The Pioneers Destiney
By Lillian Reuscher
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Table of Contents Section Title
Page Number
Chapter 1: All about Westward Expansion Louisiana Purchase Lewis and Clark Moving West
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Chapter 2: All about Prairie Life Building a house The Families Chores School Entertainment
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Chapter 3: The Impact on Prairie Life
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Glossary
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Bibliography
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Chapter 1: All about Westward Expansion Move West and find your destiny. The brave men, women and children helped change the United States forever. Without everyone there would be no America to live in.
Louisiana Purchase In 1803, our country doubled overnight. Finally we had land to live on. President Jefferson had bought the Louisiana Purchase for $15 million. It was unknown land that was West of the Mississippi River, to the Rocky Mountains. We had bought 828,000 square miles from France. This was a very important time for the future United States.
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Lewis and Clark After the Louisiana Purchase was made, Thomas Jefferson wanted to know what he bought. He hoped that there was a water route that led from St.Louis to the Pacific Ocean. So he called his bravest men, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. They started the expedition after the Louisiana Purchase was made.The expedition started on May 14, 1804 in St.Louis. There were about 30 men in the crew. A Native American woman named Sacajawea joined the expedition as an interpreter. Sacajawea also helped make peace with other Native Americans and their tribes. They traveled up the Missouri River by boat. November 7, 1805 they reached the Pacific Ocean. In the end of the journey they traveled 7,000 miles. On September 1806, Lewis and Clark were back home in St.Louis. Lewis and Clark had their journals full of sketches of animals, plants and maps. Lewis and Clark's journals encouraged people to start moving West and start a new life.
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Westward Expansion The pioneers listened to Lewis and Clark and moved West to start a new life. There are different trails you can go on. Some of the most known trails are the Organ Trail, California Trail, Mormon Trail and Santa Fe Trail. In 1840 people began moving West in their covered wagons. So they “turned their faces toward the land of promise that lay beyond the Rocky Mountains.” It was a long and hard trip. Many people didn’t survive. Pioneers were moving West for free land that they could use for farming and ranches, gold and religious freedom. The long journey ended in 1890. Moving West changed the United States forever.
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Chapter 2: All about Prairie Life On March 20, 1849 Sallie and her family were heartbroken because they were moving West. Tears filled their eyes, as one by one fell out. With a last farewell the Hester family was off on a journey to change their lives. They sold lots of their belongings. They did that because they only had 2 covered wagons for their important things to them and what they needed to survive on the journey. The Hesters began the trip in St. Joseph Missouri, they hoped in the end that they would be in California. Many pioneers traveled from the Eastern side to the Western side of the United States. Their wagon trains traveled over 2,000 miles They ran into many hardships, but they kept going. Finally the Hester family reached California. Some pioneers thought it was their destiny to move West. Their strong feelings moved them for a new life and land. It was one of the greatest periods of time in the nation's history. The American pioneers were about to begin an adventure. First, the pioneers prepared for their journey by packing seeds, farming and house tools, candles, sewing goods, food, and utensils. Lots of families had bibles, but all families had guns to protect them. Then they would travel of the Oregon trail that stretched across the prairies, rivers, high mountains and hot deserts. They were risking everything. It was a hard, difficult and dangerous journey. When the journey ended the pioneers were ready to start a new life.
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Building a House The pioneers reached the prairie, it was touching their fingertips. They kept traveling until they found good land with space to grow crops, have rich soil and a good water supply. Once the pioneers found land to live on they built a house. They had to use quite a bit of r aw materials around them. Two common houses are the log cabins and soddies. It depends on your raw materials. If there is a forest near your area then you build a log cabin. You can also build a fireplace for warmth and cooking. A soddie is made out of chunks of grass. The floors were made out of dirt and there weren't many windows. They had leaky roofs, bugs, mice and snakes. But is stayed cool when it was hot and hot when it was cool. There is another house that is ment for pioneers in the Southwest. They built their houses out of bricks. A special mixture called adobe holds the bricks together. Many houses used adobe. But all three houses were small. They were about 25 feet long and15 feet wide. They didn’t have very many tools, and they didn’t need them. After their house was built, they had to take care of it.
