Go+West,+Young+Man

===Although the statement, "Go west, young man" is usually credited to Horace Greeley, it was first used in an 1851 editorial by John B. L. Soule in an the //Terre Haute Express//. Greeley was an advocate of the westward expansion of the United States and in an article in the //New York Tribune// 1841 wrote, " Do not lounge in the cities! There is room and health in the country, away from the crowds of idlers and imbeciles. Go west, before your are fitted for no life but that of the factory."===

===Between 1836 and 1869 the Oregon Trail was the main route for emigrants going west. For the next couple of weeks through videos and readings found in the sections below you will learn about the trail west. You will also do some writing in the form of journal entries along the trail using information you learned from the videos and readings. We will also have to do some planning for the trip just like the emigrants on the Oregon Trail as you load your wagon to go.===

===Unlike the pioneers, we can use technology to plan our route to Oregon. The emigrants had to depend on sometimes inaccurate, hand-drawn maps for their 2,000 mile journey. They also fell victim to people who came up with "short cuts" to get to their destinations. These often turned out to take longer than if they had followed the original trails. One of the most famous of the parties that were harmed by one of these "short cuts" as the Donner Party. (Click the link for more information.) For our "journey" across the trail we will use Google Earth.=== The Nation Expands After the Treaty of Paris of of 1783 was signed, the United States stretched from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River. The United States continued to expand until it stretched from the Atlantic to the Pacific and beyond. Use the Anneberg Leraner Interactive - The Nation Expands to answer the questions on the sheet below.



Intro to the Oregon Trail
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Land of the Eagle
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This is the fourth episode of the //Land of the Eagle// series. It takes a look at the landscapes, plants, animals, and native people the pioneers would have encountered as they crossed the Great Plains.
 * //Across the Sea of// Grass**

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//**Into the Shining Mountains**// This is the 5th episode of the //Land of the Eagle// series and takes a look at the landscape, plants, animals, and native people the pioneers encountered as they went into the Rocky Mountains

Oregon Trail Readings[[image:OT.jpg align="right"]]
In this section you will be doing some readings about life along the Oregon Trail. The readings all come from the End Of The Oregon Tail site. You will need to read all of the articles listed below and complete the Oregon Trail Scavenger Hunt. It is important to read all of the articles because they will be helpful in some of the writing activities that you will be doing. **Due:**

Trail FAQs Where Did the Trail Go? Wagons Outfitting for the Trail Life and Death on the Oregon Trail Disrupting the Natives Women on the Trail Oregon Trail Mileposts Final Leg of the Trail



Journal Entries[[image:Conestoga_wagon.jpg width="480" height="264" align="left"]]
For the pioneers on the Oregon Trail, this was going to be the greatest adventure of their lives. For this activity you will need to put yourself in the shoes of pioneer traveling across the Oregon Trail. You will create three journal entries that could have been from a pioneer on the trail. The three entries will be from three distinctly different parts of the trip, planning to go, traveling the trail and finally arriving at your new home. Your journal entries must show an understanding of the thoughts and feelings the pioneers would have felt and experienced in this great adventure.. Go to this reading, Trail Diaries, for some examples of real diaries of people on the Oregon Trail.

_ ** Entry #1 - Beginning the Journey ** - In this journal entry, you will be talk about the feelings and emotions you are feeling as you prepare to leave your family and friends and begin this great adventure. You should talk about the things you are packing and things you will have to leave behind. // **Due:** // _ ** Entry #2 - On the Trail ** - In this journal entry, you will talk about your adventures and the things you are seeing, people you have encountered, and animals you have seen. Include a description of a famous landmark you have passed on your journey. Be sure to express your thoughts and emotions as you are traveling. Is the journey worth it? // **Due:** //

_ ** Entry #3 - At Your New Home ** - In this journal entry, you are writing a letter to the people back home. Tell them what your new home is like. In your letter you are to attempt to persuade you family to make the journey and join you in Oregon or convince them to stay where they are and not come to Oregon. Be sure that things you say in your letter are factual and convincing. // **Due** //

Load Your Wagon
One of the first things the pioneers had to do once they made their decision to leave everything they knew behind them and start their great adventure to Oregon was what things they were going to pack in their wagon. Using a couple of our readings, //Outfitting for the Trail// and //Provisions for the Trail,// you are going to crate a spreadsheet of the things you will pack in your wagon to go. You will need to keep track of the the weight of object and the cost of them and have a final total at the end. How much space will you have for personal thing that will make your new land seem like home? Check out the article What to Take Along so find things you will want to make sure is in your wagon.



[[image:trailmap.jpg width="459" height="308" align="left"]]Travel the Trail
Today we are going to begin our virtual trek across the Oregon Trail. Unlike the pioneers who traveled the trail to Oregon who had to make due with hand-drawn, often inaccurate maps to find their way, we have much more accurate ways to plot the trail. We will be using several Google products to make our trek possible. We will be using Google Sheets, Google Maps, Google Images, and finally Google Tour Builder.

Here's what you have to do.

1. Create a Google Sheet to calculate distance between the checkpoints listed below.
 * Google Sheets**

2. Column A should include the name of each leg of the journey. (Independence, MO to Fort Leavenworth)

3. Column B is where you will place the mileage between checkpoints. You will need to set the bottom of the column to total the number of miles traveled.

4. Column C is a calculation to see how many days it took the pioneers to travel the trail. They were able to travel on average 15 miles per day. You will also need to set this column to total the number of days traveled. (You should set this to round answers to the nearest whole number of days.)


 * Google Maps**

1. Google maps is where you will find the distance between checkpoints. Make sure you set the make for walking as this will give you a better idea of way the pioneers went.


 * Google Images**

1. You will use Google Images to find pictures of the checkpoints. You may be able to find both

You are going to build your tour of the Oregon Trail using Google Trail Builder.
 * Google Tour Builder**

1. You are going to set a point for each checkpoint listed below.
 * Independence, MO
 * Historic Fort Leavenworth
 * Fort Kearny State Historical Park
 * Courthouse & Jail Rock
 * Chimney Rock National Historic Site
 * Scotts Bluff National Monument
 * Fort Laramie Historical Monument
 * Independence Rock State Historic Site
 * South Pass, Freemont, WY
 * Fort Bridger National Historic Site
 * Fort Hall Historic Monuments
 * Old Fort Boise
 * The Dalles
 * Fort Vancouver

2. You will need to add pictures that you find on Google Images added to each checkpoint. You need to have at least 2 pictures per checkpoint, more are better. Your pictures can be from the time of the Oregon Trail as well as present day photos.

3. You will need to add a description of the importance of each place to the pioneers. Your description should also include the distance from the previous checkpoint and the number of days to travel there, You need to make sure that your information is accurate. **//Remember that the write ups must be your own work. Any evidence of plagiarism will result in a grade of zero.//**