Women of the American West

Women of the American West — page 1

Women of the American West — page 2 — CHAPTER ONE JOURNEYS IN THE WEST women have played an important role in the western United States For thousands of years Native women have called the West home Many still live there today They belong to tribes such as the Cheyenne Comanche Kiowa Apache Ute and Sioux Beginning in the 1800s settlers started to move onto the lands of these tribes Sacagawea was only 16 years old when she joined Lewis and Clark on journey their

Women of the American West — page 3 — On April 30 1803 the United States bought land in the West from France The treaty was called the Louisiana Purchase Louisiana lay between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains The land stretched from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico President Thomas Jefferson chose Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to explore this new region A Shoshone woman named Sacagawea and her French trader husband joined them as interpreters Sacagawea was an important member of the team She was born in the areas that the men wanted to explore She showed them what they could eat She also helped them buy horses from her Shoshone relatives Sacagawea helped show that the explorers were peaceful It took the team more than two years to make it to the Pacific Ocean and back In part because of Sacagawea’s help Lewis and Clark’s journey had a lasting effect on the United States From the group’s journals Americans learned more about Native tribes They read of new plants 6

Women of the American West — page 4 — Oregon Trail Mormon Trail California Trail Santa Fe Trail Old Spanish Trail 200 miles 321 km Trails to the West The map highlights five of the major trails that settlers used to travel westward Which trail is the longest What present-day states do the trails pass through They learned about animals such as the prairie dog Americans thought their discoveries were exciting Many more explorers fur traders and settlers would make the journey westward The Oregon Trail In 1836 missionary Narcissa Whitman began a 3,000-mile 4,800-km journey west Narcissa took a path to Oregon that would later be called the Oregon 7

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