The Oregon Trail was one of the main overland migration routes on the North American continent, leading from locations on the Missouri River to the Oregon Territory. The eastern half of the trail was also used by travelers on the California Trail, Bozeman Trail, and Mormon Trail which used much of the same trail before turning off to their separate destinations. To complete the journey in one traveling season most travelers left in April to May—as soon as grass was growing enough to support their teams and the trails dried out. To meet the constant needs for water, grass, and fuel for campfires the trail followed various rivers and streams across the continent. In addition the network of trails required a minimum of road work to be made passable for wagons. People using the trail traveled in wagons, pack trains, on horseback, on foot, by raft, and by boat to establish new farms, lives, and businesses in the Oregon Territory. This territory in the early 19th century was initially jointly governed by both the United States and Britain.
The four- to six-month journey spanned over half the continent as the wagon trail proceeded about 2,000 miles (3,200 km) west through territories and land that would later become six U.S. states: Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Idaho, and Oregon. Extensions of the Oregon Trail were the main arteries that fed settlers into six more states: Colorado, Utah, Nevada, California, Washington, and Montana. Between 1841 and 1869 the Oregon Trail was used by settlers, ranchers, farmers, miners, and business men migrating to the Pacific Northwest of what is now the United States. Once the first transcontinental railroad by the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific was completed in 1869, the use of this trail by long distance travelers rapidly diminished as the railroad traffic replaced most need for it. By 1883 the Northern Pacific Railroad had reached Portland, Oregon, and most of the reason for the trail disappeared. Roads were built over or near most of the trail as local travelers traveled to cities originally established along the Oregon Trail.
History
Lewis and Clark Expedition
Further information: Lewis and Clark ExpeditionIn 1803, president Thomas Jefferson issued the following instructions to Meriwether Lewis "The object of your mission is to explore the Missouri river, & such principal stream of it, as, by it's course & communication with the waters of the Pacific Ocean, whether the Columbia, Oregon, Colorado or and other river may offer the most direct & practicable water communication across this continent, for the purposes of commerce." Although the Lewis and Clark Expedition found a path to the Pacific, it would not be until 1859 that a direct & practicable route, the Mullan Road, connected the Missouri River to the Columbia River.
The first land route across what is now the United States was partially mapped by the Lewis and Clark Expedition between 1804 and 1806. Lewis and Clark believed they had found a practical overland route to the west coast, however the two passes they found going through the Rocky Mountains, Lemhi Pass and Lolo Pass, turned out to be much too difficult for wagons to pass through without considerable road work. On the return trip in 1806 they traveled from the Columbia River to the Snake River to the Clearwater River over Lolo pass again and then overland up the Blackfoot River and crossed the Continental Divide at Lewis and Clark Pass and on to the head of the Missouri River. This was ultimately a shorter and faster route than the one they followed west. Unfortunately, this route had the disadvantage of being much too rough for wagons and controlled by the Blackfoot Indians who wanted no trespassers crossing their territory that could trade Iron Age goods or firearms to their enemies. Even though Lewis and Clark had only traveled a narrow portion of the upper Missouri river drainage and part of the Columbia river drainage, these were considered the two major rivers draining most of the Rocky Mountains and the expedition confirmed that there was no "easy" route through the northern Rocky Mountains as President Thomas Jefferson had hoped.
Astorians
Further information: Astor ExpeditionIn 1810, fur trader, entrepreneur, and one of the wealthiest men in the U.S., John Jacob Astor of the American Fur Company outfitted an expedition (known popularly as the Astor Expedition or Astorians ) under Wilson Price Hunt to find a possible overland supply route and trapping territory for fur trading posts. Fearing attack by the Blackfoot Indians, the overland expedition veered south of the Lewis and Clark's route into what is now Wyoming and in the process passed across Union Pass and into Jackson Hole. From there they went over the Teton Range via Teton Pass and then down to the Snake River in Idaho. Upon arriving at the Snake River, they abandoned their horses, made dugout canoes and attempted to use the river for transport. Unfortunately, after a few days travel they soon discovered that the steep canyons, waterfalls and impassable rapids made travel by river impossible. Too far from their horses to retrieve them, they had to cache most of their goods and walk the rest of the way to the Columbia River where they made new boats and traveled to their newly established Fort Astoria. The expedition demonstrated that much of the route along the Snake River plain and across to the Columbia was passable by pack train or wagons with minimal improvements.
The Astorians supply ship Tonquin, after leaving supplies and men to establish Fort Astoria in early 1811 left the Columbia River for a trading expedition to Puget Sound Washington. There it was attacked and overwhelmed by Indians before being blown up—killing all the crew and many Indians. Following the destruction of the supply ship Tonquin, American Fur Company partner Robert Stuart led a small group of men back east to report to Astor. The group planned to retrace the path followed by the overland expedition up the Columbia and River. Fear of Indian attack near Union Pass in Wyoming forced the group further south where they discovered South Pass, a wide and easy pass over the Continental Divide. The party continued east via the Sweetwater River, North Platte River (where they spent the winter of 1812–13) and Platte River to the Missouri River finally arriving in St. Louis, Missouri in the spring of 1813. The route they had used appeared to potentially be a practical wagon route, requiring minimal improvements, scouted from west to east, and Stuart's journals provided a meticulous account of most of the route. Unfortunately, because of the War of 1812 and the lack of U.S. fur trading posts in the Oregon country most of the route was forgotten for more than 10 years.
The North West Co. and Hudson's Bay Co.
See also: North West Company and Hudson's Bay CompanyIn August 1811, three months after Fort Astor was established, David Thompson and his team of British North West Company explorers came floating down the Columbia to Fort Astoria. He had just completed an epic journey through much of western Canada and most of the Columbia River drainage system. He was mapping the country for possible fur trading posts. Along the way he camped at the confluence of the Columbia and Snake rivers and posted a notice claiming the land for Britain and stating the intention of the North West Company to build a fort on the site (Fort Nez Perces was later established there). In 1812 the North West Company, with pressure from the War of 1812, 'bought' Astor's forts, supplies and furs on the Columbia and Snake River and started establishing more of their own.
By 1821, when armed hostilities broke out with their Hudson Bay rivals, the North West Co. was forced (by the British government) to merge with the Hudson's Bay Co. The Hudson's Bay Co. had nearly a complete monopoly on trading (and most governing issues) in the Columbia District, or Oregon Country as it was referred to by the Americans, and also in Rupert's Land (western Canada). That year British parliament passed a statute applying the laws of Upper Canada to the district and giving the HBC power to enforce those laws.
From 1812 to 1840 the British, through the North West and Hudson's Bay Co., had nearly complete control of the Pacific Northwest and the western half of the Oregon Trail. In theory, the Treaty of Ghent ending the War of 1812 restored the U.S. back to its possessions in Oregon territory. "Joint occupation" of the region was formally established by the Anglo-American Convention of 1818. In actuality, the British through the Hudson's Bay Co. tried, more or less successfully, to discourage any U.S. trappers and traders from doing any significant trapping or trading in the Pacific Northwest. American fur trappers, traders, missionaries, and later settlers, all worked to break this monopoly. They were eventually successful.
The HBC York Factory Express, establishing another route to the Oregon territory, evolved from an earlier express brigade used by the North West Company between Fort Astoria (renamed Fort George) founded in 1811 by John Jacob Astor's American Fur Company), at the mouth of the Columbia River, to Fort William on Lake Superior. By 1825 Hudson's Bay Co. started using two brigades, each setting out from opposite ends of the express route, Fort Vancouver in Was
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