Wanderlust World Wanderlust World Two North American travel routes, the Trail of Tears and the Oregon Trail, have sharply contrasting histories. The "Trail of Tears" refers to the route that the Cherokee people took in the 1830s when settlers of European descent forced them out of their native lands in the Southeastern United States. The Oregon Trail was the route that European settlers used in the 1840s through the 1860s to reach the fertile land of western Oregon.
Both the Trail of Tears and the Oregon Trail are officially recognized as National Historical Trails, among 19 such trails in total. As of 2009, the Trail of Tears was due for expansion, adding further trails to the route. As a National Historical Trail, the Trail of Tears receives a collaboration of support from research and preservation associations, including the National Park Service and the Trail of Tears Association, as well as universities, museums, historical societies, and other nonprofit entities. The Oregon Trail is also a National Historical Trail. Among the opportunities for visiting the trail are auto tour route interpretive guides. Using these guides, you can learn about the trail as you travel its length by automobile, following the guide's driving directions. Find a copy of the route interpretive guide at any tourist office near the trail.
The migrations along the Trail of Tears and the Oregon Trail both happened within a 30-year span, starting with the forced migrations of the Trail of Tears in 1838 and 1839 and followed by travelers going along the Oregon Trail from the 1840s through the 1860s. The Trail of Tears took place as part of the Indian removal policies of President Andrew Jackson, which forced the Native Americans to eventually settle in parts of what is now Oklahoma. On the other hand, the voluntary migrations along the Oregon Trail were among the first examples of westward expansion among Americans of European descent. The Oregon Trail provided a transport route from eastern cities and communities westward clear to the Pacific Ocean. Some of the primary travelers were fur traders, gold seekers and missionaries.
Both the Trail of Tears and the Oregon Trail are east-west routes that the majority of travelers took in a westward direction. They both pass through Midwestern states, though the Trail of Tears begins east of the Oregon Trail, ending close to where the Oregon Trail begins. The Trail of Tears passes through Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Kentucky, Arkansas and Missouri before ending in eastern Oklahoma. The Oregon Trail begins just north of the Trail of Tears' ending point, in western Missouri, close to the Kansas border.