The Oregon Trail was the next big part of the westward expansion. In the mid-19th century the Oregon Trail was the main pathway for American emigrants searching for new lands and opportunity on the frontier. From its main departure points in Missouri, the grueling overland route stretched 2,170 miles over the Great Plains and the Continental Divide, finally ending in the fertile Willamette Valley or the goldfields of California. More than 400,000 pioneers traveled its trails in the boom years between 1840 and 1860, braving everything from disease outbreaks and wagon accidents to arid deserts and rushing river crossings.
