The trail was not the only way of getting to the Pacific Northwest. There was also a sea route. British and American fur traders had been doing business with the local Indians since before the turn of the century, bringing their trade goods not in wagons but in ships.

To go by sea meant a grueling thirteenthousand- mile, six-month voyage around the tip of South America. For a passenger, the cost was high—about $300 per person. At best the trip was monotonous and unpleasant. The food on board was awful, and sleeping quarters were cramped and smelly. At worst the ship might never reach its destination.

Jason Lee took a troupe of missionaries to Oregon by ship in 1839. Ten years later, after the gold rush began, over 30,000 would take the long trip around Cape Horn to California; 200,000 would take a shorter and more...