Oregon Trail
Photo: Gorilla Jones, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
The Oregon Trail is a 2,200 mi National Historic Trail across the United States, traditionally beginning in Independence, Missouri and crossing the states of Nebraska, Wyoming, and Idaho before ending near the Pacific coast in Oregon City, Oregon.
An estimated 400,000 settlers used the Oregon Trail or other Emigrant Trail branches to migrate west between the early 1830s and the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869. Today, the memory of the Oregon Trail lives on in books, cinema, and tales of the Old West. Countless more have undertaken the journey – at least vicariously – through one of the earliest (and greatest) educational computer games, The Oregon Trail.
The Oregon National Historic Trail is today's recreation of the trail, maintained by the National Park Service.
UnderstandThe Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark Expedition opened the Northwest for white settlement, and marked the beginning of the Wild West era.
PrepareIn the pioneer era, this lengthy journey required careful planning. A farmer often already owned wagons and oxen, but many supplies needed to be purchased and unnecessary items kept off the wagons to keep weight down.
Get inThe journey begins in Independence (Missouri), which is directly southeast of Kansas City, Missouri.
GoThe National Frontier Trails Museum in Independence is the perfect place to get into an Oregon Trail state of mind:
RespectThe history of The Oregon Trail tends to be told through the eyes of early settlers on the wagon trains, an individualistic viewpoint focused on whether the voyager successfully reached the end of the trail.
Stay safeDo you want to ford the river or caulk the wagon and float across?
Go next
Sources and licences
- Guide text adapted from the Wikivoyage article "Oregon Trail" by its contributors, available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read on Wikivoyage · Contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Photo: Gorilla Jones, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons