mrtyson Channel

The trail mapped by Lewis & Clark was far too rugged for settlers to take - it was up to another group to map those specific trails.

Ranchos were used to raise crops, but especially cattle.

Explorers since the discovery of the New World had searched for this fabled passage - Lewis & Clark proved that it did not exist.

Their fur-trading routes would help bring hundreds of thousands of pioneers West!

Unfortunately, few Indians chose to convert - members of the Nez Perce tribe were among the few who did.

A Homestead is a plot of land available to settlers to build a home and farm.

Women's right to vote would not come until 1920 when the 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote - unfortunately it's doubtful that any of the pioneer women were still alive, but it was their example that helped women's rights move forward!

The Great Basin is a barren, desert area between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

The Mormons settled in Utah largely because there was no one else there, and they knew they could practice their faith in peace.

Gold was discovered in 1848, and within a year so many people had rushed into California that they far surpassed the required population of 30,000

As the gold became harder to find, American miners turned their frustration on the Chinese, enforcing mining taxes on them before turning to intimidation and violence in an attempt to drive them out of California.