Why do you think many of the trails to the west follow rivers?

Why do you think many of the trails to the west follow rivers?

By following the rivers it provided the travelers a water source. Why would travel by wagon through the mountains have been slower than travel across desert or plains? Moving with wagons over mountains with snow and cold weather would have been slower than riding over flat land.

Which rivers and mountain ranges did the settlers have to cross when following the Santa Fe Trail and the Old Spanish Trail to California?

Following the Santa Fe and Old Spanish trails to California required settlers to cross the Arkansas River, Rio Grande, and Colorado River as well as the Rocky Mountains and Sierra Nevada.

How did adding the Louisiana Territory change the size of the nation?

The Louisiana Purchase of 1803 brought into the United States about 828,000 square miles of territory from France, thereby doubling the size of the young republic.

Why do you think the Mormon Oregon and Santa Fe?

Why do you think the Mormon, oregon, and santa fe trails each followed rivers for such a long distance? Rivers were going the same way the settlers were going, the rivers provided fresh water sand rivers would be used for transportation.

Why is the Oregon Trail important?

Everything from California to Alaska and between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Ocean was a British-held territory called Oregon. The trail pointed the way for the United States to expand westward to achieve what politicians of the day called its “Manifest Destiny” to reach “from sea to shining sea.”

Why was the Santa Fe Trail important?

The Santa Fe Trail was mainly a trade route but saw its share of emigrants, especially during the California Gold Rush and the Pike’s Peak Gold Rush in Colorado. The trail also became an important route for stagecoach travel, stagecoach mail delivery and as a mail route for the famed Pony Express.

How did the Mormon Trail differ from other trails?

This trail differed from most as it travelers didn’t employ professional guides, it was a religiously motivated migration, and this trail went two ways. An image of a pioneer wagon train winding down through Echo Canyon, a part of the Mormon trail, in the year 1868.

Where did the Oregon Trail cross Louisiana Territory?

The Oregon Trail crossed the Louisiana Territory on the way to Portland. The Santa Fe Trail crossed it on the way to Santa Fe. The California Trail crossed it on the way to Sacramento. [see map]

What was the trail of the westward expansion?

Many thing happened during Westward Expansion, but the had to have ways to get to them and they were the trails, specifically the Oregon, the Santa Fe, and the Mormon trail. In this time their was only one main way to get across the Mountains, which was the Oregon trail.

How many people traveled the Santa Fe Trail?

Then later in 1848 the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the war and this trail was used by the gold seekers heading toward Californa and Colorado gold fields, adventurers, fur trappers, and emigrants. In just six months alone in 1865, 5,197 mean, 6,452 mules, 38,281 oxen, and 4,472 wagons traveled the trail.