Transcript Chapter 11 Section 1 - Weeping Water Public Schools

Chapter 11 Section 1
Trails to the West
Trails to the West
• Americans move West
– Americans start to go beyond the U.S. Territory
– One of the reasons was for beaver pelts
– John Jacob Astor
• Created the American Fur Company
• Bought pelts from Mountain Men (trappers and fur traders)
who explored and lived in the lands west of the Rocky
Mountains
• These men adopted Native American clothing and customs
• Because of the Cost to bring the furs out, William Ashley
organized the Rendezvous which was a large meeting where
trading, story telling, and culture was exchanged.
Trails to the West
• 1811- John Jacob Astor founded Astoria, a trading
post at the mouth of the Columbia River
• Oregon Country
– Full of Natural resources
– Quite a few countries laid claim to the land.
– The U.S. made treaties with Spain and Russia to gain
control, and Great Britain shared control
• By 1840 the fur business was winding down and
settlers started to work their way out to Oregon
Trails to the West
• Oregon Trail
– 2000 miles long went from Independence, MO or Council
Bluffs, IA to Oregon
– Followed the Platte River, crossed the Rocky Mountains
then forked, one went to Oregon the other went to the
California
– Travel lasted about 6 months
– Cost about $600 for a family of four
– Younger families were most of the travelers
– Wagons pulled by Oxen, mules or horses
– Faced running out of water, disease, natural barriers to
cross, weather,
– By 1845 over 5,000 families reached the Willamette Valley
Trails to the West
Trails to the West
• Santa Fe Trail
– Led from Independence to Santa Fe, NM
– More of a trading trail
– Dangerous due to having to travel across the
desert, but very very profitable for those who
made the journey
– U.S. government sent protection along
– Had to go through Native American lands that
weren’t very friendly
Trails to the West
Trails to the West
• Mormons Travel West
– Traveled west for religious freedom
– Led by Joseph Smith
– First Settled in Ohio, then Missouri, Illinois, then out
to present day Utah
– Smith was said to find golden tablets and wrote them
down in the Book of Mormon
– Some practices caused problems, such as polygamy
(Outlawed by the church in 1890)
– Smith was killed in 1844 and Brigham Young became
the leader and too the people out to Utah near the
Great Salt Lake
Trails to the West