willing to risk it all? Why was the rush to go west so vast? Every day the people were in fear that death was close by. What was so important to risk their lives and the lives of others for this odyssey? Even though the Oregon Trail was the main movement west there were a few people that …show more content…
The travelers would try to bring some of the heavier stuff they owned, typically like stoves, furniture and pianos. The wagons could only hold between 1,500 and 2,000 pounds and with the necessaries, there wasn’t a lot of weight to spare.The weight could cause the wagon to brake or the animals to have troubles pulling it. The travelers would get a few miles and realized that they have too much weight and have to leave it on the side of the road. Finding the perfect time to leave was difficult. Groups of people would try to leave in the early spring, right when the grass started growing again. Then the grass would provide food for the oxen and cows that they brought. If they waited to long for the grass they would be travel through the snow in the mountains. Without snow the mountains were hard already. The men of the groups commonly would help pull the wagons as the kid and women would place stones behind them. Then with the snow added it would cause difficulties pulling the wagon and …show more content…
With all of the passengers of one family packed into a wagon and the group sleeping near each other the diseases would spread quickly. Martha Freel went to Oregon in the 1850’s and wrote in a letter saying “you see we have lost 7 persons in a matter of a few short days, all died of Cholera”. Those “few short days” were only 13 days and they already lost 7 people. They would spared because everyone of a family was packed in one wagon, and at the in of the day they all sleep near each other. Then the diseases were not very easy to cure with their lack of medical advances. With the medical kits they did have didn’t consisted of a lot of medicine, but items that would make you think you’re feeling better called a placebo. They would consist of peppermint oils, rum, whisky, morphine and citric
The Oregon Trail is a 2000 mile long wagon route and emigrant trail made by fur trappers and traders from 1811 to 1840. The trail was then only possible on foot or horseback. By 1863, the trail was cleared from Independence, Missouri, to Fort Hall, Idaho. The trail later kept being cleared until Willamette Valley, Oregon. Improved roads, cutouts, and bridges made the trip faster and safer every year. The Oregon Trail had three offshoots: the California, Bozeman, and Mormon trails. The eastern half of the trail spanned future Idaho and Oregon. The western half of the trail spanned part of future Kansas, Nebraska, and Wyoming. Modern highways pass through the same course as the Oregon Trail. It was sometimes called “The Highway of Hope”.
In the early 1900s, the United States had an increase of settlers leaving their hometowns to the west in the faith of being able to live in a more catholic freedom world, others also joined by the inspiration of Manifest Destiny, a thought in which the Americans thought that everything between the Atlantic and the Pacific ocean is theirs and should therefore settled by them. A group, that was on the way to the western U.S., for those reasons in 1846, had a tragic loss of 34 settlers due to many tragic events. This group was led by George Donner, which was elected the leader of this group on 19 July 1846, this group inherited his name, called the Donner Party. The Donner Party consisted of the families of George Donner, his brother Jacob and James F. Reed of Springfield, Illinois, and a few hired workers, a total of 87 persons. Most groups usually followed the Oregon Trail, which brought them from East to West within 4 to 6 months. But then a guide called 'The Emigrants' Guide to Oregon and California' was released by Lansword Hasting, a lawyer who thought he has to remigrate Americans to California, this guide would lead them through a shorter way to the west, but was never traveled by anyone for this purpose, not even by himself. In the following, the diaries of the Donner Party will be cited and combined with the information known about the situations.
Washington’s Trail through Post Glacial Butler, PA. In 1753, the future first president of the United States, George Washington, was dispatched to Western Pennsylvania to deliver a message to the French soldiers stationed near Presque Isle. Only twenty-one years old, young Washington traveled north from Fort Duquesne through modern day Butler County. Although aware of the critical and dangerous nature of the mission, it is unlikely that that the young explorer was aware that he was traversing a land of physical features shaped by a 100,000 years of geological history (WTA, 2013). After embarking from present day Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Washington first entered Butler County on November 30, 1753.
One of the biggest problems was sanitation. Clean water for drinking and bathing was rare and illness from poor hygiene or contaminated water was very common. Most of the camps were in tight groups and contagious diseases such as chickenpox, colds or the flu would spread over camp within
The time of westward expansion was filled of hardships and challenges for the citizens of America. They left their homes at their own will to help make life better for themselves, and would letter recognize how they helped our country expand. The people of the Oregon trail risked their lives to help better their lives and expand and improve the country of America. However, no reward comes without work, and the emigrants of the Oregon Trail definitely had it cut out for them. They faced challenges tougher than anyone elses during the time of westward expansion.The Emigrants of the Oregon trail had the the most difficult time surviving and thriving in the west because of environmental difficulties, illness abundance, and accident occurrence.
