| The '''Oregon Trail''' went from western [[Missouri, United States Genealogy|Missouri]] across the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Plains Great Plains] into the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Mountains Rocky Mountains] to Oregon City, Oregon. It was most heavily used in the 1840s, 1850s, and 1860s. It was the longest historic overland migration trail in North America. The length of the wagon trail from the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missouri_River Missouri River] to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willamette_Valley Willamette Valley] was about 2,000 miles (3,200 km). It normally took four to six months to traverse the length of the Oregon Trail with wagons pulled by oxen. About 80,000 pioneers used it to reach Oregon, and about 20,000 to Washington before the transcontinental railroad in 1869.<ref name="OrTr">Wikipedia contributors, "Oregon Trail" in ''Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia'' at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oregon_Trail (accessed 12 July 2012).</ref> | | The '''Oregon Trail''' went from western [[Missouri, United States Genealogy|Missouri]] across the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Plains Great Plains] into the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Mountains Rocky Mountains] to Oregon City, Oregon. It was most heavily used in the 1840s, 1850s, and 1860s. It was the longest historic overland migration trail in North America. The length of the wagon trail from the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missouri_River Missouri River] to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willamette_Valley Willamette Valley] was about 2,000 miles (3,200 km). It normally took four to six months to traverse the length of the Oregon Trail with wagons pulled by oxen. About 80,000 pioneers used it to reach Oregon, and about 20,000 to Washington before the transcontinental railroad in 1869.<ref name="OrTr">Wikipedia contributors, "Oregon Trail" in ''Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia'' at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oregon_Trail (accessed 12 July 2012).</ref> |