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Shoofly Shae's
Oregon Trail
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Shoofly Shae, yore scout. |
We study the Oregon
Trail
Getting Ready to Go
Overview of the trail. Last link has great list of emigrants.
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Preparation & Organization
Shoofly Shae's Wagon Train
For Traveling on the Oregon Trail with Westward Ho!
Introduction and Week 1and 2-- January 17- February 2, 2012
Greenwood Laboratory School
*
Timeline and Due Dates
Each wagon family needs to complete the following
assignments during the Week 1 and 2 of Westward Ho!
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Tuesday,
1.17
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Tuesday 1/17
and
Wednesday 1/18
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Research Pioneer Biographies,
Homesteaders' Act 1852
Research Pioneer Biographies, Homesteaders' Act 1852; mini lesson
on how to write your
persona paper, going over the scoring guide (see
website for more details)
IP: continue research on the classroom website
or from library books; take notes; talk over as
a family
what pioneer vittles to bring on February 1 for
our campfire-send-off party. Let Shoofly Shae
know by
Tuesday next week 1/24 what you would like to
contribute. (See website “Pioneer Foods” for
ideas.)
Campfire Wagon Train Send-off
We need volunteers to make the vittles for
the campfire meetin'.
Campfire and vittles Wednesday, February 1,
10:45-12:30 (Don't bring a lunch that day
since we will be sharing vittles with the wagon train.) Parents
welcomed! Shoofly Shae needs to know what
you are bringing by Tuesday, January 24, please!
***Parents are invited to help serve, provide
music, pioneer stories, etc. Let me know
in what way you can contribute. Do you
play a guitar? a fiddle? Do you have some great
campfire stories to share? Do you have a
relative who was on the trail and can you share
that story with the children?
Our campfire send off meeting
will include all the families along with
vittles, stories, and music
Plan on wearing some sort of
pioneer-lookin’
outfit that day. Those of you who have
volunteered to prepare the
vittles should bring them in on that
morning. Vittles will be shared at
11:00-12:30 during the campfire.
May y’all have a safe journey out to the Oregon
Country!
Forming Your Families and Pioneer
Personae.
Pioneer Biographies
--Research and assume an individual pioneer
identity or
persona
Each student is to research and assume an
individual pioneer identity. All pioneers need
to be at least 14 years of age. The reason for
this is that anyone aged 14 or more could vote.
Younger children could not. (See our webpage
“Pioneer Biographies” for some possibilities and
don’t forget to check at the library for books,
too.). Keep in the time period of around the
1850’s. Gain background knowledge about the
period. Use period pictures, diaries, and other
primary source materials you can find. Be as
factual as possible.
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Wednesday, 1.18
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Establish families
Pick surname and individual names; decide from
where your family is coming
(town and state);
IP: brainstorm and pre-write webbing of persona
--Each wagon will represent a family.
Pioneers (the students) will
divide into wagons consisting of 4 students in
each wagon with one wagon having only 2. Each wagon will represent a family.
Our families' wagons will make up one wagon
train led by Yore Faithful Scout,
Shoofly Shae.
Scholastic Overview of the Oregon Trail
Families are assigned.
Research primary sources to find out about
real Oregon Trail pioneer families; find a
picture of what they looked like and what they
wore; why they were going on the trail, and
where they were leaving from (city/town, state).
--Decide on family name and your relationship
in the family.
Each wagon is to work out the
details of their family relationships, that is:
Are you a son, daughter, mother, father, uncle,
aunt, etc.? Make sure you know why a man was
important to be in your family. (Hint: It has
to do with land ownership. Check the
Homesteaders Act of 1862.)
After reading and doing some research, each
family needs to choose a family
surname.
Your goal: to decide upon your relationship
within the family; draw and write a description
of your persona (identity)
--Write a description for your persona. Final
paper due on Friday 1/20
Next, each pioneer (student) is
to write a description for his or her persona
(name, age, occupation, past experiences, family
role, appearance, personality traits,
aspirations, hopes, dreams, etc.). Try to
investigate their true heritage and make-up the
missing pieces or let your historical
imagination run free! See the
Pioneer Persona Scoring Guide Check this scoring
guide to make sure your character
sketch is complete.
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Thursday,
1.19
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Scholastic Overview of Oregon Trail
Work on rough draft of persona; use scoring
guide
IP: final, edited draft due on Friday; use
scoring guide
Pioneer Persona Scoring Guide Check this scoring
guide to make sure your character
sketch is complete. Example:
Shoofly Shae's Persona |
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Friday,
1.20
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Create
paper doll family figures for bulletin board.
