It's May 1st, 1839. A group of 18-18-39,

a group of 18 men from Peoria, Illinois are heading west in Oxdrawn wagons. Their

destination, Oregon Country, a mere 2,000 miles away.

Their mission to colonize it on behalf of the United States. They carry a large flag with their motto, Oregon, or the grave, and while none will die making the journey,

the rain, desolate land and lack of provisions force some to turn back.

Others split from the group, heading instead for California, but nine eventually

make it to Oregon. Those that remain of the Peoria Party are among the first to traverse the

Oregon Trail.

Before the arrival of the Transcontinental Railroad,

hundreds of thousands would make the same journey.

Entire families traveling for months seeking land and opportunity.

But not all would succeed. One in ten migrants

would perish along the way. Miles from civilization, people were buried where they

died, succumbing to disease, dangerous river crossings, and attacks by Native Americans, whose

land they were crossing and on which they intended to settle. Hello and welcome to a new episode of American History

Head I'm Don Wildman welcome you know I'm a little at sea today as to you know how to

proceed at first not because of the subject at hand fascinating stuff America's westward expansion in the mid-19th century,

vis-a-vis the Oregon Trail, the notion of manifest destiny, see the shining, see all that,

and we'll talk about it in a few moments.

But I'm equally fascinated by the specific work of my guest today.

You'll soon understand it's important that we address all this up front.

It is an established fact that what that we might

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