Captain Benjamin Bonneville

Near Casper, Wyoming California Trail emigrants followed the Sweetwater River farther west. An important goal was to reach Independence Rock on the Sweetwater River by Independence Day. The trail went over South Pass then worked its way through the mountains.

At bottom, they agree, early American Oregon was shaped profoundly by the fact that immigrants were attracted primarily by the ample, fertile farmland in the Willamette Valley, while early American California was shaped profoundly by the fact that immigrants were attracted primarily by the presence of gold.

According to some statistics, over 70,000 emigrants used the California Trail in 1849 and 1850 alone. In the two decades of the 1840s and 1850s, the California Trail carried over 250,000 gold-seekers and farmers to the state’s goldfields and rich farmlands. It was the greatest mass migration in American history.

By Covered Wagon In The Early 1800s: 4-5 Months In the early 19th century, settlers could travel from 15 to 20 miles per day by covered wagon. Given the distance between New York and California is around 2,445 miles, the journey would take approximately 122 to 162 days, or from 4 to 5.5 months.

around 69 hours and 25 minutes

Traveling by train from New York to Los Angeles usually takes around 78 hours and 34 minutes, but the fastest Amtrak train can make the trip in 67 hours and 20 minutes.

A study included in John Unruh’s book The Plains Across estimates 362 emigrants and 426 Indians were killed as a result of altercations on the Trail between 1840 and 1860.