The Oregon Trail was an east-west fur trader's route that connected valleys in Oregon to the Missouri river.It was 2,170miles, Buck R, (2014) route from Missouri to Oregon and California and thus enabling early pioneers to the west of the United States. The eastern part covered the now Kansas State and partly today Nebraska and Wyoming states, while half of the western part spanned the currently Idaho and Oregon states. This report chooses the issue of The Oregon trail and explains it in depth and clarity. It relates the issue to other existing issues and illustrates the connection. It discusses the viewpoint of different experts and carefully evaluates the viewpoints highlighting the advantages and anti-issues. The report also examines a personal position regarding the issue and the implication it has in the United States or globally.
Between the years 1811 and 1840 the route was only used by foot or on horseback however by 1836 a wagon trail was equipped already to Fort hall Idaho when the first wagon train for the travelers was prearranged in Independence, Missouri. These were further advanced Buck (2014) to Willamette Valley in Oregon completing the now called Oregon Trail, although improvements in the form of bridges, ferries roads, and cut-offs were made almost annually. The branches of The Oregon Trail were used by business owners, ranchers miners, settlers and their families in the mid-1830 to 1869. Further, the travelers on the California, Bozeman and Marmon trail used the route before diversions to their separate routes, until 1869 when the usage declined upon completion of the first transcontinental railroad that made the west trip safer, faster and cheaper. The modern Interstate 80 and 84 follow the westward course passing through ancient towns initially established to serve the Oregon Trail users.
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In search of new opportunities and cheaper lands, the pioneers traveled to the West using the Oregon Trail in huge numbers on wagon trains. The promise of the new lands was something that made many people decide to move to the West Doeden M, (2013). This was a strategy for safety as the journey was quite perilous along the routes they used such as the Santa Fe Trails and the Oregon. They faced several attacks from the Indians while most were killed by the disease. The Santa Fe Trail was related to this issue since which was a transportation route also although it cut through Central North America that connected Missouri, ‘whose people claimed the route as their own', Barile M, (2010) and Santa Fe, and New Mexico. It functioned as a commercial highway until the railroad to Santa Fe was presented. The and trail helped open up to economic development and settlement casing expansion of the U.S due to the lands acquired through the path. The Santa Fe Trail travelers just as the Oregon Trail travelers had issues though they may be very much alike.
The pros of these viewpoints are the establishment of a route with many other pioneers taking place in the establishment. If your wagon broke on the way, you could always find another person on the same with a spare who could help you out. There was still an outpost that had extra supplies when the food supplies they had run out. Chances of getting lost along the way were very minimal, and the guide did not have to be very skilled. All it was needed to get to where one was going was to follow the dirt road.
Another thing was the encouragement the got from the United States as they supported the settlement of the West. Pioneers were well protected along the path by the establishment of Army forts and the Homestead Act. The forts provided housed cavalry detachments. They also provided a safe haven for rest and repair. They provided law and order to the travelers.
One of the cons was that the Oregon Trail passed through the Indians territories McNeese T, (2009). The West Indian tribes that had fled from the East were the ones who composed the Indian nations. There were so many deaths that resulted from the raids that added up to 5000. This was able to be curbed when they were put in reservations by the Army.
The most prominent challenge was the prevalence of disease that had suffered the travelers on the trail. The vast numbers that had come to fight off the Indians may have helped in that, but it also led to the spread of dysentery and other communicable diseases. Constants colds due to lack rest also caused the pioneers to suffer from Pneumonia.
The Oregon Trail brought more positivity than the problems that came with it. The expansion of the route brought about the expansion of the westward settlement and the development of the trans-Mississippi West. Everything had been previously British held territories such as the areas between the Rocky Mountains, Alaska, and California. The trail caused the expansion of the United States westwards to achieve the ‘Manifest Destiny.'
The impact the trail has, or instead legacy was the expansion of the West Coast. It has been a source of inspiration for many creative works that tell the stories about the settlers' experiences along the Oregon Trail during the Western expansion. It has also inspired a popular educational video game and even got itself a commemorative coin.
References
Buck, R. (2016). The Oregon Trail: A new American journey.
Barile, C, M (2010). The Santa Fe Trail in Missouri.
Doeden, M (2013). The Oregon Trail: An interactive history adventure. Preview.
McNeese, T (2009). The Oregon Trail: Pathway to the west . Preview.
