# data[].attributes.body
What was it like on the frontier?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Westward Expansion

History >> Westward Expansion
The daily life of people living on the frontier was filled with hard work and difficulties. Once a farmer cleared the land, built a cabin and a barn, and planted his crops, he still had a lot of chores that needed to be done each day. In order to survive, the entire family needed to work. Each day, the settlers would wake up with the sunlight and work until sundown.

Homesteader NE 1866 by Unknown

Hard Work
One of the first things a farmer needed to do was to build a barn and a cabin. The barn was important to keep the animals safe from wolves and other predators and also to store farming tools and grain. Typically the barn and the cabin were made from logs in a fashion that didn't need any nails.

Planting the seed on a big farm took a lot of work. First the farmer would need to plow up the field with a large plow pulled by a horse or oxen. Next, he would scatter the seed throughout the field, and finally he would use the oxen to drag dirt over the tops of the seeds.

Frontier Women

Women had their jobs and worked hard too. In many cases they helped the farmer in the fields during planting and harvesting times. Other tasks often included:

Making soap from lye, water, and ashes from the fireplace

Spinning wool into yarn or flax into thread

Tending a garden so the family had a variety of vegetables

Sewing and repairing the family's clothes

Children's Chores
As soon as the children could help, they were put to work, even children as young as four or five years old. They helped by getting water from the nearby stream, watching the fire to make sure it didn't go out, keeping the chickens and the cows from eating the crops, milking the dairy cow in the morning, and churning cream into butter.

When children grew older they took on more difficult tasks. Older boys often worked the farm or chopped wood. Older daughters often helped to care for their younger siblings.

Education

Some settler children went to a local one-room schoolhouse. Usually they had only one teacher that taught all of the grades. They learned the basics such as reading, writing, math, spelling, and history. When writing, they used slates instead of paper. Slates were like small chalkboards they could hold in their hands.

The children usually went to school in the winter and summer, but stayed home to help on the farm during the planting and harvesting seasons of spring and autumn.

Entertainment

Although the pioneers worked most of the time, they would occasionally get together for a dance or a picnic. Sometimes people would gather together to help with a big job such as building a neighbor's barn. Once the barn was finished they would have a dance. They played fiddles and accordions for music.

Children had fun playing games outdoors and swimming. They didn't get a lot of store bought toys so they had to make their own. Girls would learn to practice their sewing by making their own dolls to play with.

Bad Weather

The life of a pioneer was heavily dependent upon the weather. A drought could kill the crops and wipe out an entire year's worth of work. Wildfires could be even worse as they could destroy everything including the settler's crops, barn, and home. As if that wasn't enough, settlers had to worry about insects eating their crops and tornados destroying their homes. It wasn't an easy life.

Interesting Facts about Daily Life on the Frontier

In 1837, John Deere invented the steel plow. This plow could cut right through thick soil without the dirt sticking to it. It made life much easier on pioneer farmers.

Native Americans often helped the settlers, teaching them how to plant crops and about the local herbs they could use for medicine.

Settlers didn't have running water or bathrooms. They had outhouses where they used leaves or dried cornhusks for toilet paper.

In the southwest, many settlers made homes from adobe bricks like the Native Americans. In areas of the Great Plains where trees were scarce, they made sod homes from blocks of dirt and grass.

Activities

Take a ten question quiz about this page.

Listen to a recorded reading of this page:

Your browser does not support the audio element.
Works Cited
History >> Westward Expansion

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Kids learna about the daily life on the frontier of the Old West. How pioneers and settlers lived.

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.brainpop.com/socialstudies/ushistory/westwardexpansion/https://www.brainpop.com/socialstudies/ushistory/westwardexpansion/

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Nineteenth-century Americans settled the western United States, but displaced Native Americans in the homesteading process. Tim and Moby look at the concept of Manifest Destiny.

# data[].attributes.body
How did they get there?

# data[].attributes.body
Louisiana

# data[].attributes.body
Discovery Education

# data[].attributes.body
Is this really a highway?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Westward Expansion

Go here to watch a video about the Oregon Trail.

History >> Westward Expansion

The Oregon Trail was a major route that people took when migrating to the western part of the United States. Between 1841 and 1869, hundreds of thousands of people traveled westward on the trail. Many of them traveled in large wagon trains using covered wagons to carry their belongings.

The Route

The Oregon Trail began in Independence, Missouri and ended in Oregon City, Oregon. It stretched for around 2,000 miles and through six different states including Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Idaho, and Oregon. Along the way, travelers had to cross all sorts of rough terrain such as the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

Oregon Trail Route by Unknown
Click picture for larger view

Covered Wagons
The main vehicle used to carry the pioneer's belongings was the covered wagon. Sometimes these wagons were called "Prairie Schooners", because they were like boats going over the vast prairies of the west. The wagons were made of wood with iron around the wheels like tires. The covers were made from waterproofed cotton or linen canvas. The typical covered wagon was about 10 feet long and four feet wide.

Most of the settlers used oxen to pull their wagons. The oxen were slow, but steady. Sometimes mules were used as well. A fully loaded wagon could weigh as much as 2,500 pounds. A lot of the time the pioneers walked alongside the wagons. Traveling wasn't too bad with the wagons on the flat terrain of the prairies, but once the settlers reached the Rocky Mountains, getting the wagons up and down steep trails was very difficult.

Dangers

Traveling the Oregon Trail in the 1800s was a dangerous journey. However, the danger wasn't from Native Americans as you might think. As a matter of fact, many records show that Native Americans helped many of the travelers along the way. The real danger was from a disease called cholera that killed many settlers. Other dangers included bad weather and accidents while trying to move their heavy wagons over the mountains.

