Trails West Thousands of Settlers followed trails through the West to gain land and a chance to make a fortune

Key Vocabulary and Key People Key Terms  Mountain Man  Land Speculator  Santa Fe Trail  Oregon Trail  Mormon Key People  Jedediah Smith  Jim Beckwourth  Brigham Young

Furtune 500  As the East increased their demand for fur Mountain Men like Jedediah Smith and Jim Beckwourth tried to meet the demand  Smith and Beckwourth would trap animals in the far west and sell them for profit  William Henry Ashley established trade sites for trappers to trade fur for money increasing trade  Fur Trade would prosper until the silk trade replaced fur trading

You take the High Road and I’ll take the Low Road  As the fur trade increased and animals died out exploration of the west increased  The explorations provided information leading pioneers west along new trails  Jedediah Smith discovered the South Path through the Rockies to make the route west easier to navigate

Lets Make a Deal  Most People began to move west to make money with new land  Land Speculators would buy large sections of the Louisiana Territory and sell it off in small plots of land for profit  As Land was sold and people moved west, merchants also moved west to sell goods to the new settlers

Unhappy Trails  After Mexico gained independence from Spain the Santa Fe Trail led traders from Missouri to New Mexico to make a profit  The lure of new riches in New Mexico led more traders to the desert region  While traders found the trail through the desert brutal, the chance for profit made the journey worth while  The Journey from Missouri to New Mexico would bring huge profits to settlers each year

Oregon….they should have called it Piano-ville  While hundreds of settlers travelled to New Mexico, hundreds more used the Oregon trail to settle into Oregon  As Missionaries sent home reports of the rich Oregon Territory, settlers flocked to Oregon in hopes of becoming wealthy  Thousands of settlers would begin moving to oregon each year

More Unhappy Trails Again  The Trail West could be full of Hardships and Fortune  Survival often depended on cooperation so wagon Trains were often formed  Settlers along the trails west faced sickness, fever, and death on the road west

An Olympic Movement  While some people moved west to find wealth others, like the Mormons, moved west for religious freedom  Founded by John Smith, the Mormons were seen as immoral to eastern Christians  After Smith was killed Brigham Young moved the Mormons to Utah to find peace  The Mormons would work together to make the desert land of Utah fertile and livable

This Has been Another World Famous Mr. Green PowerPoint Presentation Good Luck on the OAA’s Part One