American Indians, including the Kammu Tukadu and Wadakhut bands of the Northern Paiute peoples, played a key role in the Euro-American overland migration. Although some of the emigrant trails were new, many mirrored earlier Indian routes that followed major river systems and crossed imposing mountain ranges.
Initially American Indians assisted and guided explorers and emigrants. However, as time progressed and the number of travelers increased, conflict and confrontations escalated.
Nearly 500,000 emigrants and their thousands of cattle, horses, and sheep, traveled west of the Mississippi River into and across American Indian traditional homelands from 1840 to 1860.
Negative impacts, including loss of traditional lifestyles, undermined the American Indians' political and economic independence. Today, the local Indian peoples use natural resources near the Nobles Trail to continue aspects of their traditional culture.
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