Conestoga wagon on Oregon Trail
from the National Archives

Supplies
The pioneers were able to bring very little with them. When they left their homes in the east, they had to leave most of their belongings. The covered wagon was mostly filled with food. It took over a 1,000 pounds of food to feed a family of four on the trip out west. They took preserved foods such as hard tack, coffee, bacon, rice, beans, and flour. They also took a few basic cooking utensils such as a coffee pot, some buckets, and an iron skillet.

The pioneers didn't have room for a lot of fancy items. They only had room to pack two or three sets of tough clothing. They packed candles for lighting and a rifle to hunt with along the way. Other items included tents, bedding, and basic tools such as an axe and a shovel.

Other Trails

Although the Oregon Trail was the most used wagon trail, there were other trails that led out west. Some of them branched off the Oregon Trail like the California Trail which left the Oregon Trail in Idaho and headed south to California. There was also the Mormon Trail which went from Council Bluffs, Iowa to Salt Lake City, Utah.

Interesting Facts about the Oregon Trail

In 1849, a guide was published describing the overland journey to California.

There were reports of the trail being littered with items that people cast off along the way. These included books, stoves, trunks and other heavy items.

It took about five months for a wagon train to make the journey.

The first major migration took place in 1843 when a single large wagon train of 120 wagons and 500 people made the trip.

The trail was popular until the transcontinental railroad connected the east to the west in 1869.

In 1978, the U.S. Congress officially named the trail the Oregon National Historic Trail. Although much of the trail has been built over through the years, around 300 miles of it has been preserved and you can still see the ruts made from the wagon wheels.

Activities

Take a ten question quiz about this page.

Listen to a recorded reading of this page:

Your browser does not support the audio element.

Go here to watch a video about the Oregon Trail.
Works Cited
History >> Westward Expansion

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Learn about the Oregon Trail from the Old West. A roadway used by pioneers in covered wagons to travel west.

# data[].attributes.body
1767-1890

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Timeline

History >> Westward Expansion
1767: Daniel Boone explores Kentucky for the first time.

1803: Louisiana Purchase - President Thomas Jefferson buys the Louisiana Territory from France for $15 million. This doubles the size of the United States and provides a large area to the west of the country for expansion.

1805: Lewis and Clark reach the Pacific Ocean - Explorers Lewis and Clark map out areas of the Louisiana Purchase and eventually reach the Pacific Ocean.

1830: Indian Removal Act - Congress passes a law to move Native Americans from the Southeast to the west of the Mississippi River.

1836: Battle of the Alamo - Mexican troops attack the Alamo Mission killing all but two Texans. This spurs the Texans on in the Texas Revolution.

1838: Trail of Tears - The Cherokee Nation is forced to march from the east coast to Oklahoma. Many thousands die along the way.

1841: Oregon Trail - People begin to travel west in wagon trains on the Oregon Trail. Around 300,000 people would take the trail over the next 20 years.

1845: Manifest Destiny - Journalist John O'Sullivan first uses the term "Manifest Destiny" to describe the westward expansion of the United States.

1845: Texas becomes a U.S. State - The United States officially claims Texas as a state, eventually leading to the Mexican-American War.

1846: Brigham Young leads 5,000 Mormons to Utah - After experiencing religious persecution, the Mormons move to Salt Lake City, Utah.

1846-1848: The Mexican-American War - A war fought over the rights to Texas. After the war, the United States paid Mexico $15 million for land that would later become California, Texas, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and parts of several other states.

1846: Oregon Treaty - England signs the Oregon Treaty handing over the Oregon Territory to the United States.

1848: Gold Rush begins - James Marshall discovers gold at Sutter's Mill. Soon word is out and people rush to California to strike it rich.

1849: Around 90,000 "Forty-niners" move to California to find gold.

1860: The Pony Express begins to deliver mail.

1861: The First Transcontinental Telegraph line is finished. The Pony Express shuts down.

1862: Pacific Railroad Act - The United States government agrees to help fund a railroad from California to Missouri.

1862: Homestead Act - The U.S. government offers up free land to farmers who agree to live on the land for five years and make improvements to the land. Many people rush to places like Oklahoma to claim their land.

1869: The Transcontinental Railroad is completed - The Union Pacific Railroad and the Central Pacific Railroads meet at Promontory, Utah and the railroad is completed.

1872: Yellowstone National Park is dedicated as the nation's first national park by President Ulysses S. Grant.

1874: Black Hills Gold - Gold is discovered in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

1874: Barbed wire invented - Ranchers can now use barbed wire fences to keep their cattle from ranging free.

1876: Wild Bill Hickok is shot and killed while playing poker in Deadwood, South Dakota.

1876: Battle of Little Bighorn - An American Indian army composed of Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapahoe defeat General Custer and the 7th Calvary.

1890: The U.S. Government announces that the Western lands have been explored.
Works Cited
History >> Westward Expansion

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Kids learn the timeline of Westward Expansion of the United States. Pioneers and settlers moved west of the Mississippi all the way to California.

# data[].attributes.body
Words to know to help your research.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
History: Glossary and Terms of the Westward Expansion

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Kids learn about the Glossary and Terms of the Westward Expansion. Definitions for Old West terms like frontier, pioneer, and homestead.

# data[].attributes.body
FREE LAND!!!!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Kids learn about the Homestead Act and Land Rush of the Old West. Facts about Homesteaders and the grabbing land in the midwest.

# data[].attributes.body
USA Doubled??!!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Kids learn about the Louisiana Purchase. When President Thomas Jefferson bought land west of the Mississippi from the French.