Oregon Trail: Quick Facts

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Photos and Videos

Map showing the route of the Oregon Trail as a dotted purple line running from Independence, Missouri, through present-day Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Idaho, and ending in Oregon. The map includes modern state boundaries, major rivers, mountain ranges, and significant landmarks or forts along the trail, as well as the Continental Divide marked with a dashed green line.

Wide river flowing between banks lined with trees in autumn foliage, with distant hills and a clear sky in the background, North Platte River, Wyoming.

Columbia River Gorge

Eagle Rock rises steeply in the background at Scotts Bluff National Monument, Nebraska, with two covered wagons on grassy ground in the foreground.

farmland near Newberg, Oregon

A wide, calm stretch of the Snake River winds through a green valley with rocky cliffs and plateaus in Idaho.

Traveling the Oregon Trail: Diphtheria, dysentery, and other dangers

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Topics

Intracoastal Waterway Ho Chi Minh Trail Santa Fe Trail Chisholm Trail Mormon Trail Northeast Passage Gulf Intracoastal Waterway Icknield Way Pilgrims’ Way Goodnight-Loving Trail