How did travelers reach the West in the mid 1800s without trains and highways?
Americans who did travel long distances overland to settle the West rode on wagon trails, like the Oregon Trail, rather than well-defined roads. Still, a few major roads served as important transportation links.
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Before the first transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869, people traveled across the American West mainly by stagecoach. While railroads were available in the East, travel through the West was a slow, laborious process.
By 1857, which is still within one lifetime from someone born around 1800, travel by rail (the fastest way to get around at the time — remember that the Wright brothers were not even born yet and air travel was far off in the future) had gotten significantly faster.
Answer and Explanation: The invention of the train and its railroad systems was the most significant overland travel invention during the 1800s. For the first time, both coasts of the United States were connected.