The Oregon Trail, a 2100 plus mile journey for some from Independence, Missouri, all the

way to Oregon City, Oregon, a rough and rugged odyssey.

The American Wild West traveled mainly by American immigrant families, looking to own

land for the first time and build wealth in a new place.

The claim they're 160 acres, they faced grueling months long journey full of all kinds of

hardships. Many of us can't imagine today extreme weather without the proper gear by today's

standards, river rapids without the nice flotation device, starvation, disease accidents, conflicts

with other immigrants and local tribes, and the most shelter they had in the journey was

nothing but a covered wagon.

For decades, Oregon Trail was America's symbol of manifest destiny.

The idea that the United States was destined by God to expand across the continent and

civilize the lands out west.

Activity on the trail would peak in the 1840s and 50s bringing hundreds of thousands of

men, women and children to the western territories of Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, and California.

The gold rush brought thousands more, primarily single men, looking to strike at rich beyond

their wildest dreams.

Trail was the path to the American dream for many settlers, property ownership, the

potential for wealth and exploration and uncharted territory.

Of course, every story involving territorial expansion has a dark side.

Many of the settlers who started out in Missouri with big dreams of making new lives for themselves

in Oregon never made it and their lives ended in tragic fashion.

Also, there were already thousands of people living in this, quote, unquote, free land, the

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