•During the early 1800s,American merchants andfur trappers establishedtrails that brought aflood of new settlers tothe Far West in the1840s and 1850s
•THE PROMISE OF TRADE: 328-329
–U.S. contact with the Far West –territory west of the Mississippi River –began in the 1790s
–At that time, New England marinerssailed around South America and upthe Pacific Coast to trade with thecoastal communities of California
–People in these communities inCalifornia wanted AmericanManufactured Goods
–American traders did not want to bearrested for violating the Spanish banon foreign trade, at this point Californiabelonged to Spain, so they seldomventured far inland
•THE PROMISE OF TRADE:328-329
–Mexico gained it’s independencefrom Spain in 1821 and the Mexicangovernment was eager toencourage trade with the UnitedStates to improve the MexicanEconomy
•One American Merchant, WilliamBecknell, in which he made hugeprofits trading his merchandise.
•He blazed a Trail westward fromMissouri to Santa Fe, in what is nowNew Mexico,.
•His success encouraged otherAmerican Merchants to follow the780-mile-long Santa Fe Trail
•THE PROMISE OF TRADE: 328-329
–Fur trappers, or Mountain Men, alsocame to the Far West for commercialreasons
•Beaver pelts, used to makemen’s hats, were in greatdemand in the United Statesin the early 1800s.
•With help from NativeAmericans who served asguides, interpreters, and petprocessors, mountain menextended the fur trade to newareas in the west
•Some made a lot of money
•THE PROMISE OF TRADE: 328-329
–The fur trade was most profitable in theRocky Mountains – along the MissouriRiver and its tributaries – where WilliamAshley had developed the rendezvoussystem – a method of doing business
–Rendezvous system – William Ashleyrecognized that transporting furs out ofthe Rockies was expensive. To cutcosts, he persuaded some trappers toremain in the mountains full-time andgather once a year to sell their furs andpurchase supplies. This systemreduced expenses and thereforeincreased profits
•SETTLING OREGONCOUNTRY (330-331)
–Oregon Trail: thisroute followed thePlatte River across theGreat Plains to theRockies. It descendedinto Oregon along theSnake and ColumbiaRivers
–This was created byFur Trappers
•SETTLING OREGON COUNTRY (330-331)
–Farmers and Missionaries (330)
•The Oregon Trail particularlyinterested farming families whowanted to settle in Oregon Country’sWillamete Valley
•Many missionaries were alsoattracted to the area, but not forfarming
•The missionaries saw the region asfertile ground for convertingAmerican Indians to Christianity
•In 1833, a Methodist newspaper, theChristian Advocate and Journal,published a request for missionariesto teach the Christian faith toAmerican Indians of Oregon Country
•Narcissa Prentiss Whitman was oneof the early Protestant missionariesin Oregon
•SETTLING OREGONCOUNTRY (330-331)
–Political Impact: (330-331)
•Great Britain and the United States hadjointly occupied the Oregon Country since1818.
•James K. Polk stunned and angered theBritish by proclaiming America’s right to allof Oregon Country below the 54*40’ parallel
•With “Fifty-four forty or fight” as his slogan,Polk declared the United States would soonpossess all of Oregon, up to the southernborder which is now Alaska
•After intense negotiations, the two sidesreached an agreement in June 1846. Theywould extend the U.S. border to the 49thparallel. The agreement also allowed theBritish to Keep Vancouver Island
•TRAVELING THE OREGON TRAIL (331-333)
–During the 1840s and 1850s,thousands of families followed theoverland trail to Oregon, whichofficially became U.S. Territory in1848.
–Most organized themselves into largewagon trains to meet the challengesof the journey
–Traveling in large groups helped thepioneers deal with such obstacles asdeep mud, heavy snow, rain-swollenrivers, and ravines
–It also aided them in repairing brokenequipment and defending themselves
•TRAVELING THE OREGON TRAIL(331-333)
–The Difficult Journey (331-332)
•Some overland trips ended intragedy: For example, theDonner party broke off from theOregon Trail to head toCalifornia. The group becamesnowbound in the Sierra Nevadaduring the winter on 1846-1847.Some 42 members of the Donnerparty died in the mountains
•Even under the bestcircumstances, travelers on theOregon Trail faced a long,difficult, and extremelydangerous journey
•TRAVELING THE OREGON TRAIL(331-333)
–American Indians on the Trail (333)
•American Indians often helpedpioneers on the overland trails
•Although eastern newspapers playedup reports of American Indian“massacres,” fewer than 400 pioneerslost their lives in Indian attacksbetween 1840 and 1860
•Well-defended wagon trains werehard to attack, and most AmericanIndians probably knew that themajority of travelers were onlycrossing Indian lands to settlesomewhere farther west
•TRAVELING THE OREGON TRAIL(331-333)
–American Indians on the Trail(333)
•Settlers still feared the possibility ofbeing attacked by Native Americans
•Responding to the above fears, theU.S. government held a conferencewith the Great Plains nations inWyoming
•This meeting was called the “Treatyof Fort Laramie.” This Treaty saideach nation at the conferenceagreed to remain in a definedterritory, pledged not to attacksettlers moving west, and allowedthe U.S. government to build roadsand forts in its territory
•In return, the United States promisedto make annual payments toAmerican Indians and to honor eachnation’s territorial boundaries
•CONFLICT IN OREGON (333-334)
–U.S. settlers posed problems forAmerican Indians in OregonCountry
–During the 1830s and 1840s,contact between the two groupsresulted in the spread of measles,smallpox, and other diseases thatkilled many American Indians
–The settlers and their livestockalso destroyed wildlife that theIndians depended on for survival
•CONFLICT IN OREGON(333-334)
–As more people from theUnited States poured ontoAmerican Indian lands,some nations decided tofight back
•THE MORMONS INUTAH (334)
–Led by BrighamYoung, thousands ofMormons began tomigrate to the Mexicanterritory of Utah in1847.
–This migrationincreased when Utahbecame a U.S.possession in 1848
•THE MORMONS IN UTAH (334)
–Mormon settlers constructed a system ofcanals to irrigate and farm the territory’sarid desert soils.
–They built schools, meetinghouses, andhomes on a cooperative basis. Suchefforts helped the Mormons attain a highlevel of economic, political, and religiousindependence.
–Federal Government of the UnitedStates had tensions with the Mormons
•The Federal Government disliked BrighamYoung’s practice of appointing Mormonleaders to high offices in the territorialgovernment. Officials also disapprovedon the Church’s policy of allowing men tohave more than one wife at the same time
•The Federal Government got even moreupset when it learned that the Mormonshelped the American Indians in the attackof a wagon train of non-Mormon settlers.
