The Oregon Trail. The Oregon Trail stretched from the Missouri River through Nebraska and over to California during the Gold Rush of 1849. The Oregon Trail passed through Nebraska and was a 2000 mile trip...
The Oregon Trail passed through Nebraska and was a 2000 mile trip from the Missouri River to Willamette Valley in Oregon. It happened when our country expanded from east of the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean. At no other time has a country expanded as rapidly as the U.S. did in the 1840s. We almost doubled in size in a matter of a few years. My theory is that we were in a race with Mexico, the French, and the Canadians to get the most people out West and win the land.
The pioneers going across this land in covered wagons undertook the journey to find new land and to better their lives. Going to Oregon, which they called the land of milk and honey, they passed right over Nebraska, one of the most beautiful parts of the country. If you were the first person to stake a claim, you basically owned the land. What really started it all was the Gold Rush of 1849. Land was a nice thing to have, but free gold was even better.
