Westward ho! If you travel across certain parts of the United States,
you can still see wagon wheel ruts where people crossed the west in
search of more opportunity and better lives more than 200 years ago!
The Oregon Trail: The Journey Across the Country from Lewis and Clark
to the Transcontinental Railroad offers readers ages 9 to 12 a
fascinating look at the explorers and settlers who traveled this route
during the westward expansion of the United States.
When America received its independence in 1776, the new country was made
up of 13 colonies that became the United States of America. European
immigrants continued to arrive in the new country, eager to make new
lives for themselves and their families. By 1803, there were 17 states
and a need for even more space. The United States doubled its land area
with the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. President Thomas Jefferson
commissioned the Corps of Discovery to explore and map a territory that
had only been seen by fur trappers and the Native Americans who lived
there. The expedition into the American west, more popularly known as
the Lewis and Clark expedition, left from Independence, Missouri for
more than two years of exploration that produced a route for American
settlers to take. The route was the Oregon Trail, also known as the
Oregon and California Trail.
In The Oregon Trail: The Journey Across the Country from Lewis and
Clark to the Transcontinental Railroad, readers ages 9 to 12 can delve
into the explorations of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark and other
explorers. They can learn about the more than half a million people who
followed during the nineteenth century. What challenges did these
pioneers face on the 2,170-mile journey? How were Native American tribes
and nations affected by this mass migration? Primary sources allow
readers to feel like a part of the Oregon Trail experience while
biographical sidebars will introduce the compelling people who were part
of this time in U.S. history. Investigative, hands-on projects and
critical thinking activities such as writing a treaty and researching
artistic impressions of the Oregon Trail invite readers to further their
understanding of life on the trail, early towns and forts, and the
Transcontinental Railroad that followed the wagons into new lands and
territories that would eventually become states.
Nomad Press books in the Build It Yourself series integrate content with
participation. Common Core State Standards, the Next Generation Science
Standards, and STEM Education all place project-based learning as key
building blocks in education. Combining content with inquiry-based
projects stimulates learning and makes it active and alive. Nomad's
unique approach simultaneously grounds kids in factual knowledge while
allowing them the space to be curious, creative, and critical thinkers.
