a US route used in the 19th century by people travelling west to settle new lands. About 10 000 people travelled along it in the 1840s. It was about 2 000 miles/3 218 kilometres long and the journey took about six months in covered wagons . It went from Independence , Missouri , through Nebraska and Wyoming and over the Rocky Mountains to the Columbia River. The route became the Oregon National Historic Trail in 1978.
Compare Overland Trail , Santa Fe Trail .