Pioneer Life in Early America & History of Westward Expansion

Oregon-California Trail Association: A site that provides virtual trails, trail facts, and people and places about: the Oregon Trail, the California Trail, the Santa Fe Trail, the Applegate Trail and the Mormon Trail. The Oregon-California Trails Association (OCTA) seeks to preserve the stories and the legacy of the 19th century American migration.

A Day In The Life of a Pioneer: Several page description

Daily Life of a Pioneer on the Frontier

Household Objects Found in a Pioneer's Home: Description and pictures

Video: A Day in the Life of an 1850's Pioneer Family

PBS: Lfe in a Log Cabin: Facts about living a pioneer life in a log cabin

Hardships of Pioneer Life in the American West

Pioneer Families: Pictures and facts about pioneers and their families

Pioneer Life: Descriptions and photos

Pioneer Life through Pictures: An EXCELLENT site from the Institute for Regional Studies, North Dakota State University Libraries

PBS: The Homestead Act: The Strasburger Sisters

Library of Congress: The Homestead Act

The Homestead Act - from Wikipedia

List of Old West Gunfighters, Outlaws, and Lawmen: Biographies

Frontier Legends: Outlaws & Lawmen of the Wild West: Short biographical information

PBS: The Trails of Westward Expansion: Click on any state on the map, or select a trail or territory from the list below to learn about cities, towns, settlements, trails, scenes of conflict, routes of commerce and natural features profiled within Westward Expansion

US History: The Importance of the West and Westward Expansion

Westward Expansion (1807-1912): Important Terms, People, and Events

Westward Expansion (1807-1912) The Surge West: A summary

Westward Expansion (1807-1912): The Opening of the Far West: Brief historical description

Westward Expansion (1807-1912) Settling California, New Mexico, and Oregon: A Summary

Westward Expansion and Regional Differences: Building Unity, Extension of Slavery, Latin America and the Monroe Doctrine, Factionalism and Political Parties, Nullification Crisis, Battle of the Bank, Whigs, Democrats and "Know-Nothings", Stirrings of Reform, Women's Rights, Westward Seneca Falls

*The Purchase of the Louisiana Territory from France in 1803, and the purchase of Florida from
Spain in 1819 doubled the size of the The United States.

*In 1867, America purchased Alaska from Russia.

*Secretary of State William H. Seward agreed to purchase Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million. Many referred to his purchase as "Seward's Folly"y.

*America's movement west had severe consequences for Native Americans. The Indian Removal Act of 1830 forced Native Americans to move west of the Mississippi.

*Lewis and Clark blazed the way for westward expansion, and led the first United States expedition (1804-1806) to the Pacific Coast while mapping the famous Lewis and Clark Trail.

*Brigham Young led 70,000 Mormons along the Mormon Trail from 1846 to 1869 to escape religious persecution.

*The Overland Trail (also known as the Overland Stage Line) was a stagecoach and wagon trail route in the American West during the 19th century.

*The California Trail was the main route to the Golden State of California. Over 250,000 gold-seekers and farmers followed that trail in hopes of finding riches and better land to farm.

*The Cherokee Trail, also known as the Trappers' Trail, was established in 1849 by a wagon train headed to the gold fields in California.

*The Sante Fe Trail was known as the "Highway to the Southwest".

*The Oregon Trail stretched for 2.00 miles, and was a wagon train route that connected towns on the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon and the towns in between.

*The Applegate Trail which originated in 1846 was the southern route of the Oregon Trail.

There were many less known westward trails. Some of those included: Apache Pass Trail, Bozeman Trail, Cooke's Wagon Road, El Camino del Diablo, Southern Emigrant Trail, The National Road.

*The pioneers faced many hardships as they moved westward, and sadly many died because of the difficulties they faced.

*The prairie fire, as described in a letter by prairie farmers, John and Sarah Kenyon, was one of the big problems that pioneers feared.

Life in a log cabin was not easy. Every family member was responsible for helping to maintain the household.

*Many pioneer children never attended school because they were needed at home as an extra farm hand. Early pioneer schools were just one room with several grades..

*Pioneers spent most of their time growing foods to be eaten, and tending to animals that could provide food.

American History Calendar: A calendar site showing American history in a unique way: through a user-friendly web calendar. Birthdays of important people in American history and important events in American history can be viewed; interactive - browse through it and display details on a specific person or event. A printer friendly version of the calendar is also available.

Smithsonian National Museum of American History Search Engine: Discover history through objects, photographs, interactive timelines: Complete archived collections - excellent!

The History Channel: Each month the History Channel takes new explorations into the past and puts them on display for you, utilizing state-of-the-art interactive technology; listen to speeches drawn from the most famous broadcasts and recordings of the Twentieth Century. The History Channel Time Machine brings you to a different speech every day; trivia quiz; fact of the day; games.

U.S. History Images: What better way to learn about and appreciate the history of the United States than through viewing the illustrations of artists from the last century and a half! The images are all in the public domain and are free for anyone to use in any way after viewing the Terms of Use. This website is a work in progress and new images are always being added. Present topics for images include: Life in the Colonies, Colonial Patriots, Native Americans, Native American Culture, The Age of Exploration, and Explorers

American Memory Learning Page of the Library of Congress: Historical collections of photographs, documents, motion pictures, and sound recordings about American culture and history - SEARCHABLE by keyword

Biographies of Famous People Both Past and Present: - SEARCHABLE by keyword

The Biographic Dictionary: Covers more than 33,000 notable men and women who have shaped our world from ancient times to the present day- SEARCHABLE by keyword

Encyclopedia Smithsonian: Encyclopedia Smithsonian features answers to frequently asked questions about the Smithsonian and links to Smithsonian resources from A to Z

Information Please: On-Line Dictionary; Encyclopedia; Almanac, and MORE

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