USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -These vehicles typically included a wooden bed about four feet wide and ten feet long. When pulled by teams of oxen or mules, they could creak their way toward Oregon Country at a pace of around 15 to 20 miles a day. They could even be caulked with tar and floated across un-fordable rivers and streams.

Detailed explanation-2: -We have had visitors at the End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center who recalled making the trip to Oregon by wagon as late as 1912 because their families couldn’t afford to buy train tickets, but the last wagon widely known to have braved the Oregon Trail was driven by Ezra Meeker in 1906.

Detailed explanation-3: -As the Oregon Trail evolved, thousands of wagons wore ruts into the ground that acted as an ad-hoc road for the settlers who followed. But they didn’t follow a single solid path. Rather, wagon wheels left ruts across the country as pioneers found various shortcuts and easier routes along the way.

Detailed explanation-4: -These brave pioneers journeyed west for about five to six months along overland trails such as the California Trail, Gila River Trail, Mormon Trail, Old Spanish Trail, Oregon Trail, and the Santa Fe Trail for many different reasons.