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=== Background History === | === Background History === | ||
'''Footpath to wagon road.''' The route of the Oregon Trail was first discovered by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_men fur trappers] about 1811. Several expeditions of government men explored and mapped parts of the trail in 1832, 1834, 1846, and 1848. It was originally a footpath or mule pack train trail. In 1830 the first fur trade [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Mountain_Rendezvous rendezvous] wagons reached the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_River_%28Utah%29 Green River] in [[Wyoming Genealogy|Wyoming]]. By 1836 when the first pioneer wagon train was organized in [[Independence, Missouri|Independence, Missouri]], the wagon trail went as far as [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Hall Fort Hall]. By 1843 the wagon road reached [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dalles,_Oregon the Dalles (Oregon)] where pioneers could raft down the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_River Columbia River]. In 1846 the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barlow_Road Barlow Road] around Mt. Hood finally reached | '''Footpath to wagon road.''' The route of the Oregon Trail was first discovered by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_men fur trappers] about 1811. Several expeditions of government men explored and mapped parts of the trail in 1832, 1834, 1846, and 1848. It was originally a footpath or mule pack train trail. In 1830 the first fur trade [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Mountain_Rendezvous rendezvous] wagons reached the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_River_%28Utah%29 Green River] in [[Wyoming Genealogy|Wyoming]]. By 1836 when the first pioneer wagon train was organized in [[Independence, Missouri|Independence, Missouri]], the wagon trail went as far as [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Hall Fort Hall]. By 1843 the wagon road reached [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dalles,_Oregon the Dalles (Oregon)] where pioneers could raft down the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_River Columbia River]. In 1846 the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barlow_Road Barlow Road] around Mt. Hood finally reached Oregon City.<ref name="OrTr" /> | ||
'''Oregon boundary dispute.''' [[Washington Genealogy|Washington State]] and [[British Columbia Genealogy|British Columbia]] were at first disputed and jointly occupied by Britain ([[Canada Genealogy|Canada]]) and the [[United States Genealogy|United States]]. The British and their [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hudson%27s_Bay_Company Hudson's Bay Company] controlled Washington northwest of the Columbia River. But pressure was being exerted against Canada. In 1836 American pioneer groups began migrating over the Oregon Trail into Oregon. Thousands came over the next decade, far more than from Canada. Slogans of the 1844 American presidential campaign clamored for war to take Washington and British Columbia by force. The Oregon Treaty of 1846 gave Washington to the United States and British Columbia to Canada.<ref>Wikipedia contributors, "Oregon boundary dispute" in ''Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia'' at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oregon_boundary_dispute (accessed 12 July 2012).</ref> | '''Oregon boundary dispute.''' [[Washington Genealogy|Washington State]] and [[British Columbia Genealogy|British Columbia]] were at first disputed and jointly occupied by Britain ([[Canada Genealogy|Canada]]) and the [[United States Genealogy|United States]]. The British and their [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hudson%27s_Bay_Company Hudson's Bay Company] controlled Washington northwest of the Columbia River. But pressure was being exerted against Canada. In 1836 American pioneer groups began migrating over the Oregon Trail into Oregon. Thousands came over the next decade, far more than from Canada. Slogans of the 1844 American presidential campaign clamored for war to take Washington and British Columbia by force. The Oregon Treaty of 1846 gave Washington to the United States and British Columbia to Canada.<ref>Wikipedia contributors, "Oregon boundary dispute" in ''Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia'' at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oregon_boundary_dispute (accessed 12 July 2012).</ref> | ||
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Another factor that later diminished the use of the Oregon Trail was American railroads. The [[First Transcontinental Railroad|transcontinental]] [[Union Pacific Railroad|Union Pacific]] and [[Central Pacific Railroad|Central Pacific]] railroads completed in 1869 to Sacramento, California made that route faster, safer, and less expensive than traveling the Oregon Trail. Railroads to Oregon were developed in the 1870s. Nevertheless, a few emigrants continued to use the Oregon Trail as late as the 1890s.<ref name="OrTr" /> [[Image:Oregon Trail.jpg|947px|Oregon Trail.jpg]] | Another factor that later diminished the use of the Oregon Trail was American railroads. The [[First Transcontinental Railroad|transcontinental]] [[Union Pacific Railroad|Union Pacific]] and [[Central Pacific Railroad|Central Pacific]] railroads completed in 1869 to Sacramento, California made that route faster, safer, and less expensive than traveling the Oregon Trail. Railroads to Oregon were developed in the 1870s. Nevertheless, a few emigrants continued to use the Oregon Trail as late as the 1890s.<ref name="OrTr" /> [[Image:Oregon Trail.jpg|947px|Oregon Trail.jpg]] | ||
<div style="width: 15%; float: right"> | <div style="width: 15%; float: right"> | ||
{| align="right" width="126 | {| align="right" width="126" style="text-align: right" class="wikitable FCK__ShowTableBorders" | ||
|+ ''Oregon Pioneers''<ref>John D. Unruh, ''The Plains Across: the Overland Immigrants and Trans-Mississippi West 1840–1860'' (University of Illinois Press, 1979), 119–20.</ref> | |+ ''Oregon Pioneers''<ref>John D. Unruh, ''The Plains Across: the Overland Immigrants and Trans-Mississippi West 1840–1860'' (University of Illinois Press, 1979), 119–20.</ref> | ||
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| '''80,000''' | | '''80,000''' | ||
|} | |} | ||
</div> | </div> </div> | ||
=== Main Route === | === Main Route === | ||
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