Materials Needed
A pencil and your map.
The pioneers averaged one hundred miles per week of travel. Wagon trains had to make it over the mountains by the first snow. They started in early May from Kansas City, Missouri. Bad weather, swollen rivers, prairie fires and other problems often caused long delays.
Use your United States map to find and circle the following locations.
46 N - 119 W - Pendleton, Oregon
39 N - 94 W - Kansas City, Missouri
43 N - 112 W - Pocatello, Idaho
41 N - 98 W - Hastings, Nebraska
42 N - 105 W - Location near Glendo Reservoir in Wyoming
(Site of old Fort Laramie)
41 N - 101 W - N. Platte, Nebraska (site of old fort Kearny)
On your map, draw a line connecting the locations you have circled. The line you draw will trace roughly the old Oregon Trail.