Since word of the Louisiana Territory spread, people began to leave their homes in the East for a chance at a better life in this new region.  Land in Missouri was plentiful and cheap.  Settlers that lived in Missouri took part in fur trade.  Mountain men, men who were fur trappers and explorers of the West, reported that the land was rich.  This caused people to travel even farther west.

There were no paved roads at this time and often people had to follow Native American trails hoping to find routes for wagons carrying families and their supplies.

One of the earliest trails was the Santa Fe trail. Another trail to the West was the Oregon Trail.

Your Mission:

1. Complete the Traveling the Oregon and Santa Fe Trails treasure hunt.

   • Take notes and answer all questions.

   • Use the information you learned to help you create an interactive map of the trail.

   • Scoring Guide for map

   **Extra Credit:

   • Analyze several photographs of pioneers heading west. Complete the Analysis of Images worksheet for each of the 5 pictures.  Choose 1 of the pictures that is particularly meaningful to you.  Copy the picture into Word and then write a 2 sentence caption for the picture.

Resource Links: