Oregon Trail Facts

Grade 5, Unit 2: Cornerstone 2 Westward Expansion Database Articles Database Articles • Pioneer Women - http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/pioneer-womanx2019s-life-200-years-ago Note: you will have to log into the databases below using a DC Public Library Card or DC One Card. After logging in, click on the link again to get to the appropriate article. • Black Cowboys - http://www.worldbookonline.com.dclibrary.idm.oclc.org/student/article?id=ar753924&st=exodusters#tab=homepage • Manifest Destiny - http://school.eb.com.dclibrary.idm.oclc.org/levels/elementary/article/353420 • Oregon Trail - http://school.eb.com.dclibrary.idm.oclc.org/levels/elementary/article/353574 • Oregon Trail - http://www.worldbookonline.com.dclibrary.idm.oclc.org/kids/home#article/ar831676

In the beginning of the 1880s, there was a new type of transportation appeared in Pacific Northwest, railroads. It marked one of the key turning points in the region's history. When railway lines were completed to and through the Pacific

Why did the Donner Party get stuck in the Sierra Nevada Mountains? In April of 1846 90 emigrants led by Jacob and George Donner left Springfield Illinois in hopes of using a quicker, shorter route to Oregon. The party took the regular trail up to Ft. Bridger, Wyoming. There they were supposed to meet a trail guide, Lansford Hastings, to take them but he was gone, leading another party along the mountains. There was a note for the Donner’s to follow a trail to Weber Canyon, Hasting claimed it was an easier route to Oregon.

During the Klondike Gold Rush (1896 to 1899), the Chilkoot Trail operated as the main transportation route into Canada’s interior. The Chilkoot Trail was the most direct, popular, and least expensive compared to other overland routes to reach Dawson City in the Yukon. If prospectors could not afford a carrying outfit for their possessions, they faced the back-breaking task of carrying their own essentials over the summit of the Chilkoot Pass and to lakes Lindeman and Bennett. The Chilkoot Pass faced frequent cloud cover, bad weather, and deep snow. “Blizzard-like conditions often closed in for days at a time, trapping travelers in an areas lacking both tree and sustenance” (Gates 1994).

There have been steam engine trains trailing the United States in the early 1800’s. Many of the early ones ran only a few dozen miles. When the railways ran longer distances, the cost to build and later ride them were be extremely high. However, long distances were what Minnesota needed to keep up with the competitive and growing nation around it. “Construction began on the first track in 1861 in St. Paul and was completed in 1862.”

— Virginia Reed, daughter of James Reed. A tragic story of the Donner party is a very harrowing adventure through the journey of the big group and how about half of the people lived to tell the tale. On April 16, 1846 nine wagons were reported departing from Springfield Illinois on a journey of what is now called the Oregon Trail. Formerly known as the northern trail there were a lot of advantages and disadvantages to the Oregon trail there was more land and wonderful

The Trail of Tears in 1839 was a horrific event that removed thousands of Native Americans from there homes. They were forced to travel a thousand miles on foot to a new land. Thousands of lives were lost along and after the journey. The removal effected the Cherokees greatly and it still effects them today. They Trail of Tears was dangerous, deadly, and many didn 't

“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.

The Transcontinental Railroad and the Interstate Highway System were not only the two biggest contributions in the history of transportation in the United States but are tremendously similar to each other in how they were built. Both systems were built in times of extremely desperate need of a way of transportation across the country which made them such big advantages to American society. The two systems have been majorly significant tools in the history the United States as well as modern day life. Something that the two topics share is the fact that they were both built during times of great change in the nation and had difficulties in funding.

The Long, Bitter Trail: Andrew Jackson and the Indians written by Anthony F.C. Wallace is the story of the Native Americans being forced to move west in America in the 19th century. Wallace begins by introducing the desire for Native American land in the U.S. and ends with the aftermath of the Removal Policy and the legacy that still lives today. The book is organized into four chapters; The Changing Worlds of the Native Americans, The Conflict over Federal Indian Policy, The Removal Act, and The Trail of Tears.

This particular trail led from Missouri to Oregon or more specifically, the Missouri River to the Columbia River. It helped settlers

The Washington state railroads had a monumental impact on the development of Washington. The first Transcontinental Railroad, the Northern Pacific, was built, uniting the western half of America, including Washington State, with the eastern half. Radical thinkers such as Governor Stevens proposed a direct connection from the East to the untouched resources of the West. The United Sates government supported the railway lines by providing state grants. They gave the railroad millions of acres of land in the undeveloped West.

Traveling hundreds of thousands of miles through dangerous paths American pioneers took on hardships as they sought westward in hopes of a better life. The journey westward began in the early 1800s when the US exploded with new territory’s nearly tripling the US’s size. It all started in 1803 when the US bought the Louisiana Territory from France. Quickly, many farmers picked up their belongings and headed out west to the rich, fertile land for a fresh start. Next, Andrew Jackson invaded Florida claiming it for the US which was also another opportunity for settlers to begin a new life.

During the late 1800’s, many settlers were expanding to the West and the Transcontinental Railroad helped them move from the East to the West. Some wanted to gain 160 free acres of land known as the Homestead Act. The Transcontinental Railroad connected the East and the West. The Union Pacific Railroad and Central Pacific Railroad were the companies that built the Transcontinental Railroad; however, the companies were run by greedy men and felt no guilt as they asked the government to pass special bills for them. The railroad cut through many lands and affected the Native Americans in a perilously way.

Before the 1800s, there were two early roads, Forbes and Wilderness Road. In 1811, the National Road known as Cumberland Road was built to reach Western settlements, because they needed a road to ship farm products that connect East and West. The National Road passed thousand of wagons and coaches. John F. Stover states in American Railroads, “The rich agricultural production of the country, the small but expanding factories of eastern cities, and the largely untapped natural resources of the nation-all of these called for improvements in transport. ”(Stover1)