Two Thousand Miles by Wagon: The Oregon Trail
Beginning in the early 1840s, families gathered in Missouri River towns such as Independence, Missouri, to start one of the great journeys in American history: roughly 2,000 miles overland to Oregon’s Willamette Valley.
The wagons
The classic emigrant wagon was a farm wagon with a canvas cover stretched over hoops. Oxen pulled most of them because they were strong, steady and could live on prairie grass. Most emigrants walked beside their wagons rather than riding in them. The trip usually took four to six months.
Landmarks along the way
Travelers measured their progress by landmarks. Chimney Rock in western Nebraska rose from the plains like a spire. Independence Rock in Wyoming was a milestone: emigrants hoped to reach it by the Fourth of July to stay on schedule, and many carved or painted their names on its granite. Farther on, South Pass offered a gentle crossing of the Continental Divide.
Their legacy
From the 1840s through the 1860s, hundreds of thousands of people traveled the Oregon, California and Mormon trails. Wagon ruts are still visible in places today, preserved within the Oregon National Historic Trail.
Source: National Park Service, Oregon National Historic Trail.