In Their Own Words
 

American Expansion / Migration

Compiled by Prof. Jim Tompkins

Disclaimer:  Prof. Jim Tompkins has compiled the following information for classes he has taught.  He has kindly contributed them for general use.  This information has been gathered from a variety of sources and, while it is free to use, copyright infringements may make it unsuitable for commercial purposes.

“It is a thing unspeakable, the commodities that be seen there and shall be found more and more in this incomprehensible land, never as yet broken with plow irons, bringing forth all things according to his first nature, whereof the eternal God endued yet.” - Jean Ribaut, 1563
 

“Only here and there we have touched the edges of those large dominions, which do stretch themselves, God doth know, how many thousand miles” - Captain John Smith, 1607
 

“Our little fleet, although not as respectable as those of Columbus or Capt Cook, was viewed by us as with as much pleasure as those deservedly famed adventurers ever beheld theirs. We are now about to penetrate a country at least two thousand miles in width, on which the foot of civilized man had never trodden.” - Meriwether Lewis, April 7, 1804
 

“I heard that there was a time when there were no people in this country except Indians. After that the people began to hear of men that had white skins; they had been seen far to the east.Before I was born they came out to our country and visited us. The man who came was from the Government. He wanted to make a treaty with us, and to give us presents, blankets, and guns,

and flint and steel and knives. The Ruler has given us all we need. Now go back to the country from whence you came. We do not want your presents, and do not want you to come into our country.” - Curly Chief, Pawnee, c. 1820
 

“It is but a few years since such a place as the Rocky Mountains was known to exist, except as a place inaccessible to man. They are already a source of great wealth to the enterprising citizens of the West; and where it was represented man could scarcely make his way, wagons go and come with perfect ease and facility - bringing loads of furs of immense value. In a few years, a trip to the Pacific, by way of the Rocky Mountains, will be no more of an undertaking than was a journey from the Atlantic cities to Missouri twenty years ago. Well and truly may it be said that ‘Westward the Star of Empire takes its way’.” - Philadelphia National Gazette, November 26, 1830
 

“Eastern enterprise and influences are gaining ground since the town of St. Louis has been brought under the laws of the United States. Adventurers, of almost every description of character and nation, such as trappers, hunters, miners, and emigrants, collect here, as a starting point from whence to go into the still far west.” - Rev. Samuel Parker, April 4, 1835
 

Moses Shallenberger, 1844, was orphaned as a young teenager. He moved to Missouri to live with an older sister.
 

Daniel Dodge Bayley, 1845. Even when he moved from Ohio to Missouri, his intention was to farm in Oregon.
 

The tale of Horace and Jane (Hattan) Baker, 1846, is a classically American story of two people who headed West to reinvent themselves on the frontier.
 

Jon Baker, 1847, was not the eldest son and stood to inherit no land. Plantation life didn't provide him with much of an education, so he felt that his best chance of making his fortune in the world was to head west.
 

Elam Young, 1847. One of his sons described him as a man with a "restless disposition," and a "wandering nature," stating that he was unwilling to stay in any one place for more than about five years.
 

Gabriel J. Trullinger, 1848. Like many pioneer families, the Trullingers had been moving steadily west for years before making the trek to the Oregon Country.
 

Sarah (Green) Davis, 1850, was relocating with her husband and family to the west coast, but they did not decide where until they reached Salt Lake City. They were going along with their friends, who were headed for California.
 

“When we left our home we did not intend to stay away but 5 years; nevertheless it was a sad parting from our home and loved ones as we knew it was a long and venturesome trip.” - Mrs.Frances Hatcher, 1852
 

Charles Oliver, 1864. His paternal side of the family was of New England stock, with one grandmother related to the Boone family of Kentucky. His maternal side was Pennsylvania Dutch Quaker, both grandparents having come over with William Penn.

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