Pioneer Resources & Webliography

Pioneer Webliography

1700 Ioway Indian Village
How did the Ioway Indians use bone, stone and wood tools to farm? What were their houses like?

1850 Pioneer Farm
Describes how Iowans transformed the rich black soil of prairies into the most productive farmland in the world.

1875 Town of Walnut Hill
Describes what an early frontier town might have looked like.

1900 Horse-powered Farm
Draft horses supply the power for the fieldwork while the family lives in a white frame farmhouse.

Abraham Lincoln Picture Gallery
See what a pioneer farm was like through pictures and descriptions that describe Abraham Lincoln's boyhood farm. View pictures taken by students on a field trip to the historical farm.

All About the Oregon Trail
This site contains great story-like descriptions of the adventures of pioneers. Includes information about the hardships of the journey; camping, food, and provisions; buffalo; the route west and the animals taken on the journey; and information about Native Americans.

America Quilts
PBS explores the history, art, and personal stories of quilt making in America.

At Home on the Fringes of the Prairie 1800-1850
Some pioneers stayed close to the forests and rivers instead of settling on the prairies. They depended on wood for fuel, fences, tools, and shelter.

A Boyhood in Iowa
The site is an excerpt from an informal address by Herbert Hoover to the Iowa Society of Washington in 1927.

A Day in the Life of a Young Pioneer Girl
This history game describes what it was like to be a kid in the 1800's.

Diaries, Memoirs, Letters and Reports along the Trails West

Effigy Mounds National Monument

John Deere - Self Polishing Cast Steel Plow
Describes how John Deere single-handedly revolutionized American agriculture by developing and marketing the world's first self-polishing cast steel plow.

Laura Ingalls Wilder

Dear Laura
Have students prepare at least one question to be asked of 'Laura' at Dear Laura, Westward expansion - collection of links

Map of the Louisiana Purchase

Letters from the Kelsey Family
Understanding the life of Jane and James Kelsey, early pioneers who settled near Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Millions of Acres for Sale Poster

Native Nations of Iowa: Iowa/Ioway

Native Nations of Iowa: The Sauk

Native Nations of Iowa: The Mesquakie

Time Periods: An Overview of Iowa History

Oregon Trail History
Learn about traveling in a covered wagon over the Oregon Trail. You will find out what was needed for the trip and how long it took the adventurers to travel to Oregon.

Pioneer Games, Toys and Songs
Directions for several games are listed here, as well as activities you can do today that pioneer children also did for fun.

Sauk and Fox History

Shelter on the Western Frontier
Includes sod homes and dugouts, log and timber framed buildings, homesteads, every day life on the frontier

A Simple Nine Patch Quilt

Westward Expansion
The site provides links and information on topics such as: the Transcontinental Railroad, Native Americans, People of the Old West, Homestead Act, Gold Rush, and General Resources.