The Oregon Trail

A roughly 2,000-mile route from Independence, Missouri, to Oregon City, Oregon, which was used by hundreds of thousands of American pioneers in the mid-1800s to emigrate west.

• The Oregon Trail

• The Oregon Land Donation Act of 1850

• Pioneer

• Fording

To cross a body of water, usually a river at a shallow point.

• The Oregon Trail

• The Oregon Land Donation Act of 1850

• Pioneer

• Fording

An area of public land in the West (usually 160 acres) granted to any US citizen willing to settle on and farm the land. The law required a three-step procedure: file an application, improve the land, and file for the deed.

• typhoid

• homestead

• prairie schooner

• ox

A law that gave land to people that settled in Oregon. It stated that every unmarried, white, male citizen that was 18 years or older would be granted 320 acres of land or 640 acres to every married couple (the husband and wife each owned half). The land had to be lived on and crops grown on it for four years before it was legally theirs.

• The Oregon Trail

• The Oregon Land Donation Act of 1850

• Pioneer

• Fording

A bull (sometimes a cow) that is usually four years of age and is trained to do work. They are slower than horses which makes them good for plowing.

• typhoid

• homestead

• prairie schooner

• ox

A person who is among the first to explore or settle in an area.

• The Oregon Trail

• The Oregon Land Donation Act of 1850

• Pioneer

• Fording

One of the common diseases that were contracted on The Oregon Trail. It was contracted through contaminated food and drinking water. It occurs in places where handwashing is not done very often. Symptoms included: fever, headache, loss of appetite, and death.

• typhoid

• homestead

• prairie schooner

• ox

19th-century covered wagon popularly used by emigrants traveling to the American West. In particular, it was the vehicle of choice on the Oregon Trail. It's name came from the wagon’s white canvas cover, or bonnet, which gave it the appearance, from a distance, of the sailing ship.

• typhoid

• homestead

• prairie schooner

• ox