When was the Oregon Trail last used?
The Oregon Trail was a route used by people who traveled to Oregon Country, which is what Oregon was called before it became a state in 1859. The Oregon Trail was the most popular way to get to Oregon Country from about 1843 through the 1870s.
When was the first time the Oregon Trail was used?
The Oregon Trail was laid by fur traders and trappers from about 1811 to 1840, and was only passable on foot or by horseback. By 1836, when the first migrant wagon train was organized in Independence, Missouri, a wagon trail had been cleared to Fort Hall, Idaho.
Where did the Oregon Trail begin and end?
Travel west on the Oregon Trail began at several towns on the Missouri River, from Independence to Council Bluffs, and then followed routes west on both sides of the Platte River. Companies of wagons formed, emigrants purchased supplies, and the group followed the developing ruts west.
When was the first wagon train on the Oregon Trail?
Still, it wasn’t until 1843 that the pioneer dam finally burst. That year, Marcus helped lead the first major wagon train of around 1,000 settlers along the Oregon Trail, an exodus now known as the “Great Migration.” Traffic soon skyrocketed, and by the late-1840s and early 1850s, upwards of 50,000 people were using the trail each year. 3.
Why are people interested in the Oregon Trail?
The trail continues as the principal interest of a modern-day organization—the Oregon-California Trails Association—and of major museums in Oregon, Idaho, and Nebraska. The Oregon Trail has attracted such interest because it is the central feature of one of the largest mass migrations of people in American history.
Who was the first person to cross the Oregon Trail?
A pair of Protestant missionaries made one of the trail’s first wagon crossings. Frontier explorers and fur trappers blazed the rough outlines of the Oregon Trail in the early 19th century, but the route was initially considered too demanding for women, children or covered wagons to navigate.