Explorers – Reasons

• The Lewis and Clark expedition

explored the West – to make friendly contact with Indian groups

that might want to trade,

– to find the Northwest Passage - a water route

across North America,

– and to explore the territory the United States

had just purchased.

Explorers – Hardships

• Some of the hardships the Lewis &

Clark expedition faced were – sunburn,

– mosquitoes,

– blistered hands,

– sore muscles,

– rivers and waterfalls,

– cacti,

– grizzlies,

– lack of food

Explorers – Legacies

What did they leave behind?

• Some of the legacies the Lewis &

Clark expedition left behind are – they established a route to the Pacific,

– established good relations with Western

Indians, and

– brought back information about the West and

its peoples.

Californios – Reasons

• California was established when Spanish

priests went to establish Missions

• The government gave land to soldiers

and settlers to help settle the land.

Californios – Hardships

• Californios lived on land called a rancho.

You would often find them growing food,

raising cattle, having fiestas, or displaying

their horsemanship. • One of the hardships they faced was that

the ranchos were often a day’s travel from

each other, so loneliness was a big problem.

• Another was that government officials were

unskilled, dishonest & corrupt.

Californios – Legacies

• Legacies that the Californios left behind

include

– Spanish place names for cities like Los

Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco

– new food crops – like grapes, citrus

and olives

– opening California to other settlers.

Mt. Men – Reasons

• Lewis & Clark’s expedition created

interest in an old industry – the fur trade.

Manuel Lisa hoped to find beaver in the

Rocky Mountains.

Mt. Men – Hardships

• Mountain men – faced attack by fur thieves,

– Indians, wolves, and bears;

– death from accidents and disease.

Mt. Men – Legacies

• The mountain men’s legacy includes – exploring the West,

– establishing the Oregon and California Trails,

– setting up trading posts that later became supply

stations for settlers,

– recording their stories in personal journals.

Missionaries – Reasons

• Missionaries moved west to convert

American Indians to Christianity.

Missionaries – Hardships

• Crossing the steep Rocky Mountain

terrain in wagons was difficult, but

proved that women were capable of

making the journey.

• The missionaries were sometimes

attacked by hostile Indian warriors.

Missionaries – Legacies

• Many Indians died of the diseases that

missionaries, and the settlers that

followed them, brought to the West.

• Missionaries helped open the West to

settlement.

Pioneer Women – Reasons

• Some single women moved west in

search of homesteads, husbands, or

other new opportunities.

Pioneer Women – Hardships

• Women faced – having to leave valuable possessions behind on

the trail;

– cooking, washing clothes & caring for children

while traveling 15-20 miles a day was hard work;

– disease, accidents, drowning killed their loved

ones;

– rare Indian attacks,

– buffalo stampedes,

– prairie fires,

– and freezing temperatures.

Pioneer Women – Legacies

• Tabitha Brown was 66 years old when she

established one of the first colleges on the

west coast.

• Mother Joseph, a nun from Canada,

designed and built the Northwest’s first

schools & hospitals.

• By 1900, women were voting in 4 western

states – and celebrating their freedom &

sense of equality.

Mormons – Reasons

• Mormons had views that offended some

people in the 1800s, and they were

driven from their homes in the East.

• Religious Freedom

Mormons – Hardships

• Many Mormons died on the journey

west.

• When those who survived finally settled,

they had to learn how to farm in a very

dry environment.

Mormons – Legacies

• The Mormons

– pioneered new farming methods for dry

regions,

– helped many settlers on their journey west,

– and established a large Mormon community

in the West - Utah.

49ers – Reasons

• People moved to California to find their

fortune after gold was discovered in

1848.

49ers – Hardships

• Forty-niners faced – a difficult journey west;

– high prices made it hard to get ahead;

– there were no police to keep order so camps were

rough & dangerous;

– mining was very hard work;

– the gold was soon gone, leaving many with

nothing.

49ers – Legacies

• For California Indian: Warfare & disease

reduced the Native American population.

• For Californios: Many lost their land to

American settlers.

• For Forty-niners: Their arrival brought

enough people to California to make it

the first state in the West!

Chinese – Reasons

• Reports that they would have great pay,

large houses, and fine food and clothing

motivated Chinese to travel to California.

• Gam Saan – Gold Mountain

Chinese – Hardships

• They had to pay a tax for foreigners to mine, so

they left.

• Many Americans abused the Chinese to cause

them to leave the mines.

Chinese – Legacies

• The Chinese helped build such industries

as mining and farming in California; and

they introduced their rich culture to the

West.

• Some Chinese moved into California’s

growing cities to open restaurants and

laundries.

• Left their rich culture

Debriefing

1. Identify at least 3 reasons that groups of settlers

moved to the west in the 1800s?

2. If you lived during this time, which of these reasons

may have caused you to move to the West? Why?

3. Choose one of the groups we just learned about…

Do you think their lives improved as a result of

moving to the West? Why or why not?

4. What are some important legacies of these groups?

5. How do the histories of these groups in the West

affect our lives today? Cite at least two specific

examples.

To be completed on a

separate piece of paper to

be handed in & graded