Mountain men are adventurous men who hiked through the regions vast forests, trapping animals and living off the land. Their clothes were made up of animal hides. Only a few hardy trappers settled in oregon. Eventually, mountain men found new uses for their skills. Some began to lead settlers across rugged mountain trails into Oregon.
Mexican-American War
Mexico never approved this!
This land belongs to the United States!
Many dealed with illness, starvation, and harsh weather conditions. Travel accidents were quite common, even if the pioneers decided to reroute. The Oregon Trail is the route pioneers followed. They traveled 15 miles a day and had to make the journey in 5 months in order to beat the mountain snow.
Mormons in Utah
This would make an excellent home for us!
What a beautiful lake!
Manifest Destiny is the belief that the U.S is destined by God to expand westward and spread across North America (from the Atlantic Ocean, to the Pacific Ocean).
California Gold Rush
Mexico did not aggree with the annexation of Texas because they wanted to territory for themselves. America fought with Mexico in hopes of gaining more land in the west. The U.S ended up gaining New Mexico and California when Mexico signed the Treaty of Guadalupe and Hidalgo. Eventually, the U.S paied Mexico $10 million for Arizona.
Mormons are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Mormons were persicuted for their beliefs. So, they decided to settle in Utah. They hoped that this would make a great home for them. In 1896, Utah became a state.
Gold was discovered in California, by John Sutter. When this happened, people from all over the world traveled/settled there in hopes of finding gold and making a fortune. Few became rich, but many ended up establishing homes. The territory became a state in 1850.
I've been digging for hours and I still haven't found any gold!