Question

What were reasons why people chose to leave the Northwest and move to the Southwest?

Answer 1

The weather was warmer and many people did not want to be in the snow. Also with the migration westward, more job opportunities were becoming available. People wanted a lifestyle change and moving southwest gave them the opportunity.

Answer 2

Some of the people who moved west in the 1840s were doing so for the same reasons as in the 1740s and the 1640s -- to find livelihoods of their own further from the growing city centers further east.