Lesson 13.1: Trails West

Today’s Essential Question: How did various groups contribute to the

exploration of the West?

Vocabulary• exploration – discovery thru travel• speculate – buying something now in

the hope that it will be worth more later• missionary – person who travels to

another place and tries to convert its people to his/her religion

• polygamy – the practice of having more than one wife at a time

Check for Understanding

• What is one item in which people speculate today?

• Why is exploration sometimes dangerous?

• Where do we sometimes encounter missionaries?

• What groups practice polygamy or once practiced it in the past?

What We Already Know

Thomas Jefferson’s purchase of the

Louisiana Territory brought almost half a billion acres of new land into the United

States.

What We Already Know

Lewis and Clark had explored the Louisiana Pur-

chase all the way to the Pacific

Ocean and had returned with much valuable scientific and geographical

information.

What We Already Know

The land south of the Louisiana Pur-chase belonged to

Mexico.

Mountain men were the first to

open up the West.

• Trapping beaver for the Eastern fur trade• As an area became ‘trapped out,’ the

mountain men would move farther west.

• The mountain men provided firsthand knowledge of the West.

• They discovered passes and made maps later used by settlers.

Get your whiteboards and markers ready!

1. How did mountain men help open the West?

A. They converted Indians to Christianity.

B. They discovered passes and made maps later used by settlers.

C. They made treaties with Indians that protected settlers.

D. All the aboveE. A and B only

Land speculators bought huge areas of good farm land.

• Speculators are people who buy something in the hope that it will increase in value.

• Land speculators made great profits by selling sections of land to settlers.

• Manufacturers and merchants soon followed settlers, making money by making and selling items that farmers needed.

Get your whiteboards and markers ready!

How did speculators contribute to westward movement?

A. They provided loans to settlers.

B. They found the best farm land and sold it to settlers.

C. They built roads to make westward movement easier.

D. They cleared the Indian threat to make settlement safer.

American traders traveled to Mexico in search of markets.

After gaining its independence from Spain in 1821, Mexico opened its

borders to American traders.

Missouri trader William Becknell took household goods to Santa Fe, New

Mexico, and opened the Santa Fe Trail.

He made large profits because the New Mexicans were eager for new merchandise.

The next spring, Becknell returned to Santa Fe, with covered wagons

loaded with trade goods.

Before long, hundreds of traders and settlers were making the 800-mile journey along the Santa Fe Trail

from Missouri to New Mexico each year.

Check for Understanding

Be sure to re-state the question in your response!

A ask B: Why did tradesmen travel to New Mexico?

Tradesmen traveled to New Mexico because they wanted to sell goods

in Santa Fe.

Get your whiteboards and markers ready!

How did tradesmen contribute to westward movement?

A.Their success in trade led others to travel west as well, using the trails that the tradesmen had found.

B.They built roads that made westward movement easier.

C.They discovered passes and blazed trails later used by settlers.

D.They provided loans so settlers could buy land.

Hundreds of settlers also began migrating west on the Oregon Trail.

Missionaries were the first whites to cross the continent to Oregon.

• They made few converts among the Native Americans.

• However, their glowing reports of Oregon’s rich land began to attract other American settlers.

Check for Understanding

Be sure to re-state the question in your response!

B ask A: Why did missionaries travel to Oregon?

Missionaries traveled to Oregon because they wanted to convert Native Americans

to Christianity.

Get your whiteboards and markers ready!

Which of these is true about missionaries and the opening

of the West?A. They converted many

Indians to Christianity.B. They opened Oregon up to

tradesmen.C. They sent back reports of

how wonderful Oregon’s land and climate were for farming.

D. They went to Oregon to escape religious persecution back East.

Americans wanted to settle in Oregon because its climate made farming easy.

• In 1843, nearly 1,000 people made the 2,000-mile journey from Missouri to Oregon.

• The next year, twice as many came.

The Oregon Trail was dangerous, so pioneers joined wagon trains.

• Their survival would depend on cooperation. • Before setting out, the wagon train members

agreed on rules and elected leaders to enforce them.

Get your whiteboards and markers ready!

2. Why did so many Americans want to settle in Oregon?

A. They wanted to convert Native Americans to Christianity.

B. They hoped to gain religious freedom and to avoid religious persecution.

C. Oregon’s rich land and mild climate was perfect for farming.

D. They hoped to avoid having to fight in the coming Civil War.

Choose all that are true!

The Mormons settled in Utah.

• While most pioneers went west in search of wealth, the Mormons migrated for religious reasons.

The Mormons settled in Utah.

The Mormons were members of the Church of Jesus

Christ of Latter-Day Saints, founded by

Joseph Smith in upstate New York in

1830.

• Smith said an angel of God had told him that none of the churches on the earth had God’s whole truth.

• Smith’s mission was to establish Christ’s true church based on a new revelation.

The Mormons settled in Utah.• The Mormons lived in close communities,

worked hard, shared their goods, and prospered.

Some people persecuted the Mormons for their beliefs.

• They saw the Mormon practice of polygamy as immoral.

• Others objected to their holding property in common.

In 1844, an anti-Mormon mob in Illinois killed Joseph Smith.

• His destination was Utah, which was part of Mexico at the time, where he hoped his people would be left alone to follow their faith in peace.

Brigham Young, the next Mormon leader, moved his people out of the

United States.

Check for Understanding

Be sure to re-state the question in your response!

B ask A: How did Brigham Young become leader of the Mormons?

Brigham Young become leader of the Mormons after an anti-Mormon mob killed

Joseph Smith.

In 1847, about 1,600 Mormons followed Brigham Young to Utah.

Many pulled handcarts loaded with their belongings or family members.

• They left in mid-winter and set out on a very difficult journey along what would become known as the Mormon Trail.

• They found the Great Salt Lake, which Young announced as the place they would build their new settlement and tabernacle.

In 1847, about 1,600 Mormons followed Brigham Young to Utah.

The Mormons built a new settlement by the Great Salt Lake.

• Working together to build dams and canals, the Mormons captured water in the hills and carried it to the farms in the valleys below.

• Through teamwork, they made their desert homeland bloom.

Check for Understanding

Be sure to re-state the question in your response!

A ask B: Why did the Mormons leave the United States?

The Mormons left the United States in the hope that they could find a place where

they could practice their religion in peace.

Get your whiteboards and markers ready!

3. Why did the Mormons move west?

A. They wanted to become land speculators.

B. They were seeking escape from the religious persecution they had experienced in the East.

C. They were searching for gold in the Wasatch Mountains.

D. They came to share their faith with the Indians.