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.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: If You Were a Pioneer on the Oregon Trail
Lesson plans that introduce the Oregon Trail to students and guide them into an activity where they create a personal narrative describing their journey out west. Provides a link to an excellent site that details many aspects of the...
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.
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.
Curated OER
National Park Service: California National Historic Trail
This site from the National Parks Service gives a brief history, and description of the California trail system which was used by settlers moving to California during the 1849 Gold Rush days.
CommonLit
Common Lit: Traveling West
A learning module that begins with "Traveling West" by Barbara Radner, accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed as a PDF or assigned online through free teacher and...
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.
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.
Siteseen
Siteseen: American Historama: Oregon Trail
The Oregon Trail was the important route taken by settlers from the east migrating to build a new life in the western part of the United States covering over 2000 miles.