Curated OER
Go, West, Pack Light!
Students investigate the hardships related to pioneer life and the Wagon Train. They listen to an excerpt from the book "Little House on the Prairie," and discuss the hardships faced by pioneers travelling west. In small groups...
PBS
Pbs: Archives of the West: Across the Plains in 1844
A memoir by Catherine Sager Pringle, one of the orphans who was taken in by Marcus and Narcissa Whitman. Find out about the journey on the Oregon Trail and the Whitman Massacre.
Ibis Communications
Eye Witness to History: The Old West
This resource provides first-hand accounts and background information on the Old West. Content touches on crossing the plains, cowboys, train robberies, Dalton Gang's Last Raid, Custer's Last Stand, the Death of Billy the Kid, and much...
![De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: The Difficult Journey [Pdf] Unit Plan](https://d15y2dacu3jp90.cloudfront.net/images/attachment_defaults/resource/large/FPO-knovation.png "De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: The Difficult Journey [Pdf] Unit Plan")
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: The Difficult Journey [Pdf]
"The Difficult Journey" is a one page, fictional, reading passage about the hardships of a family of early settlers moving West in a wagon train. It is followed by constructed-response questions which require students to provide evidence...
Other
Emigrant Wagons Roll Westward
This resource is an excerpt from the memoirs of David Arthur of his traveling to Oregon by wagon train with his parents. It was originally published in an Oregon newspaper in 1889.
Ibis Communications
Eye Witness to History; Crossing the Plains, 1865
Article offers the diaries of Sarah Raymond as she treks across the Great Plains. Describes the many hardships encountered on this long journey.
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: The Difficult Journey [Pdf]
"The Difficult Journey" is a one page, fictional, reading passage about the hardships of a family moving west in a wagon train. It is followed by constructed-response questions which require students to provide evidence from the story;...
Library of Congress
Loc: Teachers: Journeys West
A series of lessons utilizing primary texts, including narratives, photographs, and maps, through which students explore the following question: "What motivated thousands of people to journey west during the 1800s?"
Curated OER
Bureau of Land Management: Basic Facts About the Oregon Trail
Learn basic facts about the Oregon Trail and the early pioneers who used it in their move West.