Pre and Post Material

Atfalati

Pre and post material

For more in-depth material please contact the presenter directly.

The Kalapuya People (also spelled Calipooia, Calipooya, etc.)

The Kalapuya Indians lived in most of the Willamette Valley (excluding the foothills of the Cascade Mountains, home of the Molallas) for thousands of years (at least 6,000 to 8,000 years ago). They were divided up into smaller groups according to location. The Kalaypuya who lived in the Tualatin Valley were called the Atfalati or Tualatin Indians.

The Willamette Valley was very different from what we see now. It was open grassland, maintained by annual burning by the Indians (pyroculture), with scattered groves of trees along the rivers and creeks that flowed into the Willamette River. The Kalapuya lived along the main rivers such as the Tualatin, Yamhill, and Santiam.

The Kalapuya, like many Native American tribes, followed a seasonal-round to hunt, gather and store food, and obtain provisions for clothing, shelter and tools. They moved in small family groups from place to place in the good-weather months to where they knew plants were ready for harvest, fish were running in the streams, or there were animals to hunt. While traveling the seasonal-round they often camped under trees or in open areas with no shelter. They also constructed small temporary shelters of branches and tule mats.

During the winter months they moved into larger groups and lived in pit or plank houses that accommodated several families. A large house might have had several fire hearths. The Kalapuya used this time to trade with neighbors and to keep their culture alive by story-telling and making or repairing tools for the next seasonal-round.

The local Native Americans ate nuts, seeds, berries, roots, small animals, birds/waterfowl, and some fish, deer and elk. Food was cooked in watertight containers or in earth-ovens (stone-lined pits dug into the ground). Camas, wapato and tarweed seed were the most important components of their diet.

The Kalapuya were a small peaceful tribe that suffered greatly from European diseases against which they had no immunity. First smallpox in the 1780s, then malaria (probably) in the 1830s reduced the native population by 75% or more. They were not able to defend themselves and their life style against the surge of Euro-Americans who began arriving in the early 1840s.

In the mid-1850s the Kalapuya were removed to the Grande Ronde and Siletz reservations in Yamhill and Lincoln counties, respectively. They lived there with several other Oregon tribes. Some remained on the reservation after they were allowed to leave. Many individuals of known Kalapuya ancestry are alive now.

Post Activities

Create a rock art design (similar to the Native American ones) and write a story associated with that design.

Compare your food, shelter, tools, transportation or clothing to that of the Kalapuya people. How were they the same or different? If you were a Kalapuya, what items might you have liked to get through trade from the Euro-Americans? If you were a Euro-American, what items might you have liked to get through trade with the Kalapuya?

Mountain Men

Pre and Post Materials

For more in depth information please contact the presenter directly.

Being a Mountain Man

The fur trade started in the early part of the 1600's in North America by the Dutch. Originally along the Pacifc coast, the fur trade brought the first Euro-Americans to our area (Washington/Oregon) in the late 1700's. The intensive inland fur trade began shortly after Lewis and Clark returned to the East Coast in 1806. Competing British, Canadian and American companies started trapping beaver in the Rocky Mountains. Beaver was the most sought after animal because of the great European demand for beaver hats. As the Rockies were cleared of beaver, the trappers moved further west.

Europeans first learned to trap Beaver from Native Americans. Early on in the fur trade, the French were dominant, but after the French and Indian War the English took over control of the fur trade. During the winter of 1811-12 beaver trappers and traders from the North West (Fur) Company were the first Euro-Americans to visit this area. We know of this because some of the trappers recorded in their journals their encounter with a few Kalapuya Indians somewhere near the Willamette Falls (Oregon City area). This company merged with the London-based Hudson's Bay Company in 1821 and Fort Vancouver became the headquarters for the fur trade west of the Rocky Mountains.

Many Hudson's Bay Company trappers were French Canadian, Scottish, and/or were of mixed Indian heritage. They married Native American women and had children who helped support the mountain man's livelihood. Entire families went on the fur trapping expeditions. The Native American women contributed to the success of the hunt because they erected the shelters, made/repaired snow shoes, prepared the hides, traded for needed supplies, and took care of the cooking chores, etc.

