The early British American colonies for the most part hugged the Atlantic Ocean. As the population of the colonies grew and expanded, westward migration began and never really stopped. After the American War of Independence, the new United States of America experienced rapid growth as farming, trade, construction and manufacturing increased dramatically and waves of new immigrants entered the new nation.
In the early s, the United States was given a major opportunity to virtually double in size. France controlled this vast area of North America from until , the year it gave the territory to its ally Spain. Under Napoleon Bonaparte , France reacquired the territory in in the hope of re-establishing the French empire in North America.
A serious slave revolt in the Caribbean island of Haiti, a French possession, forced France to re-evaluate its situation in North America. More importantly, an impending war with Great Britain and other European powers forced France to abandon empire building plans in North America entirely.
Plans soon began to sell the vast territory to the United States. The purchase of the territory of French Louisiana was officially completed by treaty on April 30, under the presidency of Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson decided to move forward with the purchase in order to remove French presence in the region and to protect both U. The concept that the new nation of the United States expanded to over twice its original size was a significant added benefit that would be appreciated later by millions of people.
As the economy of the United States expanded and immigrants moved into the country, demand grew enormously for new land and resources to feed the growing economy and accommodate the expanding population. Food, timber, fur, minerals, water power and more drove dramatic expansion west where pioneers farmed, mined, constructed and hunted to provide the many resources needed by the growing population both in the East and in the newly expanding Western Territories.
Louis, Kansas City, Minneapolis and more grew dramatically as people moved west to settle down and find their fortune. The migration of pioneers had pushed the American frontier to the Mississippi Valley by the s. While most Oregon-bound emigrants traveled a route that passed by landmarks in Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Idaho and Oregon, there was never just one set of wagon ruts leading west. Pioneers often spread out for several miles across the plains to hunt, find grazing patches for their animals and avoid the choking dust clouds kicked up by other wagon trains.
As the years passed, enterprising settlers also blazed dozens of new trails, or cutoffs, that allowed travelers to bypass stopping points and reach their destination quicker. These shortcuts were especially popular in Wyoming, where the network of alternative pathways meandered more than a hundred miles north and south.
Frontier explorers and fur trappers blazed the rough outlines of the Oregon Trail in the early 19th century, but the route was initially considered too demanding for women, children or covered wagons to navigate.
That changed in , when newlywed missionaries Marcus and Narcissa Whitman took a small party of wagons from St. Popular depictions of the Oregon Trail often include trains of boat-shaped Conestoga wagons bouncing along the prairie. But while the Conestoga was an indispensable part of trade and travel in the East, it was far too large and unwieldy to survive the rugged terrain of the frontier. These vehicles typically included a wooden bed about four feet wide and ten feet long.
When pulled by teams of oxen or mules, they could creak their way toward Oregon Country at a pace of around 15 to 20 miles a day. They could even be caulked with tar and floated across un-fordable rivers and streams.
Prairie schooners were capable of carrying over a ton of cargo and passengers, but their small beds and lack of a suspension made for a notoriously bumpy ride. With this in mind, settlers typically preferred to ride horses or walk alongside their wagons on foot. As traffic on the Oregon Trail increased, a bustling industry of frontier trading posts sprang up to supply food and equipment for the five-month haul.
In popular jumping-off points like Independence, Missouri, unscrupulous merchants made a killing by conning frightened pioneer families into buying more provisions than they actually needed. Pioneers needed wagons strong enough to haul people and supplies for five months or more. To outlast the rugged trail and months of wear, the wagon needed to be constructed of seasoned hardwood.
Most pioneers used the typical farm wagon with a canvas cover stretched over hooped frames. A family of four could manage with a single wagon. It would be very tight on space since supplies would take up almost the entire space within the wagon. If they could afford it, many families took more than one wagon Most emigrants on the trail went West in their farm wagons, modified to take the punishment, while others bought rigs specifically built for the one-way journey.
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