westward expansion this domain will introduce you to an important period in the history of the United States the time of westward expansion during the 1800s you will learn why pioneers were willing and eager to endure hardships to move westward you will learn about important innovations in both transportation and communication during that period which greatly increased the movement of people westward more specifically you will learn about Fulton's steamboat the Erie Canal the Transcontinental Railroad and the Pony Express you will hopefully also come to understand the hardships and tragedies that Native Americans endure because of westward expansion this domain will be the foundation for learning about the u.s. Civil War and immigration later on in our year you will learn more about westward expansion in greater depth in fifth grade first core vocabulary word settled to settle means to move to a place and make it your home for example my cousin's moved to California and settled into their new home second core vocabulary word sympathy sympathy means feeling sorry about someone else's trouble or misfortune for example the merchants daughter felt sympathy for the Beast third core vocabulary word campfire a campfire is an outdoor fire used for warmth or cooking for example Nick and Anna gathered wood for the campfire so they could roast marshmallows fourth core vocabulary word wagon train a wagon train is a line or caravan of wagons for example the wagon train moves slowly westward over the rough and rocky terrain fifth court vocabulary word sights sights are things or places seen for example juanita walk for hours and hours enjoying the sights and sounds of New York City our first story in this domain is titled going West our purpose for listening is to listen carefully to learn about the experiences another family has as they move westward image one a one photo of a covered wagon you could have been going west in the 1800s in those days there were no cars you would have traveled in a covered wagon like the one shown here your wagon would have been pulled by horses mules or oxen you and your family would have bumped along unpaved dusty roads you would have traveled all day long and it would have taken you about six months to get from the east to the west does that sound like fun actually your trip might have been even harder your family would have had to pack everything you owned into a wagon including personal belongings clothing food water and supplies so there wouldn't have even been room for you to ride in the wagon that's right you might have had to walk all the way to Oregon image one a two wagon train in the 1840s and 1850s tens of thousands of Americans went west and wagon trains these pioneers hope to make a better life for themselves many of them were eager to claim farm land in Oregon or California they left many of their friends and family behind loaded everything they had into a wagon and set off for the West the following story tells about what it was like to make the trip West unlike some ancient civilizations that we've learned about in which we got most of our information from archaeologists this account is based on records that people left behind such as Diaries and journals in this account the Morgan family makes the trip from Indiana to Oregon the Morgans were farmers they hope to start a new life in Oregon this is their story the Morgans left for Oregon in April of 1846 they have a single wagon loaded with all of their belongings mrs. Morgan and the young children rode in the wagon the older children walked alongside they also helped herd the cows that were trailed along behind the wagon image one a three wagon train family and their belongings on the first day of their journey the Morgans traveled 14 miles when the Sun began to set they set up camp the boys gathered wood for a campfire then mrs. Morgan cooked supper after supper mrs. Morgan said that beds for the children in the wagon once the children were asleep she lit a candle and wrote the first entry in a journal she had decided to keep April 11th 1846 we began our journey to Oregon made 14 miles on our first day the Sun felt warm upon her skin as we made our way along our journey was brightened by the wildflowers that dotted the landscape by the time we made camp the older children were exhausted from walking I have to admit that I gave them each a little extra stew for supper tonight for the next few weeks the Morgans traveled west across Indiana and Illinois they rose early each morning and traveled until just before sundown on their good days they covered 20 miles when it rained or the roads were bad they covered fewer image 1a for flatboats on the river about one month after starting their journey the Morgans reached the Mississippi River they hired a ferry to carry them their wagon and their animals across the river on that day mrs Morgan had a lot to write in her journal this is some of what she wrote may 10th 1846 the Great Mississippi is wider than I could have ever imagined our wagon our horses and our supplies were loaded onto a flat boat and carried across the mighty Mississippi I held my breath as I watched all our earthly possessions float away another month later the Morgans reached st. Joseph Missouri where they bought food and supplies the next morning they cross the Missouri River this meant they were leaving the United States and were entering the area keep people called Indian Territory on this day mrs. Morgan wrote in her journal June 5th 1846 the children are hoping to see Indians we have been told that the Cheyenne and the Pawnee live in the area we are traveling through we have heard that they are sometimes willing to trade horses and food for clothes and tobacco image one a five map of their journey on Oregon Trail a few days later the Morgans turned onto