USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Use of the trail declined after the first transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869, making the trip west substantially faster, cheaper, and safer.

Detailed explanation-2: -As more and more settlers headed west, the Oregon Trail became a well-beaten path and an abandoned junkyard of surrendered possessions. It also became a graveyard for tens of thousands of pioneer men, women, children and countless livestock.

Detailed explanation-3: -Not too far past the end of the Barlow Road, the wagon trains camped a final time on the broad creekside meadow near the Willamette River. This spot, Oregon City’s Abernethy Green, marked the traditional End of the Oregon Trail.

Detailed explanation-4: -The Trail was in regular use from 1843 until the 1870s. When the Union Pacific completed the first railroad link to the West Coast in 1869, the preferred route became by train to San Francisco, then north to Oregon by ship, but wagon trains could still be seen on the Oregon Trail as late as the 1880s.

Detailed explanation-5: -The Oregon Trail helped to change how the United States grew. It helped to move the population westward from the overpopulated East. If it was not for the Oregon Trail, many of the western states would not be or even look like they do today. The trail also helped spread culture and religious beliefs.