• You will be collecting information about the
Oregon Trail using a series of websites.
• Using the internet, you will discover many
interesting facts about this long and dangerous
journey.
• The information you gather will be placed on a
separate sheet of paper.
• HAVE FUN !!
The Route
Using the trail map on the next slide, answer the
following questions:
1) Where did the trail start?
2) Where did it end?
3) Name 5 places the pioneers passed through:
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
Supplies
http://www.rootsweb.com/~genepool/barlowrd.htm#provisions
4) How much did it cost to outfit a wagon?
5) List food, supplies, clothing and bedding,
guns and trading goods that pioneers
needed to bring for their journey.
6) What did people eat on the trip?
How Did They Travel?
See the next slide for an image of the “prairie schooner”
How to Draw an Oregon Trail Wagon
The pioneers on the Oregon Trail traveled in a
covered wagon.
7) Why was the wagon covered?
8) What is another name for the wagon?
9) The wagon weighed 1200 - 1500 lbs. empty
and was pulled by a team of 2 to 4 _______.
10) Draw a picture of the wagon and label four
parts.
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
The Wagon Train
http://library.thinkquest.org/6400/travel.htm
11) What was a wagon train?
12) What did they do with the wagons at night?
13) Why was this done?
14) What was the leader of the caravan called?
15) Many scouts that guided the trains had been
_______ or ________.
16) Who was a famous scout on the Oregon Trail?
Hardships and Dangers
http://www.isu.edu/~trinmich/Hardships.html
http://library.thinkquest.org/6400/Dangers%20on%20the%20Trail.htm
http://library.thinkquest.org/6400/Crossing%20the%20Rivers.htm
17) Many things could go wrong during the journey. Make a
list of 15 things that could happen.
Crossing Rivers and Mountains
http://library.thinkquest.org/6400/Crossing%20the%20Rivers.htm
18) How would wagons cross shallow rivers and
creeks?
19) If the water was deeper, how did the wagons
get across?
20) How long would it take for a wagon train to
cross a river?
Life on the Trail
http://library.thinkquest.org/6400/lives.htm
21) What was a typical day like?
22) How far did they travel every day?
23) What did the children do all day?
24) What chores were children responsible for on the trail?
25) How was the ride in the wagon?
26) Where did you sleep? What happened if it rained?
27) What did you do for clothing?
Fire
http://library.thinkquest.org/6400/fire.htm
28) What did they use to make a fire?
29) How did the pioneers make their fires?
Pioneer Tools
http://library.thinkquest.org/6400/tools.htm
30) Explain the form/function of the following tools
a) Corn seeder
b) Fro
c) Auger
d) Draw knife
e) Grinding stone
f) Two person saw
Fun
http://library.thinkquest.org/6400/toys1.htm
31)
32)
33)
34)
What was a bullroarer?
What was a whimmydiddle?
What was a buzzsaw?
What is a mountain bolo?
Pioneer Food
http://library.thinkquest.org/6400/cooking.htm
http://library.thinkquest.org/6400/cooking.htm
35) What food did pioneers eat some variety of at almost
every meal?
36) Choose a recipe from one of the websites that interest
you. Write the name of the dish and why you selected it.
Would you/could you make this meal for your family?
Music
http://library.thinkquest.org/6400/songs.htm
37) Which song is your favorite? Why?
38) What does this song make you think of?
The Whitmans
Unusual Honeymoon
39) What did Narcissa Whitman and her
husband do?
40) What does this tell us about the journey
on the Oregon Trail?
Glossary
http://library.thinkquest.org/6400/glossary.htm#H
41) Find the meanings of:
a) Conestoga
b) Fording
c) Pelt
d) Stockade
e) Westward Expansion
f) Prairie Schooner
ABC Challenge
http://library.thinkquest.org/6400/glossary.htm#H
42) Create a list of words (one for each letter of the
alphabet) related to the Oregon trail
For example - A - axle on the wagon
More Information
about the Oregon Trail
A $100 drink of water? A cow that started a war? Fun
stories about the Oregon Trail
http://courses.missouristate.edu/ShaeJohnson/oregontrail.h
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