Explanation:   

  In the 1800s, most Americans believed in Manifest Destiny, or the idea that the United States was supposed to expand (or grow) across North America to reach from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west. This was an important dream for the United States, but it took many, many years to accomplish (or to make it happen). 

 

  Traveling to the west coast was very difficult and dangerous in the 1800s. People couldn’t fly in a plane or drive a car, of course. Instead, they traveled in covered wagons, which were heavy, wooden boxes covered in white fabric that rode on wheels and were pulled by oxen, which are very strong cows. The trail (or road) that they traveled on was called the Oregon Trail. The journey (or long trip) covered more than 2,000 miles and took about five or six months. The Oregon Trail was mostly used between 1841 and 1869. People stopped using it once the first transcontinental railroad (or the road for trains that went across all of North America) was built, because it was easier, safer, and faster to travel by train. But today, if you visit western states, you can still see some of the Oregon Trail’s wheel ruts, or the deep marks in the ground that were made by the heavy wagons. 

 

  Many of the people who set off (or began their journey) on the Oregon Trail never made it to Oregon. About one-tenth (or 10%) of the travelers died as they traveled toward the west. Some of the travelers who survived (or didn’t die) went to Oregon, but others stopped and settled (or began to build homes and live) in other states, like Utah. Many of the people who traveled on the Oregon Trail went to California to participate in the California Gold Rush, where they could find gold and make a lot of money by selling it. 

 

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