Essay About Moving West

The idea of moving West started in the mid-nineteenth century. Editor Horace Greely said “Go west, young man” which encouraged many people to move west. The Journey Westward was hard on many families. They were being uprooted and leaving their homes. They sold their farms and homes in the east and packed wagons with enough supplies to travel for about 6 months. In 1869 alone, an estimated 50,000 people migrated to the new territory. Many women felt that their husbands were on “a wild goose chase” and could not understand why they were being moved to this land.

In the middle of the 19th century, the Oregon Trail was the main pathway for American emigrants who were searching for new lands. While most Oregon bound traveled a route that passed by landmarks, Missouri, Kansas, Wyoming, Nebraska, Idaho, and Oregon there was never one set of wagon ruts leading west. The route was considered too demanding for the women and children or covered wagons to navigate.In 1836 that's when it all changed by Marcus and Narcissa Whitman. BothWhitman, took a small party of wagons from St.Louis to the Walls Valley.In 1843 Marcus Whitman, helped lead the first major wagon train for around 1,000 settlers along the Oregon Trail. In about ten years, 50,000 settlers traveled by the Oregon Trail each year.

My life as a female pioneer taking the journey down the Oregon Trail was one of hardship and adventure. During the early 1800s settlers began to explore new territory in the New World looking for new opportunities. Through the pioneer journeys of Lewis and Clark a route through America was discovered that would take settlers to new land in the Pacific Northwest portion of the country. To reach the new land pioneers, such as I, had to travel down what became known as the Oregon Trail.

In the mid-1800s, many Americans began to move westward, with a variety of motivations. Farmers were drawn west by all of the fertile, open land in the west, offered to them cheap by the Homestead Act. The California Gold Rush was another reason many moved west. Gold was discovered in California, and miners flocked there, hoping to strike it rich. Additionally, cattle ranchers were attracted to the west because their beef cattle thrived on the abundant grasses and open range of the Great Plains. Later on, newly built railroads, including the first transcontinental railroad, made transportation of people and goods west much more feasible, and opened the West to rapid settlement (History Alive). Although Westward Expansion was a time of full

Though Oregon had given away all its free land by 1855, more would still continue to migrate to California and Oregon for many years. Hundreds and thousands traveled the Oregon Trail, and though approximately one in ten died from illness and accident, many more remained to settle and farm the land. They believed it was their divine right to do so. Today, some historic land marks and wagon ruts remain as monuments to the Oregon Trail. Many of the brave and bold from the east traveled its path, with ambition and hope in their hearts. Many would never see the lands they wanted to settle in.

The Oregon Trail was a very important aspect in the history of our country’s development. When Marcus and Narcissa Whitman made the first trip along the Oregon Trail, many Americans saw a window of opportunity. The Oregon Trail was the only practical way to pass through the Rockies. Pioneers crammed themselves into small wagons to try to make it to the unsettled land; however, 10% of these pioneers died on the way due to disease and accidents.

When the California Gold Rush took off almost everyone wanted to try their luck in California, and the first thing they had to do is get there. If you on the eastern side of the United State or from European you had two choices to get to California they were the sea or land route, but if you were on the Pacific Ocean coast you direct sea route to there. The land route took you across the great United State through some of its most extremes weather and terrain, and traveler had survived the untamed west on their own and what they bring. Also, they had to struggle against diseases outbreaks such as Cholera which the text said, “As many as 1500 travelers died from Cholera along the Overland Trail in 1849” (Gillon, 298). The most popular route

This topic the Oregon Trail deals with all these people were looking for a better life or some freedom to practice their religion for themselves along with their families. Saw that they needed to move somewhere else and many of them decided to move west and take the Oregon trail or move to the state of California. Even though they knew it wasn't easy there was many trails that they had to go threw. They decided to take on that idea to leave for the Oregon trail.

