Westward Ho! Test Your Oregon Trail Knowledge
During the 19th century, the Oregon Trail served as a main route to the American West and played a pivotal role in helping emigrants begin new lives in the Northwestern regions.
Let's see how much you really know about the Oregon Trail.
1. Where did the Oregon Trail begin?
- A) Missouri
- B) Nebraska
- C) Wyoming
- D) Idaho
Answer: Missouri
2. How long was the Oregon Trail?
- A) 200 miles
- B) 500 miles
- C) 1,000 miles
- D) 2,000 miles
Answer: 2,000 miles
3. How did people travel along the Oregon Trail?
- A) They walked
- B) They rode horses
- C) They traveled in wagons
- D) All of the above
Answer: All of the above
4. One in every ___ died as they traveled along the Oregon Trail.
- A) Five
- B) Eight
- C) 10
- D) 20
Answer: 10
5. Which disease infected many traveling along the Oregon Trail?
- A) influenza
- B) Tuberculosis
- C) Cholera
- D) Measles
Answer: Cholera
6. How much, on average, did people spend to travel along the Oregon Trail?
- A) $250
- B) $500
- C) $750
- D) $1,000
Answer: $1,000 (or around $32,000 in today's money)
7. What did Indigenous Americans do to those traveling along the Oregon Trail?
- A) Attacked them
- B) Helped them with directions
- C) Offered them food
- D) All of the above
Answer: All of the above
8. Who were the first emigrants to walk the trail?
- A) James Miller and Mark Law
- B) Elish Perkins and Ann McKinley
- C) James Clyman and Charles Preuss
- D) Marcus Whitman and Narcissa Whitman
Answer: Marcus Whitman and Narcissa Whitman
9. Typical wagons were around _ feet wide by _ feet long.
- A) 4, 12
- B) 4, 13
- C) 5, 15
- D) 5, 17
Answer: 4, 12
10. Which of these religious groups made up a significant portion of those traveling along the Oregon Trail?
- A) Muslims
- B) Jews
- C) Orthodox Christians
- D) Latter-day Saints
Answer: Latter-day Saints
11. Where did the Oregon Trail end?
- A) Idaho
- B) Nebraska
- C) Wyoming
- D) Oregon
Answer: Oregon
12. What was the most famous landmark on the Oregon Trail?
- A) Council Bluffs
- B) South Pass
- C) Westport
- D) Statue of Liberty
Answer: South Pass
13. How many people died traveling along the Oregon Trail?
- A) 5,000
- B) 10,000
- C) 20,000
- D) 40,000
Answer: 20,000
14. How many settlers traveled along the Oregon Trail?
- A) 100,000
- B) 200,000
- C) 300,000
- D) 400,000
Answer: 400,000
15. The Oregon Trail was one of two main emigrant routes during the 19th century. What was the other?
- A) Wolfs Trail
- B) Comanche Trail
- C) Santa Fe Trail
- D) Virginia Trail
Answer: Santa Fe Trail
