Oregon Trail Project
The Oregon Trail was much more than a pathway to the state of Oregon; it was
the only practical corridor to the entire western United States. The places we now know
as Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Idaho and Utah would probably not be a
part of the United States today were it not for the Oregon Trail. That's because the trail
was the only feasible way for settlers to get across the mountains.
The journey west on the Oregon Trail was exceptionally difficult by today's
standards. One in 10 died along the way; many walked the entire two-thousand miles
barefoot. The common misperception is that Native Americans were the emigrant's
biggest problem en route. Quite the contrary, most native tribes were quite helpful to
the emigrants. The real enemies of the pioneers were cholera, poor sanitation and not
surprisingly, accidental gunshots.
In 1843 a wagon train, dubbed "the great migration" kicked off a massive move
west on the Oregon Trail. Over the next 25 years more than a half million people went
west on the Trail. Some went all the way to Oregon's Willamette Valley in search of
farmland--many more split off for the California gold rush. The glory years of the Oregon
Trail finally ended in 1869, when the transcontinental railroad was completed.
This is a story. All stories have characters, events, and situations in them and
this story, your story, will also have these elements in it. How you place these
events and details in your story is up to you, but you must use most of these to
make your story work. I will be giving you situation cards to make it more
interesting and realistic that you will have to write into your story line.
Requirements
 A Journal with 4 entries in it will be required at the end of this project. Each
entry will include details of your family, your vehicle, stops you made, any
struggles you had, distances traveled, and the supplies you used or picked
up along the trail.
 A hand-drawn depiction of your vehicle labeled correctly (Prairie Schooner)
 A map of your journey from start to finish including the main forts, large
rivers, and any significant geological feature you find.
 On the same map, you should color code and date the different areas that
the United States acquired. See map below for examples and dates.
Family: You will describe and name each member traveling in your family
group, including yourself. What is your last name and how many family
members do you have? What are their ages and names? How are they related
to you?
Vehicle: You will describe and label your hand-drawn vehicle including proper
vocabulary for equipment used. Did you get a Conestoga wagon or a pull cart?
Did you choose Oxen or Horses? How solid are your shoes?
Stops: You will describe each major city (or Fort) your group goes through.
What does it look like, what supplies are there, etc.
Struggles: You will describe with relishing detail the troubles and triumphs you
find along the 2000 mile trail. What was the first issue you had? How does it
feel to walk most of the day? What new wonders have you discovered along the
way?
Distance: You will include the distance along the route of your travels. This will
help you in your planning of supplies needed for each leg.
Supplies: You will include any supplies, provisions, and purchases along the way
that helped you make it to the end of the line; Oregon!
My example of a journal entry is below:
Today is our first day on the Oregon Trail and things have started off bad. I
hope this is not a harbinger for the future, and I am sure it will not be, but I hope
our bad luck is behind us. My wife, Tamsen, and our five girls have seen our fair
share of troubles over the years, and this adventure we are starting today, March
1st 1846, will be no different. Along with the Reed family and the 32 wagons
included in our train, we are a small moving village that help each other along the
way. This country is much different than North Carolina, but we are all excited
about what is in our future. Life will happen, and things won’t always go our way,
but we will work past it for a better life in the Oregon Territory.
Our wagon is leaking a little from the spring rains we thought were gone by
now, and I have heard it doesn’t rain much in Oregon which will be good for the
entire family. Little Sarah and I were hitching up the two oxen, Dave and Mike, to
the tongue of the wagon and something in the bushes spooked them. The biggest
and dumbest one, Mike, almost crushed some fingers by violently jerking left and
right while I was standing next to him.
Fort Kearney is 330 miles away and we only travel 3 miles an hour so the
journey ahead of us is wide just like the view from where stopped today for our
first of many breaks along the trail. Mike and Dave needed to get water and eat,
and it was high time for me to sit down, only if for a little bit. I don’t know if my
shoes will make it the entire way, and I hope the stories are true about the
supplies along the way. I hope the other stories about the hostile forces along the
trail are not true and wish to get this adventure going. Once we get near the
Platte River at Fort Kearney, it will make life easier for all of us. I might even find
myself something valuable along trail, and we could all use something lucky for the
trip.
My supplies are holding up and one of my many worries is that we will run
out, get hurt along the trail, or get attacked by unfriendly people who don’t
approve of our manifest destiny towards the west. My kids can handle most
things thrown at them, but this trip will be the challenge of their lives. They keep
eating more than their fair share, and I have to keep reminding them about other
people in this family. Typical self-centered teenagers!
