On May 22, 1843, the first major wagon train to the northwest via the Oregon Trail set out. About 1,000 men, women, and children left Elm Grove, Missouri, with more than 100 wagons and a herd of 5,000 oxen and cattle trailing behind. Their guide had made the trip the year before. Though they encountered many challenges, the majority reached Oregon. Migration on the Oregon Trail became an annual event until 1884, when the railroad offered an easier mode of travel.
