Who Contributed Most to the Settling of the American West, Wagon Train Migrants or Gold Miners?

... Who Contributed Most to the Settling of the American West, Wagon Train Migrants or Gold Miners? It is difficult to decide who contributed most to the settling of the American west because each group played a role in its settlement. Originally, the west had been populated by Native Americans, and later the mountain men and trappers as well. Nobody would have gone west if the tales of the mountain men hadn't been told, so indirectly, perhaps the mountain men contributed the most to the settlement as they were the cause of the thousands of people who were later to come. Between the years 1840 - 1860, the west dramatically changed. Wagon train pioneers began migrating in 1840 to Oregon and California, and when gold was discovered in California in 1848, it persuaded the gold miners to travel there. Eventually towns and communications were established further developing the west, but did one

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