ipl-logo

Why Did So Many People Travel On The Oregon Trail

1695 Words7 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The california gold rush research paper outline

It is the year 1832 and you’re on a riding along in a caravan with Nathaniel Wyeth, who leads the new group of settlers along a foreign trail. There have been many hardships; lack of food, deaths during the journey. It is no doubt that there were many obstacles travelers faced while traveling on the Oregon Trail, but this matter does not take away from the good that this trail did for the country of America. Some people have said that the ending results and settlements were not worth the loss of the journey to get there. The Oregon Trail was one of the single trails that helped lead to the west coast from the east. This particular trail led from Missouri to Oregon or more specifically, the Missouri River to the Columbia River. It helped settlers …show more content…

John Bidwell had lead an emigrant group (“with 69 people, including 15 women and children. There were 14 wagons pulled by horses or oxen, and four carts.” [The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, 2003]) to the West in 1841 along the Oregon Trail. Finding their way off the trail, evidently creating what came to be known as the California Trail, they had found themselves in the state of present-day California. In the late 1850s, gold had been found in many different territories such as present day Colorado, Montana, Idaho and eastern Oregon. This caused settlers to use the Oregon Trail as the “main trail” as they wandered off into other lands. At some point, the Congress had decided to pass the Preemption Bill. This bill gave permission to occupy and settle (or to “squat”) on a piece of land after it being surveyed by the government. Law encouraged the movement towards the west along with reports made by Lieutenant John C. Fremont. This way, more people were exposed to the West and what more land it had to offer other than …show more content…

Some of these including farming, gold mining, and trade. Many industries thrived after finding the West/Midwest of the United States and whatever resources it had to offer. Some in which reached their heights during the Gold Rush. One of the most known leaps in growth in American history is that of gold mining. The Gold Rush is a widely acknowledged historic event in U.S history. It had been a height in the gold mining industry. Many would travel the Oregon Trail, aiming for California on the West Coast where large amounts of gold were found in mines and rivers. This sudden rush of news in the area of the West Coast had reached the other end of the continent in no time. This news excited many, therefore “one of the migrations stimulated by the discovery of gold was the internal westward movement of Americans from the eastern states who hoped to make fortunes in California” (California Gold Rush [1848-1858], 2014). Not only did the mine industry reach a high point during the Gold Rush, but so did the printing/publishing industry as well. Since the news of the Gold Rush seemed to be such a big and popular thing that spread to the East Coast so easily in a matter of time, California guidebooks (“publishers were trying to quickly make California guidebooks to make profit off of the swarm of people wishing to go to California to find a fortune”. [Dary, 2004, pgs 200 - ]) were

Show More
Related
1063 Words | 5 Pages

However, these factors not only contributed greatly towards the outcome of the Klondike gold rush, but also resolved to have a long-lasting effect on a larger scale. For example, the economical trade mentioned in this Gold Rush changed the economy in Alaska and the United States. Also, the harsh environments documented by prospectors allowed future generations to realize the difficulty and fraud of the Gold rush, consequently causing the Klondike Gold Rush to be known as “The Last Great Gold Rush.” Therefore, these factors must not be avoided or under looked as they contribute significantly towards the event as a

Read More
240 Words | 1 Pages

The textbook first begins with an explanation on the Cariboo gold rush, specifically identifying how it had an impact on British Columbia; delving in to the California Gold Rush later on. Notably, it describes how the rush to claim land in BC and mine it for Gold aided the early development of the province. However, the California Gold Rush is given more detail into its origins, detailing how Gold attracted upwards of thousands of people to search for gold along the Sacramento River. Henceforth, prospecting for gold became necessary in the field, which was commonly disappointing, for many staked claims on land to mine, while the best claims were already taken. Accordingly, many who went to mine were unemployed when the gold was all gone.

Read More
1436 Words | 6 Pages

It is important to know the set up to what happened before the Oregon Trail, and what happened to get to that point. It has a good timeline of events that illustrate well for students what happened in a logical manner. It is available for loan from the Northwest Area Education Agency and is for purchase through the publisher for $19.99. Raum, E. (2014).

Read More
543 Words | 3 Pages

This is a page that has a lot of facts and information about the Oregon Trail. It would need to be broken down into manageable parts, because there is a lot of information on the one page. It would be used as a resource to learn more about the Oregon Trail and used during the final project time for students. It can be accessed here: http://www.blm.gov/or/oregontrail/history-basics.php.

