USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Stream and river crossings, steep descents and ascents, violent storms, and the persistent threat of disease among large groups of travelers were the most common challenges. Disease was the greatest threat on the trail, especially cholera, which struck wagon trains in years of heavy travel.

Detailed explanation-2: -The Oregon Trail was much more than a pathway to the state of Oregon; it was the only practical path to the entire western United States. The places we now know as Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Idaho, and Utah would probably not be a part of the United States today were it not for the Oregon Trail.

Detailed explanation-3: -Diseases and serious illnesses caused the deaths of nine out of ten pioneers. Such diseases as cholera, small pox, flu, measles, mumps, tuberculosis could spread quickly through an entire wagon camp. Cholera was the main scourge of the trail.

Detailed explanation-4: -The Oregon Trail was a roughly 2, 000-mile route from Independence, Missouri, to Oregon City, Oregon, that was used by hundreds of thousands of American pioneers in the mid-1800s to emigrate west. The trail was arduous and snaked through Missouri and present-day Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Idaho and finally into Oregon.