Lewis and Clark met fur trappers on their return voyage from the Pacific. The fur trappers they met were heading into the mountains and not away from them despite the fact that winter was approaching. In fact, one of the members of the Lewis and Clark crew asked to be let go early so that he too could go into the mountains and trap fur.

John Jacob Astor, who Astoria is named after, founded the American Fur Company in 1808. The men that worked for Astor worked in the river valleys east of the Rocky Mountains and on the Pacific coast in Washington and Oregon-they were not considered mountain men. The mountain men were primarily free lance traders, trading with whoever would give them the best price and not with one particular company. Mountain men primarily traded their furs at trading posts were they could pick up more supplies. The cost of goods at trading posts were as much as 2,000% higher than goods in the east. The primary competitor to Astor's company was the Rocky Mountain Fur Company.

In 1825 trappers and traders from the Rocky Mountain Fur Company met at Jackson Hole Wyoming to trade pelts' and supplies. This was the first time that a trading company met the trappers instead of the trappers going to the trading posts. These meetings were known as Rendezvous.

Mountain men lived a very free life. Few could read or write and most lived outside the law. They were rugged individuals who were great hunters and trappers. Mountain men learned to survive in the wilderness and faced many risks. These men had to face harsh winters, hostile Native Americans, and grizzly bears. Trapping was a cold weather activity because the winter season corresponds with the best fur on the animal. Mountain men and their families endured many months of harsh weather, often were near-starvation, sometimes unfriendly encounters with Native Americans, unfamiliar terrain, and overtime, a reduced yield of beaver. These men lived by their wits and weapons, with help from their Native American wives. Many did not live to an old age.
Mountain men were not just fur trappers. They hunted, fished, tanned hides, and more. They were also river men, mapmakers, explorers, negotiators between natives and whites, scouts, and even international spies.

The fur trade declined in the 1830's. Two things contributed to the demise of this culture. The beaver population had become nearly extinct due to an aggressive trapping policy and beaver hats were going out of style - replaced by silk hats, the silk coming from the Orient. Consequently, many trappers retired from this harsh life and settled down to a less exciting, but more stable, farming life. The French Prairie (south of the Willamette River near Newberg) was so named because of the many French-Canadian mountain men who settled there. Many mountain men also became trail guides on the Oregon Trail.

The era of the mountain man in the Willamette Valley was short - from 1811 to about 1840. Just as extensive fur trapping began at an earlier time elsewhere (more eastern areas and in Canada), it ended at a later time elsewhere (more northern areas). The time frame and location of fur trapping changed over time due to the fact that the beaver were over-trapped in areas and mountain men had to move to where the beaver were.

Pre and Post Presentation activities

Camp (in your backyard) mountain man style (must be done with an adult) and then write a journal entry about your experience. (post)
Make belts out of felt (instead of buckskin) (pre- or post)
Use a map of the U.S. from the early 1800's to map the parts of the U.S. where mountain men were most prevalent, major rivers, important forts, existing states, the Louisiana Purchase, etc. (pre- or post)
Write a play about life as a mountain man and perform it in front of class (post)
Write a letter to someone back home (in the east) about what life is like now that the fur trade is in decline and what you are going to do now that you are no longer going to be a trapper. Are you going to move back east with your Indian wife? Are you going to become a farmer and live out west in Oregon? Are you going to become an Oregon Trail guide? (post)
Use large beads and strips of leather (or pieces of fishing wire and small beads) to make necklaces and/or bracelets similar to what mountain men's Native American wives made for trade or wear. (pre- or post)

Visit

Washington County Museum, to find out about our local mountain man Joe Meek, PCC Rock Creek Campus, Oregon
The Astoria column and other things relating to John Astor in Astoria, Oregon
Jedediah Smith State Park in the California Redwoods. (The park is named after the explorer and trapper, Jedediah Smith who was the first white man to explore the interior of northern California. His exploration of the redwoods was part of a two-year trapping expedition that started in 1826.)
Fort Clatsop National Memorial, Astoria, Oregon
Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, Vancouver, Washington
Lewis & Clark Expedition Visitors' Center, Long Beach, Washington

Check the current Instructional Media Catalog for videos, published by North-west Regional Education Service District, Hillsboro, Oregon, (503) 690-5428.

