How Did The Oregon Trail Impact America

1200 Words5 Pages

To start with, from about 1811-1840 the Oregon Trail was laid down by both traders and fur trappers. It could only be gone through either walking on foot or taking a horse along with you.By the year 1836, the first of the migrant train of wagons was put together. It started in Independence, Missouri and traveled a cleared trail that reached to Fort Hall, Idaho.The Oregon Trail went through Missouri and what is known today Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Idaho and lastly to Oregon. The Oregon Trail impacted America by expanding the west more and improved our country’s development.
In fact, the Oregon trail was the only way to get to the Rocky’s at the time.Traveling there included people taking large wagons or sailing. Pioneers however died from …show more content…

According to an online source it states that, “President Jefferson had hoped to find an "easy" route through the Rocky Mountains to discover a water route to the Pacific,”(Oregon travel center).This piece of evidence explains that the as time passed land should be discovered and that the president approved of having people go on and explore to get their own piece of land. Some other ways how the trail started was the fact that you could find things that were very expensive, so you could make a fortune off of it. Some things you could find on the trail and almost nowhere else would be gold and otters. Gold could be used for jewelry and while otter skins are one of England's many fashion it could be sold. And also the skin is waterproof so you can wear it during rainy days and you could use it as a raincoat .
Furthermore, the Oregon Trail got popular once everybody heard you could get free land there. Another thing that made the it popular was that you could get otter furs. The furs could make you rich easily and if you are rich you’d live a better life and it would be much easier to maintain your well-being. On NPS it says “ lush farmlands and a new beginning” (NPS.org). This shows that the Oregon Trail had much to offer. In the year 1836 the Oregon trail had gotten much popular.And in the 1830's to 1869 about 350,000 people used the trail. …show more content…

With all these supplies the chance of them surviving would be much longer. According to an online source it says “Over time, conditions along the Oregon Trail improved. Bridges and ferries were built to make water crossings safer. Settlements and additional supply posts appeared along the way which gave weary travelers a place to rest and regroup.” (History.com). This evidence shows that from the harsh times that most of the pioneers went through over time it had gotten much