Westward Expansion
Going West!
Introduction
Gold Rush
Link to picture: https://www.toysperiod.com/blog/lego/gold-rushes-a-playful-history/
Oregon Trail
Link to picture: http://www.runet.edu/~sbisset/westward.html
Louisiana Purchase
Link to picture: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_and_Clark_Expedition
Planning the Trip
Packing Supplies
The travelers had to choose what to bring. Of course they couldn't bring everything. To survive the long journey, a family of four would have to print 600 pounds of flour, 400 pounds of bacon, 120 pounds of biscuits, 60 pounds of coffee , 4 pounds of tea, 100 pounds of sugar and 200 pounds of pig lard. Pig lard is bacon fat. These were some basic items pioneers might have brought to cook with. Also, they brought some pots and pans. Each man would bring a rifle or shotgun. A hunting knife, axe, shovel, hammer and other carpentry tools would be brought. Spare axles, tounges and wheels were brought just in case the original tools broke.
Obstacle and Dangers
It was time to go. The whole two thousand mile journey would probably last three to six months. Each wagon would (try to) travel about ten miles each day or more. They reseted where water and grass was so their animals would be refreshed. Men and older boys sometimes went out to hunt while the women and children stayed behind. There were some forts along the way such as Fort Wagner. These were like resting stops where travelers could rest and trade their goods for other items. Whenever there was a deep river, the travelers sometimes would have to throw things away because the wagon was too heavy.
The travelers faced many dangers. They got sick a lot and died. Many were attacked by Indians. They were eaten by wolves and sometimes the horses and oxen slipped off the mountainside and fell to their deaths. There is this disgusting thing called cannibalism that travelers had to do in order to survive when they did not have enough food. They ate one another when someone died. If a family lost their wagon, they would have to walk the rest of the way and this limited their inventory. They probably died.
Despite all these hardships, once the travelers reached their destination, they could start new and better lives.
California Gold Rush
In January 1848, gold was discovered at Sutter’s Fort. James W Marshall, John Sutter’s employee, found gold. John wanted to keep it a secret, but word spread quickly and soon everyone knew about it. The California Gold Rush had started. This attracted many people not only from the east coast, but from Europe and Asia too. The population grew in Sacramento. Many men left their families to get gold. Most returned with no gold at all. There were many ways of getting gold. The most popular way was panning it was very simple. A person would go to a nearby river and get lots of dirt with a pan and shake it lightly so all the dirt and stuff would go out. Gold was heavier so it stayed on the bottom. This separated the dirt and gold and so the miner would put the gold aside.