The Oregon Trail
The Oregon Trail was a pathway to the west, and was also the longest overland trail in North America. This very hard journey began around 1843, and continued west in a 25 year span. More than 50,000 pioneers took the path, which went from Independence, Missouri, to Oregon City, Oregon. The Oregon Trail was the only feasible way for settlers to get across the mountains. Even though the big wave of western migration did not start until 1843, the first emigrants to go to Oregon in a covered wagon were Marcus and Narcissa Whitman who made the trip in 1836. Over the next 25 years, more than a half million people went west on the Trail. The Oregon Trail finally ended in 1869, when the transcontinental railroad was completed.