Pioneers across what became the
Western United States in the 19th century had the choice of several routes. Some of the earliest were those of the Mexicans in the southwest. American trade with Northern Mexico created the
Santa Fe Trail between
St. Louis and Santa Fe following an 18th-century route pioneered by the
Spanish Empire. From Santa Fe, American traders followed the old
El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro southward to
Chihuahua by way of
El Paso del Norte. The
Old Spanish Trail from
Santa Fe, in Mexican New Mexico Territory to
Los Angeles, in Mexican
Alta California, developed in 1829–1830 to support the trade of New Mexican wool products for California horses and mules and carried parties of fur traders and emigrants from New Mexico to
Southern California. Following the trails pioneered by fur traders, the
Oregon Trail from
Independence,
Missouri to the
Oregon Territory developed crossing the central
Great Plains,
Rocky Mountains and northern
Great Basin. People followed this trail to take advantage of the fertile land the government gave out. Branching off from that route, some pioneers traveled southwestward on the
California Trail from
Fort Hall,
Oregon Territory to
Sutters Fort, in Mexican Alta California. Also branching off to the south was the
Mormon Trail from
Nauvoo,
Illinois to
Salt Lake City,
Utah Territory. During the twenty-five years 1841–1866, 250,000 to 650,000 people "pulled up stakes," and headed west along these trails. About one-third immigrated to Oregon, one-third to California and one-third to Utah, Colorado, and Montana. Although it is often stated that the Northern trails began in certain cities on the
Missouri River, pioneers following any of the three trails typically left from one of three "jumping off" points on the Missouri's
steamboat serviced
river ports:
Independence, Missouri,
Saint Joseph, Missouri, or
Council Bluffs, Iowa. Once known as Kanesville, Iowa until 1852; after river dredging in the early 1850s, the latter town at the Missouri-Platte confluence became the most common departure point since it was close in proximity to the River Plattealong which the eastern trails ascend to South Pass above Fort Laramie. The trails from these cities (and several others) converged in the mostly empty flatlands of central
Nebraska near present-day
Kearney, in the vicinity of
Fort Kearney. From their confluence there the combined trails followed in succession the
Platte,
North Platte, and
Sweetwater rivers westward across the full widths of Nebraska and
Wyoming, and crossed the
continental divide south of the
Wind River Range through
South Pass in southwestern Wyoming. The most common vehicle for Oregon and California-bound pioneers was a
covered wagon pulled by a team of
oxen or
mules (which were greatly preferred for their endurance and strength over
horses) in the dry semi-arid terrain common to the high plains in the heat of summer. This heat could cause the wagons to catch on fire. People would form groups of wagons known as wagon trains. In later years, following the advice of Brigham Young, many Mormon emigrants made the crossing to Utah with
handcarts. For all pioneers, the scarcity of potable water and fuel for fires was a common brutal challenge on the trip, which was exacerbated by the wide ranging temperature changes common to the mountain highlands and high plains, from in the day to at night. In many treeless areas,
buffalo chips were the most common source of fuel. During the
Mexican–American War, the wagon to California road known as '''
Cooke's Wagon Road, or Sonora Road
, was built across Nuevo Mexico, Sonora and Alta California from Santa Fe, New Mexico to San Diego. It crossed what was then the northernmost part of Mexico. During the California Gold Rush the routes to California used were increased by the Siskiyou Trail from Oregon. In the south, the forty-niners used the Cooke Wagon Road, until some found a short cut, the Tucson Cutoff. This route, not closed to travel in winter, permitted travelers coming to New Mexico Territory on the Santa Fe Trail or on the San Antonio-El Paso Road''' developed in 1849, across West Texas to
El Paso where it followed the
El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro north to link up to the Cooke's Wagon Road/Southern Emigrant Trail at the cutoff through the
San Diego Crossing. In 1856, as part of an improvement of the route as a military road, a cutoff was built to
Cooke's Spring from
Mesilla, (part of Mexico until 1853). From Cooke's Spring the road ran to the
Yuma Crossing into California and on to
Los Angeles. This route became the
Southern Emigrant Trail. From Los Angeles the goldfields could be reached by land over the two routes north, the old
El Camino Viejo or by what became the
Stockton – Los Angeles Road. During the Gold Rush era it was these routes by which many herds of sheep and cattle were driven to California and the goldfields. With the passes of the Sierras and the Rocky Mountains blocked in winter, another winter route, the
Mormon Road between Salt Lake City and Los Angeles was developed by a Mormon expedition from their new settlements at and around Salt Lake City, and by some
Mormon Battalion soldiers returning to Utah in 1847–1848. The first significant use of the route was by parties of Forty-Niners late in 1849, and by some Mormon trains, to avoid crossing the snow bound
Sierra Nevada Mountains by linking up with the Old Spanish Trail in southern Utah and closely following it, with alterations to the route of the mule trails only to allow wagons to traverse it for the first time. Soon afterward it was the route Mormon settlers followed to southwestern Utah, a
mission in
Las Vegas and a settlement in
San Bernardino, California. This wagon route, also called by some of its early travelers the
Southern Route, of the California Trail, remained a minor migration route and in the early 1850s a mail route. After some alterations of the route between
Cajon Pass and the border of California and in southern Utah, in 1855, it became a significant seasonal trade route between California and Utah, until 1869, when the transcontinental railroad ended Utah's winter isolation. Up to 50,000 people, or one-tenth of the emigrants who attempted the crossing continent, died during the trip, most from infectious disease such as
cholera, spread by poor sanitation: with thousands traveling along or near the same watercourses each summer, downstream travelers were susceptible to ingesting upstream
wastewater including bodily waste. Hostile confrontations with
Native Americans, although often feared by the settlers, were comparatively rare, prior to the
American Civil War. Most settlers traveled in large parties or "trains" of up to several hundred wagons led by a
wagon master. In 1859 the government published a guidebook called
The Prairie Traveler, in order to help emigrants prepare for the journey. ==Transcontinental Railroad==