Traders and Trailblazers: Opening the West

1. Chapter 9 Section 2 – pg 322 Trails to the West

2. Pg 322 Traders Lead the Way • First Americans to move to the Far West were traders • Were looking for new markets • Blazed trails

3. Pg 322 The Santa Fe Trail • When Mexico won independence, it allowed overland trading with the US • In 1821, Captain William Becknell led a wagon train filled with merchandise from Independence, Missouri to Santa Fe, New Mexico • Covered 800 miles • Crossed quicksand, desert, and mountains • The Santa Fe Trail soon became a busy international trading route

4. Pg 322 The Oregon Fur Trade • In the north, fur traders were making fortunes • John Jacob Astor, a German immigrant, sent the first American fur-trading expedition to Oregon • Established the American Fur Company in 1808 at Fort Astor, now Astoria, Oregon • Astor’s expedition consisted of 2 groups • First group sailed around South America and up the Pacific coast • 2nd group traveled across the continent, using the info recorded by Lewis and Clark • Found the South Pass through the Rocky Mountains • Opened the NW for missionaries and settlers

5. Pg 323 Mountain Men • The fur trade made Astor the richest man in the country • Fur trappers of the Northwest (mountain men) became legendary • Most of the year, led dangerous, isolated lives • Endured bitter cold, intense heat, and attacks from wild animals • Jedediah Smith was once scalped by a grizzly bear • Persuaded a companion to sew his scalp back on and to piece together his severed ear • Went back to work several weeks later

6. Once a year, trappers would bring their fur to a rendezvous • A meeting where trappers would trade furs for supplies • Would celebrate their time together – singing, laughing, and competing in contests • Beaver fur was in high demand and sold for a lot of money • By the 1830s, the supply of beavers was nearly exhausted • Most trappers moved back east and became farmers, merchants, or even bankers • Others stayed as guides for the wagon trains that brought thousands of settlers west in the 1840s • One mountain man, an African American named James Beckwourth, discovered a pass through the Sierras that later became a major route to California Pg 323

7. Pg 324 The Oregon Trail • The first white easterners to build permanent homes in Oregon were missionaries • In the 1830s, they began to travel west to bring their religion to the Indians

8. Pg 324 Missionaries • Marcus and Narcissa Whitman set up a mission in Oregon to serve the Cayuse Indians • The Cayuses mistrust them, partly b/c they made no effort to understand Cayuse ways • As more settlers arrived and took ever NA land, the NAs became hostile • In 1847, an epidemic of measles killed many Cayuse adults and most of their children • They blamed the Whitmans so the NAs killed them and 12 other settlers

9. Pg 324 • Missionaries spurred the settlement of the west • Their reports of Oregon led more easterners to make the journey west • Farmers sought the free fertile land, mild climate, and the plentiful rainfall of the river valleys • “Oregon Fever”

10. Pg 324 On the Oregon Trail • Most settlers followed the Oregon Trail • Route that stretched more than 2,000 miles from Missouri to Oregon • Would set out in spring and have to make the trip within 5 months • Anyone stuck in the Rockies in winter risked a slow death • Trip was hazardous: disease and accidents killed 10% of the travelers

11. Pg 325 • Pioneers banded together for mutual protection • Traveled in long trains of covered wagons drawn by oxen and horses • Wagons carried food and possessions, while ppl walked • Traveled for up to 15 hrs a day • At night, wagons were drawn into a circle to keep cattle from wandering off

12. As miles went by, horses and oxen became more tired • People began to discard personal items to lighten wagons • Trail became scattered with “leeverites”, short for “leave ‘er right here” • Dust got in everything • Ppl wore masks to keep it out of their faces and lungs • Clean, safe water was hard to find • Despite all this, more than 50,00 ppl reached Oregon between 1840 and 1860 Pg 325

13. Pg 326 Life in the West • Pioneer life was filled with hardship • Settlers arrived with few possessions • Cleared the land, planted crops, and built shelter with hand tools • Constant treat of disease, accidents, and natural disasters like storms and floods • Some settlers gave up and returned to the East • Others, like the Bidwells, met the challenges and lived extraordinary lives

14. Pg 327 Women in the West • Women in the west work along men to make family farms successful • The fact that their help was necessary for the survival of the family raised their status • Meanwhile, women in the east began to campaign for greater political and legal rights • In 1869, the Wyoming Territory became the first area of the US to grant women the vote

15. Pg 327 Native Americans and Settlers • NAs in Oregon lived in an uneasy peace with the white settlers • NAs in the south got along with the white • NAs in the north were angered by the presence of strangers on their lands

16. Pg 327 • The discovery of gold in northern Oregon in the 1850s brought large numbers of white and Chinese miners into the area • War broke out there in 1855 • Miners killed several dozen NA men • Three months later, miners massacred an equal number of NA women, children, and old men • NA fought back, killing white and Chinese alike • Brief war ended when the US intervened • The NA were forced to accept peace treaties