Chapter 9, Section 2Trails to the West

p. 322-327

To journey westward, traders and settlers have to travel along difficult

and dangerous trails.

Traders Lead the WayMain Idea: Merchants and fur traders blaze important trails to both Oregon and the Southwest.

• William Becknell leads wagon trains down the Santa Fe Trail– From Independence, Missouri to Santa Fe, New Mexico (800 miles)– Nearly gets himself & his whole party killed

The Fur Trade

• John Jacob Astor: German immigrant establishes American Fur Company (1808)- Follows Louis & Clark’s maps to Oregon- Founds Astoria, Oregon- Becomes richest man on Earth

John Jacob AstorJohn Jacob Astor1763-18481763-1848

John Jacob Astor IVJohn Jacob Astor IV1864- April 15, 19121864- April 15, 1912

Mountain Men (see p. 323)

• fur trappers of the Northwest– live isolated, dangerous lives

• Trappers rendezvous with merchants- a meeting where trappers

would trade furs for supplies• James Beckwourth

discovers a pass through the Sierra Nevada Mountains into California

• Extra Credit: Research Mountain Men: Beckwourth, Smith, Clyman, and/or Jim Bridger, then share their stories with the class Jim Bridger James Clyman

The Oregon TrailMain Idea: Thousands of men & women made the hazardous, 2000 mile journey to Oregon.

• After the traders, missionaries travel the Oregon Trail to convert Native Americans

• Marcus & Narcissa Whitman attempt to serve Cayuse tribe.- 1836- Whitmans arrive Walla

Walla River, Washington state- Narcissa is first white woman

to cross the continental divide• This is not what she imagined– Cayuse grow hostile after measles

epidemic, kill Whitman’s & 12 other settlers

Marcus & Narcissa Whitman

missionaries

The Oregon Trail (continued)• Trail is 2000 miles

– Took 6 months – Missouri to Oregon or

California

• Life on the Oregon Trail is hard & dangerous– See page 324-325

• Settlers travel in wagon trains for mutual support & protection from Native Americans

– Trail scattered with “leeverites”

– Did I mention it was dangerous?

The Donner PartyThe Donner Party• Emigrants who moved

West in 1846• Left in spring on “Four

month journey”• Arrived the next spring• 87 people in party• How many survived?

Lansford Hastingswrote “Emigrants Guide to California”

“Donner Party” departs Springfield. Illinois. April 18, 1846

George Donner when he was young

James and Margaret Reed

• Remains of Donner and Reed wagons in Salt Flats

• Snow sets in

The Donner PartyLeft Springfield, Illinois in April 1846 Arrived in Sutters Fort, CA April 1847

Donner Pass 1870s

• Georgia Donner (left) and Eliza Donner (right). This picture would have been taken very shortly after their return from the mountains. The woman in the center is a nanny who was not a part of the Donner Party.

Legacy of the Donner Party

• 46 out of 87 live• 2/3rds of men die• 2/3rds of women live• Donners get worst:• - all 4 adults and 4 children die• James Reed becomes a leading

citizen of San Jose “Never take no cut-offs and hurry

along as fast as you can.” -Virginia Reed in letter to her sister

Donner State Park near Truckee, CA

Life in the WestMain Idea: Women enjoy new status in the West, but settlers face conflicts with Native Americans already living on the land.

• Pioneer life filled with hardships– Use hand tools to: clear land, plant

crops, & build shelters– Have to face: disease, accidents,

storms, floods, & hostile natives

• Women in the West - demonstrate they can work just as hard as men

• Women gain legal rights more quickly than in the East– 1869 - Wyoming Territory first area

in U.S. to give women the vote

Women working in the West

Native Americans & Settlers• Tensions high between

Native Americans & white settlers

• 1850: Discovery of gold in Oregon causes increase in white & Chinese miners– 1855: War breaks out– Miners massacre men,

women & children– Indians kill whites & Chinese – Fight continues until U.S. Army

forces Native Americans to sign treaty giving up their land

– More treaties to come……More treaties to come……

Picture used by newspapers to show the brutality of Native Americans