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The Oregon Trail Many immigrants had made a very long trip from all over the world to comeyoutube.com/watch? to America It was a long and difficult journey Now they were in Missouri It was a strange place and they were a very long way from home It was the late 1830’s in America and the economy was very bad The taxes were high, the air was polluted, and the water was bad It was crowded and the new immigrants began thinking about going west to find a new life It was a crazy decision! It was 3,219 kilometers long They had to cross three mountain ranges, cross many wild rivers, and there was horrible dust and disease There were also the Indians who lived there, too So off they went, with no roads and no trails They sold everything they had to pay for the trip Many were farmers, and sold their farms to pay for a trip across some of the most wilderness country in the world In 1836, Marcus Whitman led a wagon train to Oregon, and proved that it could be done It took ten months In 1840, 13 families made the journey There were 58 families in 1841, and 125 1842 who made the trip But in 1843, things changed and thousands began to make this amazing journey They were going to a better place and free land in But they didn’t really know what they were going to encounter Many didn’t know how to drive a covered wagon, didn’t know how to use a gun, didn’t know how to hunt, and didn’t know anything about Indians The Oregon Trail is called the longest graveyard in the world There was a grave dug about every 80 meters Some wagons decided to turn around and go back But there was a point on this trip where you could not go back We call this the “point of no return.” They had to get to Oregon before winter If they did not, they would be trapped in the wilderness for the entire winter, and would most likely die But as sure as many died and many turned back, those who traveled all the way to the Oregon coast changed America They helped make America what it is today They found a new life and a new dream They populated the west and America was going to continue to grow and become a great country The Indians had no chance There were too many people moving to their land and hunting grounds There were many wars with the Indians, and some great battles, but America was going to be populated and developed These wagon trail marks can be seen today