To the West! America Singing

Americans' interest in Oregon and California country grew with each passing year, as the emigrants sent letters back home describing the region to their friends and family. After the discovery of gold in California in 1848, an even larger group of people set out on the overland trails for California.

Whether traveling to Oregon or California, the emigrants found that overland travel was difficult and filled with danger. The pioneers and their animals were worn out at the end of their journey.

To find more American Memory sources on this topic, search the collections using such terms as overland journeys to the Pacific, frontier and pioneer life [by state], exploration, surveys, and guidebooks [by state], or using specific geographical or human-made features of the area (e.g., Platte River, Snake River, Fort Laramie).
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• J. Henry Brown Describes His Journey to Oregon

• Luzena Wilson's View of the Overland Trek

• Adventures of an Overland Journey to California

• California: A Trip Across the Plains

• Harriet Scott Palmer on Crossing the Great Plains

• Sarah Byrd Recalls Her Trip to Oregon

• Maps of California and Oregon, 1846 - 1876