Wagons Ho: American Emigrant Trails, 1775-1880

For more than a century between 1775 and 1880, America was a nation on the move. It was one of the greatest mass migrations in human history, as hundreds of thousands left their homes in the East to forge new futures in the West. This presentation explores the complex network of routes that shaped the nation’s identity. We will follow Daniel Boone’s footsteps through the Cumberland Gap – blazing the Wilderness Road – travel the Oregon Trail’s vast, dusty prairies that led farm families to the fertile Willamette Valley; the California Trail, which drew hundreds of thousands of gold seekers; and the Santa Fe Trail, a commercial highway that linked the US and Mexico through profitable trade. The journey was fraught with danger, demanding resilience and claiming many lives to disease, starvation, and unforgiving terrain. This presentation also acknowledges the profound, and often tragic, impact that westward expansion had on the Native American tribes who had long inhabited these lands.

This program is presented in collaboration with the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at ASU.