The 2,000-mile Oregon Trail was used by pioneers headed west from Missouri to find fertile lands. Today, travelers can follow the trail along Route 66 or Routes 2 and 30.
People Also Ask
The Oregon Trail is this nation's longest graveyard. Over a 25 year span, up to 65,000 deaths occurred along the western overland emigrant trails. If evenly spaced along the length of the Oregon Trail, there would be a grave every 50 yards from Missouri to Oregon City.
Historians estimate that about 300 of the original 2,000 miles (480 of 3,200 km) of the Oregon Trail remain untouched. The rest of it has been lost to time or development—in many places, roads and highways were built directly over the popular route, such as Oregon's stretch of U.S. 26 along the Barlow Road route.
The End of the Oregon TrailBy 1890, the railroads had all but eliminated the need to journey thousands of miles in a covered wagon. Settlers from the east were more than happy to hop on a train and arrive in the West in one week instead of six months.
Use of the trail declined after the first transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869, making the trip west substantially faster, cheaper, and safer.
Surprisingly, considering how many wagons went West, very few faced attacks by the Indians. A well-led and disciplined train was more likely to get through without problems. The opposite was often true for small trains where discipline was lacking.
When a family decided to join a wagon train, it often had to save money for three to five years before it could even begin the journey. The wagon cost around $400. The cost of the trip with supplies could be as much as $1,000.