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California Trail Facts & Worksheets

The California Trail is an emigrant trail that is about 3,000 miles in distance. Over 250,000 individuals and farmers used it while looking for gold in the gold fields and rich farmlands of the Golden State.

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The California Trail is an emigrant trail that is about 3,000 miles in distance. Over 250,000 individuals and farmers used it while looking for gold in the gold fields and rich farmlands of the Golden State. It was open from 1841 to 1869, and was considered to be the greatest mass migration in the American History.

See the fact file below for more information on the California Trail or alternatively, you can download our 24-page California Trail worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

BEGINNINGS

  • The trail was parallel with the Oregon Trail.
  • The California Trail also spanned across the west of the United States.
  • In 1834, the route of the California Trail was discovered and developed by Kit Cason, Joseph Walker, and Jedediah Smith who all worked with the Rocky Mountain Fur Company as fur traders.
  • Although little of their explorations was known and recognized, US and British Fur trappers and traders explored the west and searched widely and scouted the Humboldt River from 1830 to 1840.
  • Humboldt River now crosses most of the state of Nevada and gives a natural corridor to western Nevada and Eastern California.
  • In 1832, Benjamin Bonneville, who was a US Army officer, filed a leave of absence to pursue an expedition to the west. His expedition was financed by John Jacob Astor.
  • Bonneville followed the fur traders paths in a caravan of 110 men and 20 wagons along the valleys of the Platte, North Platte, and Sweetwater Rivers to South Pass (Wyoming).
  • Captain Bonneville sent Joseph Walker and a group of men to explore the Great Salt Lake desert and the Great Basin, that was not mapped at that time, to find an overland route to California.

BIDWELL-BARTLESON PARTY

  • The first recorded group of men to use the trail was in 1841 and was the Bidwell-Bartleson Party, which was led by John Bidwell.
  • The party left Missouri with 69 people and was able to reach California a few months after despite being exhausted and starved.
  • Among the Bidwell-Bartleson Party was a man named Joseph Chiles who lead another group to California in 1843.
  • Joseph Chiles was able to discover a substantial section of the California Trails making it easier to reach California because of the shortcuts in the route.
  • Hastings Route was one of the shortcuts that was developed. It ran south of the main route.
  • Joseph Chiles went back to Missouri and became somewhat of a tour guide, enlisting Joseph Walker as a fellow guide that would lead groups of people back to California.

JOHN FREMONT

  • Another well-known explorer of the trail was John Fremont, who was a US Army Colonel of the US Corp of Topographical Engineers, who made trips with about 50 men on horseback.
  • John Fremont and his group of US Army topographers, hunters, and scouts developed and created more comprehensive maps of the California and Oregon regions.
  • The map regarding the exploration of the American west was the first decent map of California and Oregon that was published in 1848.

JOURNEY OF THE WAGONS

  • In 1844, wagon trains started to explore the route.
  • The first group to ever cross the Sierras in a wagon was the Stephens-Townsend-Murphy Party of 1844.
  • They went from the Oregon Trail then followed the Humboldt River across Nevada.
  • They were able to go over the Donner Pass by unloading their wagons.
  • Their wagons were also partially disassembled and pulled by teams of oxen up the steep slopes and cliffs.
  • Some wagons were abandoned at Donner Lake.
  • The Stephens-Townsend-Murphy Party got caught in the early snow of the Sierras and had to leave behind the rest of their wagons.
  • The group hiked the Sierras after being rescued by another group of Sutter’s Fort.
  • Their abandoned wagons were retrieved in the sprint of 1845.
  • In order to get through the pass, the majority of wagons were pulled by oxen, mules, and horses.
  • They would also use their wagons as temporary shelter, especially in the West Coast region.
  • The wagons were filled with supplies such as dried vegetables and fruits.
  • They also brought with them extra horses for replacement draft animals as well as cows and sheep for meat.
  • Other essentials used for cooking and foraging were brought, and some explorers had guns with them for protection.
  • Roading tools such as shovels, mattocks, and hoes were needed in order to make the route easier to pass because the trail, at that time, was very bumpy.
  • Through the rest of the west trails, the majority of the travellers had to walk and hike along the California Trail.

SEARCH FOR GOLD

  • In 1840 and 1850, an estimated number of 250,000 people traveled the California Trail in search of gold and other fortunes.
  • Most of the emigrants were farmers who where looking for an opportunity to improve their families living in the fertile soil of the western US.
  • The search for gold lead to what was considered to be the greatest mass migration in American history.
  • Some of the explorers and migrators were fur trappers, farmers, prospectors, merchants, and families who were looking for a fresh start and saw opportunities in the growth of communities in the West.

OTHER FACTS

  • An estimated 50,000 deaths happened among the pioneers of the trail journey.
  • Wagons had a speed of only one to two miles per hour, with a total of 10 to 15 miles a day.
  • Most emigrants who walked the entire journey of the trail were barefooted.
  • Today, the trail is famously called “The Elephant” and has now become a tourist destination.

California Trail Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about California Trail across 24 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use California Trail worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about the California Trail which is an emigrant trail that is about 3,000 miles in distance. Over 250,000 individuals and farmers used it while looking for gold in the gold fields and rich farmlands of the Golden State. It was open from 1841 to 1869, and was considered to be the greatest mass migration in the American History.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

  • California Trail Facts
  • Truths About The Trail
  • Image Analysis
  • Picture the Passersby
  • Word Jumble
  • Key Landmarks
  • Tour of the Trail
  • Explorer Hunt
  • Wagon Trains
  • My Infographic
  • Emigrant Trails

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Link will appear as California Trail Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, May 13, 2019

Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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