Between 1840 and 1860, 300,000 to 400,000 Americans moved west on covered wagons for 2,100 miles across the Oregon and California trails. In those two decades they transformed our nation and endured ...

With shortcuts came risks, though. The infamous Donner-Reed party got a late start on their journey out west and was attempting to take one called the “Hastings Cutoff” when they got trapped in the ...