What Our Visitors Are Saying
We love hearing from our guests about their experiences at the National Frontier Trails Museum. Here's what some of them have to say:
In 1804, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark began their historic expedition to explore the uncharted American West. Commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson, their goals included establishing trade with Native American tribes and seeking a water route to the Pacific. Starting near St. Louis, they traveled up the Missouri River, passing near the area that would later become Independence, Missouri—now known as a gateway to the West—underscoring the river’s key role in American expansion.
Between 1811 and 1840, the North American fur trade was a booming economic force. Pioneers traded with Native American tribes for valuable beaver pelts, which were in high demand for hats and clothing. This period also saw the rise of the "mountain men"—rugged trappers and explorers who braved harsh wilderness conditions.
The Santa Fe Trail was an international commercial highway used by Mexican and American traders.
It took travelers about 3 months to make the trip in one direction.
Pioneers first set off on the Santa Fe Trail from Independence, Missouri to Santa Fe in 1821. Unlike the Oregon, California, and Mormon trails (which were mostly about settling new land), the Santa Fe Trail was originally all about trade and commerce.
People really started setting off on the Oregon Trail in the early 1840s, with the first major group — often called the "Great Emigration" — leaving in 1843.
That year, around 1,000 pioneers made the dangerous journey west from Independence, Missouri, heading toward Oregon's Willamette Valley. After that, thousands more followed every year, especially once word spread about free land and new opportunities.
After facing heavy persecution in Missouri, the first big group of Mormon pioneers left in early 1846.
The first group to actually reach the Salt Lake Valley arrived in July 1847 — and after that, thousands of others followed along the same trail over the next couple of decades.
People began setting off on the California Trail in the 1840s, around the same time as the Oregon Trail. The trail really exploded in popularity during the Gold Rush of 1849, when tens of thousands of "Forty-Niners" raced west hoping to strike it rich. Before the Gold Rush, though, smaller groups had already been using it to reach California’s fertile farmlands.
