Places For Kids & Teens - Just Curious - Social Studies

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Places for
Kids & Teens

Just Curious:
Westward
Expansion

American West: Davy Crockett - Read about the famous frontiersman who fought at the Alamo.
Daniel Boone - Pictures of his homestead and biographical information about him.
Discoverers and Explorers - Here you'll find information about: Lewis and Clark, the Astorians, Mountain Men, Fur Trading Company and John Fremont.
The Donner Party
James Bridger - A short biography from the Kansas City Public Library.
Laura Ingalls Wilder, Frontier Girl - Browse through the web site or search for a specific piece of information.
PBS:The West – People

The American West - A presentation of the History and Development of the American West, from the Frontier and Pioneer days of the Wild West, to today's Modern West.
Heritage Gateways - The Heritage Gateways site features historical diaries, excerpts from published books, articles, commentaries, maps and video clips all reflecting the life and times of those early pioneers.
Mountain Men and the Fur Trade - The Library contains online diaries of trappers, traders, and frontiersmen. The Images of Fur Trade History contains drawings and pictures of fur trade life
The West - A companion to the Ken Burns PBS documentary series, The West views the events, timelines, places, people, archives, and links dealing with the American West.

Bodie - Ghost town in California. Includes the history with photographs.
City of Deadwood: History - This entire city has been named a National Historic Landmark, learn its history.
Death Valley Ghost Towns - Short histories of eight ghost towns around Death Valley California.
Dodge City, Kansas - Links to current and 19th century maps of the city.
Ghosttowns.com - Online ghost town reference site for USA and Canada, searchable by state or province.
Jerome, Arizona - History and photographs.
Tombstone, Arizona - Read the story and view the pictures about this famous pioneer town.
Virtual Tour of Lake City, Colorado - Images of the many historic buildings in the city today.

Gold Rush Sesquicentennial - This great site from the Sacramento Bee has articles on just about every Gold Rush topic in honor of its 150th anniversary.
Gold Rush Timeline - This site has pictures and comments to go along with the timeline of events during the Gold Rush.
Gold Rush! - California's Untold Stories - take a virtual tour of the Oakland Museum of California's excellent exhibit.
The Gold Rush - From PBS. This site is a comprehensive guide to the epic quest for gold.

Homestead Act of 1862 - Describes different aspects of the Act including eligibility, amount of land, requirements, homesteaders' rights, and more. Includes text of the original Act.

Go West Across America with Lewis & Clark! - Making important decisions about your survival as you press onward taking Lewis & Clark's route. fun and informative!
Lewis & Clark - Begin your journey in search of information by traveling along with Lewis & Clark's journals and maps of their expedition.
Lewis & Clark Heritage Foundation: History - Basic information, mostly in text and some pictures, give you a good background into the journey of Lewis & Clark.
Lewis and Clark in North Dakota - Fantastic site about their expedition. Includes chronological listing of the journey, brief biographies on the team members, maps, trivia, and more.
Lewis and Clark Journey of Discovery - An interactive adventure that follows the adventures of Lewis & Clark.
Lewis & Clark Online Base Camp - Tales of this historic high Adventure from National Geographic!
Lewis and Clark's Historic Trail - Read a timeline, interactive maps of their trip, excerpts from their journal, and biographies of the explorers.
Sacajawea - The official site of the Fort Lemhi-Shoshone Indian Tribe offers information on Sacajawea and the role with Lewis & Clark.

Exhibit: The Louisiana Purchase - See the actual documents, or read text copies of the three separate agreements that make up the Louisiana Purchase. From the National Archives and Records Administration.
Louisiana Purchase - Brief description of the purchase and a map.

Native American Tribes and Nations Native Americans' - Your one-stop source for in-depth and extensive information on Native Americans, covering the past, the present and the future.

End of the Oregon Trail - Gives a brief history, a diagram of wagons and their contents, articles about the trail, and information on black pioneers of the Oregon Country.
Oregon Trail - Wonderful resource about the great western journey.
Oregon Trail Pioneers - Year by year summary of pioneers of the Oregon Territory. Includes information on explorers, missionaries, Native Americans, fur traders, and emigrants.

The Orphan Trains - This PBS documentary companion website gives information on the orphan trains that started in the 1830's and shipped thousands of poor and homeless New York City children out west to find new homes.
Orphan Trains of Kansas - This site has a great deal of interesting information including children's accounts, a history of the trains, a timeline, newspaper accounts, photos, and reference information.

Pony Express Home Station - The Pony Express delivered mail and news from Missouri to San Francisco in 1860 and 1861. Learn about the history, the riders, and the stories behind this amazing group.

The Applegate Trail - The Applegate Trail, the southern route of the Oregon Trail, established in 1846.
The Chilkoot Trail - The Chilkoot Trail, the route to the Klondike Gold Rush in the Yukon, Canada.
The Interactive Santa Fe Web Site - A history of the trail and trail-cam of present-day locations along the trail!
Lewis and Clark
The Mormon Pioneer Trail - Description of the national historic trail, with history of Mormons, some pictures and diary excerpts.
Oregon Trail
Overland Trail - Learn all about the Overland Trail Mail route which was established and owned by Ben Holladay, the "Stagecoach King."

Driving the Last Spike - From the Museum of the City of San Francisco including information on the Central Pacific Railroad's "Big Four" who helped to get the Transcontinental Railroad built.
The Iron Road - Historical background on the railroad construction and information on the film from the PBS series, The American Experience.
Union Pacific Railroad History - Including important equipment, locations, and people.

The American West - A presentation of the history and development of the American West, from the Frontier and Pioneer days of the Wild West, to today's Modern West.
Eyewitness to the Old West - Eyewitness accounts.
Wild West - Wild West magazine blog contains stories, news and more about the frontier world.

Last updated: 01/18/08