Oregon Trail migrants were settlers who traveled from the eastern United States to the western territories along the Oregon Trail during the mid-1800s in search of fertile land and new opportunities.
Related terms
Manifest Destiny: The belief that it was America's destiny to expand its territory from coast to coast.
Homestead Act: A law that offered free land in the western territories to anyone willing to settle and improve it.
Frontier: The undeveloped or sparsely populated areas at the edge of civilization.