Kids' Corner
Experience hands-on history with one of our covered wagon treks or pony express rides!
It can be fun to learn about the history of the pioneers, but nothing is better than getting out on the trail yourself. Only then can you know first-hand what it was like to ride in covered wagons across the plains of Wyoming on the way to a new home and uncertain future.
Historic Trails Field Trip Learning Objectives
Experience Pioneer Travel
Students will travel on board a covered wagon in the ruts of the historic Oregon Trail. Discussion and questions will be related to the experiences of pioneers who traveled this way, what they brought with them, and how their emigration shaped America and the west.
Local History Story Time
Students will learn about personal accounts from pioneers including those who traveled with their parents at a similar age to the student group present. Discussing the lived experiences of these emigrants will broaden and enrich the perspective of students on this time in local history.
Taste Campfire Cooking
Students will have the opportunity to taste food that pioneers would commonly have made along the trail, authentically cooked over the fire in Dutch ovens.
*Please make us aware of any dietary restrictions in advance.
Embrace the Pioneer Spirit
Through this hands-on learning experience students will be encouraged to reflect on ways that they can still be pioneers today whether that is inventing a new technology, exploring somewhere new (maybe even outer space), or simply by being a good friend and neighbor.
“I wish every American girl today could take a wagon trip [West]. Our young folks need the self-reliance we learned there. Nobody told us how. We set ourselves a job, then we did it. We used common sense. We helped one another. We didn’t whine.”
Martha Jane Chappel
(Wagon train traveler from Arkansas to California 1869)
Educator Resources
