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The Route West
To the sounds of snapping harness and creaking wagon wheels the pioneers in the vanguard of westward expansion moved out across the North American continent. Between 1840 and 1870, more than 500,000 emigrants went west along the Great Platte River Road from departure points along the Missouri River. This corridor had been used for thousands of years by American Indians and in the mid-1800s became the transportation route for successive waves of European trappers, missionaries, soldiers, teamsters, stage coach drivers, Pony Express riders, and overland emigrants bound for opportunity in the Oregon Territory, Great Basin, and California gold fields.
The trunk of the corridor generally followed the Platte and North Platte rivers for more than 600 miles, then paralleled the Sweetwater River before crossing the Continental Divide at South Pass, Wyo. Beyond South Pass the route divided several times, each branch pioneered by emigrants seeking a better way to various destinations. The route’s importance declined with the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869 but continued to receive limited use into the early 1900s.
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
