1. Settling Oregon
New settlers unknowingly brought measles to the mission and killed many of the Cayuse children.
The Whitman’s were blamed for the epidemic, so the Cayuse attacked the mission and killed the Whitman’s and 11 others.
Settlers still came to the Oregon Country despite this.

2. Settling Oregon The Oregon Trail
1840’s “Oregon fever” swept through the Mississippi Valley.
Because of the 1837 depression people formed societies, gathered information, and made plans to move west.

3. Settling Oregon The Oregon Trail The move west was known as
“The Great Migration”
Thousands of people made the trip
and were called emigrants since
they left the U.S. to move to Oregon.

4. Settling Oregon The Oregon Trail
The 2,000 mile journey was made by covered wagons called prairie schooners filled with supplies .
These settlers gathered in Independence or Joseph City, Missouri to make the trip following the Oregon Trail.

5. Settling Oregon The Oregon Trail
The Oregon trail crossed the Great Plains, along the Platte River, and through the South Pass of the Rocky Mountains.

6. Settling Oregon The Oregon Trail
The other side of the Rockies the settlers went along the Snake and Columbia Rivers into the Oregon Territory.

7. Settling Oregon The Oregon Trail
The Oregon Trail was the most practical route to the West.
The settlers traveled in large groups often of related families. P.4

8. Settling Oregon The Oregon Trail
Some settlers went to Oregon to search for farmland.
Some went to California to make their fortune in gold.

9. Settling Oregon The Oregon Trail The trip took up to 6 months.
The trip had start in early spring
The trail crossed difficult terrain
The pioneers
crossed swift
rivers and
climbed
high
mountains
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10. Settling Oregon The Oregon Trail
Pioneers feared attacks by native Americans, but none occurred.
Native Americans helped them along the way as guides and trading supplies with them.

11. Settling Oregon The Oregon Trail
10% of the pioneers died along the way from disease, overwork, hunger, or accidents.
In 1869 the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad brought an end to the use of the trail.

12. The Division of Oregon
Most Americans headed for the Willamette Valley because of the
fertile land located
south of the
Columbia River.
From 1840 to 1845 this settlement went from 500 people to 5,000 while the British population remained around 700.

13. The Division of Oregon Expansion of Freedom
John Quincy Adams said “expansion to the Pacific was inevitable.” p.7

14. The Division of Oregon Manifest Destiny
In 1840 John O’Sullivan put the idea of a national mission into words of a more specific nature.
He said America’s Manifest Destiny to overspread
The Division of Oregon

15. The Division of Oregon Manifest Destiny
O’Sullivan said America’s “Manifest Destiny to overspread and to possess the whole of the continent which providence has given us.”
This means America was clearly destined to extend its borders to the Pacific.

16. The Division of Oregon “Fifty-four Forty or Fight”
Oregon settlers thought the U.S. should be the sole owner of the Oregon Country.
Oregon becomes a significant issue in the 1844 presidential election.

17. The Division of Oregon “Fifty-four Forty or Fight”
James Polk received the Democratic nomination for president because he supported American claims to Oregon.
“Fifty-Four Forty or Fight” became the slogan for Polk referring to the line of latitude the Democrats thought should be the northern border in Oregon.

18. The Division of Oregon “Fifty-four Forty or Fight”
Henry Clay of the Whig party did not take a strong position on the Oregon Country.
Polk won the Election because the Antislavery Liberty party took too many electoral votes from Clay.

19. The Division of Oregon Reaching a Settlement
James Polk was determined to make Oregon part of the U.S. while being inspired by Manifest Destiny.
In 1846 the U.S. and Britain settled on the 49th parallel which today separates Canada from Washington.
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