How long did it take a wagon train to go from Chicago to California?

The classic overland trip from the Midwest to Oregon and California was lengthy and very difficult. It was approximately a 2,000 mile trip. In good weather, a wagon train would complete the journey in five months. However, heavy rains were known to make the typical trip last around six months.



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Wagons traveled between 10 and 20 miles per day, depending on weather, terrain, and other factors. Some wagon trains did not travel on Sunday while others did.

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Travelers used grass or leaves or just plain dirt. Bark was also a paper substitute. It wasn't pretty, but no worse than many other realities pioneers faced on the emigrant trail.

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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.

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On this day in 1843, some 1,000 men, women, and children climbed aboard their wagons and steered their horses west out of the small town of Elm Grove, Missouri. The train comprised more than 100 wagons with a herd of 5,000 oxen and cattle trailing behind.

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The overland journey from Independence, Missouri, to Oregon or California meant a six-month trip across 2,000 miles of hard country. It was costly—as much as $1,000 for a family of four. That fee included a wagon at about $100.

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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.

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Some travelers continued to take wagons over the old trail as late as the 1920s. Why? Usually because they didn't have the money to buy train tickets to take their families west, or they had livestock that needed herding along, but sometimes just because they loved the old-timey adventure of it.

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By the time the last wagon trains crossed in the 1880s, mass migration on the Oregon Trail had left an indelible mark on the American frontier.

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Answer and Explanation: A wagon train could contain any number of wagons, although most averaged between ten and thirty families. There were some larger wagon trains that had up to 200 wagons traveling together. Many of these wagon trains had large numbers of sheep or cattle traveling with them as well.

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Travel by wagon train occurred primarily between the 1840s–1880s, diminishing after completion of the first transcontinental railroad.

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