T
r
ai
l
s& Rai
l
sPr
ogr
am
Nat
i
onalPar
kSer
vi
c
e
U.
S.Depar
t
mentoft
heI
nt
er
i
or
J
uni
orRanger
T
exasEagl
e
Ane
xpl
o
r
er
’
sac
t
i
v
i
t
ygui
d
eo
n
bo
ar
dAmt
r
ak
J
Becoming a Junior Ranger
2
Welcome aboard the Texas Eagle®! You are about to embark on the journey of becoming a
Junior Ranger.
As a Junior Ranger, your mission will be to:
Explore—You will see a lot of exciting and important landmarks
during your trip. Be on the lookout for opportunities to explore!
Learn—Find out how much you can learn during your trip by
completing this activity booklet; but your journey does not end here!
Along with Amtrak® trains, the Junior Ranger Program is offered in
many national parks across the United States.
Protect—Did you know that riding on a train is better for the Earth
than driving in a car? One of the jobs of a National Park Ranger is to
protect the land and animals in our country. By riding on this train and
learning about the land and wildlife, you too are helping protect our
environment and country.
What’s next?
Find and circle your age group. The number of activities you should complete to become a
Junior Ranger will be next to your age group, but you’re welcome to try them all!
Age
Number of Activities
6 and Under
3-5
7-12
6-8
13 and Older
9-11
Meet Casey the Engineer Bear
SM
3
Hey there! My name is Casey and I’m an Amtrak train
engineer. I travel all across the country driving trains to
take people wherever they need to go. Along the way, I
teach people about the cool places they travel through.
That’s because I also help with the Trails & Rails program, which provides educational opportunities for passengers on board trains. I have learned a lot about the
country and would love to share some of what I know
with you. Today, I’m here to teach you about the route
traveled by your train, the Texas
Eagle.
The Texas Eagle is a long train route that travels daily between the cities of Chicago, Illinois
and San Antonio, Texas with an option to continue on the Sunset Limited to Los Angeles,
California. The part of the route we will concentrate on (from Chicago to San Antonio) is
about 1300 miles long, and usually takes almost 33 hours to complete! It goes through 4 states:
Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, and Texas. It also passes near many cool cities and national parks,
like the city of St. Louis, Missouri and Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas.
This is a map of the Texas Eagle route that we are going to travel today. This booklet has a lot
of fun activities that will teach you about this route and the amazing things you can find along
the way. The activities end at San Antonio but if you’re continuing onto Los Angeles, the
Sunset Limited® activity booklet has more activities for you to do. Are you ready to learn about
the Texas Eagle?
Let’s Get Started!
4
I-Spy Activity
Big River
Bat
Corn Field
Bridge
Eagle
Wildflower
Elm Tree
Cow
Raccoon
Maple Tree
Turkey Vulture
Prairie
Conductor
Rain Cloud
Deer
Small River
The Texas Eagle is a long route that goes through many different ecosystems. An ecosystem is
made up of all the living (animals and plants) and nonliving (soil, air, water, etc.) parts in an
area. Mountains, prairies, forests, and rivers are just a few of the cool ecosystems you’ll see.
As a result, you have the chance to see many unique animals and plants if you watch carefully
as you travel.
In this I-Spy activity, try and see how many of the items you can spot. You can cross them out
once you’ve seen them. Some of the items will be easier to find than others and some may only
be found once along the route. See if you can find them all. Play with a friend to see who can
spot the most!
Chicago Fun Facts
5
Chicago is the start or end of this route, depending on where
you are going, and it is the third biggest city in the U.S. There
are lots of cool facts about Chicago, as you can see below!
Complete these fun facts by unscrambling the words below
them. If you have trouble, use the pictures to help you.
Fun Fact #1
Chicago sits on the shores of the second
largest of the Great Lakes, Lake ______.
M N I I CAH G
Fun Fact #3
One of the most influential people of our
time is from Chicago. This person currently
serves as our president. President ______.
MAOAB
Fun Fact #5
Three of the five tallest buildings in the U.S.
are in Chicago. These buildings, invented in
Chicago, are commonly called:
R R S EAY C P K S
Fun Fact #2
The city of Chicago has many nicknames. The
most famous of these nicknames is “The __
City:”
DWYNI
Fun Fact #4
Chicago is also home to a very famous sports
team. Michael Jordan played for this team,
called the Chicago:
LBSUL
Fun Fact # 6
This park, which is the biggest park in
Chicago, was named after the president that
helped free the slaves. It is named ____ Park.
