Introduction:

No other time period saw so many people leave their homes for a better life in the west. During the 1800's many people left what is now the eastern part of the United States to settle in the Oregon Territory. They heard stories, many true and many not, about what it was like out west.

As a member of a wagon team getting ready to head west you need to research the information you are hearing, you need to find out what is true and what isn't. First you will need to plan who will serve which role in your wagon team. Next you will make an imaginary trip to the Oregon Territory with your wagon train. The Wagon master will need to research the possible routes and choose the way you will travel. Mother will need to deal with the fact that many different lists of needed supplies are circulating, and she will have to choose carefully. Father will to need evaluate and decide about your wagon and team needs. The child in the family will need to research what the trip to Oregon was like for the families making that trek. As a "family" you will need to research and decide where you are planning to settle when you get to Oregon.

When the trip is completed each "family" will need a supply list of what they decided to take with them, a drawing showing the type of wagon and team they chose to use, draw a detailed map of the route of their trip, and 5 journal entries showing what some of the days of the trip were like (this will be written in diary form). Also be sure to include where you settled and what it is like.

Determine who will be wagon master, who will be the Mother, the Father, and the child during the trip.

*Wagon Master- in charge of researching and drawing a poster showing the route you used for the Oregon Trail (this must be one of the ones actually used as part of the Oregon Trail).

*Father- in charge of researching and deciding about the type of wagon and team. Draw a poster to show your wagon and team.

*Mother- in charge of deciding what needs to be taken on the trip. Write a list showing what you took when you started, as well as any supplies you would need to get while on the trail.

*Child- in charge of researching what a day on the trail would have been like. Write your own imaginary journal including 5 different types of days on the trail. You can use the journal template and the following questions as a guide: What types of things did they do? What were some of the problems they might have run into? What types of hardship did they encounter while on the trail? What special tricks did they develop while on the trail to make things easier?

Research locations:

http://www.gorgediscovery.org/links.htm#oregontrail

http://www.or.blm.gov/NHOTIC/OTHistory/history.htm

http://www.isu.edu/~trinmich/Allabout.html

http://www.endoftheoregontrail.org/histhome.html

http://www.tcfn.org/tctour/parks/OregonTrail.html

http://flms.ddouglas.k12.or.us/~ludwig/tag/thinkquest/Oregon_Trail/1trtr.html

http://www.americanwest.com/trails/pages/oretrail.htm

http://www.isu.edu/%7Etrinmich/Oregontrail.html

http://www.isu.edu/~trinmich/Sites.html

http://www.isu.edu/~trinmich/Jumpingoff.html

http://www.isu.edu/~trinmich/Facts.html

http://www.isu.edu/~trinmich/00.ar.sager1.html 

Each member completes role assignment = 20 points

Completed map =10 points

List of supplies taken =10 points

Journal information = 20 points

Completed information on wagon and team =20 points

Oral presentation about your trip = 20 points.

TOTAL POINTS 100

You have just completed a 2000 mile trip across the North American continent. You now have a better understanding of the problems, challenges, decisions, and surprises the pioneers encountered when they came across the continent over a hundred years ago. Do you think you could have made the trip? Why or why not?