On 22 May a train of 120 wagons and 875 people left Independence, Missouri, for Oregon – the Great Oregon Migration of 1843.
In 1849 perhaps 80,000 '49-ers' travelled West to California.
Ultimately, there were as many reasons for going west as there
were people going west, because each migrant had their own reasons for doing so,
but here is a list of 16 general reasons historians have suggested why
Americans moved west in the 1840s:
‘Mountain Men’ – including famous
characters such as James Bridger, Kit Carson and James Beckwourth – went west in
the 1820s and 1830s to trap beavers for their fur.
Trail Guides: when the Beaver fur
trade came to an end in the late 1830s, many of the Mountain Men earned a
living as trail guides and wagon train captains for Americans moving west.
Economic depression: in 1837 the
eastern United States was hit by an economic depression; banks collapsed,
wages were cut by 40 per cent and unemployment grew.
Agricultural depression: there
was agricultural depression in the Midwest in the 1840s; farmers in the
Mississippi valley faced ruin when the price of the wheat and corn
collapsed.
Overcrowding: some of the farmers
in the Mississippi valley were beginning to feel 'crowded' – the population
of Missouri grew from 14,000 in 1830 to 353.000 in 1840.
Propaganda stories: told how wonderful the West was
(see Source A). They were sales pitches. Some were from
missionaries who wanted people to go and help them convert the Indigenous
peoples to Christianity; others came from people who were hoping to make
money from new settlers; some adventurers wanted to set up their own state
(one of these was Lansford W Hastings whose ambition was to take California
from Mexico and establish an independent country with himself as President).
The government: printed 10,000 copies of the Oregon Trail; it wanted American settlers there who would drive out the British. Farming opportunities:
Both California and Oregon had good soil and a good climate.
Land was expensive in the East:
younger sons who were not going to inherit the family farm could not afford
to buy another.
Adventure: going West offered
excitement, danger and a fresh ‘start’.
Persecution: some groups (such as
the Mormons and black former slaves) moved west to escape persecution.
Freedom: There was government,
laws and taxation in the eastern United States.
Oregon Bill: in 1843, Senator
Lewis Linn’s Oregon Bill (which promised a square mile of land in Oregon
FREE to anybody over 18 who had lived there for five years) was passed in
the Senate (although it would not become law until 1850).
Marcus Whitman: in May 1843, Marcus Whitman – who with his wife Narcissa
had set up a Mission on the Oregon Trail near Walla Walla – passed through
Independence Missouri, and promised to guide a wagon train to Oregon.
Gold: In 1848, gold was
discovered in California.
Pioneers: Some people moved multiple times, moving west as the Frontier moved.
David Lenox (see Sources A and B) was born in New York State; at 18, he moved 750
miles to Kentucky; at 27, 420 miles to Illinois; at 38, 300 miles to
Missouri; at 41, 1,800 miles to Hillsboro, Oregon; and at 68, 250 miles
inland to Weston, Oregon.
Source B
Following the Frontier: the homes of David Lenox, 1802-74
(right-click to see a larger version of the map).
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Source A
The excitement in connection with the settlement of Oregon was stirring the hearts of the pioneers on the Mississippi frontier...
One Saturday mnorning father said that he was going to
hear Burnett talk about Oregon. Mr Burnett hauled a box out on to the sidewalk, took his stand upon it, and began to tell about the land flowing with milk and honey on the shores
of the Pacific. He told of great crops of wheat whch it would be
possible to raise in Oregon, and pictured in glowing terms the richness of
the soil and the attractions of the climate, and then with a little twinkle
in his eye, he said, ‘and they do say gentlemen, that out in Oregon the pigs
are running about under the great acorn trees, round and fat, and already
cooked, with knives and forks sticking in them so that .you can cut off a
slice whenever you are hungry’.
Edward Henry Lenox, 1842
Edward Lenox's father David (who was a farmer and
school-teacher) signed up and the
family moved to Oregon. David Lenox became one of the leaders of the
wagon train, organised the first Baptist Church in Oregon, and became a
Justice of the Peace and judge.
Peter Hardeman
Burnett was a small-time lawyer and failed shop-keeper with $15,000 of debts, six children and a seriously
ill wife. In 1842, in his own words, he "set to work most vigorously to organize a wagon company",
and was elected as its captain when it set off in 1843. Having moved
to Oregon he got into politics, became a Judge of the Provisional Government
of Oregon and, in 1849, the 1st Governor of California.
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