Westward Expansion
"Go West" Reading Project by Andy Sanchez
What did it mean to be an american as a pioneer in westward expansion?
To be an american as a pioneer in westward expansion meant that you had to be
smart and you had to be skilled.
Being Smart
You had to know the trails, how many oxen you would need to pull your wagon, and the supplies you would need.
All 5 Trails.
These were the main trails that pioneers took. "Three of the Missouri-based routes were collectively known as the Emigrant Trails, the Oregon, Mormon, and California Trails. Historians have estimated at least 500,000 emigrants used these three trails from 1843–1869, and despite growing competition from transcontinental railroads, some use continued into the early twentieth-century."
How many oxen you needed.
Some pioneers would get up to 8 oxen instead of horses because the horses weren't strong enough. "We also bought eight oxen to pull it up. I hoped we could get horses, but dad says horses aren't strong enough to pull the wagon over the mountains."
Supplies
A lot of pioneers took food, and cloth for their journey westward. "Settlers starting out on the five-month, 2,000-mile trek from Missouri to Oregon outfitted their wagons with hundreds of pounds of food, clothing and supplies. "
Being Skilled
Being skilled meant that you had to know how to hunt.
Hunting
Settlers started hunting buffalo for sport. " new settlers began coming in so some of the settlers found a new hobby, buffalo hunting. For pioneers, buffalo hunting became a widely popular sport"
Life as a pioneer
Pioneer Life
Works Cited
NA. "Westward Expansion Trails" Wikipedia. np,nd.web.12/14/15<https://en.wikipedia.org>
Murphy, Dallas. Read Aloud Plays Pioneers. New York: Scholastic Inc., 1998. Print.
Jernigan,Meg."Supply List for Traveling the oregon trail" USA Today. np,nd.Web.13/14/15<Traveltips.usatoday.com
Johnathon."Buffalo Hunting".Westward Expansion.np,nd.Web.12/14/15