I have already seen many odd scenes play out before me and we are less
than 200 miles into our trip. Small Pox, mumps, and cholera are all out there and a
deadly hint to how serious this trip is. Just yesterday, I saw a young girl who face
was swollen with mumps walking 100 feet behind her families’ wagon just sobbing
and asking for her mother. We learned later that her mother was struck down by
cholera 2 days earlier. The family didn’t want the mumps and insisted the young
girl trail the wagon train at a good distance to stay safe. Seeing that girl, and the
tough choices her family had chosen, made this journey real for us. I just hope we
make it all the way to Oregon without much of trouble. I have been told that
there is a shortcut over the last mountain range, and we are thinking of taking it.
George Donner
March 1846
A pioneer’s typical outfit wasn’t terribly expensive; usually one or two small, sturdy farm
wagons, six to 10 head of oxen, a milk cow or two. Plus all the necessary food, clothing and
utensils needed for survival. Often heavy items such as furniture, stoves, and pianos would be
freighted to the West Coast by clipper ship around the Horn of South America. If such heavy
things were packed in the wagons, they usually ended up left along trailside along the way.
To survive the long journey, a family of four would need 600 lbs. of flour, 120 lbs. of
biscuits, 400 lbs. of bacon, 60 lbs. of coffee, 4 lbs. of tea, 100 lbs. of sugar, and 200 lbs. of lard.
These would just be the basic staples. Other food stuffs could include sacks of rice and beans,
plus dried peaches and apples. Bacon was often hauled in large barrels packed in bran so the
hot sun would not melt the fat.
Each man took a rifle or shotgun and some added a pistol. A good hunting knife was
essential and farm implements such as a plow, shovel, scythe, rake, or hoe were essential.
Carpentry tools like a saw, broad axe, mallet, or plane would help any break downs. Seeds for
corn, wheat and other crops could be picked up along the way, but the prices go up as you go
travel towards the west.
CLOTHING: wool sack coats, rubber coats, cotton dresses, wool pantaloons, buckskin pants, duck trousers,
cotton shirts, flannel shirts, cotton socks, brogans, boots, felt hat, palm-leaf sun hat, green goggles, sun
bonnet.
FOOD: flour (600 lbs.), bacon ( 400 lbs.), coffee (60 lbs.), baking soda, corn meal, hardtack, dried beans, dried
fruit, dried beef, molasses, vinegar, pepper, eggs, salt, sugar (100 lbs.), rice, tea (4 lbs.), lard (200 lbs.)
BEDDING & TENT SUPPLIES: blankets, ground cloths, pillows, tent, poles, stakes, and ropes.
TOOLS & EQUIPMENT: set of augers, gimlet, ax, hammer, hoe, plow, shovel, spade, whetstone, oxbows, axles,
kingbolts, ox shoes, spokes, wagon tongue, heavy ropes, and chains.
LUXURIES: canned goods, plant cuttings, school books, musical instruments, dolls and toys, family albums,
jewelry, china, silverware, fine linens, iron stoves, furniture.
WEAPONRY: rifle, pistol, knife, hatchet, gunpowder, lead, bullet mold, powder horn, bullet pouch, holster.
HANDY ARTICLES: surgical instruments, liniments, bandages, campstool, chamber pot, washbowl, lanterns,
candle molds, tallow, spyglasses, scissors, needles, pins, and thread.
COOKING UTENSILS: A Dutch oven, kettle and skillet, coffee grinder, teapot, butcher knife, ladle, tin
tableware, water keg, and matches would be essential to survival along the Oregon Trail.
Good Luck and Get Ready for Your Adventure!
Requirements for Oregon Trail Project
1. A Journal with at 3-5 entries in it will be required at the end of this project. Each
entry will include details of your family, your vehicle, stops you made, any struggles
you had, distances traveled, and the supplies you used or picked up along the trail.
You will be getting a challenge card that will be good, or bad, for your journey, and
you have to include those challenges into your story.
2. A hand-drawn depiction (picture) of your vehicle labeled correctly
3. A map of your journey from start to finish including your major stops and forts, large
rivers, and any significant geological feature you find,
4. On the same map, you should color code and date the different areas that the
United States acquired.
F
D
C
B
A
2
4
6
8
10
Journal Entries
Prairie Schooner
Oregon Trail Map
Acquisitions Map
2 = no work was completed
4 = work was done, but most was incomplete or missing
6 = decent effort and details, but average result
8 = good effort, details were covered, but not perfect
10 = visually impressive, details were complete, and the effort is obvious
to any observer – Great Job!