Westward migration along the Oregon Trail was booming throughout the mid 1800s. The initial footpath had been carved and planned out by fur traders and trappers, but was eventually widened to accommodate wagons, in which families, settlers, miners, and all sorts of wanderers could traverse with all their belongings in tow across nearly 2,000 miles of land, creeks, and mountain terrain. Stretching from Independence, Missouri all the way to Olympia, Washington, the trail and its many offshoots became the thoroughfare to the west coast, and even today, is utilized by car on major interstate highways built right through some of the same towns. "Line Of Original Emigration To The Pacific Northwest Commonly Known As The Old Oregon Trail," map, 1907; Ezra Meeker, The Ox Team or the Old Oregon Trail 1852-1906 (1907); database with images, Wikimedia (https://commons.wikimedia.org : accessed 10 Feb 2024); courtesy of the University of Texas Libraries, The University of Texas at Austi...