The only solution was to abandon all belongings and traipse onward with the supplies and tools that could be carried or dragged. These big wagons had a reputation for killing their oxen teams approximately two-thirds along the trail and leaving their unfortunate owners stranded in the desolate, isolated territory. The Oregon Trail was too long and arduous for the standard Conestoga wagons used in the eastern U.S. Register Cliff near Guernsey, Wyoming, Kathy Weiser-Alexander, 2009. In later years, the Salt Lake cutoff provided a route to Salt Lake City. The Lander and Sublette cutoffs provided shorter routes through the mountains than the main route, bypassing Fort Bridger, Wyoming. However, many settlers branched off or grew exhausted short of this goal and settled at convenient or promising locations along the way.Īt many places along the trail, alternate routes called “cutoffs” were established to shorten the trail or get around difficult terrain. While the first few parties organized and departed from Elm Grove, Missouri, the Oregon Trail’s generally designated starting point was Independence or Westport, Missouri. The trail ended at Oregon City, Oregon, which was the proposed capital of the Oregon Territory at the time. Hundreds of thousands more would follow, especially after gold was discovered in California in 1849. On May 22, 1843, the Great Migration, with up to 1,000 settlers, livestock, and more, departed to follow the same route from Independence, Missouri, arriving in the Willamette Valley in a massive wagon train. On May 16, 1842, the first organized wagon train on the Oregon Trail set out from Elm Grove, Missouri, with more than 100 pioneers. By the 1830s, it was used regularly by mountain men, traders, missionaries, and military expeditions.Īt the same time, small groups of individuals and the occasional family attempted to follow the trail, with some succeeding in arriving at Fort Vancouver, Washington. The route of the Oregon Trail began to be scouted as early as 1823 by fur traders and explorers. Nathaniel Jarvis Wyeth – Explorer, Fur Trader & Inventor Marcus Whitman – Missionary to the Cayuse Hall Jackson Kelley – Promoting the Oregon Trailĭr.

George Donner – Leading the Infamous Donner Party Jim Bridger – Quintessential Guide of the Rocky MountainsĬorps of Discovery – The Lewis & Clark Expedition Crime and Punishment on the Overland Trailsīenjamin Bonneville – Exploring & Defending the American WestĮphraim Brown – Murdered on the Oregon Trail

Westward trail map