Passage to The West

The pioneers spent weeks crossing the Great Plains.The grassy land looked the same mile after mile.The pioneers could not tell how far they had come or how far they had to  go.Scotts Bluff was the first sign these tired travelers had that their long prairie crossing was nearing an end.It also meant that their long prairie crossing was nearing an end.It also meant that their trip through the Rocky Mountains was about to begin.

HEADING WEST

Since the early days of the colonies,Americans had been moving west.First,they moved into places like western Pennsylvania.Then they moved farther west into Kentucky and Missouri.The trail that Reggie saw was made by settlers moving as far west  as Oregon.Many of these pioneers were the children,grandchildren,and great-grandchildren of the earlier piomneers.

Many pioneers went west to get away from crowded areas of the East or to start farms on cheap land in the West.Others went west to become miners.Miners are people who dig for gold,silver,and other valuable materials.Still others went west to buy and sell goods.

The trip from the Easty to the far West was difficult.First,pioneers had to cross the Great Plains.This huge grassland lay empty and flat for hundreds of miles.Finding food and drinking water was often a problem.Some of the rivers they had to cross  were dangerous.Pioneers going to the Pacific coast had to cross high mountains.These were steep and sometimes covered with snow.Those going to the Southwest had to travel through a desert where there was little food or water.

THE SANTA FE TRAIL

There were several trails that people could use to go west.Most travelers used either the Santa Fe Trail.The Santa Fe Trail,which opened in 1821,was 780 miles long.It began in Independance,Missouri,and crossed the Great Plains.Then,instead of going over the Rocky Mountains,the trail dipped southwest.It went through the Cimarron Desert and ended in Santa Fe to Los Angeles,California.Most travelers on the Santa Fe Trail were traders.They went west with cloth,farm tools,and other goods from the East.They sold these goods in the West,where they bought furs,gold,silver,and more.Then they returned to the East for more selling and buying.