The Oregon Trail itself was utilized by around 350,000 settlers from the 1830s to the 1890s by wagon. As more settlers began to settle down, cities and new businesses began to form in the west. After the Westward Movement, the west was later divided into 3 states called Washington, Oregon, and California. This allowed the states to choose their senators so that they could support their state and get help from the federal government. Without the Oregon Trail, the population of the west would be tiny, and therefore big cities and states wouldn't have been formed in the west.