NLLNOIC
An Afternoon on the Mississippi
6
The Mississippi River is the biggest river system in North America, and the fourth longest
river in the world. It is very important to the U.S.; many ships travel down it every day.
Complete the following story with a friend or family member. Without showing your partner
the story, ask them to provide the type of word listed below each blank. Once you have filled
all the blanks, read the story out loud to your partner for a laugh!
and I decided to
One day, my friend
down the
Name
Verb
, named
Mississippi River. We took our pet
Animal
packed
, and
Name
for lunch just in case we got hungry. When we
Food
got to the river, we took out our
and put them in the water. The river was
Noun
but we were not
very
Adjective
. The day was
Adjective
. We knew we could do it.
of
Noun
and we had plenty
Adjective
hours after we set off down the river,
Number
scary
Number
Number
came out of nowhere and attacked us! They threw a
Animal
lot of
at us and we almost drowned. We were scared,
Noun
but our pet came to the rescue. In a
voice, he asked, “Why
Adjective
are you so angry?” They replied, “Because you stole our
.” But we had not
Noun
stolen their
and we told them so. They believed us and became very
Same Noun
with them for a while. When it was almost dark, they
friendly, so we
Verb
gave us quite a few
and
Noun
us as we went home. What a fun day!
to take with
Noun
Gateway to the West
7
St. Louis, Missouri is the second biggest city in Missouri. This port on the Mississippi River
has been an important city to our nation for many years. Acquired by the U.S. through the
Louisiana Purchase, the city was used as a starting point for exploration further west, such as
the Lewis and Clark expedition, and settlement and trade with the west, as many of the trails
and railroads that connected the western and eastern halves of the U.S. started in Missouri. As
a result, the city of St. Louis is often known as the “Gateway to the West.”
Complete the crossword below. Once you are finished, use the highlighted letters to unlock
another word!
A Day at the Station
Secret Word:
!!
Hint: This is the conductor’s final cry
before the train leaves the station.
For answers,
see page 14!
Across
2. Another name for the train station.
6. Type of train that carries cargo instead of people.
8. Trains used to be powered by this type of fuel.
9. This person is in charge of the train and checks your
tickets.
10. Type of train that can be found underground.
Down
1. What you must show to get on the train.
3. The place where you stand to get on your train.
4. What some trains use for fuel today.
5. This person drives the train and fixes any problems
on it.
7. This is what the train travels on…. the train’s road.
Little Rock Central High School
8
Little Rock Central High School was the site of one of the most famous attempts at
desegregation. In 1957, when the school first made the decision to integrate, they met with
fierce opposition not just from parents, but from the Governor of Arkansas. The governor
ordered troops to not let the students in, and so President Eisenhower had to step in and help
force the
integration of the school. When Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave this famous
speech in 1963, many of his dreams were already beginning to take place. Little Rock, Arkansas along with many cities all across the U.S., had finally been integrated by this time.
Below are excerpts from Dr. Martin Luther Kings, Jr.’s famous “I Have A Dream” speech
given during the March on Washington. Fill in the blanks with words from the word bank.
“I Have a Dream”
®
I have a ______ that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed:
"We hold these truths to be _______, that all men are created _______." I have a dream that
one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former ______and the sons of former slave
owners will be able to sit down together at the table of __________. I have a dream that one
day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with
the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream
that my four little ________ will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the
________ of their skin but by the content of their _______. I have a dream today!
And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of _______ children will be able to
sing with new meaning:
My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of _______, of thee I sing.
Land where my fathers died, land of the ________ pride,
From every _________, let freedom ring!
And when this happens, when we allow _________ ring, when we let it ring from every village
and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when
all of God's children, _______ men and white men, _______ and Gentiles, Protestants and
Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:
Free at last! Free at last!
Thank God Almighty, we are ______ at last!
Dream
Freedom
Black
Slaves
Brotherhood
Character
Equal
Liberty
God’s
Color
Jews
Self-evident
Pilgrim’s
Mountainside
Free
Children
Forth Worth - Cattle Drives and Cow Towns
9
A cattle drive is the movement of cattle from one area to another, and was traditionally done by
cowboys on horseback. Though cattle drives are very small today, they used to be very large
and important in the mid 1800’s. Between 1866 and 1886, over 20 million head of cattle were
driven from Texas all the way up to railways in Kansas. Most of these cattle drives started in
Fort Worth, which quickly became a very important cow town. The cattle were driven to the
railways in Kansas so that they could be shipped by train to meat packing
factories in Chicago and other cities to the east. The drives were long and could take several months to complete, but cowboys were paid well for doing a good job.
