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What I Learned Section 1 -- Answer the
Following Questions: c) Missouri and Oregon. The Oregon Trail runs from east to west between Missouri and Astoria, Oregon. In the early 1800's Indian tribes and white fur trappers (called mountain men) lived in the Oregon country. This area covered about 500,000 square miles. It included today's states of Washington and Oregon, and it stretched almost to Alaska. At one time, Russia and Spain held claims to the territory. By the 1830's, only the United States and Great Britain tried to control this area. The Oregon Trail was used to travel from the East to the Oregon country. The Oregon Trail was started long before Europeans and Americans explored the Pacific Northwest. For hundreds of years, Indians created footpaths to cross mountains and follow rivers. The European and American explorers connected the different paths to create the 2,000 mile Oregon Trail. It took about six months to travel from Missouri to Oregon. The Oregon Trail follows the North Platte River from Nebraska into Wyoming, and it continues along the Snake and Columbia Rivers. 2. What year did Dr.
Marcus Whitman travel the Oregon Trail? In the spring of 1836, Dr. Marcus Whitman led a group of missionaries along the 2,000-mile Oregon Trail to the Oregon country. They left from Liberty, Missouri. There were two women in this group. They were Narcissa Whitman (Marcus' wife) and Eliza Spalding. The first part of the journey followed a well established trail. They traveled across present-day Kansas, Nebraska, and Wyoming in wagons. Narcissa Whitman, kept a diary of the trip. On June 3, 1836, she documented their daily routine: "Start usually at six, travel till eleven, encamp, rest and feed, start again about two, travel until six or before, then encamp for the night." When the Whitman group reached the Rocky Mountains, they abandoned their wagons because the mountains were too long and steep for the wagons to climb. The crossing of the Rocky Mountains was very difficult. Once they climbed one peak, there were more peaks ahead of them. Soon they made it over the mountains. Did you know Narcissa Whitman and Eliza Spalding were the first white women to cross the Rocky Mountains on the Oregon Trail? On September 1, 1836, the group reached present-day Walla Walla, Washington. There were forts built by fur traders. The Whitmans established a mission near Fort Walla Walla. This journey by Marcus Whitman and the missionaries proved farm families could complete the journey across the Oregon Trail. This opened the Oregon Country up for others to follow. 3. How many miles was
the Oregon Trail? The first white people to travel parts of the Oregon Trail were the members of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. In 1804, Lewis and Clark began their journey in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1805, they crossed the Rocky Mountains and reached the Pacific Ocean. For the most part, this expedition took a more northerly route to the Pacific. However, they traveled part of the Oregon Trail when they followed the Snake and Columbia Rivers. In 1811, John Jacob Aster's Pacific Fur Company arrived by ship at the mouth of the Columbia River. Then members traveled inland twelve miles and established a fur trading post and a settlement. It was called Astoria, and it was the first permanent settlement in the Oregon Country. Later, the town of Astoria was considered the end of the Oregon Trail. During the 1820's and 1830's, the Oregon Trail was used by mountain men. Mountain men both fought the Indians and lived with them. Many had Indian wives. Although they thought the territory was hostile, they kept exploring the unknown. They became mountain men for different reasons. Some liked the adventure, some made money selling furs, and some were escaping the law from the East. Some mountain men became legends of the Old West. They were Kit Carson, Henry Fraeb, James Bridger, and Tom Fitzpatrick. In the 1830's, missionaries began coming to the Oregon Country. They wanted to spread their word to the Indians. By the 1840's, "Oregon fever" swept through the United States which influenced more and more pioneer families to travel the Oregon Trail. They wanted to start farms and ranches in the fertile land and gentle climate of the Oregon Country. The pioneers traveled in Conestoga wagons. Did you know Conestoga wagons were named after the Pennsylvania town where they were first built? Americans had been using Conestoga wagons since the Revolutionary War. The wagons were also called "prairie schooners." A schooner is a fast moving sailing ship, and the wagons looked like ships as they moved across the tall prairie grass. Oxen were used to pull the wagons. Oxen were chosen because they were strong, and they could be used to pull plows once the farmers reached Oregon. 4. How many months did
it take to travel the Oregon Trail in the 1840's? In the 1800's, the United States was a young and growing country. In the beginning, most of the country lived along the eastern seaboard. Pioneers and settlers began moving west. In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson purchased the Louisiana Territory from France. This land deal was called the Louisiana Purchase, and it doubled the size of the United States. The United States owned the territory stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Rocky Mountains, and from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada. At this time, Mexico owned the present-day states of California and Texas, and Britain had claims to Oregon. However, that did not stop the people of the United States from dreaming of a nation that stretched from sea to sea. This was called the "Manifest Destiny" of the American people. To settle from sea to sea, Americans had to cross the long and difficult Oregon Trail. The Oregon Trail was difficult and dangerous. It took six months to travel the 2,000 miles. There were only a few fur-trading outposts along the route. This meant the pioneers had to carry with them everything they needed for the long journey. The families packed all of their possessions into a Conestoga wagon. The trip covered many different climates. For part of the trip, it was hot and dry. Another part of the trip was snowy and cold. They had to cross the plains, rivers, and mountains. Some ran out of food, and others got sick. If the trip took too long and they did not reach Oregon before the winter, they could freeze to death in the mountains. 5. Describe how ONE
