USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -The first major migration took place in 1843 when a single large wagon train of 120 wagons and 500 people made the trip. The trail was popular until the transcontinental railroad connected the east to the west in 1869. In 1978, the U.S. Congress officially named the trail the Oregon National Historic Trail.

Detailed explanation-2: -The group included 120 wagons, about 1, 000 people and thousands of livestock. Their trek began on May 22 and lasted five months. It effectively opened the floodgates of pioneer migration along the Oregon Trail and became known as the Great Emigration of 1843.

Detailed explanation-3: -In what was dubbed “The Great Migration of 1843” or the “Wagon Train of 1843", an estimated 700 to 1, 000 emigrants left for Oregon. They were led initially by John Gantt, a former U.S. Army Captain and fur trader who was contracted to guide the train to Fort Hall for $1 per person.

Detailed explanation-4: -The wagon train is probably one of those images. What exactly was a wagon train? It was a group of covered wagons, usually around 100 of them. These carried people and their supplies to the West before there was a transcontinental railroad.

Detailed explanation-5: -The Oregon Trail has attracted such interest because it is the central feature of one of the largest mass migrations of people in American history. Between 1840 and 1860, from 300, 000 to 400, 000 travelers used the 2, 000-mile overland route to reach Willamette Valley, Puget Sound, Utah, and California destinations.