California Trail?

Question

We are doing a History Project on the California Trail.

I need some help with answering some of the questions.


What things did they see on the way?

Was there anything on the trip that made it longer than they expected?

Answer 1

The National Parks Service has an excellent site on the California Trail. There are auto routes, which highlight the important places in each state:
http://www.nps.gov/cali/planyourvisit/maps.htm

Major obstacles
Number 1: Rocky Mountains
Number 2: Weather
Number 3: People already lived there, and sometime didn't like the new neighbors

More from the Oregon/California Trail Museum (Idaho):
http://www.oregontrailcenter.org/HistoricalTrails/OregonCaliforniaTrails.htm

Answer 2

Also go to the California State Parks Web Site and look at the Donner Summit page they have a museum and information on the westward migration.

The journey started in Missouri and traveled along the Platte River to Fort Laramie in Wyoming then over the Rockies , The highest mountains any of the immigrants had seen before to the Great Salt Lake and Plateau in Utah. Across the Humboldt Sink, From Salt Lake to the base of the Sierras then over the Sierras into the Central Valley of California. Be sure that you get their before the end of October to beat the snows in the Sierras. Remember the Donner Party....