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The Families Chores Each person in the family had a job to do. First the kids helped their dad fill the cracks in the logs of the house. Then they would help their parents by getting water from a well if you had one, or a stream. Next the kids helped their parents by gathering food and different things to cook with. Then they milked the cows for milk to drink and cook with. Finally the kids would gather eggs to cook with and buffalo chips for the fire. Then the kids would get older and have their own job. The boys would chop wood. The girls would learn how to cook and care for their younger siblings. Their mother had lots of jobs compared to the father.The father would cop would along with the boys and added special features like a chimney, fire place and a well. The mother did lots of things for the family. Such as raising her children to be kind to other. She also cooked meals for the family and hauled water. If someone got sick or injured she would take care of them and would have the medicines prepared. That's not all the mothers would do, but she also stitched clothing and quilts to stay warm. But you can’t forget about the landry, their clothes got very dirty because of all of the outside jobs the moms did. One job they had to do ws garden the crps.Every day everyone worked hard. But not every day was full of work. Every person learned lots of things, their family teached them lots of things but they also learned things from school.
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Education Schools were very small on the prairie. In fact there was only one room, with one teacher teaching everyone. Five year olds through six-teen year olds went to school. There were little supplies that you could use because there weren't very many. School was very short, it was only three months a year. The three years were December, January and February. School days started at sunrise and ended at early afternoon. They had similar subjects that we have today. The older students helped the younger students on what they needed to work on. But instead of paper they used slates. Students would use chalk but mostly quill pens to write. Teen boys went to school half of the time. They left school early because they needed to help out at home. But during planting and harvesting times they closed school so all kids could help their parents at home. But not every day was full of school and chores, everyone had some fun.
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Entertainment Some days are full of fun. Families loved to play different card games together. When they got bored of playing cards they would make music to dance along to. But nobody forgot about the eating at picnics. When their parents didn’t want to play, the kids would have fun together. Normally the boys liked to play games outside and swim. The girls liked to make simple toys and dolls for themselves and siblings. Church made the pioneers closer as friends and families. They came together for friendship and food. The friends and families would lift their spirits by playing musical instruments such as harmonicas, fiddles and banjos. Evan though the pioneers lived on the prairie they still celebrated holidays and big events. On Fourth of July the pioneers feasted, they made as much noise as they could and listened to speeches. Christmas was another holiday pioneers celebrated. They would feast and give each other small gifts Lots of the pioneers events were going on when it was warm. One of the events were harvest festivals.They also liked to go to circus and fairs to have fun with friends and family. Not only did the pioneers participate in events but they also liked to watch others. They liked watching horse races and baseball games. There was a great difference on all of the families because of Westward Expansion.
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Chapter 3: The Impact on the Pioneers Prairie life had a huge impact on the United States. They were determined to move West. But were ready to face the hardships that were coming to them. In this time the pioneers grew the 13 colonies. They turned it into 48 states. Sadly there were bad causes. The pioneers took over the Native American’s land. They made them give it up and leave. When the pioneers were building their house they took animals homes, and lots of wood.Hunting was a big problem. Lots of animals died from this. Plants also were being cut and used for cooking which took lots of the environment and oxigen away. But national park were created and saved the day. They helped keep some of the animals alive in the Western lands. Westward Expansion is known for making the United States one of the largest countries in the world. It gave everyone a goal to try to reach. The pioneers grew the United States, but also left an important message. That is if you put your mind to something, never give up. Something good can happen. They were determined to reach their goal. The pioneers were brave and not ready to give up. They wanted to set an example and encourage others to move West. It was tough, and many didn’t survive. They were traveling from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains. The pioneers had courage and kept going. Westward Expansion ended in 1890. All of the pioneers that moved West helped double the size of our country. Even though Westward Expansion ended, it has made a big difference in people's lives. In their mind Westward Expansion still lives on.
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Glossary Adobe- A mixture that is made out of clay and mud that is dried in the sun. It is used for holding things together Buffalo Chips-The kids would gather these and put them in the fire instead of would. They are made out of buffalo poop. Interpreter- An interpreter translates two languages and makes peace with Native Americans and their tribes. Quill Pens- They are used to write on slates like pencils and paper Slate- They’re used just like paper but they are made out of rock
Bibliography Porter, Lavinia Honeyman.”It was like Tearing our Heartstrings Asunder Online. 1-11-16. www.ci . independence mo. us. Sandler,Martin W.. Who were the American Pioneers And other Questions About Westward Expansion. Bettmann: Sterling Children's books, 2014. The Pioneers. Online. 1-14-16. www.lonehand.com/Pioneers . htm.
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