overland journeys to the pacific

Olivia Clark, a young girl who is moving with her family from Missouri to Oregon Territory during the middle of the nineteenth century, describes her five month journey traveling westward.

Traveling with his owners from Missouri to Oregon in 1848, Koda, an energetic two-year-old quarter horse, finds the long journey increasingly tedious and tiring until his young owner goes missing on the trail and he must use all his skills to find her.

"In the spring of 1846, the Donner and Reed families joined a wagon train bound for California in hopes of a better life. But when the party took an untested shortcut, it set them down a tragic path. As they crossed the Sierra Nevada, heavy snow fell in the mountain pass. They were trapped. Supplies were already low, and now they faced a winter of starvation. Told through the gripping, full-color graphic novel format, this Deadly Expeditions tale transports readers back in time to follow the Donner Party's disastrous trek west and their struggle to survive"--Provided by publisher.

Introduces the science behind the pioneers' epic journey to begin a new life in the West, discussing how covered wagons were engineered, how food was preserved, and how injuries and diseases were treated.

"The incredible true story of a woman who rode her horse across America in the 1950s, fulfilling her dying wish to see the Pacific Ocean. In 1954, Annie Wilkins, a sixty-three-year-old farmer from Maine, embarked on an impossible journey. She had no relatives left, she'd lost her family farm to back taxes, and her doctor had just given her two years to live--but only if she "lived restfully." He offered her a spot in the county's charity home. Instead, she decided she wanted to see the Pacific Ocean just once before she died. She bought a cast-off brown gelding named Tarzan, donned men's dungarees, loaded up her horse, and headed out from Maine in mid-November, hoping to beat the snow. She had no map, no GPS, no phone. But she had her ex-racehorse, her faithful mutt, and her own unfailing belief that Americans would treat a stranger with kindness. Between 1954 and 1956, Annie, Tarzan, and her dog, Depeche Toi, journeyed more than 4,000 miles, through America's big cities and small towns, meeting ordinary people and celebrities--from Andrew Wyeth (who sketched Tarzan) to Art Linkletter and Groucho Marx. She received many offers--a permanent home at a riding stable in New Jersey, a job at a gas station in rural Kentucky, even a marriage proposal from a Wyoming rancher who loved animals as much as she did. As Annie trudged through blizzards, forded rivers, climbed mountains, and clung to the narrow shoulder as cars whipped by her at terrifying speeds, she captured the imagination of an apprehensive Cold War America. At a time when small towns were being bypassed by Eisenhower's brand-new interstate highway system, and the reach and impact of television was just beginning to be understood, Annie and her four-footed companions inspired an outpouring of neighborliness in a rapidly changing world"--Provided by publisher.

Presents the history of the Donner Party, a group of American pioneers who set out for California, but who resorted to cannibalism when their journey took a drastic turn in the Sierra Nevada.

Douglas Allen Deeds, an orphan from Missouri, recounts his experiences as part of the Donner Party expedition in 1846, in this book based on the actual events.

Provides an account of the harrowing experiences of twenty-one-year-old bride Sarah Graves after her family joined with the Donner party seven months into their journey to California in 1846, and, equipped with snowshoes constructed by her father, pressed on with fourteen other relatively young, healthy people in search of help after the travelers became stranded by a snowstorm.

Would you have survived traveling the Oregon Trail? Make decisions and tally your score to find out. Written at a lower reading level with considerate text, these high maturity books are sure to grab struggling readers as they engage and play along. Also includes a table of contents, glossary, index, author biography, sidebars, educational matter, and activities.

"Thousands of American settlers endured the long trip of more than 2,000 miles between Missouri and Oregon in the mid-1800s. They were determined to make a better life for themselves. They faced many hardships and made tough choices. Now the choices are yours. Would you rather run out of food supplies or spare wagon parts? Would you ford the river and get across faster but risk your wagon overturning? Or would you take apart your wagon and float it across but risk delaying your time-sensitive journey? It's your turn to pick this or that!"--Provided by publisher.