ALEX BURUSCHKIN DOMINATION By: Alex Buruschkin

The California Trail Who: Early settlers began to use the trail in the 1840's, the first of which was John Bidwell, who led the 1841 Bidwell-Bartleson Party. The people who travelled it were ravenous for gold found in California. What: The California Trail took more than 250,000 gold-seekers and farmers to the gold fields and farmlands of California during the 1840s and 1850s. This was the greatest mass migration in American history. Everyone in the country wanted in on the gold. Where: The general route began at various points along the Missouri River and stretched to various points in California, Oregon, and the Sierra Nevada. When: The 1840’s to the 1850’s Why: There was pandemonium; the country had gold fever. Everyone was fleeing to the west for the very rare and valued gold. The California Trail guided them across the country.

THE OREGON TRAIL Stretched about 2000 miles First used by fur traders and missionaries Journey took about 6 months About 1000 settlers joined the “great migration” The “great migration” was led by Marcus Whitman In 1847 thousands of Mormons followed a route later called the “Mormon Trail” The “Mormon Trail” frequently coincided with the Wyoming and Oregon Trail. Used primarily from the 1840s through the 1870s to reach Oregon territory Ran southwest to Fort Bridger The creation of the transcontinental railroad made it less popular

THE MORMON TRAIL Led by Brigham Young About 70,000 mormons traveled along the mormon trail from 1846 to 1869 They did this to escape religious persecution The trail was about 1300 miles long The average distance traveled per day was 8 ½ miles The pioneer party spent about 120 days on the trail overall Started at Nauvoo, Illinois and ended in Salt Lake City, Utah The governor of Missouri said “Mormons must be treated as enemies, must be exterminated, or driven from the state, if necessary for public peace.”

CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH The California Gold Rush began in 1849 in Sacramento California They discovered gold nuggets They traveled by land or sea to arrive, using trails (such as Oregon or Santa Fe) The population increased 10 fold The gold rush peaked in 1852 The first gold was discovered in Sutter’s Mill by James Marshall The mines earned 81 million in 1852, after that it deceased by half California became the thirty first state because of this It became a bustling city in San Francisco, an economic hub for the west The cost of living rose exponentially due to the gold rush

SANTA FE TRAIL Between 1821 and 1880, the Santa Fe Trail was mostly a commercial highway connecting Missouri and Santa Fe, New Mexico. From 1821 until 1846, it was an international commercial highway used by Mexican and American traders. This trail was 900 miles long. The army of the west used this road to invade New Mexico. When the treaty of Guadalupe ended the war in 1848 the santé fe trail became a national road. connecting the United States to the new southwest territories. The trail was also used by thousands of gold seekers in California and Colorado, adventurers, fur trappers, and emigrants. In 1880 the Sante Fe trail disappeared into history because of the invention of the rail road. This trail led through hot deserts and rough mountains. Traders made a lot of money while on this trail. One trader reported that his cargo had a 2000 percent profit.

Slavery in the Territories Slaveholders thought that banning slaves in their territories was discrimination against their peculiar form of property. The slavery territories was also called the Omnibus Bill It made a compromise to settle the issue between the north and the south and their differences between slavery Slave territories were formed This all resulted in a war in Mexico They thought slave owners went to Mexico with slavery Slave owners went to Texas because of rich soil for cotton and crops for slaves to plant. There were 5000 slaves in Texas in 1836

TRANSCONTINETAL RAILROAD