Pioneers
Explorers, Settlers, Entrepreneurs
Pick ONE person
Look at each section before you decide!
Explorers
The Louisiana Purchase of 1803 opened up new lands for Americans to explore and settle.
Many Americans, believing in their Manifest Destiny to inhabit these lands, journeyed to the west where they came into contact with Native Peoples, founded safe trails for other travelers, and made remarkable scientific discoveries.
The Lewis and Clark Expedition
Meriweather Lewis, William Clark, their slave York and their Native American guide, Sacagewea
They explored a northern route through Louisiana Purchase territory, into the Pacific Northwest
Other Expeditions
Explored the Rocky Mountains, Oregon and California
Explored the Rocky Mountains, Oregon and California
Entrepreneurs
The west was often a dangerous area to inhabit. Entrepreneurs (such as gold-seekers, forty-niners, and fur-trappers) were constantly at risk due to interpersonal conflict, the harsh natural world, and hazards related to their risky jobs.
Christopher Houston "Kit" Carson (1809-1868)
(trapper, Indian agent, soldier in California)
Jean Baptiste Charbonneau
(1805-1866)
Gale: Jean Baptiste Charbonneau
(Sacagawea's son, trapper, guide, gold rush participant)
Settlers
As the United States’ lands expanded, many Americans optimistically decided to move west for better economic, religious, and financial opportunities.
Settlers endured harsh environmental conditions, difficulties with traveling, disease, injuries, and conflicts with other groups in order to move west.
Throughout the 1800s, American settlers risked their lives to travel across the country and settle the lands in Oregon Country and California.
Traveling across the country by wagon would be popular until the rise of the American railroad system.
Narcissa Whitman and
(1808-1847)
(missionary, settler, first women to make the Oregon trail on foot)
Images:Meriwether Lewis: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Meriwether_Lewis-Charles_Willson_Peale.jpg image in public domainWilliam Clark: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Meriwether_Lewis#/media/File:William_Clark.jpg image in the public domainZebulon Pike: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ZebulonPikeByPeale.jpg image in the public domainJohn C. Fremont: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:John_Charles_Fr%C3%A9mont.png image in the public domainJededian Strong Smith: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jedediah_Smith.jpg image in the public domain
York: York statue at Riverfront Plaza/Belvedere, Louisville, Kentucky https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/York_(explorer) Jean Baptiste Charbonneau: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jean_Baptiste_Charbonneau.jpg image in the public domainHugh Glass: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hugh_Glass.jpg image in the public domainKit Carson: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kit-carson-photograph-loc.jpg image in public domain
Gold mining: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1850_Woman_and_Men_in_California_Gold_Rush.jpg image in the public domainFur Trader: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alberta_1890s_fur_trader.jpg image in the public domain
"Grizzly" Adams, with his grizzly bear, Benjamin Franklin, from the 1860 Hutchings' Illustrated California Magazine Luzena Wilson: Cowgirl Magazine online: https://cowgirlmagazine.com/wild-women-wednesday-luzena-stanley-wilson/ Images:George Donner: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:GeorgeDonner_son_of_Jacob.JPG image in the public domainBrigham Young https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brigham_Young_by_Charles_William_Carter.jpg image in the public domainLaura Ingalls Wilder: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Laura_Ingalls_Wilder_cropped_sepia2.jpg image in public domainMarcus Whitman: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Marcus_Whitman.jpg image in public domainNarcissa Whitman: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Narcissa_Whitman.jpg image in public domain
"Dr.Robert Newell, 1807-1869", Oregon Historic Photograph Collections http://photos.salemhistory.net/utils/ajaxhelper/?CISOROOT=max&CISOPTR=1237&action=2&DMSCALE=100&DMWIDTH=512&DMHEIGHT=439&DMX=0&DMY=0&DMTEXT=&DMROTATE=0
John Colter, Jim Beckworth, Jim Bridger. Rendevouz Reader