Between 1840 and 1870 Americans moved west They wanted more land They built new cities They traveled along the Oregon Trail The Oregon Trail was a major route People left their homes on the East Coast They put all their things in covered wagons The wagons were called prairie schooners They looked like boats going over the plains of the Midwest The wagons were made of wood They were about 10 feet 3 meters long They were about 4 feet 1 m wide They were pulled by strong animals People followed other wagons This was called a wagon train 4 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
FLasH FaCt Wagons were packed full with supplies Vocabulary route ROOT path prairie PRAIR-ee large area of grassy or rolling land schooners SKOON-urz boats with two masts plains PLAYNZ flat lands 5
FLasH FaCt Wagon wheels made marks in the land Many marks are still there today Vocabulary pioneers pye-uh-NEERZ people who are the first to settle in a new place starved STAHRVD died of hunger graveyard GRAVE-yahrd a place where dead bodies are buried 6
The Oregon Trail began in Independence Missouri It ended in Oregon City Oregon It was over 2,000 miles 3,219 kilometers long It took 4 to 6 months It was a hard trip People traveled through mountains They traveled on rough roads They traveled through rivers They traveled in bad weather The Oregon Trail travelers were pioneers They faced many dangers Some people got sick Some people starved Some people got robbed Some people were attacked The Oregon Trail has been called this nation’s longest graveyard About one in 10 travelers died There were about 10 deaths per mile The railroad was built in the late 1800s This was the end of the Oregon Trail Trains were easier faster and safer than wagons 7