the main road to Oregon known as the Oregon Trail there were many other settlers traveling on this road the Morgans joined up with a group of more than 100 settlers traveling to Oregon by mid-june the wagon train was crossing the Great Plains on all sides they saw vast open fields of grass without a tree in sight image one a six herds of buffalo the Morgans also began to see large herds of Buffalo they notice that these magnificent creatures spent much of their time with their heads bowed grazing on the abundant grass on one moonlit June night as the Stars sparkled in the sky mr. Morgan shot a buffalo and mrs. Morgan cooked the meat for supper on that night mrs. Morgan wrote in her journal June 14 1846 buffalo meat although tasty tastes Allah takes a lot of chewing I watched the children eat as the flames from the flickering fire lit their dirty faces the good thing was that while they were chewing they weren't complaining a few days later the Morgans wagon broke mrs Morgan stood guard all night in the rain while mr. Morgan fixed the wagon two weeks later something even worse happened eight of the oxen that pulled the Morgans wagon vanished during the night the Morgans searched for the animals but could not find them they hitched up some of their cows instead but these animals were not used to pulling a wagon and the Morgans made slow progress until they could get better animals image 187 view of chimney rock in mid July the Morgans reached chimney rock in what was now Nebraska you can see chimney rock in this photograph while admiring the sights mrs. Morgan and a friend almost got caught in a hailstorm this is what mrs. Morgan had to say about this adventure that evening in her journal July 15th 1846 we are making much slower progress yesterday we only covered 11 miles we were delighted to see chimney rock though we had the most dreadful hailstorm mrs. Peterson and I were pelted by hailstones a size of small rocks the house stones tour some of the wagon covers off broke some bows and scared several of the oxen away image 1 a8 image of Fort Laramie a few days later the wagon train reached for at Laramie another common landmark on the trip for pioneers headed west two weeks later they crossed the Rocky Mountains mrs Morgan row August 9th 1846 we wound our way over the mountains along a very crooked road had rain and hail today which made it a very disagreeable experience however Papa and I smiled so as to not discourage the children in late August the Morgans traveled across the dry dusty desert mrs. Morgan wrote that the dump that the dustiness was like nothing her friends in the East had ever seen August 30th 1846 my friends back east know nothing about dust the dust makes it impossible for us to see where we are going we cannot even see the oxen that pull our wagon the cattle struggled to breathe and we have the taste of dusty air in our mouths all the time when the children go to sleep every one of them is covered in a layer of dust in mid-september the Morgans encountered some Native Americans on their journey mrs. Morgan wrote image one a nine Native Americans on the Snake River mrs. Morgan wrote September 14 1846 we saw Native Americans along Snake River they have fewer horses and no blankets the immigrants are happy to trade them old clothes for fish toward the end of September a young woman in the Morgans party decided she had had enough of the Oregon Trail she sat down on the side of the trail and claimed that she could not travel any farther then she began to sob loudly the Morgans felt sympathy for her but there was nothing else to do but to press on image one a 10 crossing the river in mid-november the Morgans reached Fort Dallas Oregon on the banks of the Columbia River they built a raft that would carry them and their things down the river unfortunately had been raining for several days the river was flooded and running too fast for raft travel the Morgans had to wait for several days by the riverside it was cold rainy and windy the family huddled around a campfire to try and stay warm mrs Morgan recorded two entries while they waited for the weather to improve November 14 1846 we are unable to move forward we must wait for the wind to ease we have only one day's provisions left the warm sunshine has abandoned us and we are chilled to the bone November 16th 1846 no let-up in the weather if anything it is worse waves right up over our simple raft it is so very cold that icicles hang down from the wagon on all sides we see vast open fields of grass without a tree in sight image 1a 11 painting of Oregon City 1800 finally the Morgans are able to make their way down the river into Willamette Valley of Oregon this painting shows what an Oregon town looked like at the time unfortunately toward the end of the trip mr. Morgan had fallen ill mrs. Morgan rented a tiny house in Portland and with the help of some kind men the Morgans moved into the tiny house for the winter mrs. Morgan saw their last possessions to buy food mr. Morgan was so sick he could not get out of bed some of the children got sick as well mrs. Morgan was so busy caring for her family that she stopped writing in her journal for a while in mid-february she started writing again February 13th 1846 it rains constantly our house is cold and the roof leaks badly it is difficult to keep our spirits up we are only able to eat one good meal a day we still dream of our new home in Oregon I know we will get there image one a 12 map showing where their journey ended mr. Morgan recovered and in the spring the Morgan family settled on a farm in Oregon the Morgan family's journey ended well they'll for many others who traveled west it did not so the next time you're on a long trip sinking how boring and terrible it is think of the Morgans and their trip to Oregon and remember it could be worse