REFERENCES

Dobbs, Caroline C 1932, The Men of Champoeg, Binfords & Mort, Portland. Oregon. (This book contains bios of the mountain men who settled in the Willamette Valley.)
Lockly, Fred 1982, compiled by Mike Helm, Visionaries, Mountain Men & Empire Builders, Rainy Day Press, Eugene, Oregon
Russell, Carl P. 1983, Firearms, Traps, & Tools of the Mountain Men, University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Tunis, Edwin, 2000, Frontier Living, The Lyons Press, New York
Utley, Robert 1997, A Life Wild & Perilous, Henry Holt & Co., New York

BOOKS TO READ

Hafen, LeRoy R 1982, Mountain Men & Fur Traders of the Far West, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, Nebraska
Holmes, Kenneth 1967, Ewing Young: Master Trapper, Binfords & Mort, Portland, Oregon
Jackson, John C. 1995, Children of the Fur Trade, Mountain Press Publishing Co., Missoula, Montana
Russell, Osborne 1965, Journal of a Trapper, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, Nebraska
Vestal, Stanley 1952, Joe Meek, the Merry Mountain Man, University of Press, Lincoln, Nebraska
Victor, Frances Fuller 1870, The River of the West, Hartford, Connecticut

SUGGESTED BOOKS FOR STUDENTS

Burger, Carl, 1968, Beaver Skins and Mountain Men, Dutton
Morrison, Dorothy Nafus, 1984, The Eagle and the Fort: the story of John McLoughlin, Western Imprints
Glass, Andrew, 2001, Mountain Men: True Grit and Tall Tales, Doubleday Books, New York
Collins, James L., 1996, The Mountain Men, Frank Watts, New York
Spring, Ted, 1992, A Shining Time vol.1 The Fur Trade, Track of the Wolf, Oklahoma
Allen, John Logan, 1991, Jedediah Smith and the Mountain Men of the American West, Chelsea House Publishers, New York

On the Oregon Trail

Pre and Post Material

For more in depth information please contact the presenter directly.

It was said that Oregon, and particularly the Willamette Valley, was a good place to live. People in the eastern and mid-western states heard it from the fur-traders and missionaries who had been there. They told of gentle climates, abundant natural resources, and fertile land. And after 1843, in Oregon that land was free! A man could own 320 acres, and a married couple could have 640 acres - a whole square mile of free land. Congress passed the Donation Land Claim Act in 1850, and continued the gift of free land until 1854. After that, it was still very inexpensive. It is no wonder that so many people came to Oregon.

Preparation for the journey west could take months, even a year. Farms and businesses, animals, crops, equipment and household goods had to be sold. Food had to be prepared and preserved, clothes, tents and the wagon cover had to be sewn. It was a busy time for all. When everything was sorted, sold and given away, the things that were left had to be carefully packed. Family members and friends were often urged to join those heading west.

Most pioneers traveled overland with ox-drawn wagons, in teams of 4 to 6 oxen. The journey was about 2,000 miles long, and averaged between 5 and 7 months to complete. A day's travel usually covered only 10-15 miles, and the train moved seven days a week. There were few days to rest and do chores like laundry. Pioneers walked most of those miles, enduring hot and cold weather, storms, river crossings, mud, dust, insects, accidents, illness, birth and death. Wagons broke down, animals died, family possessions were abandoned along the way.

The Ideal Timeline

April 1st - Arrive at Independence, MO. to buy supplies and oxen and join a wagon train.
April 22nd - Leave Independence, MO. with a wagon train.
April 25th - Junction of Santa Fe and Oregon Trails
May 21st - Fort Kearney, the Platte River
June 18th - Scott's Bluff
June 22nd - Fort Laramie
July 4th - Independence Rock
July 12th - South Pass
September 10th - Fort Boise
September 25th - Emigrant Springs, Blue Mountains of Oregon.
October 10th - The Dalles on the Columbia River
October 18th - Laurel Hill on Mt. Hood
October 19th - Barlow tollgate on the Barlow Trail
October 24th - Oregon City

Activities

Imagine that you and your family are planning to immigrate by covered wagon to Oregon. Why would you want to stay at home? Why would you want to go to Oregon?
Imagine that you have just arrived in Oregon. Write a letter to a friend back home about your trip.
Create a skit based on your experiences on any part of the Oregon Trail.
Make soap, butter, or something else that the pioneers would have made themselves.
Make a shoe box diorama of any of the places that you would have seen on the trail.
Make some old-fashioned toys, dolls, or games.
Create murals of the journey, and of early Oregon life.

