Warm-up
1. The phrase Manifest Destiny was coined by John O'Sullivan in 1845
2. White Americans believed they had a God-given right to occupy the entire North
American continent.
3. Manifest Destiny was an entirely new concept.
4. Manifest Destiny was used to encourage people to move further East.
5. Advertising, newspaper stories and pictures encouraged people to move onto the
Plains.
6. Gold was found in Kansas in 1848.
7. The Homestead Act offered people 160 acres of land.
8. Under the terms of the Homestead Act people had to build a house on the Plains
and live there for 5 years.
9. Stories of failure were widely circulated.
10. Paintings encouraged people to fulfill Manifest Destiny.
Trails West
• Read about trails west starting on page
309 of the red book.
• When you finish reading, create a bubble
map about the three trails west. Include
the name of the trail and the purpose of
the trail (Where did it go? Who traveled
on it?)
• Which trail would you have wanted to
travel? Why?
Trails West Bubble Map
Directions: Record the name and purpose of the three trails
west in a similar bubble map.
Oregon
Trail/Califo
rnia Trail
Trails
West
Mormon
Trail
Santa Fe/Old
Spanish Trail
Oregon Trail
Mormon
Trails
West KeySanta Fe Trail
Trail
• 2,000 miles long from
Independence Missouri to Oregon
Country.
• Traveled by pioneers.
• Follows Platte and Sweet water
Rivers, crosses the Rocky
Mountain and forked to the
Willamette Valley in Oregon or
south into California.
• Six months, start in late spring.
• Cost was about $600/family
• Pioneers took wagons for goods
but usually walked
• Hardships: shortages of good,
supplies and water, rough weather,
geographic barriers, disease, Indian
attacks, robbers, etc…
• 1845 5,000 settlers in Willamette
Valley.
• Went from Nauvoo
Illinois to Salt Lake 1,300 miles.
• Traveled by Mormons
escaping persecution.
• Brigham Young
become head of
church and guide
thousands of
Mormons to Great
Salt lake.
• 1860 40,000
Mormons in Utah.
• Independence Missouri to
Santa Fe, new Mexico - 800
miles.
• Traveled mainly by
merchant traders.
• Used ancient native
American trading route.
• Hardships: desert, rough
mountains, danger from
thieves, Indian raid etc…
• High profits encourage
traders.
• Us government sent troops
to ensure safe passage of
merchants.
Major Western Trails
Santa Fe
Trail
Oregon Trail
Mormon
Trail
The first major western trail was the Santa Fe
Trail, which stretched 800 miles from
Independence, Missouri, to the town of Santa Fe,
the capital of Spanish New Mexico. It began as a
trade route.
The 2,000-mile Oregon Trail stretched from
Independence, Missouri, to the rich farming lands
of the Willamette Valley in Oregon. It was used by
Native Americans, Lewis and Clark, fur traders and
mountain men, and finally migrants.
Between 1847 and 1853, some 16,000 Mormons
migrated west following the 1,300-mile route that
became known as the Mormon Trail. It ran from
Nauvoo, Illinois, to Salt Lake City in present-day
Utah.
The Results??
Wagons West – trains of 10 to 100 wagons moved
settlers the 2000 miles from Missouri to Oregon or
California
260,000 Americans
made the trip
Trip took 5 months
Donner Party (cannibalism)
showed the danger
Those that made it
got better farms
Oregon Trail Slide-Show
Ms. Schaller is going to show you some pictures
of the Oregon Trail and people pretending to
travel along the Oregon Trail.
You will use some of these ideas to help you in
our Oregon Trail Challenge at the end of class.
Wagon Train Crossing Prairie Lined With Cliffs
A wagon train crosses a prairie lined with cliffs on the
Oregon Trail on a tour designed to simulate
the pioneer experience on the Oregon Trail. Near Bayard, Nebraska.
Emigrants To The West Illustration
Original caption: American Westward Expansion:
"EMIGRANTS TO THE WEST" prepare a meal on the prairie.
Covered Wagon Parts at Crossing Site on the Green River Covered wagon parts sit on rocks above
the edge of the Green River Where wagons on the Oregon Trail crossed the river near LaBarge,
Wyoming.
Pony Express Station on Oregon Trail
A weathered building built in 1857 to serve Oregon-California
trade and which also served as a pony express station, still stands
in Hanover, Kansas.
Excavating Oregon Trail Burial Site
A hand holding a whisk broom brushes dirt from
the skeleton of a young pioneer woman
who died while crossing the country on the Oregon Trail
in the 19th century. Wyoming, USA.
Aerial View of Motorhomes and
Covered Wagons Parked in a Circle
Covered wagons and motor homes stand in a circle in imitation
of the protective circles pioneers formed as they set up camp
while crossing the country in wagon trains along the
Oregon Trail. Near Bayard, Nebraska.
Aerial View of "Y" in the Oregon Trail
The Sublette Cutoff, which leads South to Utah and Califonia,
veers off from the Oregon Trail near South Pass, Wyoming.
Check for Understanding
1) What were some challenges that
individuals encountered while traveling
west?
2) Which trail west would you have taken?
Why?
Homework
Read “Opening the Oregon Trail”
Use your metacognative markers to track
you thinking as you read.