Daily Life on the Oregon Trail

What was daily life like on the Oregon Trail for children and families? Join us to explore the everyday lives of Oregon Trail travelers — their food, clothing, possessions, chores, and fun!

Field Trip Length and Grade Range

This two-hour school field trip is designed for students in grades 2 and 3.

How to Participate

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

Daily Life on the Oregon Trail - Teacher's Guide

Program Objectives

Students will:

• Explore daily life for children on the Oregon Trail, including what they ate and wore, what they carried in their wagons, and their daily chores.
• Use authentic displays and sources to make inferences about life on the trail.  
• Develop empathy and personal connections by imagining the real-life choices faced by the migrants and Indigenous peoples.
• Participate in interactive activities and engage in dialogues, with emphasis on memorable experiences over factual learning.

Vocabulary and Concepts Covered

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

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

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

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 Oregon Trail Overview student reading.
• Optional: Show this 10-minute overview video, "History of the Oregon Trail for Kids"
• Ask the students to think about the experience of traveling the Oregon Trail. Have them consider the following questions:
  • Chores then and now: Do you have chores at home? How do your chores help your family? Now, imagine your family is leaving tomorrow to travel across the country by wagon? How might your chores change? What tasks would need to be done while traveling? What new ways could you help support your family on the trail?
  • Fun without screens: What do you like to do for fun? Now imagine you’re on the Oregon Trail – no phones, no video games, no internet. What do you think you would do for fun instead? What are things that you think would stay the same about how kids like to have fun? What do you think has changed over time?
• Encourage students to think of questions to ask during the field trip.
• Assign students to wagon teams (6 students plus one adult lead per team) 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. Number the teams (1, 2, 3...) for easy reference.

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:
  • 9:30: Arrive, use bathrooms, settle in theater
  • 9:35: Theater Introduction
  • 9:50: Station Rotations (four stations, 15 minutes per station)
  • 10:50: Theater Discussion
  • 11:30: Depart or transition to teacher-led activities

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:
  • Object Storytelling & Illustration: At the encampment station, students chose an object and imagined its story. Extend this activity by having students draw a picture that tells the story of the Oregon Trail from the object’s point of view. Encourage them to consider:
    • Why is this object on the trail?
    • How was it used at home, and how is it used now?
    • What is it like to travel across the country?
    • How might it be used in its new home?
  • Food & Family Traditions: Ask students to think about a food that is important to them or their family. Have them:
    • Interview a family member to learn the recipe and the story behind it.
    • Share the recipe and story in class.
    • Discuss as a class:
      • How do these recipes compare to one another?
      • How do they differ from the food eaten on the Oregon Trail?
      • What can food tell us about people’s daily lives, both past and present?
    • You can ask a similar set of questions if you instruct students to bring in a piece of clothing that is important to them 

Oregon Social Sciences Standards Addressed

From Oregon Department of Education - Standards - Social Sciences

• 2.16: Identify a variety of diverse individuals, groups, and circumstances that had an impact on the local community including individuals who are American Indian/Alaska Native/Native Hawaiian or Americans of African, Asian, Pacific Island, Chicano, Latino, or Middle Eastern descent; individuals from all religious backgrounds; and individuals from traditionally marginalized groups.
• 2.20: Generate questions using a historical source as it relates to the local community’s history.
• 2.22: Understand that cause and effect relationships help recount events, and understand the events that led to the development of the community.
• 2.24: Compare and contrast past and present situations, people, and events in neighborhoods and communities
• 3.9: Describe and compare human characteristics of regions in Oregon (tribal, cultural, agricultural, industrial, etc.)
• 3.11: Describe how individuals, groups, (e.g. socioeconomic differences, ethnic groups, and social groups including individuals who are American Indian/Alaska Native/Native Hawaiian or Americans of African, Asian, Pacific Island, Chicano, Latino, or Middle Eastern descent), religious groups, and other traditionally marginalized groups, events and developments have shaped the local community and region.
• 3.14: Explain why individuals and groups (e.g. socioeconomic, ethnic, and religious groups, and traditionally marginalized groups) in the same historical period differed in the way they viewed and interpreted historical events.
• 3.15: Explain how sources serve different purposes for answering historical questions.
• 3.17: Use a variety of historical sources including artifacts, pictures and documents to identify factual evidence.
• 3.18: Identify and compare different ways of looking at an event, issue, or problem with an emphasis on multiple perspectives.
• 3.19: Analyze different ways that people, other living things, and the environment might be affected by an event, issue, or problem.