126 THE ROARING FORTIES 



British during the war, it was restored in ac 

 cordance with the terms of peace, but was 

 ultimately abandoned by the American traders. 

 During the twenties the fur-trade that centred 

 in Saint Louis extended its operations on a 

 large scale beyond the Rocky Mountains. The 

 South Pass, through which the first transconti 

 nental railway was destined to cross the moun 

 tains, was discovered and was made the high 

 way for a well-organized traffic with the Indians 

 and trappers in the extreme southeastern part 

 of the Oregon territory. From the South Pass 

 access to the head-waters of the Columbia River 

 was, by the standards of that vast wilderness, 

 short and easy. Hence communication with 

 the Hudson s Bay Company s posts soon be 

 came frequent, and the famous Oregon Trail 

 entered into history. 



Early in the thirties futile schemes for emi 

 gration to Oregon were essayed by restless and 

 visionary New Englanders. Somewhat later a 

 definite impulse to interest in the region was 

 given by the missionary spirit of the Methodists 

 and Presbyterians. Parties sent out under the 

 auspices of these sects in 1834 and succeeding 

 years crossed the plains and the mountains in 

 company with the fur-traders who set out in 