of the following affected the wagon train's trip while traveling
the Oregon Trail: What I Learned Section 2 -- Define the
following words: Manifest Destiny: The belief of the United States that its people had a right to settle the entire North American continent from sea to sea Missionaries: People who spread their religious beliefs Mountain Men: White fur trappers living and exploring the Oregon Country in the early 1800's Pioneers: First group of travelers who moved to the new land and made a new home Teamsters: People who drove the wagons during the wagon train Bonus Questions (Answer 1 of the
Following Questions for Your FREE
Bookmark): At 7:00 a.m., Applegate yelled, "Wagons ho!" and the wagon train started up for the day. Each wagon had an assigned place on a given day. These positions alternated each day. The more favorable positions were in the front because there was less dust. If a wagon was not in its place by 7:00, it would have to travel at the end of the line. The wagons formed a line about three-fourths of a mile long. Teamsters drove the wagons. Some teamsters rode on the front of wagon and some walked beside it. At noon, the wagon train stopped for lunch. Some people ate at portable tables, and others ate while standing. At this time, Applegate met with a council of men to discuss any issues that arose during the day. After lunch, the wagon train started again. When it got dark, the wagon train stopped for the night. The wagons formed a circle, called a "night circle." It served as a barrier against Indian attacks, and it gave the travelers a community atmosphere. Fires were lit within the circle. The families ate their largest meal of the day. They would eat buffalo, antelope, chicken, or wild game. After dinner, some people may play a violin or flute they had brought with them. The wagon train usually traveled twelve to fifteen miles a day. Sometimes the wagon trains crossed streams or rivers. Horsemen went ahead to find a safe place for the wagons to cross. This location was marked with a flag. The wagons crossed one at a time. Some rivers were easier to cross than others. At the beginning of the Oregon Trail, the settlers crossed the Great Plains. Trees only grew along the river banks. The rest of the land was tall grass. About four hundred miles from Independence, the travelers crossed the south branch of the Platte River. This was a difficult crossing because quicksand lined the river banks, and the bottom was a bed of ooze. The travelers then came to Fort Laramie in present-day Wyoming. This was a fur-trading outpost. At Fort Laramie, the travelers rested for a few days and learned about the wagon trains ahead of them. From Fort Laramie, they followed the banks of the Sweetwater River and climbed into mountain country. They sometimes found their first snow as early as August. Independence Rock was a famous landmark on the Oregon Trail. It was a turtle-shaped boulder. Travelers scratched their named on the rock, and it became known as the "register" of the Oregon Trail. Next, the wagon train crossed the Continental Divide in the Rocky Mountains. The rivers on the east side of the Continental Divide flowed east, and the rivers on the west side of the Continental Divide flowed west. They crossed the Rocky Mountains at South Pass. In 1812, Scottish explorer Robert Stuart discovered South Pass as a gateway through the Rocky Mountains. The travelers than came to the Green Valley. They came across Soda Springs and Steamboat Springs. Soda Springs tickled their noses when they drank from it, and Steamboat Springs sounded like a Mississippi steamboat. The next stop was Fort Hall in present-day Idaho. It was a wilderness outpost. It was located at a split in the trail. The northwest trail continued to Oregon, and the southwest trail led to California. For those who continued on the Oregon Trail to Oregon, they came to Snake River, crossed Blue Mountain, and followed the Columbia River to Fort Walla Walla. At Walla Walla, the travelers could either claim land in the Willamette Valley or take a riverboat to Astoria. By the time they reached their destination, they had to quickly build shelter before winter arrived. b. Name ONE of the points
or landmarks along the Oregon Trail.
c. What does "Fifty-four
forty or fight!" mean? Between 1843 and 1845, about 5,000 American farmers lived in the Willamette Valley. All of these people had come using the Oregon Trail. The American presence in Oregon gave the United States an advantage over Britain in controlling the Oregon land. Some Americans wanted to control the land all the way to Alaska, and they shouted, "Fifty-four forty or fight!" This referred to the 54°40' latitude line that Americans wanted as the northern border of Oregon. In 1848, the United States and Great Britain agreed on a boundary line along the 49th parallel. Today, this is the border between the United States and Canada. By the end of the 1840, American's Manifest Destiny had become a reality. The United States stretched from sea to sea. By 1850, the Fort Laramie register showed 40,000 men, women, and children, and 9,000 wagons had passed through the fort along the Oregon Trail. In 1869, the transcontinental railroad was complete which connected the east and the west by railroad. Unlike the Santa Fe Trail, the transcontinental railroad did not close the Oregon Trail. As late as 1895, travelers were still using the Oregon Trail to move west. Today, ruts from wagon wheels can be seen. d. Use
five of the words in Section 2 in a sentence.
e. Have a parent or friend give you a spelling test with EACH of the words in Section 2. More Valuable Information about The
Oregon Trail:
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The Oregon Trail (Cornerstones of Freedom)
American Indians: American Indians were the least of the
travelers' fears. The Plains Indians did not attack them as long
as they kept moving. Indian wars usually broke out if white people
settled where the Indians lived. Some Indians approached the wagon
trains to trade or to help the pioneers. Other Indians were scouts
or guides for the wagon trains.