Between 1840 and 1950, over fifty-three thousand people travelled the Oregon Trail. Native American exposure to diseases such as smallpox and diphtheria decimated the tribes, and that along with the encroachment of settlers on tribal lands, was the cause of much strife between Native Americans and the incoming Europeans. The Land Donation Law, a government land giveaway allotting three-hindred twenty acres to white males and six-hundred forty to married white couples, gave impetus to the western expansion and the American idea of "Manifest destiny." This promotion of migration and families also allowed America to strentghen its hold on Oregon, in the interests of displacing British claims.
The Lewis and Clark trail was when two men and their crew made a path through our future states: Missouri, Illinois, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington and Oregon.. and back. Lewis and his crew traveled by river. Today those exact paths cannot be followed because of dams, so the trail is not exact. Lewis and Clark went on the expedition because America was in the process of buying land from France known as the Louisiana Purchase. Our president at the time,
Many believed in Manifest Destiny. That is was a God given right to spread Christianity and American ideals such as democracy all over the continent from coast to coast. This idea triggered over a million Americans to get up and sell their homes in the east and set out on Oregon, Mormon, Santa Fe, and California trails. Not everyone agreed with this expansion in the West. The slavery debate, once again, fueled many problems with Westward expansion.
"Wake up, drink coffee, eat oatmeal, break camp. Walk, walk, climb, walk, walk, descend, walk, climb." -- Karen Berger, Hiking the Triple Crown.
Dangers and months of preparation aside, the American Discovery Trail it is a life changing event for anyone who decides to tackle the vigorous trail. When an individual sets out to cover over 6,000 miles, with nothing but the pack on his back, himself, and the wilderness around them, they find out things about themselves that they never knew. Nature has a way of helping people push themselves to the brink so that they may find themselves in the end. For anyone who is in the process of wanting to find themselves, needs a break, or simply wants a challenge, do the research and tackle the American Discovery Trail.
cannons in the street and they thought that would clean the disease out of the air. Some doctors thought it would be smart to bleed out the victims and they would make them throw up multiple times. Some cities wouldn’t let the diseased into the there cities.The sick would just sometimes be thrown out on the street
Overland pioneer route to the northwestern United States. About 3200 km, about 2000 mi long, the trail extended from Independence, Missouri, to the Columbia River in Oregon. Part of the route followed the Platte River for 870 km (540 mi) through what is now Nebraska to Fort Laramie in present-day Wyoming. The trail continued along the North Platte and Sweetwater rivers to South Pass in the Wind River Range of the Rocky Mountains. From there the main trail went south to Fort Bridger, Wyoming, before turning into the Bear River valley and north to Fort Hall in present-day Idaho. In Idaho the Oregon Trail followed the Snake River to the Salmon Falls and then went north past Fort Boise (now Boise). The route entered what is now Oregon, passed through the Grande Ronde River valley, crossed the Blue Mountains and followed the Umatilla River to the Columbia River. Shorter and more direct routes were developed along some parts of the trail, but they were often more difficult.
Biking from Franklin on the Allegheny Valley Trail, average travelers would assume that the path on which they were riding was nothing more than an ordinary trail in an ordinary town. Then around the five mile marker they would see the massive Belmar Bridge rising in the distance. Today the bridge serves as a reminder of our region’s rich history, harkening back to the days when oil wells dotted the landscape and railroads crisscrossed the countryside. At about the eight mile marker, a large rock covered in intricate symbols and markings juts out of the river. Centuries ago, Indian God Rock served as a waypoint for the Native Americans who created the paths on which the railroads were built. The Allegheny Valley, Samuel Justus, and Sandycreek Trails built by the Allegheny Valley Trails connect all eras of our region’s history, from the Native American period to the glory days of the oil industry, the years of economic decline, and the our recent resurgence as a center of tourism and recreation.
trail was necessary west of the farms. In 1867, he chose a route that would
...and the Rocky Mountains. They mostly traveled by foot as they pushed handcarts and drove wagons that were led by horses and oxen. But they suffered many hardships along the way. Hundreds of saints died from cold, hunger, dehydration, sickness, diseases, and exhaustion. Nevertheless, the Saints still carried undying faith in god and were able to make it.