Transcript 15.2 Trails West - Alliance College

15.2 Trails West
Main Idea
Thousands of
settlers followed
trails through the
West to gain land
and a chance to
make a fortune.
Why It Matters Now
This migration
brought Americans
to territories that
became New
Mexico, Oregon, and
Utah.
Standard
8.8.2 Describe the purpose, challenges, and
economic incentives associated with westward
expansion, including the concept of Manifest
Destiny (e.g., the Lewis and Clark expedition,
accounts of the removal of Indians, the
Cherokees’ “Trail of Tears,” settlement of the
Great Plains) and the territorial acquisitions that
spread numerous decades.
Daily Guided Questions
1. How did mountain men open up the
West for later settlements?
2. Why did people go west and what
challenges did they face?
Silent Reading
• Read textbook pages 322-327.
Traders Lead the Way
• Traders looking for new markets to
sell their goods.
-Created trails through the Great Plains
and Rocky Mtns. to the West.
The Santa Fe Trail
• William Becknell used
trail to sell products in
Mexico.
-Became rich.
-assisted “prairie
schooners” across the
Great Plains into New
Mexico.
Oregon Fur Trade
• John Jacob Astor,
German immigrant.
• American Fur Company.
-First multi-millionaire
• Lead the way for
missionaries and
settlers.
-Used Lewis and Clark
route.
Mountain Men
• Fur traders of the Northwest.
-Lived isolated, dangerous lives.
-Bitter cold, intense heat, and
animal attacks.
• Sold products at rendezvous,
meeting for traders to trade
furs and supplies.
-Returned East as farmers and
merchants.
-Some became guides.
Jedediah Smith
James Beckwourth
The Oregon Trail
• 2,000 mile route from Independence, Missouri to
Oregon Terr.
-took 5 months to reach Oregon terr.
-10% of travelers died.
• Travelled in wagon trains for protection.
-Carried everything they needed in covered
wagons pulled by horses or oxen.
-Between 1840-1860, 50,000 people came to
Oregon.