Oregon Trail
Oregon National Historic Trail (National Park Service)
As the harbinger of America's westward expansion, the Oregon Trail was the pathway to the Pacific for fur traders, gold seekers, missionaries and others. Beginning in 1841 and continuing for more than 20 years, an estimated 300,000 emigrants followed this route from Independence, Missouri to Oregon City, Oregon on a trip that took five months to complete. ... Guide and site descriptions for visiting Oregon NH Trail areas. ... Snapshot of the Long Distance Historic Trails administrative program. ... [Read More]
Oregon Trail
After gold was discovered in California in 1848, gold-seekers joined the westward bound pioneers. They left the Oregon Trail and followed the California Trail on to the gold fields. After 1847, Mormon pioneers also joined the throng, headed not for Oregon or California, but for their settlement near the Great Salt Lake in Utah. The Mormon Trail began at Omaha or Council Bluffs, and followed the North side of the Platte and North Platte Rivers until it passed Fort Laramie. There it crossed the river and joined the Oregon Trail for some distancebefore veering South into the Great Basin of Utah. ... [Read More]
Oregon Trail Menu Page
Ironically, although the Whitmans helped to establish the Oregon Trail, they themselves were not able to bring their wagons to their mission site. Even though his initial attempt failed, Marcus never lost faith that wagons would eventually make the trip. In 1842 Marcus traveled east to speak directly with members of the American Board about decisions they had made concerning the Oregon Country missions. Marcus traveled home with the large wagon train of 1843, "The Great Migration." Under his guidance this wagon train became the first to take their wagons all the way to the Columbia River. ... [Read More]
Oregon Trail Museum Association: Bookstore
The Oregon Trail Museum Association is a non-profitorganization which operates the bookstores at Scotts Bluff and AgateFossil Beds National Monuments. Each year the Association donates to themonuments a major portion of their profits, which assists ininterpreting the human and natural history of this area to visitors. An annual membership in the association is availablefor $10.00. Members receives 20% discount on any item purchased at themonuments' bookstores. For membership information, contact us at theabove address. The items listed at the left are available for purchase. We cannot process online orders, but if you are interested in purchasing an item(s), you cancontact us at the above phone number. ... [Read More]
Oregon National Historic Trail Links
The primary information office for the Oregon, California, Mormon and Pony Express National Historic Trails is the Bureau of Land Management, Historic Trails Office. They can provide a wealth of information on trail routes, historic sites and accessibility and trail conditions: ... The Pocatello Resource Area is where several historic trail segments crossed. It can provide several pamphlets on trails in the area, and the publication "Emigrant Trails of Southern Idaho." ... [Read More]
The New Oregon Trail: Accountability for Results
The following pages describe the new Oregon trail—an experiment to makegovernment accountable for results and to build productive partnerships with thefederal government. While this new trail is sometimes difficult and not withoutimperfections, it does seem to be headed in the right direction. ... This report provides the bare bones history of what has happened in Oregonsince it started down the trail of results-driven government. The detailsfollow, but it is important to understand the context for the changes takingplace in Oregon, a context that is instructive for policy makers in other statesand at the federal level. It includes: ... [Read More]
EDSITEment - Lesson Plan
For first-hand accounts of the experiences of some of the pioneers who traveled the Oregon Trail, visit the Trail Archive section of the Oregon Trail website to access a selection of diaries, letters, and memoirs. Segments from Harriet Scott Palmer's memoir and Catherine Sager Pringle's diary are likely to be particularly fascinating to young children. As you read the excerpts together, you may ask students to note the similarities and differences in these first-hand accounts. ... [Read More]
Whitman Mission National Historic Site (National Park Service)
This site commemorates the courage of Marcus and Narcissa Whitman, the role the Whitmans played in establishing the Oregon Trail, and the challenges encountered when two different cultures meet. ... In 1836, before the wagon trains, a small intrepid group of Presbyterian missionaries traveled with the annual fur trapper’s caravan into “Oregon Country.” Missionaries Narcissa Whitman and Eliza Spalding became the first white women to travel across the continent. Differences in culture led to growing tensions between the Cayuse people and the Whitmans. Their mission became an important stop along the Oregon Trail, but passing immigrants added to the tension. A measles outbreak in 1847 killed half the local Cayuse. Some of the Cayuse blamed these deaths on Dr. Whitman. Dr. and Mrs. Whitman were killed; sixty people were taken hostage. The deaths of the Whitmans sent a shock wave across the country and prompted Congress to make Oregon a U.S. territory. ... [Read More]
Scotts Bluff National Monument (National Park Service)
A prominent natural landmark for emigrants on the Oregon Trail, Scotts Bluff, Mitchell Pass and the adjacent prairie lands are set aside in a 3,000 acre national monument. This site preserves the memory of the historic Oregon, California and Mormon Trails. The monument museum contains exhibits about the human and natural history of the area and also holds a unique collection of watercolor paintings by the frontier photographer and artist William Henry Jackson. ... [Read More]
Recreation.gov
In the mid-1800s, thousands of pioneers followed the Oregon Trail 2,000 miles from Missouri to Oregon in search of a better life. However, the Oregon Trail was never just one route. Some emigrants deviated from the main trail in search of water and livestock forage, while others found shortcuts and better routes to avoid difficult terrain. ... Oregon Trail Reinactment ... Oregon National Historic Trail Web Site ... [Read More]
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