Curated OER
Wagons Ho! Hard Times! Hard Choices!
You have just hit the lesson plan jackpot! This isn't just a lesson, it's a ten-day unit covering westward expansion, pioneer life, and the Oregon Trail. Activities include baking, model building, role-play, newspaper writing, science...
Curated OER
An Orderly Wagon Train Migration
Sixth graders work in small groups to organize a wagon train for a trek westward. They determine leadership responsibilities and rules needed to make a successful trek.
Curated OER
Education On The Trail
Fourth graders explain the unique experience of pioneer studenT education on the trail. They invent ways to provide schooling to pioneer students while they were on the trail.
Other
Oregon California Trails Association: Historic Trails Learning Center
Information portal for the organization that oversees the preservation of the Oregon Trail, the California Trail, the Santa Fe Trail, the Applegate Trail, and the Mormon Trail.
Library of Congress
Loc: American Memory: Expedition of the Donner Party
The youngest daughter of George Donner tells the harrowing tale of her family's ill-fated journey at this site from the Library of Congress. This is primary source material.
Sacramento Bee
Gold Rush: On Your Mark, Get Set, Gold
This CalGoldRush.com site is an article that discusses where people came from, as well as the number of people involved in the California gold rush. The article focuses on the massive migration to California.
![De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Traveling West [Pdf] Unit Plan](https://d15y2dacu3jp90.cloudfront.net/images/attachment_defaults/resource/large/FPO-knovation.png "De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Traveling West [Pdf] Unit Plan")
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Traveling West [Pdf]
"Traveling West" is a one page, nonfiction, reading passage about the difficult journey west for pioneers traveling in wagon trains and how the railroad made traveling west much easier and faster. It is followed by questions which...
Other
Information About Wagon Trains: The Wagon
Provides information about the wagons and animal teams to pull them.
Other
Historic Trails: Oregon/california Trails
Find a map of the Oregon Trail and California Trail and click Historical Trails tab to discover the hardships and daily grind of traveling on the Oregon Trail.
Other
Food Timeline: Westward Ho! Wagon Train Cookery
Get a realistic view of how pioneers in wagon trains kept, stored, and cooked food on their months-long journeys out west. Learn what kinds of food they took and how much it cost them.
Other
Oregon California Trails Association: New Light on the Donner Party
The myths, mysteries, and facts are revealed at this Donner Party site. At the beginning of November 1846, a group of California-bound immigrants was trapped by snow in the Sierra Nevada. By the time the last member reached safety six...
San Diego State University
Sdsu College of Education: Westward Movement
A group of organized lessons provides ideas for teachers when planning a unit on westward expansion in the US. Some activities include planning what to pack in your wagon, learning what obstacles were faced, mapping, and more.
Utah Education Network
Uen: Utah History Encyclopedia: Donner Party
This article recounts the tragic Donner Party, a wagon train bound for California in 1846 whose members resorted to cannibalism after getting stuck in the winter snow.
Library of Congress
Loc: Merica's Story: Oregon Territory
Read about the settling of Oregon country and how westward expansion prompted Congress to make it a territory.
PBS
Wnet: Thirteen: Frontier Life: "Hardship Without Glory": Life on the Trail
From the PBS series, "Frontier House," read about the struggles that pioneers experienced as they made their ways west to new lands via wagon trains.
Lin and Don Donn
Lin and Don Donn: American History: Oregon Trail
This site written by teachers provides lesson ideas and links to a number of topics related to the Oregon Trail.
Digital History
Digital History: Life on the Trail
Read what life was like for the pioneers traveling west in wagon trains, especially along the Oregon Trail.
Other
Recipes on the Oregon Trail
With information gathered from a wide variety of primary resources, this site offers not only recipes that pioneers and homesteaders used, but also tips on packing a wagon for a cross-country trip, and other words of advice for wagon...
Other
The Oregon Trail: Power: Horse, Mule or Oxen?
This resource provides information about animals used to pull covered wagons on the Oregon Trail.
Other
Triumph and Tragedy: Women's Voices From the Oregon Trail
Here is the story of the women and their families who traveled on the Oregon Trail. Much of the story is told in the words of women who were actually on the trail.
PBS
Wnet: Thirteen: Frontier Life
This is the accompanying website for the popular PBS reality show, The Frontier House. Includes historical essays, quotations, and illustrations. Reading level suitable for upper elementary and middle school.
Curated OER
National Park Service: Three Island Crossing
A National Park Service site that gives a brief description of Three Island Crossing (Snake River) and what sometimes occurred when the wagon trains heading westward tried to cross.