Major Migrations - Donner, Mormon & Farmer

Migration and the Donner Party

The Oregon Trail was a 2,000 mile route cutting right across the Great Plain. It went from the East Coast of America at Missouri to the West Coast of America.

The Donner Party

In Spring 1846, the Donner Party (a group of pioneers led by the Donner brothers Jacob and George) left Missouri as part of a mission of 500 wagons.
The Donners at the back of the parade tried to take a shortcut with 8 wagons along something called Hastings Cutoff.
At what is now called the Donner Pass, the wagons were stuck in the snow in the Wasatch Mountains. A pioneer in the group called Wolfinger was murdered by one of the group.
There are also unconfirmed reports that the group had to eat other members of the group (cannibalism) in order to survive. 48 of their small group of 87 survived the trip.

Risks faced by migrants

Getting stuck on the Oregon Trail over winter, where temperatures dropped below 0 degrees celsius and snow fell was a risk encountered by the Donner Party.
Some migrant groups were attacked by Indians and some people were killed by buffalo on the journey.
In the summer, sandstorms were common.

The Mormon Migration

Religious persecution encouraged some of the migration westwards.

The persecution of the Mormons

The Mormon Church had been founded by Joseph Smith in 1830.
In 1844, Smith was killed by an angry mob in Illinois. 2 years later, all Mormons were banned from Illinois (in the middle of the USA).
Orthodox Christians believed that the Mormons were heretics. Some people disliked them because they were anti-slavery and pro-Indians.

The history of Mormonism

Joseph Smith had started Mormonism (also known as the Church of Latter Day Saints) in New York.
After being persecuted in New York, Smith moved with his followers across America until in Illinois in 1844, he was killed by a mob.
Brigham Young (pictured) took over as the leader of the Mormons. In 1846, the Mormons were banned from the state of Illinois.

Salt Lake City

Brigham Young decided to move all of his followers from Illinois to Salt Lake City in Utah. The Mormon pioneers would grow Salt Lake City to be the largest city in Utah today.

The journey to Salt Lake City

Young led the way in 1846, testing the route from Illinois to Salt Lake City. He selected the best route, documented it, and shared it with the rest of the Mormon followers, who would then join the Mormon base in Salt Lake City.
The best explorers, pioneers and journeyman travelled in the first party, with the less able, following after the best route had been selected.
The route followed by Brigham Young was 1,300 miles long and is known as the Mormon Trail.

White Settlement Farming

After the 1837 recession and throughout the 1800s, lots of White Settlers began farming the Great Plains.

Weather

Summers were arid, hot and dry without much rainfall. This is bad for growing crops. - Winters on the Plains were cold, with temperatures reaching below 0 degrees celsius. This is also bad for growing crops.
There were lots of insects and pests in the Plains and pesticides did not really exist back then.
Stephen Long described the Great Plains as 'wholly unfit for cultivation'.

Shelter

The Great Plains were open stretches of grasslands. There were very few trees.
Houses at the time were often made of timber (like the Indians' tipis). Building housing without wood and timber was difficult. Often settlers had to make houses out of mud and earth (these houses were called 'sod houses').
Crops brought from east America often failed to survive the dry summers and cold winters as there wasn't enough rainfall.

1The Early Settlement of the West, c1835-c1862

1.1The Plains Indians: Beliefs & Way of Life

1.1.1The Plains Indians - Social Structure

1.1.2The Plains Indians - Way of Life

1.1.3End of Topic Test - Social & Tribal Structures

1.1.4Grade 9 - The Plains Indians

1.2Migration & Early Settlement

1.2.1The Oregon Trail & Gold Rush

1.2.2Manifest Destiny

1.2.3Major Migrations - Donner, Mormon & Farmer

1.2.4End of Topic Test - Migration and Early Settlement

1.2.5Grade 9 - The Early Settlement of the West

1.3Conflict & Tension

1.3.1Fort Laramie Treaty & Indian Appropriations Act

1.3.2Lawless Towns

1.3.3End of Topic Test - Conflict & Tension

2Development of the Plains, c.1862–c.1876

2.1The Development of Settlement in the West

2.1.1Causes of the American Civil War

2.1.2The American Civil War

2.1.3Homesteading & Railroads 1862-1876

2.1.4Continuing Law & Order Problems 1862-1876

2.1.5Ranching, Cattle & Cowboys 1862-1876

2.1.6End of Topic Test - Development of the Plains

2.2Changes in the Way of Life of the Plains Indians

2.2.1Impact of Railroads & Settlers 1862-1876

2.2.2Impact of the Peace Policy & Reservations

2.2.3The Indian Wars (1862-1868)

2.2.4End of Topic Test - Changes in the Way of Life

2.2.5Grade 9 - Development of the Plains

3Conflicts & Conquest, c.1876–c.1895

3.1Changes in Farming & Settlement

3.1.1Farming & the Cattle Industry 1876-1895

3.1.2The Exoduster Movement & Oklahoma Land Rush

3.1.3End of Topic Test - Exodusters, Land Rush & Cattle

3.2Conflict & Tension

3.2.1Billy the Kid, Wyatt Earp and the Range Wars

3.2.2Little Big Horn, the Ghost Dance & Wounded Knee

3.2.3Destroying the Indian Way of Life

3.2.4End of Topic Test - Conflict and Tension

3.2.5Grade 9 - Conflicts & Tension

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