By the 1840s, Americans were again on the move. In 1848, miners found gold in California.
Americans caught gold fever and headed west, hoping to get rich quick. Few did, but many went back east and told their friends about the unsettled country they had seen. Some pioneers sought fortunes in timber, fur, or precious metals. Others hoped for better health in the mild Pacific Coast climate. For these and other reasons, from the 1840s to the 1860s, more than 300,000 people crossed the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains to reach the Pacific Coast. The route they took was called the Oregon Trail. The covered wagons that carried them became known as prairie schooners, or ships of the plains, because their canvas tops billowed in the wind like the sails of ships. Before pioneers began their 2,000-mile journey, they had to buy a wagon, pack it full of supplies, and join a wagon train.