To learn more about
cattle drives, use the
word bank to fill in the
trail!
Dodge City
KS
One of the longest and most
important cattle drives was
the __________, which was
over 220 miles long!
OK
Word Bank
Cattle
Chisolm Trail
Cowboys
Cow Town
Hands
Head
Stampedes
Theft
Cowboys, or helping ______,
on cattle drives, would eventually became icons of the
West and America thanks to
fiction and film.
Small ___________ sprang up
all over KS and OK to serve
cowboys and provide a place
to rest and restock supplies.
Cattle were driven by
hard-working _____
who helped protect them
from ______ and _____.
TX
Cows, also known as
______, were counted
by the ________.
Fort Worth
10
Austin’s Bats
Austin is the fourth largest city in Texas and serves as the state capital. Named after Stephen F.
Austin, the “Father of Texas,” the city has grown rapidly since its establishment in the 1830’s.
Known for having a unique culture that is quite different from surrounding Texas cities,
Austin experiences many visitors. One of the main attractions is Congress Avenue Bridge.
While the bridge itself is not especially unique, it is famous for housing the largest urban population of bats anywhere in the world. Every summer, people from around the world visit Austin
to watch the 1.5 million or so Mexican Free-Tailed bats emerge to hunt, a phenomenon so
large that the bats can even be seen on weather radar.
Bats are unique because they are the only mammals that can truly fly. Complete the activity
below to learn about the adaptations that bats have that allow them to fly, and to fly at night.
Flighty Adaptations
___ The membrane in a bat’s
wing, also called the patagium,
is supported by its fingers.
2
___ The uropatagium membrane between the feet and the
tail serves as a “rudder” to
help the bat fly and maneuver.
3
___ Bats have lighter, smaller bones so
that their bodies are lighter, which makes
it easier to fly.
4
5
1
___ A bat’s ears are large so that it can fly by echolocation at night. Echolocation is when bats
produce high pitched sounds and listen to the echoes as they bounce off of objects around them
to navigate through the dark.
___ Bats have a strong, keeled sternum, or breastbone, so that the muscles that flap the wings
can be larger and stronger.
Bats have many predators. In natural settings, like caves, many of these predators catch bats
as they exit their lairs. Unscramble the words below to discover a few of the bat’s predators.
W
A
R
O
A
A German New Braunfels
11
New Braunfels is a medium-sized city close to San Antonio with a very large German
community. It was established in 1844 by the German prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels. At the
time, Texas was still a republic and was selling land at cheap prices to raise money for the new
Texas Government. New Braunfels grew quickly, and at one time was the fourth largest city in
Texas. Germany and the German language have had a huge influence on this city and its
development, and many that still live there today have a German ancestry.
Depending on where you are coming from, you might spend part of your trip in New Braunfels.
Here are a few common German phrases you can learn for fun!
English
Good morning/good day
Excuse me/sorry
My name is
Yes
Do you speak English?
Please
Thank you
Good-bye
Listed to the right are some
common words in the
English language that are
actually German in origin.
Can you match up each
word on the left with its
original German meaning?
German
Guten tag
Entschuldigung Sie
Ich Heisse
Ja
Sprechen sie englisch?
Bitte
Danke
Tschus
Pronounced
goot-en tahk
ehnt-shool-dih-gun zee
ikh hie-ssuh
yah
shpreck-en zee eng-lish
bih-tuh
dahn-kuh
tchews
Word
Definition
Dachshund
Football
Foosball
Children’s garden
Gesundheit
Pickled cabbage
Iceberg
Mischievous ghost
Kindergarten
Good health
Meister
Filled pastry
Poltergeist
Badger dog
Rucksack
Back pack
Sauerkraut
Ice mountain
Strudel
Master
12
San Antonio Missions
San Antonio, Texas is an old city with a very rich history. Texas was originally a part of the
Spanish and then later the Mexican empires, and San Antonio was a very important city to
both. Under these empires, San Antonio was strongly influenced by Catholicism, the dominant
religion of both empires. In fact, San Antonio was originally settled through a mission trip led
by Martin de Alarcon. More missions quickly followed as Spanish explorers and missionaries
sought to spread Catholicism to local Native American tribes. These missions served as
defensive forts as well, and were used by different armies in several wars. One of the most
famous battles involving these missions came in the Texas War for Independence at the Battle
of the Alamo. Here, a small Texas force stood up to Santa Anna’s entire Mexican army for
almost two weeks before being defeated with almost no Texan survivors. The battle would inspire Texans across the state to rally and soon defeat Santa Anna to gain independence.