NEED 3-4 PARENT VOLUNTEERS 10:30-11:30
*Wagons
will be made in class on Monday, 1.23 1:30-2:30
p.m.
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Friday, 1.20
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1. Persona FINAL copy, 2.
prewrite and 3. edited/revised rough draft are
due 8:00 a.m.
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Monday,
1.24
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Tuesday, 1.24 |
Research, sketch and label types of covered
wagons
Learning about Types of Wagons
Research Types of Wagons
Families need to research types
of wagons. Do research with your family to find
out what the best kind of wagon was to use.
(Remember, you need the wagon that can go over
mountains easily. Which kind it is?) Draw a
sketch and label the main parts of the wagon,
including the size of the wagon --length, width
and depth. You will have one wagon for each
family.
1:45-2:30 construct covered
wagons
(Possible time to begin working on Budget
Supply list: research supplies needed. See
"Reading about and Planning what to take"
below.)
Julie Baker, Darla Rosen PARENT VOLUNTEERS 1:30-2:30
Begin working on Budget Supply
list;
research to find out more about supplies and
provisions, what kinds of things were taken
with, etc. (see below)
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Wednesday,
1.25
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10:30-11:30 Distribute pioneer clothing.
Jill Vahldick, Need one more.
PARENT VOLUNTEERS 10:30-11:30
Begin working on Budget Supply list;
research and fill out Excel form;
each family gets $1600
Reading about and Planning what
to take
Creating Your Supply List and Budget
Each wagon is to create a supply
list spreadsheet (see Westward Ho!
Supply List and Oregon Trail
Price List handouts and websites).
Pioneers may use these documents to help them
decide which supplies to take on their journey.
Buy your wagon and supplies and pack yore
belongings. Your scout will let your wagon know
if you have adequate supplies for our long and
dangerous trip. (Remember, there are few trading
posts along the way. Think hard and make sure
you have what you need and some extra supplies
if things like wagon wheels break!)
Make sure you understand the importance of these
supplies as well as how they were used. The
provided supply list was compiled from the
general lists of supplies most often found in
historical reference to this period. Students
may add to the list but must be sure they have
enough food supplies for the trip. (When
adding items, consider quantity, weight, room
etc.) The Emigrants' Guide to Oregon &
California, recommended 200 lbs. of flour, 150
pounds of bacon, 10 pounds of coffee, 20 pounds
sugar, 10 pounds salt, and these additional
supplies: chipped beef, rice, tea, dried beans,
dried fruit,
saleratus,
vinegar, pickles, mustard and
tallow.
Family Supply List, Budget and
Ledger
Each wagon is to prepare a budget
ledger and keep a daily supply ledger of
expenses/income incurred while on the trail (see
Supply Ledger and Oregon Trail Price List
handouts). Please look over the "Sample Supply
List Ledger" on the website,
then use the
Supply List-Ledger
for the entire trip. We
will load onto our desktop. Save it to your
family’s name (Hawke.budget-ledger).
When it is completed, export the data into a
Microsoft Word document to hand in to Scout
Shoofly Shae.
**The budget ledger must be completed and turned
in to Shoofly Shae
by Thurs.
1/25,
by 2:00 p.m.
Pioneers needed cash or trade
commodities
to pay expenses while on the trail and to set up
their new life once they reached their
destination. Pioneers purchased supplies and
livestock
en
route, and paid fees for using toll
roads, bridges, ferries, etc. Poor farmers often
had very little cash, while storekeepers and
professional families may have had a great deal
of money.
Each wagon will be allotted $1600.00 to buy
necessary supplies and replace stock animals
while "traveling". Depending on their
occupations, pioneer families would have
$400-$600 per person to make the trip. We will
all begin with the same amount of money.
Pioneer families may be allowed to "earn" money
or barter
by family group as the wagon progresses along
the trail, based on criteria your scout
establishes. The Travel and Fates do not require
any forfeit of money, but do require
adequate
supplies in the pioneer wagons.
IP: Think of at least 5 interview questions you
would ask a family about why they are going
on the Oregon Trail, what they hope for, where
they are from, their family names, etc. We will
decide on 5 – 6 questions that each family will
answer for the interview movies. (We will be
making movies of each family’s interview on
Monday.)
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Thursday,
1.26
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Movie making decision of interview questions;
class will create the scoring guide criteria;
families
will write notes pertaining to the answers of
their questions.
IP: All families should have an outline about
what they will be saying in the movie interview
on
Monday
NEED TO DRESS IN PIONEER CLOTHING ON MONDAY FOR
FAMILY PICTURES AND
FAMILY INTERVIEWS
**Schedule of your family journal writers due
tomorrow, Friday 1.27 at 8:00 a.m..