Read More
120 Words | 1 Pages

“The Oregon Trail,” written by Francis Parkman is a description of the experiences traveling into the unknown depths of the American west in 1846. The story is told from the first person point of view of Parkman, a scholar from Boston who embarks on the great expedition of traveling into the west in hopes of studying the lives of the Native Americans. His journey is also one of the first detailed descriptions of the beauty and the bounty of a largely uninhabited North American territory. But one of the most critical elements of the story was Parkman’s encounters and recruitment of members to his band of travelers who ultimately play a major role in the success of the western journey.

Read More
313 Words | 2 Pages

California Gold Rush attracted many people around the world. About 80,000 people moved to California by the end of 1849. Many of these people came from Chile, England, and mostly China. This movement accelerated the American economical growth. Immigration is one of the most important even the history of the United States.

Read More
780 Words | 4 Pages

Discovery of Gold The discovery of gold introduced immigrants, gold rushers, miners, loggers, railroads and infrastructure community to Washington State. The immigrants or settlers came to Washington to look for gold and the discovery of gold helped increasing the population in Washington. In order for gold to be found, there were prospectors, miners and loggers that were there to find a way to complete their mission by finding gold. After gold has been discovered, it introduced an infrastructure community in small towns across the west.

Read More
1039 Words | 5 Pages

In conclusion, the westward expansion was one of the most important times in American history but one of the hardest for those who made the journey. The settlers had to go through a lot of hardships to get a new life in the west. The Gold Rush helped bring people to the west and populate California so it became a state. People such as Sacagawea helped Lewis and Clark helped explore the new terrain and make maps so people could live there. Even though the pioneers got diseases, had conflicts with the Native Americans, and had to travel for long periods of time in a ship or covered wagon, they never gave up hope.

Read More
120 Words | 1 Pages

After years of waiting and preparing we started on the journey to the west. We made our way to Independence, Missouri to go on the Oregon Trail which was laid by traders and trapers. While there I became familiar with George Wilson who was also a working family man. A lot of families left together making the trail busy and causing jams..

Read More
298 Words | 2 Pages

Americans were able to make thousands of dollars off of gold and immagrants and foreigners from all over the world came to California. Citizens became richer and all different cultures learned to

Read More
1461 Words | 6 Pages

The Gold Rush, beginning in 1848 and ending in 1855, was a period in American history which opened the doors of opportunity to a new group of immigrants, the Chinese. The discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill, California, in 1848 was the cause of mass Chinese immigration that would last for decades to come. When James Marshall discovered gold in 1848, there were fifty-four recorded Chinese in California, this number quickly rose to 116,000 by 1876. Title (Chinese Immigration During the Gold Rush: The American Encounter) The California Gold Rush allowed for immigrants, such as the Chinese, to encounter the various beliefs and suspicions of the American society.

Read More
744 Words | 3 Pages

I. The California Gold Rush is one of the most known gold rushes in the U.S. The phenomenon was started by James Marshall when he found gold in the American River and he said “My heart thumped for I knew it was gold.” Because of his findings the California Gold Rush was born in 1848, then died seven years later in 1855. During these seven years California accumulated over 300,000 people that left their homes to mine for gold.

Read More
719 Words | 3 Pages

People in America during this time seeking for opportunities out west that they did not think they had in the east. During this time, gold was discovered in California that attracted many people not just from America, but all over the world. Plus, the government encouraged people to go mining for gold by giving miners cheaper land to live on out west. As stated in the Homestead Act of 1862, United States Congress, a law providing free land for citizens of the United States in western territories. This act encouraged people to mine for gold in California so they could have cheaper land than they would anywhere else.

Read More
816 Words | 4 Pages

The California Gold Rush was a rush of people in search of gold in California. The gold was discovered in the Sacramento Valley in early 1848 which sparked the gold rush. The rush was a huge influence in how America was shaped into what it is today. It shaped California into what it is today. Without this gold rush California would be like it is today but it would have taken way more years and it wouldn’t be such a diversely populated state.

Read More
424 Words | 2 Pages

The Sutter’s Mill discovery was not the 1st cited discovery of gold in American history. However, it influenced the terminology known as “gold fever” on an international level; because of many citizens across the globe saw on newspapers that gold was almost visible to see and had a fifty percent to find the popular golden nuggets. An intense amount of cultural and social changes occurred throughout the 1830’s and 1840’s owing that fact of the gold fever affecting the transition of immigrants towards the new land of hope. Penny press articles promoted the sizeable amount of these immigrants or locals in trying to find the golden nuggets.(Shmoop,2015)

Read More

More about Why Did So Many People Travel On The Oregon Trail

Related Topics

Open Document