Don Wildman

We're talking about today the Oregon Trail, why it happened, how it happened, and what a profound difference it made in a nation newly determined to manifest its destiny from sea to shining sea.

We're accompanied on this journey by Stephen Aaron, the Calvin and Marilyn Gross Director, President and CEO of the Autry Museum of the American West in Los Angeles.

Great place.

Stephen is Professor Emeritus of History at UCLA.

His works include The American West, A Very Short Introduction, and Peace and Friendship, An Alternative History of the American West.

Greetings, Professor.

Hello, Stephen.

Thanks for joining us.

Cue the banjo.

We're out on the trail.

It's a pleasure to be here.

Let's head west.

It is such a storied era of American history, the pioneer days, so many books written, the John Ford movies, even eventually a very famous video game we covered on another episode on this series.

But putting the whole dramatized version aside, it is still such a foundational element of American expansion and American culture, isn't it?

What was going on at that particular time, 1830 to 1840, that sort of laid the groundwork for this decision for so many to go?

There was a tremendous period of economic instability, a regular event in those days, more so than these days.

The panic of 1837 led to a depression, which lasted until the mid-1840s, resulting in the whole menu of things that happens, loss of farms, foreclosures, shrinking opportunity.

There was also a belief that America ought to encourage social mobility, land ownership.

And there was a growing frustration when it didn't.

These are issues that today, you know, have sort of been boiled out of our thought process because we think about making money and mobility that way.