Brainstorm dialogue and notes for Oregon Fever
movie done by your family. You may need to use a
recess period to get this project done.
Oregon Fever Farewell Moviemaker
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Oregon Fever Farewell Moviemaker Project
Each pioneer
needs to begin his/her journey by
writing notes as if you were writing a letter
home about your particular "Oregon Fever”. You
may write poignant letters to friends and family
whom you will be leavin’.
You may want to share tales of your leave
takin’ (the tears,
the breakin’ hearts,
the gifts from special friends or relatives,
etc.) or of your packin’
and preparation. Use yore creativity and
imagination, pardners!
Get into character when you write these notes.
Your family will create a movie that tells the
audience why you are leaving for the trail, what
you will miss about home, etc.
** Oregon Fever Moviemaker is
due by
Wednesday, 2.1 by 9:30 a.m. Your family may
need to do this project during a recess period.
Wear pioneer outfits on
Monday for family pictures and for the
interviews.
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Monday
1.30
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NEED TO DRESS IN PIONEER CLOTHING FOR FAMILY
PICTURES AND FAMILY INTERVIEWS
Pioneer family pictures today. Bring your
outfits, guitars, hats, and bonnets.
Boys-plan to wear blue jeans, a plaid,
long-sleeved shirt, if possible, a cowboy or
straw hat, a bandana.
Girls-long dresses, apron or pinafore, straw hat
or bonnet. Bring a fiddle, acoustical
guitar, walking stick if you have them. I
have a rifle we can use for pictures.
Bring your outfits, guitars, hats, and bonnets.
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Tues.
1.25
Wednesday
2.1
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1:45 Review family journal wikis
Campfire
Wagon Train Send-off Today
Plan on
wearing some sort of pioneer-lookin’
outfit that day.
10:45-12:30 Campfire, vittles, stories and songs
for chuck wagon today
PARENTS ARE BOTH NEEDED AND WELCOME TO EAT WITH
US.
Parents are invited to help serve, provide
music, pioneer stories, etc.
May y’all have a safe journey out to the Oregon
Country!
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Thursday,
2.2
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Leave Independence, Missouri, our jumping off
point, in order to head out on the Oregon Trail!
Find
an Oregon Trail Map for Your Family
Maps
Each wagon family should keep
track of their map of the Oregon Trail. They
can use it daily to keep track of where they are
after the Travel and Fates have occurred for
that day. Pay attention to and label the
landmarks along the way!
Your family will receive a blank
United States map for you to track your trip to
Oregon.
blank US map
We leave Independence, Missouri. Our travel and
fate cards begin today as does daily journal
writing.
Later in the unit:
Fort Kearny Letter Home
Letter at Fort Kearny -
Rubric/Scoring Guide
for Ft. Kearny Letter
Hot Springs and Geysers Research
Rubric/Scoring Guide
for Hot Springs and Geysers
Willamette Valley Letter Back
East
Letter at Willamette Valley -
Rubric/Scoring Guide
for Willamette Valley letter home
There will be other assignments along the way.
Consult your daily assignments from now on.
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Oregon Trail Budget Spreadsheet This is an
interactive Excel spreadsheet Rodeo Rich created for pioneers/students to use to
budget and track their initial startup expenses as they prepare to travel on the
Oregon Trail. An itemized list with realistic prices from the mid-1800's is
given in areas such as wagon supplies, provisions, animals, food, and luxuries.
Let the spreadsheet to do math for you!
(Thank you, Rodeo Rich, for creating this and making it available!)
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You are writing a letter telling about your leaving and should
include imagining you are your character. along with your family and what it was like to be
leaving friends and other relatives to immigrate to the Oregon Country.
Ideas you might include along with some others you might think of are...
What would you say to a close friend about your journey?
How do you feel about the journey ahead?
Why have you (or why has your family) decided to go on this journey?
What do you expect to see on the journey? What challenges will you
face?
What will you say to your friend when you know you may never meet again?
Express any concerns, fears, stories you have learned about the trip to
your friend, relative.
How will you keep in touch? Will you being saying goodbye forever?
Let your friend or relative know that you will be thinking about them in
thoughts, prayers...
Give them wishes of good luck, be careful, etc.
Scoring
Guide/Rubric for Oregon Fever Farewell Moviemaker
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Each family has its own page to keep journal entries.
We are using a classroom wiki. Check them out at
Family Journals. There you will
keep your family journal as you make your trip west.
Remember to date the entries with the historic
dates, mention the landmarks, and things that happen
according to the Travel and Fate scenarios.
