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Oregon Trail
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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.
Traveling the Oregon Trail: Diphtheria, dysentery, and other dangers
Fort Astoria Shoshone Falls 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. Fort Vancouver 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. Mount Hood farmland near Newberg, Oregon
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Oregon Trail summary
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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.
Oregon Trail The path of the Oregon Trail, c. 1850, with state and territorial boundaries and geographic features.

Oregon Trail

historical trail, United States
Written by
William E. Hill
William E. Hill is the author of popular books on the Oregon Trail, California Trail, Santa Fe Trail, Pony Express, and the travels of Lewis and Clark.
William E. Hill
Fact-checked by
Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
Britannica Editors
History

Oregon Trail, in U.S. history, an overland trail between Independence, Missouri, and Oregon City, near present-day Portland, Oregon, in the Willamette River valley. It was one of the two main emigrant routes to the American West in the 19th century, the other being the southerly Santa Fe Trail from Independence to Santa Fe (now in New Mexico). In addition, branches from each main trail provided connections to destinations in California, and a spur of the...

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