Between 1840 and 1870, a quarter of a million Americans crossed the continent to Oregon and California in what was considered one of the great migrations of modern times...Thousands of women arrived in the Northwest by way of the Oregon Trail. This migration or "leave-taking" would consume the longest time and widest distance for these nineteenth-century women to establish new homes for themselves and their loved ones." - from the book This beautifully illustrated volume recounts the stories of the women who traveled the Oregon Trail. Includes their reasons for traveling west and the hardships that they encountered. Index and bibliography.