CROSSING THE Great Plains Essays - Oregon Trail, Mormon Trail

CROSSING THE Great Plains The Oregon Trail was an overland emigrant route in the United States from the Missouri River to the Columbia River country, was the way to travel back in the 1840's through the 1860's. In 1843 the "Great Emigration" began and the west would never be the same after the out set of the travelers. The pioneers by wagon train did not, however, follow any single narrow route. In open country the different trains might spread out over a large area, only to converge again for river crossings, mountain passes. In time many alternate routes also developed. They originated at various places on the Missouri, although Independence were favorite starting points, the routes taken along with the wagon trails are the key points in which made it possible to travel west. Those starting from Independence followed the same route as the Santa Fe Trail for some 40 miles, then traveled to the Platte and generally followed that river to the North Platte and then the South Platte. Crossing the South Platte, the main trail followed the North Platte to Fort Laramie, then to the present Casper, Wyo. and through the mountains by the South Pass to the Colorado River. The travelers then went to Fort Bridger, from which the Mormon Trail continued to the Great Salt Lake, while the Oregon Trail went northwest across a divide to Fort Hall, on the Snake River. The California Trail branched off to the southwest, but the Oregon Trail continued to Fort Boise. From that point the travelers had to make the hard climb over the Blue Mountains. Once those were crossed, paths diverged somewhat; many went to Fort Walla Walla before proceeding down the south bank of the Columbia River, traversing the Columbia's gorge where it passes through the Cascade Mountains to the Willamett e Valley, where the early settlement centered. The end of the trail shifted as settlement spread. The mountain men were chiefly responsible for making the route known, and Thomas Fitzpatrick and James Bridger were renowned as guides. The first genuine emigrant train was that led by John Bidwell in 1841, half of which went to California, the rest proceeding from Fort Hall to Oregon. The first train of emigrants to reach Oregon was that led by Elijah White in 1842. In 1843 occurred the "Great Emigration" of more than 900 persons and more than 1,000 head of stock. By 1845 the emigrants reached a total of more than 3,000. Although it took the average train about six months to traverse the 2,000-mile route, the trail was used for many years. Travel gradually declined with the coming of the railroads, and the trail was abandoned in the 1870s. Many trail sites are now preserved in the Oregon National Historic Society. As the people traveled across the Great Plains and into the deserts they had some great obstacles to over come? But what kept them going was the new life they were ready to embark on, and embrace with open arms. All the hard work and effort that the Oregon Trail travelers put in would go down in history with America. Bibliography Bibliography 1) F. Parkman, The Oregon Trail (1989). 2) Federal Writers' Project, The Oregon Trail (1939, repr. 1972). 3) E. Meeker, Story of the Lost Trail of Oregon (1984). 4) J. E. Brown, Oregon Trail Revisited (1988).

How could the United States find itself at the hel Essays - Chivalry

How could the United States find itself at the hel Essays - Chivalry How could the United States find itself at the helm of another possible war just a few years after World War II had ended? Is it possible the U.S. was jumping the gun - being too paranoid? Some would say yes, the United States overreacted when they learned the Soviet Union possessed the power to unleash a nuclear weapon. Others would say no, the United States took the necessary precautions needed to ensure the safety of not only the United States, but the entire free world. A major piece of the Cold War was intelligence. Both the United States and the Soviet Union wanted to obtain counterintelligence from one another. This information would not be considered Top Secret if it was disclosed at the drop of a hat. In an effort to keep peace, Dwight D. Eisenhower suggested having open airways which would allow flyovers, giving both sides an equal opportunity to obtain information and essentially keep an eye on the situation at hand. When the Soviet Leader, Nikita Khrushchev, refused to go along with this suggestion Eisenhower took matters into his own hands by authorizing the U-2 Spy Plane Pr ogram. Many speculations have been made about the results of this program; cover ups and denial and lack of commitment to the program being the main two arguments. The following four sources have given me much insight into the events leading up to the U-2 Plane Incident, as well as the events that occurred afterwards. In the Memorandum of Conference With the President dated December 16, 1958 it was dually noted that the President was in fact enthusiastic about the program, but had his reserves about whether or not the information that would be obtained by these Top Secret flyovers was worth the actual risk . This concern came from the fact that the U-2 Plane is suspected to have been detected on almost all of its previous missions west of the Urals. After more discussion, being aware of any surprise attack seemed to outweigh the fear of detection and that any intelligence gained from these flyovers was highly worth the risk taken. The Memorandum was not definitive in the matter, leaving one to wonder if Eisenhower still had his reserves . On July 8, 1959, a little over 6 months later, another conference was called. In the Memorandum of Conference With the President dated for this date, Eisenhower yet again expressed his concerns about the U-2 Spy Plane Program. Eisenhower remained very cautious with the matter, fearing that this espionage was going to get the United States involved in a very ominous situation. When Eisenhower approached Secretary Herter directly, asking his views, the Secretary assured him that the intelligence obtained was well worth any chances of being trapped by the Soviets . To help ease the mind of the President, Herter further explained that a single operation was being planned and that in an effort to not get caught, the plane would enter in one country and exit through another. As a part of the plan, they all agreed that if in case there was any question about the involvement of the United States, the defense would be complete denial of the matter. Under these stipulations a nd seeing the increasingly aggressive behavior and attitude of Kh rushchev, Eisenhower found himself having to decide if the operation was worth the cause of a possible war. After considering all discussions and recommendations, Eisenhower gave his consent to continue on with the operation. May 6, 1960 the Department of State made a Press Release about the U-2 Spy Plane Incident. In this press release, they stated exactly what they had planned in th e conference dated July 8, 1959; they completely denied that this plane was being used for anything other than to collect weather data for the National Aeronautical Space Agency (NASA) . The United States admitted that the pilot was an American civilian named Francis Gary Powers. The Press Release coincided with an earlier statement that had been released by NASA on May 3, stating that the unarmed weather research plane based in Adana, Turkey had been missing since May 1, 1960 . In an effort to gain Soviet cooperation,