Manifest Destiny: The Dangers Of The Oregon Trail

Crossing over rivers, rolling hills, endless plains, and mountain passes to finally reach a salvation with huge plots of land with boundless capabilities is what many Americans did while passing through the Oregon Trail. The trail allowed many Americans to have an opportunity to prosper, but there were many dangers and perils that they would have to face. The motivation to travel the Oregon Trail was so strong because it allowed endless possibilities for Americans to escape debt, start businesses, farm large sums of land, and for Manifest Destiny.
The Oregon Trail was roughly 2000 miles where, Lewis and Clark, famous explorers, on their expedition paved their way to the Pacific Coast. Throughout the early 1800s, traders and for trapper lead

With the path riddled in disease and unstable ground, the Oregon Trail was a breeding ground for unfortunate events. On the trail, many did not properly clean themselves. This unhygienic lifestyle led to an increased chance of catching an illness. So much so that, there was conside Since the trail panned for thousands of miles, there was a variety of extreme weather and threatening terrain. On the trail, accidents occurred frequently. The territory had a selection of dangerous weather like “thunderstorms, lethally large hailstones, lightning, tornadoes, and high winds”(OCTA OL). These drastic weather conditions lead to immense wear and tear to the emigrants’ wagons. A common danger that could lead to accidents was the unstability of said wagons. Pioneers would fall off the 11 foot wagons leading to serious injury with the possibility of being run over by one of it’s wheels. Most of the wagons were not durable enough to withstand the trip leading so many travelers carried spare parts , if they could afford them. In these wagons, there were copious amounts of supplies to last the travelers all the way to their locations. These supplies were kept safe and many pioneers worried that Native Americans would steal their goods from them, “but in fact Indian attacks on wagon trains were rare, despite the settlers' fears”(Linge OL). This

Due to the fact that only Native Americans were in the Oregon Territory, and they used animal products efficiently and did not hunt unless it was necessary, the animal population was very high. The main animal hunted by trappers were beavers. Their fur had become a commodity due to the near extinction of the creature from over hunting. “The possibility of profiting from the western beaver trade had led,”(McNeese OL) many to the territory in search of wealth and fame. The land around the Oregon Trail was also important and profitable because it could and was used for farmers to plant and harvest corn, wheat, and other vegetables. With more produce, there was more trade and transfer of goods. People earned their wages on cheap land and were able to make a living out of a few simple grains from all around the world. Some people even saw the emigration as way to make money. Businessmen saw an opportunity and created “a bustling industry of frontier trading posts sprang up to supply food and equipment for the five-month haul”(History OL). In jumping off points of the trail, traders and merchants would make enormous commerce off the unknowing travelers and would trick “pioneer families into buying more provisions than they actually needed”(History OL). In the Oregon Territory, there were many occasions to make a large profit, all it took was