Why+Did+People+Take+This+Risk?

=Why did people take the risk of traveling across the west to Oregon?=

People went for many different reasons - free land was the ultimate reason.
 * Some were in search of a better life, for they were promised land in Oregon
 * Some went because times in the East were hard, with a draught, worn out farmland, and depression
 * Some went to escape the terrible plague of disease that was ravaging the country at the time
 * Some went just because they restless, for the spirit of adventure was strong in early Americans