Did it actually take 2.5 fucking YEARS to travel from overland from St. Louis to the Oregon coast and back in the early-1800's? We're talking about 1800 miles, or 2900km. That's less than 2 miles per day, which seems intuitively wrong, even over rough terrain.
>>18380261you cannot (fast) travel when winter is nearby.
America is fucking huge, even now it would take months on car.
America's inhabited regions are fucking far apart.
They stayed in the same camp for months at a time during winter, did side quests and field research on flora and fauna. They were in no hurry and were crossing rough uncharted terrain.
Lewis and Clark were surveyors, they weren't just walking there to see what happened. They had shit to do
Thomas Jefferson once estimated it would take 500 years to settle the West; he never anticipated the major leaps in transportation technology that would come after his time.
>>18380261They had wagon trains and they would stop for extended periods of times during bad weather making no progress that day.
>>18380270>months on cargood morning, saar!
>>18380580I don't think he was wrong desu. Settled in his context meant settled in the way of places like Virginia, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, etc where you can find towns and villages within short distances of each other. Settled to the level of density one would've found in contemporary England or France. The only part of the west like this today is California and some parts of Colorado. Places like Idaho, Montana, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming are still very much not settled, and likely never will be because of BLM and the general will in the United States to not further develop the wilderness. Think of how many new towns could be founded in a place like Wyoming were the Homesteading act never repealed. Hell, Wyoming still has fewer people than Vermont, how could you call such a place properly settled?
>>18380261inb4
>>18380841that's because a lot of the west coast is mountainous as fuck and has really delayed access to the sea. the fastest way to the ocean in most of montana is through the mississippi
>>18380261It's amazing how much of the early history of the Northwest Territory (US) was molded and changed due to a lack of reliable communication to the east. I can't speak of the time from STL to Oregon, but when President William Henry Harrison died on 1841-04-04 at 12:30 AM; it took a full six and a half days for the news to reach Detroit on 1841-04-10 @3:00 PM.It was related to some local history I've researched, and I was able to follow the news from ship to ship, city to city, as it made it's trip from DC to the wilderness of Michigan
>>18380882that's neat
You realize they were exploring uncharted territory, and making observations and establishing contact with locals, not simply going on a road trip? And there were no roads. They had only vague ideas about what their route was, and what kind of terrain they'd be going through. Some days they probably made decent time floating down a river, others they barely made any progress due to weather or difficult terrain. Being caught in in a blizzard in the rocket mountains or the high plains is not a pleasant experience and you're not going anywhere if that happens. And again: their purpose wasn't just to get there as fast as possible. It was to explore. That means drawing maps, recording observations, and talking to any people they encounter. They probably spent a few days camping at times when they encountered native settlements. A chance to trade, learn things about the area, and recruit guides.
>>18380894>in the rocket mountains
>>18380261It's actually perfectly reasonable. The Lewis and Clark Expedition was not a straight line, and the distance between St. Louis and the Pacific Ocean near Columbia River was dangerous and obviously uncharted. Instead of going in a straight line, they went up the Missouri River, over the Rocky Mountains, and down the Columbia River. They also stayed for 5 months at Fort Mandan near present North Dakota, and stayed 3 months in Fort Clatsop. Thomas Jefferson knew their task would be brutal, so he provided them with a lot of time. Furthermore, their journey over the Rocky Mountains was extremely deadly and required them to move slowly, and they nearly starved to death when they reached the Lola Pass.
>>18380841>Think of how many new towns could be founded in a place like WyomingWhat would the people in these towns do for a living?
>>18380999he think that the whole country should be covered with farms like in medieval yurop when farming produced way smaller yields
According to Google maps that journey would take 10 days on a Bicycle over modern infrastructure, the average, non thoroughbred horse is about as fast as a bicycle, but the horses were likely being used as pack animals carrying wagons full of supplies, which would've slowed them down even further. And this was without the benefit of modern road infrastructure, meaning there was likely a lot of backtracking along the way, slowing them down even more, as there wasn't any roads built that cut directly through the geography like today.
>>18380261>We're talking about 1800 miles, or 2900km.No shit. There was no highway system that was carved straight through mountains and deserts yet. You're talking about putting together separate provisions for anything you could possibly encounter. The US has multiple biomes that will easily kill you. Then there's the fact that the land was 90% uninhabited despite land claims on the map.
>>18380580Cars are real but the people driving them are now invisible.
>>18380737Zoomzoom, that's how boomers talk
>>18381084that's not how boomers talk, it's how ESLs talk it would be>months by car not>on caresl.also NYC to san franciso is like 45 hours by car
>>18381102>also NYC to san franciso is like 45 hours by carEven by bike it's 11 days if you maintain a good pace but for most people it could be twice that if you account for things like headwind or inclines that could slow you down plus average daily hours spend cycling, but it's not months, I don't understand what that retard was thinking
>>18380270It doesn't even take months on foot much less with any vehicle
>>18381115>>18381138The current record for the Cannonball Run (a cross-country motor race) is 25 hours 39 minutes; with an average speed of 113mph (182km/h)That's with graded roads and knowing where you're going
>>18380894>You realize they were exploring uncharted territoryIt was not uncharted, that retard Clark lost the chart.
>>18380841>Wyoming still has fewer people than Vermontwyoming is also a completely flat completely empty steppe while vermont is temperate woodlands and hillsits like comparing kazakhstan to paris
