The Topic:  Oregon Trail

Easier - The Oregon Trail was the best land route for travel to the western United States. It was the only practical way for settlers in wagons with their tools, livestock, and supplies to cross the mountains. Many believe that without the trail, most of the American west would today be part of Canada or Mexico.

 

For twenty-five years, 1841-1866, people 'pulled-up-stakes' and headed west. Estimates range from 250,000 to 650,000 persons made the trip. About 1/3 immigrated to Oregon, another 1/3 were bound for California, and 1/3 went to Utah, Colorado, and Montana.

 

Harder - The Oregon Trail, the longest of the overland routes used in the westward expansion of the United States, was first traced by explorers and fur traders. Settlers began following the trail in 1841. The first large group of about 900 immigrants used the trail in the "Great Migration" of 1843. In that year, a provisional government was organized in Oregon. The Oregon Country's northern boundary was set in 1846, and the Territory of Oregon was formed in 1848 as over 12,000 people made the journey in that decade.

 

Families usually began their journey at Independence, Missouri near the Missouri River. The journey in a covered wagon took six months, following a winding 2,000 mile trail (3,200 kilometers) through prairies, deserts, and across mountains to the Pacific Northwest. The journey was a severe test of strength and endurance. Settlers often had to cross flooded rivers. Indians attacked the wagon trains; however, of the 10,000 deaths that occurred from 1835 to 1855, only 4 percent resulted from Indian attacks. Cholera, smallpox, and firearms accidents were the chief causes of death on the trail. Food, water, and wood were always scarce, and the travelers often encountered contaminated water holes. During summer, the trail was crowded with wagon trains, army units, missionaries, hunting parties, traders, and even sightseeing tours. Some travelers complained that they sometimes had to stop early in the day in order to find a good campsite ahead of the crowd. Others spoke of the need to wear masks for protection against the dust kicked up by the heavy traffic.

 

Essential Information for Immigration to the Oregon Country 

http://204.234.22.1/SDGI/Newell/Immigration.html

Here you can find out about the recommended supplies, choices to make in wagons, costs, routes and more.

 

Are We There Yet? The Oregon Trail

http://flms.ddouglas.k12.or.us/~ludwig/tag/thinkquest/Oregon_Trail/1trtr.html

Learn about the trail then and now with Robert Gray Middle School.

 

Links to The Oregon Trail (Part of the Overland Trail site) 

http://www.over-land.com/trore.html

Here you find information about the Donner Party, the Whitmans, and other people on the Oregon Trail along with diaries, memoirs, letters and reports.

 

All about the Oregon Trail 

http://www.isu.edu/~trinmich/Allabout.html

Site developed by Mike Trinklein and Steve Boettcher creators of the award winning documentary The Oregon Trail

Provides a general history of the Oregon Trail.

 

Website By Kids For Kids

Pioneers (ThinkQuest Junior Site) 

http://tqjunior.advanced.org/6400

Learn about a pioneer's journey to the frontier and what it was like to travel along the Oregon trail; everyday life, tools, pastimes, toys and more.

 

More

Across the Plains in '64: By Prairie Schooner to Oregon by Anna Dell Clinkinbeard. 

http://flag.blackened.net/daver/1sthand/atp/atp.html

Read the story of an 1864 family crossing the plains in a covered wagon.

 

The Applegate Trail (Southern Route) 

http://www.webtrail.com/applegate/index.html

Learn about this alternate route that was blazed in 1846 in hopes of providing a safer journey to Oregon.

  

End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center 

http://www.endoftheoregontrail.org/biomenu.html

Contains immigrant biographies and diaries, diagrams of wagons and contents, articles about the trail, and information about African-American pioneers.

Not to Be Missed Section:

2) Oregon Trail History http://www.endoftheoregontrail.org/histhome.html

3) The End of the Oregon Trail Historic sites http://www.endoftheoregontrail.org/hist_oc.html

 

Food on the Oregon Trail by Jacqueline Williams 

http://www.orst.edu/food-resource/kelsey/williams.html

Read an article from The Overland Journal which discusses food on the Oregon Trail.

 

In Search of the Oregon Trail 

http://www.pbs.org/opb/oregontrail/

At this PBS companion site, you can investigate the facts and myths about the Oregon Trail.

 

Whitman Mission National Historic Site 

http://www.tcfn.org/tctour/museums/Whitman.html

Learn about the Whitman Mission, the Oregon Trail, and pioneer life.

 

William Henry Jackson

1)Frontier Photographer and Artist http://www.harappa.com/whj2.html

2) Research links http://virtualmuseumofart.com/hallofphotography/WILLIAMJACKSON.ORG/

 

The Lost Meeks 

http://www.militaryhistory.com/historictraveler/articles/1997/0397_text.htm

The Oregon Trail emigrants who chose to follow Stephen Meeks thought his shortcut would save weeks of hard travel. Instead, it brought them even greater misery.

 

People of the West 

http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/s_z/whitman.htm

http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/resources/archives/two/whitman1.htm

Read the letters and journals of Narcissa Whitman, 1836-1847.

http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/resources/archives/two/sager1.htm

Read 'Across the Plains in 1844' by Catherine Sager Pringle (c. 1860).

  

The Prairie Traveler: A Hand-Book for Overland Expeditions 

http://kuhttp.cc.ukans.edu/carrie/kancoll/books/marcy/index.html

This book was written by Randolph B. Marcy, Captain U. S. Army, and first published by authority of the War Department in 1859.

 

Teacher Sites

In Search of the Oregon Trail 

http://www.pbs.org/opb/oregontrail/teacher/index.html

This Teachers Guide provides background material and suggested classroom activities (designed to complement the PBS video); including a map, timeline, and links to other sites.

 

Patty Reed's Doll: The Story of the Donner Party 

http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/score/patty/pattytg.html

Here is the cyber teaching guide based on the story by Rachel Laurgaard. The account is told through the eyes of a tiny doll which eight-year old Patty Reed kept hidden in her apron pocket. This unit was designed for teaching the Westward Movement and California history

 

The Westward Movement 

http://edweb.sdsu.edu/T2ARP/quest/journeys/westlessons.html#lesson 1

Here is a group of lesson plans (Middle school) designed to give a better understanding of the geographical region of the Great Basin while gaining an insight on what a trip West in a covered wagon might have been like.

 

Oregon Trail-Wagons West! (Lesson plan: Social Studies, Grades 4-8 ) 

http://www.kamalii.k12.hi.us/Oregon_Trail_-__Wagons_Wes.html

 

More WebQuests

An Overland Journey WebQuest

http://www.web-and-flow.com/members/sberger/pioneer/webquest.htm

What's the truth about traveling west?

 

 

covered wagon	oxen	Missouri River	prairies	Independence Rock	Soda Springs
deserts	mountains	Pacific Northwest	Columbia River	'Great American Desert'	Lewis & Clark
Snake River	Independence, MO	Platte River	Fort Laramie	Hastings Cutoff	Applegate Trail
Fort Bridger	Fort Hall	Fort Boise	South Pass	antelope	ferry
Willamette Valley	Fort Kearny	ford	Grande Ronde Valley	Native Americans	'Indians'
cholera	wagon train	smallpox	'prairie schooner'	river crossing	food box
'nooning'	livestock	Three Island Crossing	plains	lava beds	quicksand
handcarts	dried fruit	Chimney Rock	Scotts Bluff	saleratus	Massacre Rocks
Lombard Ferry	buffalo chips	mules	Sublette Cutoff	Deep Rut Hill	Ash Hollow