First major Oregon Trail wagon train departs

Background. The Oregon Trail was a large-wheeled wagon route connecting the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon Territory. By 1836, a wagon trail had been cleared to Fort Hall, Idaho, from Independence, Missouri. The route was increasingly cleared westward, eventually reaching the Willamette Valley, completing the trail for emigrant travel.

Prior Departures. Before the major 1843 migration, the first migrant wagon train was organized in Independence, Missouri, in 1836. On May 16, 1842, the second organized wagon train set out from Elm Grove, Missouri, with more than 100 pioneers, establishing a precedent for larger emigrant groups.

The 1843 Migration. In 1843, an estimated 700 to 1,000 emigrants left for Oregon in what was dubbed "The Great Migration of 1843" or the "Wagon Train of 1843." Nearly all settlers in these wagon trains arrived in the Willamette Valley by early October, marking a significant wave of emigration.