Pioneers Moving West by Barbara Miller
Who Were the Pioneers
Pioneers were the first Americans to move west from the eastern towns.
Pioneers were families traveling by covered wagon.
Pioneers were people looking for adventure.
Pioneers were people seeking their fortune.
Reasons They Moved West
Manifest Destiny was a term used in the 1840s to describe the United States' westward expansion into such areas as Texas, Oregon, and California. There was a widely held underlying belief that Americans had a mission to free movement and ownership of all territory they saw. This belief was bolstered by passage of the Homestead Act in 1841, which opened up the frontier to settlement. People left the east for many reasons and they traveled west hoping to find a new life. Common themes included freedom to worship they way they wanted, cheap or free land, looking for adventure and searching for wealth.
How They Traveled
Modes of transportation were very different from our modern day machines. Pioneers had three main ways to travel west. They traveled by covered wagons, alone and in wagon trains. The pioneers also rode horses or mules, took stagecoaches or booked passage on ships sailing to California.
Most people traveled in covered wagons.
Where They Traveled
The pioneers settled in all parts of the country as they traveled west towards the Pacific Ocean. The eastern seaboard along the Atlantic Ocean was becoming crowded and most people did not have enough money to buy land of their own unless they moved across the Mississippi River. As the wagons traveled across the country, families found areas they wanted to live in and stayed there. In this way, communities and towns sprang up all across the unsettled frontier of America and eventually these areas became states.
The land west of the Mississippi River
Foods They Ate
Houses and Homes
The pioneers built houses out of the materials available to them. In many areas of the western plains, they used the grass and dirt called sod to make houses. These houses were usually low to the ground and built into the side of hills. Log cabins were built where trees were plentiful and mud bricks were used in the southwest.
Towns and Communities
Landmarks and places along the trail west.
Interactive map of trail sites.
Hardships They Faced
Life and Death on the Oregon Trail
How They Got Their Mail
Pioneers didn't have telephones, email or the mailman that brings mail to the house everyday. It could take weeks or months to receive a letter from North Carolina or Virginia and other places east of the Mississippi River. Mail might be delivered by the Pony Express riders, stagecoach delivery, by ship or by other settlers on their way west. No matter how the mail arrived, getting a letter from back home was a special occasion for most people.
Biographies: Stories of their lives
Books
Nonfiction
You Wouldn’t Want to be an American Pioneer! by Jacqueline Morley (ISBN # 0-439-40897-0) Grades 2-4
If you Traveled West in a Covered Wagon by Ellen Levine (ISBN # 0-590-45158-8) Grades 2-4
Don’t Know Much About the Pioneers by Kenneth C. Davis(ISBN # 0-06-028617-2 Grades 3-5)
Who Was Sacagawea? by Dennis Brindell Fradin and Judith Bloom Fadin (ISBN # 0-448-42485-1) Grades 4-5
J 978.02 CARLSON Westward Ho!: An Activity Guide to the Wild West by Laurie Carlson
Cowboys and cowgirls explore the West with more than 80 rip roarin' activities such as sewing a sunbonnet, panning for gold, and singing cowboy songs.
J 973.46 BLUMBERG What's the Deal?: Jefferson, Napoleon, and the Louisiana Purchase by Rhoda Blumberg
This well-written book guides readers through the history of the Louisiana Purchase, from Napoleon's desire to regain the province of Louisiana for the French, to the territory's purchase by the US under President Thomas Jefferson.
Fiction
Historical Fiction and Nonfiction List
Historical Fiction List with annotations
Rachel’s Journal by Marissa Moss (ISBN # 0-439-09870-X) Grades 3-4 Roughing It on the Oregon Trail by Diane Stanley (ISBN # 0-06-449006-8) Grades 2-4
Dandelions by Eve Bunting (ISBN # 0-15-202407-7) Grades 2-3
Videos, Movies and Clips
Little House on the Prairie clip
Photographs
Photo slideshow of old west locations
Photograph collection links at bottom of page
Photographs of mountain men and their territories
Websites
Multilevel Resources on Pioneers
Lesson Plans and crafts for 3rd Grade.
Building a Log Cabin Lesson Plan
PowerPoint Presentations
Webquests
Environments pioneers traveled through on their trips west
Interactive Websites
Students can explore the California Goldrush and the travel routes the pioneers used to get there.
