The purchase of the Louisiana territory, 828,000,000 square miles which encompassed from the Mississippi River in the east to the Rocky Mountains in the west and from the Gulf of Mexico in the south to the Canadian border in the north, by President Thomas Jefferson in 1803 encouraged hordes of people traveled to the West , representing what was known as the mid 1800's westward expansion.
Among the pioneers’ reasons for taking on the journey to settle into the west highlighted the desire to taking part of the silver and the gold mining opportunities, to get access to the vast amount of lands that could be obtained cheaply as well as the supplies provided by the expanding railroad which made life in the West easier.