Trails West

Miners took this dusty route to look for gold.

• California Trail

• Mormon Trail

• Old Spanish Trail

• Oregon Trail

This trail mainly became a route for traders and merchants using mule-laden pack trains.

• California Trail

• Sante Fe Trail

• Old Spanish Trail

• Oregon Trail

Most people traveled this 2,000-mile trail by covered wagon.

• Oregon Trail

• California Trail

• Old Spanish Trail

• Santa Fe Trail

Travelers on this trail set out to find a new home in the West after experiencing religious persecution.

• California Trail

• Old Spanish Trail

• Mormon Trail

• Oregon Trail

Many of the travelers on this trail pulled two-wheeled handcarts along this trail to carry food, supplies, and personal belongings.

• Gila River Trail

• Old Spanish Trail

• Santa Fe Trail

• Mormon Trail

At the end of this trail, many of the travelers received free land.

• California Trail

• Oregon Trail

• Santa Fe Trail

• Old Spanish Trail

This was a very dangerous trail as there was a shortage of both food and water.

• Old Spanish Trail

• Oregon Trail

• Mormon Trail

• Santa Fe Trail

Families, fur trappers, and Christian missionaries traveled along this trail.

• Old Spanish Trail

• Oregon Trail

• Mormon Trail

• Santa Fe Trail

This trail is considered the most difficult of all the trade routes ever established in the United States.

• Oregon Trail

• California Trail

• Old Spanish Trail

• Mormon Trail

The last part of this trail was difficult traveling through 40 miles of desert and then over the Sierra Nevada mountains before ending near Sacramento.

• Mormon Trail

• California Trail

• Gila River Trail

• Oregon Trail