Pioneer Life

Pre and Post Material

For more in depth material please contact the presenter directly.

Just a few hundred pioneers had settled in the entire Willamette Valley by 1842. But in 1843 the first big wagon train with upwards of 1,000 people arrived. After that the annual influx of individuals numbered in the hundreds or thousands. The valley filled up pretty quickly with farming families, mostly of English and German descent, intent on acquiring new land.

The United States government retroactively passed the 1850 Donation Land Act that gave every adult male citizen 320 acres of free land, and if married an equal amount in his wife's name. They had to 'prove up' the claim by living on it for four consecutive years, building a homestead and improving the land. This last part usually meant clearing some of the land for farming and/or grazing. However, this generous land gift was valid only through the end of 1850, then it was reduced by half through 1855. After that, there was no longer any free land.

The first winter was the hardest for the settlers because there was little food left after 5-6 months on the trail and there was no shelter. The fabric that had been used to cover the wagon often became the roof of the family's first home - a log pen. This structure was typically built with two parallel log walls jutting out from a hillside. The rear wall of the house was earthen, similar to the floor, and maybe there was a partial front wall. Before the second winter arrived there was a real home - a one room log cabin with an earthen floor and a large fireplace filling one wall. The fireplace provided light, heat and the means for cooking all of the family's food.

Owning a farm of 640 acres (one square mile) meant that neighbors were not nearby. Families learned how to be self-sufficient. Mother was responsible for all household tasks - cooking, making clothing, child care (there were often as many as 10 children in a family), the family vegetable garden, laundry, cleaning and just about any other chore that was related to the house. Father took care of the land, animals, tools, and all business, financial and political activities including making all the family decisions. Children always had chores. They married at an early age - 14 years old was typical for a girl.

All work was accomplished by muscle-power - human or animal. During the early years, the limited number of available tools and equipment were handmade of wood, or iron from the blacksmith. In the years following the Civil War, many of the same objects were made of metal, glass or pottery - manufactured in the mid-western states and shipped west via railroad. Although families did purchase these new mass-produced items, they did not throw away their old tools. Everything was used for as many tasks as possible and for as long as the object was not broken beyond repair. Many of those objects are no longer made because electrical appliances now do what was previously done by hand.

Activities

TONGUE TWISTERS

Tongue twisters were very popular with children and adults. See if you can say these.

The skunk sat on a stump and thunk the stump stunk
But the stump thunk the skunk stunk.
Bluebirds bring bright berries.
She sheared six shabby sheep.

OTHER ACTIVITIES

Have pioneer dress-up day at school.
Write a diary of your life on a pioneer farm
Practice cooking foods in a Dutch oven.
Research the kinds of plants the pioneers used as medicine.
Write a song about your new home in Oregon.
Make a scale model of a log cabin.

School days

Pre and Post Material

For more in depth information please contact the presenter directly.

Before there was any real government in Oregon (1844), the settlers decided that "Schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged." However, putting up the money for the building and the teacher's salary did not happen immediately. The West Union School opened in 1852, Forest Grove's in 1855 and Beaverton's McKay school in 1856. Before the school buildings existed, classes were often held in someone's home - usually for all the children in that family plus nearby neighbors. Many times a parent was the teacher.

The earliest schools were not well built, and often were erected on donated land that was not good for farming activities. Sometimes they shared the stump field after the trees had been felled. Children might have to walk more than one-mile form home to school and then back again. Because attendance was not required or parents had to pay tuition, not every child went to school. The average enrollment was about 30 students - of all ages and in just one room. The schools had only outdoor plumbing, a wood burning stove, homemade desks and seats of rough lumber (seating 10-12 children on a bench), and no significant lighting. These early buildings were also used for many community activities.

Because one teacher had to work with all grade levels and all ages, he/she relied on the older students to help the younger ones. The older ones heard the same lessons repeated over and over. A successful student was one who was good at memorizing facts, words and numbers. In spite of the limited resources, many students went on to further education and/or became good, productive members of their communities.

Activities

Make ink from berry juices
Make your own writing book
Have a spelling bee or a mental arithmetic bee
Play old fashioned pioneer games