Family members will take turns writing in the
journal. Other family members are to make sure to
give the typist ideas and take time to proofread the
entry before submitting it. You might even
want to include pictures of the places you've been,
Remember to fill in which family member is doing the writing.
You cannot go back to make corrections once they are
submitted.
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Spirits
are high. Talk of the nostalgia of home has almost disappeared and
you're all anticipating the new lives ahead of you. The letter you send
home to friends and relatives are positive and filled with adventure and
hope. You learn that your next supply post is Fort Laramie. In
your letters, make sure you tell your kin, cousin or friends about the
hardships and things you've had to do to get this far. Be sure to
mention lots of details and name at least 4 events or sights or
experiences you've had so far on the trail. Be sure to share your
excitement as you write.
The letter should
include the elements of a friendly letter: Heading (just the
place name and state will suffice), a greeting, the body, the closing
and the signature of the writer. If you are not sure how to write
a friendly letter, go to:
Friendly letter
Letter Generator Learn the parts of a letter,
then practice writing your own friendly letter.
As with all
writing assignments, make sure you have a rough draft that shows
revisions, corrections, and editing along with your final draft.
Rubric/Scoring Guide
for Ft. Kearny Letter
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Research how hot springs
and geysers are formed, where they are located in the earth and on
the earth, including labeled diagrams. Paper must convey that
the student understands the formation of hot springs and geysers.
This is a science paper.
Rubric/Scoring Guide
for Hot Springs and Geysers
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Write letters back east to the kinfolk
at "home" to tell them about our trials and tribulations, joys and
excitement.
Students will need to hand in both the rough draft and final copies.
Letter should include the following: You have arrived
in the promised land. Who are you? Where have you chosen to
live? How will you support your family? Will your children
go to school? Is the valley everything you dreamed it would be?
Name some events that took place between the end of the trail and Ft.
Kearny when you wrote your last letter.
Rubric/Scoring Guide
for Willamette Valley letter home |
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2 Independence Spring
Mile 0.0
May 1
Cholera!
What
is cholera?
Another
look at what is cholera?
Cures for cholera in the 1800's |
6 River Crossings
Mile 54
May 5-7
5 miles southeast of Lawrence,
Kansas
Hardships
Wakarusa
River (also known as Bluejacket, named after George
Bluejacket, proprietor of a ferry and hotel c1855) |
8 Fremont Springs
Mile 194
May 16
4 miles south of Diller, Nebraska
John
C. Fremont 1 | 2
Kit
Carson 1 |
2
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9 The Narrows
Mile 252
May 20
1.5 miles northwest of Oak,
Nebraska
Pioneer Cures for Rattlesnake
Bites:
Cures for Rattlesnake Bites
Old Time Cures
(see #66)
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10 Fort Kearny
Mile 319
May30
Fort
Kearny
Fort
Kearny 2
5.5 miles south of Kearny,
Nebraska
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12 Gilman' Station
Mile 401
June 11
A fort, located 8 miles west of Gothenburg,
Nebraska
Gillman's Station
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15
Windlass Hill
Windlass
Hill picture
picture 2
Mile 500
June 25
Garden County near Ash Hollow,
Nebraska |
17 Courthouse Rock
and Chimney Rock
Mile 561
June 30
Courthouse
Rock 5 miles due south of Bridgeport, Nebraska
Courthouse Rock
Picture
of Chimney Rock
Chimney
Rock 3.5 miles southwest of Bayard, Nebraska |
20 Horse Creek
Crossing
Mile 615
July 6
4 miles southwest of Morril,
Nebraska |
22 Fort Laramie
Goshen County, Wyoming
Fort
Laramie
Fort
Laramie 2
Video
When you arrive here, you need to stock up on goods.
Click here to
see a short price list and directions for what else you need to write in your
journal and on your supply list.
24 Ayers Natural Bridge
(12 miles west of Douglas, Wyoming)
Pictures of Ayers Bridge |
26, 27 Poison Spring,
Alkali Slough
Natrona County, Wyoming
Poison Spring Pictures and info
Experiments Page on Acids
and Alkaline
Reactions
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28Saleratus(PlayaLake)
(1 mile northeast of Independence
Rock, Wyoming)
Saleratus Lake
(Click on the audio to hear about it.)
Playa Lake is made up of bicarbonate
soda, also known as baking soda. Baking soda is an alkali. It reacts with
the flour in bread to help it rise. Baking soda helps things to rise, otherwise
you would have food like hardtack.
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29 Independence Rock
48 miles southwest of Casper,
Wyoming
Second only to Chimney Rock as a major
natural landmark - gives a clue to its importance as a gauge of trail progress
because we are now about halfway there!
