Finishing off from last time: In the last lesson we looked at Why N. A Indians went to war and how it differed from white people. Were then drew the feathers that Indians were rewarded with. We need to finish this off.

Symbols drawn on horses and tipi’s All of these symbols had different meanings : Draw them into your book and label them. Why did NA Indians use symbols? Think! Let’s write our answer down.

How did White attitudes to war and Indian attitudes to war differ? Tasks: Complete the word search activity on Sioux Bravery. Now read Information sheet 6 : Indians on the War path. Complete the conversation between a white soldier and a native American Indian soldier in your book. Use pages in the text book to help you.

The First White Settlers L.O To define push and pull factors To anaylse the importance of mountain men To know the danger on the journey for pioneers.

In the 1700s, most white settlers in the USA remained in the original 13 states. They thought that beyond to the west was uninhabitable. By the 1800s whites had spread as far as the Mississippi river, however, few had gone west beyond this. However, during this time explorers and fur trappers had begun to venture further west into the mountains and California. By the 1840s larger groups of whites were beginning to join them

Why did the first Whites begin to move to the West? There are many factors why people leave a place to try and start life somewhere else – we call these ‘push and pull’ factors. Define Push and Pull factors. Read the overview factors on p18 and complete a table dividing the reasons PUSH FACTORSPULL FACTORS Banks collapse in the east – people made bankrupt Gold discovered in California

Push and Pull factors PULLPUSH

The route West

The Mountain Men Mountain men were white explorers who travelled across the plains to the mountains. They hunted animals for fur to sell to fashion companies in the east – it was dangerous, they could be killed by animals or attacked by Indians. Most lived rough in the mountains, and lived alone exploring the unchartered areas. Many wrote stories/books/talked to people about what they had seen in the west.

The life of the mountain man was hard and tough. Living in the wild, he was in constant danger from starvation, dehydration, freezing cold, burning heat, wild animals and Indians. The Fur Trade The fashion for wearing fur hats in the early nineteenth century meant that there was a great demand for animal fur. Men such as Jim Bridger were employed by Fur Trading companies to trap beavers and other animal for their fur.

The only contact they had with the outside world was at a number of rendezvous and trading posts. Some mountain men were accepted by the Indians and lived with them, a few married Indian women.

Explorers and guides By 1840, fur hats were no longer fashionable and many mountain men became guides for those making the journey across the plains to the west. Explorers and Guides The mountain men were pioneers in charting the unknown territory west of the frontier. They found passes across the mountains and were familiar with the perils that could be found along the trails. After the decline in the fur trade, many mountain men became guides for those making the journey across the plains to California or joined the army as scouts and guides. By the mid 1840s most of the routes to the west were well travelled and the guides’ main role was to help travellers to survive the harsh conditions and handle encounters with the indians.

Every year between 1815 and 1840 the trappers, hunters, traders, Indians and mountain men would hold a big gathering called a Rendezvous, where they would trade and swap stories. The traders then passed on these stories about the good land beyond the Rockies to people east of the Mississippi river. Farmers and city- dwellers alike planned new lives for themselves in Oregon and California. The Rockies A Coonskin hat

Jim Bridger Jim Bridger was one of the most important of the mountain men. Read p19 – 20 Write 2 paragraphs explaining how Jim Bridger helped make it possible for other people to move to the west.

The Pioneers Examine the picture above. These people were called ‘pioneers’ Make a list of questions you would ask about what is happening in the picture: e.g where are these people going?

Questions Here are some questions you may have asked. Use p20 (wagons westward) to o21 (Donner party) to answer them. Source A will be very helpful. Where are these people going? Why are they going there? Who are they? How are they getting there? How long will it take them to get where they are going? What dangers will they face? What help will they get?

Design an advertising poster for a Mountain Man. Include the qualities that the applicants should have and what they should expect a typical day to be like.

Homework Research on The Donner Party, one of the groups of pioneers who went west. Find out what happened to their group on their Journey on the California Trail.