Which trail carried hundreds of thousands of settlers west by covered wagon from Missouri?

Beginning in the early 1840s, families loaded covered wagons in towns like Independence, Missouri, and set out on the roughly 2,000-mile journey to Oregon’s Willamette Valley. The trip usually took four to six months.

Pioneers tried to reach Independence Rock in Wyoming by the Fourth of July to stay on schedule and cross the mountains before snow. Many carved or painted their names on it. Most emigrants walked much of the way to spare their oxen.

Disease, especially cholera, killed far more travelers than conflicts did. Wagon wheel ruts are still visible in places along the route today.