The Trails out West, was trails guided to different areas like California and Oregon. It's a group of immigrants seeking to find freedom of religion. The immigrants set out to find a new home and become rich. There was gold in the west and land to be settled. This was an opportunity to those that had nothing but were ambitious and crafty. According to records about 250,000 gold-seekers and farmers were also in search of gold. The trails became famous because more than 500,000 people made the journey out West most were in covered wagons pulled by mule and oxen. They had no gps .. all they had was in their wagon guided by a sense of fate and freedom. MARGARET A. FINK, Oregon Trail Pioneer, 1850 sums up the feelings of a Oregon trail traveler stating: “I think none of us have realized until now the perils of this undertaking”. Despite the difficult task of traveling by covered wagons..shows the spirit and persistence of the American settlers. The Trails out West, was trails guided

For many American settlers, the Great Plains area didn’t spark much interest. But many were beginning to change their minds in the years leading up to the Civil War. As the Continental railroad was beginning to move westward, many were beginning to realize how wrong they were. “Settlers in Kansas found no desert, but millions of acres of fertile soil.”(DOC 1) Many settlers raced to the west to try to snag a plot of land in the west to hopefully start a new chapter in their lives. The transcontinental railroad also helped businesses boom by transporting goods much faster by the railroad. Also, the transcontinental railroad didn’t only transport goods to businesses, it also transported settlers from coast to coast. “After the transcontinental railroad was completed, it cost $150 and took one week. For the first time, U.S. Americans could freely travel from coast to coast. This radically changed both business and pleasure travel.”(How the Transcontinental Railroad Changed America) For many settlers, the transcontinental railroad was revolutionizing transportation. From delivering goods, to transporting people across the coast. We can all agree the transcontinental railroad

The Oregon tail was the longest overland route in the westward growth in the United States. The Oregon Trail is a 2,200 mile (3,500km) route from Missouri to Oregon and California. The first emigrants to make the journey were Marcus and Narcissa Whitman who made the trip in 1836. Few years later the Whitman Family and eleven other were killed by a party of Cayuse Native American on November 29, 1847. The Oregon Trail helped the United States carry out its cultural goal of Manifest Destiny, that is, to expand the nation from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. Settlers could not leave too early nor too late, if they do decide to leave early there would be no grass for the animals to consume, if they left too late they would have a chance of

The landscape of the West was one without trees and other natural markings, water was scarce, and unpredictable weather changes often made life on the frontier difficult. Emigrants were often ignorant of the climate and made the voyage anyway, as seen in document C. The journey west was made by wagon. Food shortages and disease often plagued the emigrants. Also the unpredictable climate cause more hardships. The emigrants chose areas that they thought had the best land. The settlements were concentrated mostly along the coast because the middle was dessertious, as seen in document a. As a result of this picking and choosing of lands, families were often isolated, where the nearest family was often miles away. The natural environment determined what type of people settled in which places. Families looking to settle permanently and plant roots settled on the land best fit for farming. Young and adventurous emigrants looking to make a quick profit from speculating the land or mining it settled and developed quick cities.

The Oregon Trail was very important to turn the idea of Manifest Destiny into a reality . The Oregon Trail was the main passage to the West (Brooke). It started in Independence, MO and ended in the western part of the United States. There were many routes apart of the Oregon Trail. Over 400,000 pioneers traveled this 2,000 mile trail between 1840 and 1860 (Andrews). Many were looking to get a fresh start or even become rich with gold, and some did. It worked out for many pioneers to settle in the west, almost creating completely new lives for the pioneers. Therefore, the Oregon Trail did affect people in the U.S. in some good ways. It helped people travel west and start new lives

Women went on the Oregon trail to follow their husbands. Land to the west was a new opportunity for families to have financial freedom and a new start. The west meant new opportunities and a way to get out of debt. Catherine Haun and her husband, middle class and educated, fell into financial hard times. They wanted to go on the journey to get out of their debt. They felt as if heading west would be a firmer way to make money than the ways they tried in the past: “It was a period of National hard times and we being financially involved in our business interest near Clinton, Iowa, longed to go to the new El Dorado and ‘pick up’ gold enough with which to return and pay off our debts” (Haun 166) (Sic). As well as the financial benefit, the Haun’s also saw the journey as romantic. They saw it as a romantic wedding tour, or honeymoon, as they had only been married for a few months (Haun 166). Women also

To start off with, the journey west was very costly. In order to travel west, you needed to collect the items you will need to had west. One of the main items needed in westward travel was a wagon. This may seem easy enough, but this wagon “had to be built of seasoned hardwood to withstand extremes of temperature…” along with the need of having it be able to “stand up to two thousand miles of hard traveling” and “withstand river crossings and mountain travel”. Wagons, just like cars, might break down in the middle of travel. Carrying extra parts and repair tools was a must for emigrants which added onto the growing list of expenses.Animals were also needed in