Age & Family Status 26 years old, married with 4 children (2 sons, 2 daughter)

Background He benefited from the Homestead Act & was given acres/land by

government The land he was given was on Native American Territory Religious man & attended Church when possible He had many skills and had to wear many hats; farmer, hunter, trapper,

skilled carpenter, and skillful with weapons The constant moving of people made finding steady help hard &

unpredictable He bought a new plow to till more fields but the equipment was

expensive and the bad weather made it hard to produce more crops to sell. He is about to go into debt.

His valuable possessions are few, lantern, compass and rope, a rifle and ammunition

Daily Routine Constant struggles dealing with weather, crop/food hardships and

sickness droughts in the Plains can destroy the crops Spent days building homes, tending to the cattle and animals, planting

crops, bartering & selling crops

Farmer, Father, Husband

Age & Family Status 21, married to a farmer with 4 daughters

Background Traveled west with very few household supplies: a few pots

and pans, a large iron kettle, some blankets, Needles, thread, scissors

Started a quilting bee with other women Daily Routine

Constantly busy with cooking all the meals, making clothing for their family, cleaning the home, washing the laundry and helping on the farm when needed.

Laundry was a big chore and usually took one or two full days to finish.

She taught her daughters how to read and write in addition to teaching them female roles of a good prairie wife

Mother, Wife, Teacher

Age and Family Status A female, not married, 16 years of age

Background A female teacher earned $15-30 month There were strict ‘rules’

Women teachers who marry or engage in unseemly conduct will be dismissed.

The teacher who performs his labor faithfully and without fault for five years will be given an increase of twenty-five cents per week in his pay

Daily Routine She had to keep the school house clean, draw each day's

water supply and keep the wood stove fired up on cold days Followed schedule of Penmanship, reading , literature,

recitation, arithmetic, spelling Children not always present, depended on planting & harvest

schedule

Teacher

Age & Family Status 7 years old, one older brother, mother & father

Background Loves to read but only has one book and the bible Sewed a handmade doll with help from Mother Did not have many friends to play with and played most games

outside, as there was not much room in the home for playing. Liked to play marbles, jacks, “pick-up sticks” and tops.

Daily Routine Responsible for daily chores milked the cows, collected eggs,

helped prepare meals and worked in the fields planting. Went to school after planting season and prior to harvest.

Daughter

Age & Family Status 29, married with 3 sons

Background Attended University and very well educated Wanted to move west for better opportunity to practice

medicine Had many unofficial jobs on the prairie - pharmacist,

superintendent, a merchant, justice of the peace and a notary public

Disease caused a big problem, as well as accidents and raids by Native Americans

Lived closer to town but often had to make house visits, any time of day and any type of weather, even in the height of snowstorms

Daily Issues There was no routine, he dealt with many types of issues,

gunshot wounds, epidemics, broken bones, serious cuts He often didn’t have the best or newest medical equipment and

often had to improvise to come up with medication or solution for aliment

Town Doctor

Age & family Status 25 year old, male, store keeper & family lived upstairs above store

Background The store stocked and sold many products like cloth, tools and

special food items. Local items were sold in the stores as well as goods that arrived by traders/rail/coach.

The store was a place to meet people and hear the latest news. The store served as a bank and post office

Daily Issues Re-stocking challenges, trains not on time, trades come to trade

not consistent Food/supplies would run out or go bad or be spoiled by animals,

raccoons, that got into the food barrels Many families did not have money so they traded/brought with

‘Store Dollars” (credit)

General Store Owner

Age and Family Status Father, Husband, 18 years old, many children

Background Many natives are getting pushed off land and forced onto

reservations The White Man’s culture is present and natives are being forced

to assimilate Children sent to boarding schools to teaching them “white ways” Violent confrontations with new settlers

Daily Issues Daily life beginning to change as more settlers are ‘claiming’ the

land Find new trading partners with settlers Natives are questioning how the settlers will change their

existing culture

Native American Man

Homestead Act http://www.nps.gov/home/historyculture/abouthomesteadactlaw.htm http://www.beatricene.com/homestead/history.html

Dust Bowl http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1583.html

Sample Letter http://www.campsilos.org/mod2/teachers/r2.shtml

Cost of Living http://historytogo.utah.gov/utah_chapters/pioneers_and_cowboys/thepio

neerscostoflivingversustodays.html General Store

http://www.aitc.sk.ca/saskschools/genstore.html A Pioneer School

http://www.aitc.sk.ca/saskschools/school.html Laura Ingall Wilder Society

http://www.liwms.com/

References

Teacher tools & lesson plans http://nrhc.ttu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/PL-Curriculum-Book.pdf

http://www.logcabinvillage.org/docments/pioneer_school_curriculum.pdf

(great school game ideas) http://www.johnston.k12.ia.us/technologyservices/instructionalt

echnology/PioneerWebQ/PioneerWebQuest.htm

Lesson References