Why did pioneers travel west across America, and how did they get there?
Wagons West
Why did pioneers travel west across America, and how did they get there?
Picture a wagon rolling across a sea of grass, with everything a family owns packed inside. In the 1800s, thousands of Americans pointed their wagons toward the setting sun and set off on a journey of two thousand miles. Why would anyone do that? The answer, mostly, was a single shining word: land.
Out west — in places like Oregon and California — the government was practically giving land away. To a family crammed into a crowded eastern town, the idea was dizzying: hundreds of free acres, just for showing up and farming them. It was the chance to own a piece of the world, and that hope was strong enough to move a whole life.
