Oregon Trail
The Oregon Trail was a significant route for westward migration in the United States, commencing in Independence, Missouri, and extending through territories near major rivers to Portland, Oregon. From the early 1840s to the mid-1850s, families traveled in canvas-covered wagons, often referred to as "prairie schooners," embarking on a challenging journey lasting five to six months. Many settlers sought fertile lands in the Willamette Valley, drawn by its rich bottomlands, while others diverted southward to California in search of gold following the 1849 discovery.
The influx of settlers contributed to critical events in U.S. history, including the Oregon Treaty of 1846, which resolved boundary disputes with England and established Oregon as a U.S. territory in 1848. However, this migration had profound implications for Indigenous populations, leading to their dislocation and significant demographic changes due to epidemics and settlement pressures. The narratives of this era were notably captured by historian Francis Parkman, who provided insights into the experiences of those traveling the trail. Overall, the Oregon Trail represents a complex chapter in American history, marked by explorations of opportunity and profound impacts on Native communities.
Subject Terms
Oregon Trail
Tribes affected: Chinook, Kalapuya, Molala, Umpqua, Wishram
Significance: The Oregon Trail, stretching from Independence, Missouri, to Portland, Oregon, was one of the primary westward routes of settlers in the 1840’s
The Oregon Trail was an overland migration that began in Independence, Missouri, and followed a path adjacent to or near the Platte, Snake, and Columbia rivers westward to Portland, Oregon. Families in canvas-covered Conestoga wagons, commonly called “prairie schooners,” arrived in Independence every May from the early 1840’s through the mid-1850’s to begin a journey of five or six months on what became known as the Oregon Trail. After 1849, many wagons took the southern cutoff at Soda Springs (in the present state of Idaho) and headed for California and possible gold rather than the fertile bottomlands of the Willamette Valley of Oregon.
The influx of white settlers moving into Oregon country via the Oregon Trail set off a chain reaction of events that resulted in the signing of the Oregon Treaty of 1846, the naming of Oregon as a territory in 1848, and the dislocating of virtually every Indian tribe in Oregon, especially those on the western slopes of the Cascade Mountains and in the Willamette Valley. The rich bottomland and meadows of the Willamette Valley were especially coveted by Oregon Trail veterans who had emigrated from Kentucky, Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri for just such prime farmland. The Oregon Treaty of 1846 settled the boundary dispute between the United States and England: It extended the international boundary along latitude 49 degrees north to Puget Sound, thence to the Pacific Ocean through the Juan de Fuca Strait, leaving Vancouver Island to Canada. The treaty was one of the notable compromises of the administration of President James Polk.
Absent in this decision was any articulated voice of the native peoples who had lived in the region for millennia. Even before the incursion of settlers into the Willamette Valley in the 1840’s, there was a series of epidemics (perhaps propagated through contact with traders) in the 1830’s that significantly depopulated the tribes of north-central Oregon. The double blow of epidemic followed by mass immigration of outside peoples in successive decades effectively decimated certain tribes and forced some tribes to merge with others. It was during this period, for example, that the Wishram were essentially amalgamated with the Chinook.
The most famous chronicler of the Oregon Trail remains Francis Parkman, whose text The Oregon Trail (1849) attempted to document the mass social migration across the continent. Parkman departed from St. Louis, not Independence, Missouri, but he helped to define the Oregon Trail and provided commentary on the people he observed.