Historic
Sites
Historic
Info
See the names!
Independence
Rock
Video |
30 Devil's Gate
(Natrona County, Wyoming)
Video
Historic
Sites
Devil's
Gate
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31 Ice Spring Slough
Video
9.5 miles east of Sweetwater
Station, Wyoming
2 different
paths linked together at Ice Spring Slough - always take the road to South
Pass.
"The next milepost was Ice Slough, a shallow basin at the 6000 foot level just
before South Pass. Ponds and springs here were covered with turf. Ice from the
previous winter was insulated under the turf and could be dug out during the hot
summer months. The surface water was alkaline, but the ice was clear and good:
"We dug down in the earth about 12 inches, and found chinks of ice. We carried
it along till about noon, and made some lemonade for dinner. It relished first
rate." (George Belshaw, July 4, 1853) |
32 South Pass
South Pass was important only
as a landmark - offered the easiest way across the Continental Divide.
Video of South Pass
Historic
Sites
South
Pass Information
Continental Divide
What is the continental divide?
Map of the continental divide
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33 Parting of the
Ways
(9 miles northeast of Farson,
Wyoming
)
Picture
Sublette
Cutoff
Map
Three
Island Crossing Marks a brief split in the trail that
offered pioneers two choices - each of which carried risks. The Three Crossings
Route was a narrow rugged path that crossed the Sweetwater River 3 times
in a row; the Deep Sand Route crossed the river once, but passed through
a stretch of trail with thick, heavy sand that could turn to quicksand
after heavy rains. The Deep Sand Route was the safer of the two.
Deep Rut Hill Video
Platte River Crossing Video
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34 Fort Bridger
Little Sandy Crossing, 7 miles
northeast of Farson, Wyoming
Historic
Sites
Fort
Bridger
Fort
Bridger video
Fort
Bridger 2
Pictures of Fort Bridger (mute yore sound!) |
35 Emigrant Spring
(Sandy Crossing)
18 miles west of Fontelle,
Wyoming,
Sandy River Crossing
(click on picture to make
it bigger)
Emigrant Springs
(click on the picture to make it bigger)
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36 Thomas Fork
Crossing
rejoining the trails Sublette
and Ft. Bridger, 1.2 miles west of Border, Wyoming
Thomas Fork Crossing
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37 Steamboat Spring
(Soda Springs), Idaho
Geysers and Hot Springs sites
About
Geysers
Weird Geology:
Geysers
Geysers,
Fumaroles, and Hot Springs
Hot
Springs and How They Work
Pictures
**Ask to view teachers domain information. |
38
Fort Hall
(south of the Snake River,
Idaho)
Fort
Hall 1
Fort
Hall 2
Price List for Supplies
|
39 Three Island Crossing
Elmore County, Idaho
Three
Island Crossing
Historic
Site
Quicksand
The
Crossing
|
40 Farewell Bend
Baker County Oregon
Say goodbye to the Snake
River
Farewell Bend was a significant
landmark to the pioneers because it was their last view of the Snake River.
Farewell
Bend |
41 Ladd Canyon
Hill
Union County, Oregon, at the
base of the Blue Mountains
Blue
Mountains |
42 Deadman's Pass
Umatilla County, Oregon
Deadman's
pass
What are
renegade Indians? |
43 Whitman Mission
Whitman
Mission
Whitman
Mission
|
Barlow Road
Barlow
Road
Barlow Road |
The Whitmans
Narcissa
Whitman
The
Spauldings and the Nez Perce What
do they have in common with Lewis and Clark? |
The Columbia Gorge
Columbia
Gorge
Pictures of the Columbia Gorge
The
Dalles
|
The end of the trail...
44 Willamette Valley
to the
top
Click to enlarge
"Summer, Willamette Valley"
Painting by April Waters
to see more of her work, go to:
www.aprilwaters.com
|
Willamette River has gone
through many spellings but the root word was the Indian word, Wal-lamt.
When an early explorer asked an Indian the name as he pointed toward the
river, the Indian answered "Wal-lamt". The Indian was looking at the 'west
bank' of the river.
Oregon City
Oregon City
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Extra Credit Project
(To have permission to earn extra credit, you must
get teacher approval first.)
Worth 30 points possible.
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Oregon Trail Research
Use another sheet of paper to answer
these questions. Be sure to number each answer and write the question.
Answers should be in complete sentences and in neat handwriting or typed.
Use the sites below for information. You must write both the question (in bolded font)
and the answers (in regular font). This project is due at the end of the
unit. |
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