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Website
Other

Oregon California Trails Association: New Light on the Donner Party

For Students 9th - 10th
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...
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Website
Digital History

Digital History: Trailblazing

For Students 9th - 10th
Read about two of the trails used for both commerce and settlement. Many hardships had to be endured on both trails.
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Website
PBS

Pbs: New Perspectives on the West

For Students 9th - 10th
This in-depth resource presents a history of the American West from pre-Columbian times until World War I with profiles, documents, and images. It encourages visitors to link these into patterns of historical meaning for themselves....
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Primary
Other

Prairie Traveler: A Handbook for Overland Expeditions

For Students 9th - 10th
Written in 1859, this handbook provided pioneers with valuable guidance on everything from choosing which route to gake to the west, to what kinds of tents to use, to how to deal with Indians. It was an invaluable source for those making...
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Interactive
Other

Road Trip Usa: Cross Country Adventures on America's Two Lane Highways

For Students 9th - 10th
Learn all about America without ever leaving home. Select a driving tour, then find colorful information about what all the small towns have to offer. Many fun facts about famous historical destinations are given. Based on Jamie Jensen's...
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Handout
Discovering Lewis & Clark

Discovering Lewis & Clark: The Botanists

For Students 9th - 10th
This section of Discovering Lewis & Clark examines Lewis's role as a naturalist and features biographical sketches of botanists David Douglas, Frederick Traugott Pursh, Thomas Nuttall, and Constantine Samuel Rafinesque-Schmaltz.
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Website
Digital History

Digital History: Explorations: Children and the Westward Movement

For Students 1st - 9th
Read first-hand accounts to learn about the children who made the journey west to California, Utah, Oregon and other destinations in the mid-1800s.
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Lesson Plan
Library of Congress

Loc: Teachers: Journeys West

For Teachers 9th - 10th
A series of lessons utilizing primary texts, including narratives, photographs, and maps, through which young scholars explore the following question: "What motivated thousands of people to journey west during the 1800s?"
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Website
University of Groningen

American History: Outlines: Westward

For Students 9th - 10th
Overview of U.S. westward expansion during the 1800s.
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Lesson Plan
History Link

History Link: Travel Through Time and Culture

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st
An interesting site with a K-6 Social Studies and Technology Curriculum based on field trips and site visits around the Seattle/Tacoma area.
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Website
Digital History

Digital History: America's Manifest Destiny [Pdf]

For Students 9th - 10th
After a brief discussion of Manifest Destiny in other parts of country, read about the Texas rebellion against Mexico, the battles against Santa Anna, and the treaties that made Texas an independent country. [pdf]
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Website
Scholastic

Scholastic: Our America: Western Expansion

For Students 3rd - 8th
Reviews of children's literature, student activities, and interactive games from Scholastic that enrich a student's understanding and appreciation of western expansion before the Civil War.
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Professional Doc
Apple

Apple Learning Interchange: Classroom Ideas

For Students 9th - 10th
Do you use Appleworks in your classroom? Would you like some ideas that others have used? This site presents some exemplary lessons from other teachers.
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Website
Smithsonian Institution

National Portrait Gallery: 1846: Portrait of a Nation

For Students 3rd - 8th
This site provides a glimpse into the United States in the year 1846. James Polk was president and the Westward Expansion was in full force. The site has nice historical photographs.
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Graphic
Other

Pony Express Home Station: Pony Express Route

For Students 3rd - 8th
Use this site to view maps of routes on the Pony Express and also read a brief history.
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Handout
Curated OER

National Park Service: Three Island Crossing

For Students 9th - 10th
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.
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Handout
Other

The Gold Rush: The Journey

For Students 9th - 10th
Read about the routes followed by those seeking the riches of California. Find out the advantages and hazards of each route.
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Graphic
Curated OER

Etc: Maps Etc: The System of Communication, Western United States, 1850

For Students 9th - 10th
The chief systems of overland travel and communication during the middle nineteenth century including railroads, stage lines, and trails (Oregon Trail, Spanish Trail, Santa Fe Trail, and the Route of the Forty-niners). The system of...
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Graphic
Curated OER

Educational Technology Clearinghouse: Maps Etc: Trade and Migration, 1840 1850

For Students 9th - 10th
A map of the United States showing the principal trade and westward migration routes between 1840 and 1850. The map shows state and territory boundaries at the time, major cities, ports, outposts, forts, and settlements, rivers, mountain...
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Graphic
Curated OER

Etc: Principal Routes of Trade and Migration, 1840 1850

For Students 9th - 10th
A map of the United States between 1840 and 1850 showing the states and territories, and the principal routes of transportation and westward migration during the period. The map shows frontier forts, outposts, and settlements, the...
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Graphic
Curated OER

Wikipedia: National Historic Landmarks in Wyoming: Independence Rock

For Students 9th - 10th
Independence Rock is a large granite rock, approximately 130 ft (40 m) high, which served as a landmark on the Oregon Trail and California Trail in southwestern Natrona County.
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Graphic
Curated OER

The Journey by Land

For Students 9th - 10th
This CalGoldRush.com site discusses where people came from and the many routes that were taken to get to California. Many traveled the Mormon and Oregon Trails.
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Graphic
Curated OER

Wikipedia: National Historic Landmarks in Nebraska: Robidoux Pass

For Students 9th - 10th
Pass that was part of the Oregon Trail from 1848 to 1851, when another pass became preferred.
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Graphic
Curated OER

Educational Technology Clearinghouse: Clip Art Etc: Francis Parkman

For Students 9th - 10th
Francis Parkman (September 16, 1823 - November 8, 1893) was an American historian, best known as author of The Oregon Trail: Sketches of Prairie and Rocky-Mountain Life and his monumental seven volume France and England in North America.

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