It took over five months to traverse the Oregon Trail:
"The wagon was pulled by a team of oxen, between four and eight animals yoked two abreast. At one-third the cost of mules, oxen were preferred, particularly as the probability of losing an animal was great...an ox could die of disease, of drinking alkaline water, of thirst, of slow starvation, or of being overworked. The loss of an ox was worrisome because the additional strain it put on the remaining team could endanger them as well, unless the wagon load was lightened, putting emigrants in the unenviable position of deciding which essential supplies to leave behind on the trail."

Source: http://myamericanodyssey.com/the-long-hard-walk-tramping-westward-on-the-oregon-trail/

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