Students raise hands during education program with ranger sitting in front of replica covered wagon

Traveling West on the California Trail

What did it take to journey across the rugged landscapes of the California Trail? Students will explore historic landmarks, learn navigation skills, discover the animals that lived along the route, and consider the tough choices pioneers faced when packing for the trail.

Field Trip Length and Grade Range

This school field trip is designed for students in grades 3 and 4. The program is two hours long and can be supplemented by additional activities such as a ranger-guided hike, a scavenger hunt through the exhibit area, or a teacher-led educational activity. Groups are also welcome to bring a picnic lunch.

How to Participate

Visit School Field Trips for program dates and a registration link.

Traveling West on the California Trail - Teacher's Guide

Program Objectives

Students will:

  • Explore Life on the Trail: Use authentic displays, artifacts, and sources to make inferences about daily life and challenges faced by pioneers and Indigenous peoples.
  • Discover Key People and Decisions: Learn about the Bidwell-Bartleson party and the choices pioneers made about what to bring on the trail.
  • Understand Nature’s Role: Explore animals along the California Trail and how knowledge of wildlife and tracks helped emigrants survive.
  • Identify Landmarks and Navigation Skills: Recognize important historical landmarks encountered by the 49ers and practice basic navigation skills, such as using a compass.
  • Engage Through Interactive Learning: Participate in hands-on activities and discussions that emphasize memorable experiences over memorizing facts.
  • Build Empathy and Personal Connections: Imagine real-life choices and experiences of migrants and Native communities to understand their perspectives and hardships.

Vocabulary and Concepts Covered

Biography: A description of someone else who experienced an event, such as information about someone who traveled the California Trail written by someone in the modern day

Diorama: A three-dimensional replica of a scene; at the Trail Center, dioramas represent what travelers might have been doing at different points along the Trail

Emigration: Moving away from home to settle elsewhere; ‘emigrant’ is a common term used for travelers on the California Trail

Encampment: A temporary settlement made by a group of wagons, which travelers would often circle into corrals for the night

First-hand account: A record of a personal experience of an event, such as a journal entry or original map or drawing

Indigenous Americans: People who lived in the Americas before European colonization, and their descendants. Other common terms include Indigenous Peoples, Native Americans, American Indians, and Tribal Nations.

Before the Field Trip

  • Assign or read aloud the California Trail Overview student reading.
  • Optional: Show this 26-minute overview video, "Preserving Gravelly Ford"
  • Ask the students to think about the experience of traveling the California Trail. Have them consider the following questions:
    • Imagine you’re going on a trip. How will you navigate – maybe by entering the address in an online map? How will you get there – maybe by car or bus? What communication methods will you use along the way – maybe phone calls or text messages? What will you eat – maybe stop at a store or restaurant? Imagine how different this would have been for travelers on the California Trail, who journeyed for at least six months in a time before phones, internet, online maps, or motorized vehicles. What might you consider while preparing for such a difficult journey?
    • Imagine you’re going to travel the California Trail. How do you think being a kid would affect your experience? How do you think the experience would be different for your parents, siblings, or grandparents, and why? Who else along the trail might have a different perspective than you, and why?
  • Encourage students to think of questions to ask during the field trip.
  • Assign students and chaperones to three wagon teams that will rotate through stations throughout the exhibit area. Carefully consider social dynamics, including whether to assign students to groups for which their guardian is a chaperone.

During the Field Trip

  • Materials needed: None! We will provide leader guides with instructions and answers for the adults.
  • Teachers and chaperones are responsible for facilitating activities and discussions at the learning stations. This includes fostering engagement with the material and managing student behavior.
  • Example Field Trip schedule:
    • 9:00: Arrive, use bathrooms, introduction
    • 9:15: Station Rotations (three stations, 30 minutes per station)
    • 10:45: Conclusion
    • 11:00: Depart or transition to additional activities
      • Lunch: 30 minutes recommended
      • Guided Hike: 45 minutes 

After the Field Trip

  • Email us your questions and feedback. We love hearing ways that we can continue to improve our programs!
  • Post-activity suggestions:
    • Continue learning about journaling. Have students write a journal entry about challenges and opportunities of life on the California trail. Then have them write a journal entry about challenges and opportunities from their modern life. Consider as a class: how are these two entries similar and different? What did people think about, prepare for, and do, then and now?
    • Continue learning about maps. Show students how to create a map of their communities, including the routes they “travel” most often (to school, home, etc.). Instead of looking at existing maps, encourage students to think about the landmarks they use to navigate and to include features on their map that would help someone else find their way. Consider as a class: how has the way we give directions changed and stayed the same? What is similar and different about the landmarks we find important versus those emigrants relied on?  

Related Nevada Social Sciences Standards

From Nevada Academic Content Standards for Social Studies

  • SS.3.20. Use a map to explain how the unique characteristics of a place affect people’s decisions to relocate both nationally and globally
  • SS.3.22. Explain how human settlements and movements relate to a location’s physical geography and natural resources
  • SS.3.13. Analyze the cultural contributions that different migrant groups have made to Nevada’s history.