Trails of the West

www.tngenweb.org/tnletters/usa-west.html

There were many trails to discover the West!• Oregon Trail

• Santa Fe Trail • Californian Trail

• Mormon Trail

• Pony Express ………….and many more!

Some went all the way to Oregon's Willamette Valley in search of farmland.

1 in 10 would die and many made the 2,000 mile journey bare foot.

In 1843 thousands of pioneers headed west along the Oregon Trail.

www.isu.edu/~trinmich/allabout.html

The Oregon Trail, a very popular 80’s-90’s computer game, was a great simulation of what people went through on the trail.

www.classicgaming.gamespy.com

“It served as a vital commercial and military highway until the introduction of the railroad in 1880.”

“The Santa Fe Trail was a 19th century transportation route through central North America that connected Missouri with Santa Fe, New Mexico.”

The 900 mile Santa Fe Trail that spanned from Missouri to New Mexico was used by soldiers in the Civil War and Mexican-American War.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MexicanAmericanWar

People branched off from the Oregon Trail to search for gold in California.

The Californian Trail

Createwitheric.comhttp://www.google.com/images?q=gold+rush+pics

“I came from Salem City With my washbowl on my knee, I'm going to California The gold dust for to see.

It seemed all night the day I left, The weather it was dry. The sun so hot I froze to death; Oh, brothers, don't you cry.”

Chorus: “Oh! California, That's the land for me.

I'm going to Sacramento, With my washbowl on my knee. I soon shall be in Francisco, And then I'll look around,

And when I see the gold lumps there I'll pick them off the ground . I'll scrape the mountains clean I'll drain the rivers dry.

A pocket full of rocks bring home, So, brothers, don't you cry. “

Songs of The Trails

“Would you spend $100 for a glass of water? Some pioneers on the California Trail did. Dying of thirst in the middle of the desert, they had no choice.”

“During the great western migration, the entire Great Plains region was covered with buffalo chips--they were unavoidable. And yes, kids occasionally tossed them about in a Frisbee-like manner. But the chips had a much more practical purpose for the emigrants--they were burned for fuel.”

Fun Facts About Trail Pioneers

The Mormon TrailOn October 27, 1838,

Missouri Governor Lilburn W. Boggs signed the Mormon extermination order to exterminate or drive out the Mormon population.

They went from Missouri to Illinois and later moved to the Salt lake region where much of the Mormon population is still located to this day.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mormon_Trail_3.png

The Pony ExpressEventually, the Pony

Express had more than 100 stations, 80 riders, and between 400 and 500 horses.

“Plans for the Pony Express were created by talks of a Civil War and the need for faster communication with the West. The Pony Express consisted of relays of men riding horses carrying saddlebags of mail across a 2000-mile trail.”

William “Buffalo Bill” Cody was the most famous of the pony express riders.

He traveled 322 miles to complete a ride in 21 hours and 40 minutes. He used 21 horses.

http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/resources/archives/seven/w67i_cody16.htm

The Pony Express Continued…

The transcontinental telegraph was completed in 1861, bringing an end to the Pony Express.

Pony Express riders often experienced difficulties such as terrain, bad weather, and Indian attacks.

“All About the Oregon Trail.” www.isu.edu/~trinmich/allabout.html. Web. 24 March 2011.

Eddins, O. Ned. “Historical Facts of the Mormon Trail.” Web. 28 March 2011.

“Fantastic Facts About the Oregon Trail.” www.isu.edu/~trinmich/facts.html. Web. 25 March 2011.

Nelson, Lynn H. “Songs of the Western Pioneers.” The Kansas Collection. Web. 30 March 2011.

“Pony Express Museum.” www.pony.org/history. Web. 28 March 2011.

“Santa Fe Trail.” wikipedia.com. 1 March 2011. Web. 24 March 2011.

“Timeline Results for the Pony Express.” books.google.com. Web. 30 March 2011.

“The Santa Fe Trail.” sangres.com. Web. 25 March 2011.

Works Cited