Crack the code to read the cry Texans used to rally support for their war for independence
after the defeat at the Alamo mission. Hint: Look closely at the examples given. There is a
pattern you will need to figure out to find more letters!
Answer:
Code:
A B C D
B C D E
S F N F N C F S
0 1 2
1 2 3
U I F
T E X A S
S F Y G T
B M B N P
!
For answer , see page 14!
The Alamo and many other missions are preserved today and are open for the public to enjoy.
Every year, millions of visitors visit the beautiful Alamo, Concepcion, San Jose, San Juan, and
Espada missions located in San Antonio. The missions are very old and fragile, however, so
certain rules must be followed when visiting the missions.
You are visiting San Antonio Missions National Historical Park with Casey. Circle the activities which help preserve the missions and cross out those that do not.
Ask a ranger if you are
allowed to take pictures.
Touch every protected artifact at least twice.
Stay only on designated
paths and walkways.
Play wall ball on every
wall in the mission.
Listen carefully to rangers
and follow their directions.
Play tag with friends in
every area of the mission.
Whatever a sign tells you
to do, do the opposite.
Climb over walls and into
roped areas.
Do not touch anything
unless a ranger says it’s
okay.
13
Map Your Own Route
You are the engineer now. Are you ready to drive the Texas Eagle and create your own
adventure? Use one coin to flip and another coin to mark each player. Heads moves you one
space and tails moves you two. First to finish, wins!
START
You lose
your ticket at the
train station. Move
back one
space.
See
the wonder of
the Mirror Bean
in Chicago.
Flip again.
After a
day on the
Mississippi River
you are sunburned.
Lose a turn.
Visit the
Gateway Arch
in St. Louis. Move
ahead two
spaces.
You get to
see a cattle
drive! Move
ahead one
space.
You and your
family visit the
Riverwalk and the
missions of San
Antonio! Flip
again.
A bat poops on
you while you
watch them
emerge from
Congress Bridge!
Lose a
turn.
You fall
asleep and
miss your
train. Move
back five
spaces.
FINISH
Sharing Your Memories
14
One of the most important things to do while traveling is to keep a record of what you see and
do so that you can save those memories and share them with others. As cowboys travelled long
distances on cattle drives, some wrote letters back to their families or kept their own personal
diaries to keep in contact with the people they loved. Some of what we know today about the
cattle drives comes from these written accounts.
As the last stop in your journey, think of your favorite view from the train trip. Use the box below to draw that view and save your memory forever.
Answers to page 7: 1. Ticket, 2. Depot, 3. Platform, 4. Diesel, 5. Engineer, 6. Freight, 7. Tracks, 8. Coal, 9. Conductor,
10. Subway, Secret word: “All aboard!”
Answer to page 12: “Remember the Alamo!”
Certificate of Completion
This certifies that
has completed all activities for the
Texas Eagle
Trails & Rails Award
®
and is hereby granted the official title of
National Park Service Junior Ranger
Junior Ranger Pledge:
“I promise to discover all I can about the special places protected by the
National Park Service and share my discoveries with others. I pledge to
enjoy and protect the plants, the animals, and the historic places of my
country.”
Junior Ranger Signature
Trail & Rails Guide
Date
What’s Next?
Congratulations on completing your Texas Eagle activity booklet! We
hope you enjoyed the activities, but the fun isn’t over yet!
Visit More Amtrak Routes
®
The Texas Eagle is not the only railroad route
with a Junior Ranger Program. Amtrak has
routes that travel all across the country. If you
ever find yourself on another Amtrak route, ask
if they have a Junior Ranger Program too!
Listed below are just a few routes that have Junior Ranger Programs: You can
visit Amtrak.com to see them all!
Empire Builder®
Capitol Limited®
City of New Orleans®
Heartland Flyer®
Southwest Chief®
Sunset Limited
Become a Web Ranger
You can also become a Web Ranger! If
you have access to the internet and your
parents’ permission, then you can create
a Web Ranger account and start being a
Web Ranger today. You can find more
fun activities, design your own ranger
station, and connect with Junior Rangers all over the world!
Visit www.nps.gov/webrangers to get
started today!
Printed by the National Park Service
This book and its full contents are public property and are reproducible for non-commercial, educational purposes.
Amtrak, Texas Eagle, Casey the Engineer Bear, Sunset Limited, Empire Builder, Capitol Limited, City of New Orleans, Heartland
Flyer and Southwest Chief are service marks of the National Railroad Passenger Corporation.