National Park Service

U.S. Department of the Interior

Jefferson National Expansion Memorial

Old Courthouse

History Mystery Game

Teacher Activity Guide (Grades 3 - 8)
History Mystery Game TAG 

Any questions or comments on this Teacher Activity Guide 

are welcome. Contact the Director of Education at: 

Jefferson National Expansion Memorial 

11 North Fourth Street 

St. Louis, MO 63102 

(314) 655-1600 

Produced by the Division of Museum Services and Interpretation 
National Park Service 2004 

1 

To The Teacher ..................................................................................... 2 

Pre-Visit Activity #1: 

 History, Mysteries and Detectives (REQUIRED) ........ 4 

Pre-Visit Activity #2: 

 Mystery on the School Bus Express (suggested) ...... 6 

Old Courthouse: History Mystery Game (REQUIRED) ....... 8 

Post-Visit Activity #1: 

 Mission Accomplished (suggested) ............................ 10 

Post-Visit Activity #2: 

 Mystery Characters (suggested) ................................. 12 

Appendix ............................................................................................... 14 

Extensions ............................................................................................. 16 

Additional Resources .......................................................... 17 

Table of Contents 
History Mystery Game TAG 

2 

Program Description

Old objects, clothing and photographs are clues to the past. By 

unraveling these clues, we can learn about the many changes in 

lifestyles (jobs, transportation, communication, and technology) 

that are important aspects of St. Louis history. This 45-minute 

program uses a fun, experiential game format to learn St. Louis 

history. Students will role-play “history” detectives and be 

employed by one of three detective agencies. Like real life 

detectives, students will work on “cases”, “run down clues”, 

“follow leads”, and “examine the evidence” found in museum 

exhibits, clothing, and artifacts. For each clue successfully solved, 

detectives will receive payment in “fun money” and the detective 

agency earning the most money wins the game. 

User Friendly Format

To prepare your students, use the two Pre-Visit Activities in this 

guide before you visit the Old Courthouse. We also suggest you 

use the two Post-Visit Activities after your visit. 

To the Teacher 
National Park Service 2004 

3 

Curriculum Objectives

The following National Standards and tested objectives for the 

states of Missouri and Illinois are addressed in this program and 

the activities in this guide: 

 Communicate effectively. (ILS 1.A, 3.A, 3.B, 4.A, 4.B, 5.A; 

MAP 2.1, 2.3, 2.4; NCSS Ic) 

 Gather, analyze, and apply information and ideas. (ILS 16.A, 

16.D, 16.E; MAP 1.2, 1.5, 1.8, 1.9; NCSS IId, IIIe, VIIIa; 

NSH 1A, 1F,1G, 2A, 2E, 2F, 2G, 2H, 3A, 4D) 

 Make decisions and act as responsible members of society. 

(ILS 18.A, 18.B; MAP 4.3, 4.6, 4.7; NCSS IVf, IVh, VIIe, VIIg, 

VIIId, Xi; NSH 4D, 5F) 

 Recognize and solve problems. (ILS 6.A, 11.A, 12.B, 13.B; 

MAP 3.3, 3.5; NCSS II.f, III.h, III.i, VIg; NSH 5A) 

ILS: Illinois Learning Standards 

MAP: Missouri Assessment Program 

NCSS: National Council for Social Studies 

NSH: National Standards for History 
History Mystery Game TAG 

4 

Studying history involves detective work. Historians search for 

and discover information, piecing together the past by examining 

clues, such as old letters, diaries, books, news reports, artifacts, 

pictures, and clothing. 

Detectives and detective stories date back to the Nineteenth 

Century, beginning in 1841 with Edgar Allan Poe’s story, “The 

Murders in the Rue Morgue”. Believe it or not, before Poe’s story, 

there had never been a detective novel or short story. Detective 

fiction became very popular in the Nineteenth Century, especially 

with Poe’s detective hero, C. Auguste Dupin. The Sherlock 

Holmes novels of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle took Europe by storm. 

Even Mark Twain, who was living in Europe at the time, wrote 

two detective stories, “Pudd’nhead Wilson” and “Tom Sawyer, 

Detective”. Detectives weren’t only found in fiction, however. A 

real life detective, Allan Pinkerton, founded one of the first 

detective agencies in 1850—and it still exists today. 

 (REQUIRED) 

Organize students into three teams and assign each team to 

one of the following detective agencies: 

 Edgar Allan Poe Private Eyes

 Pinkerton’s National Detective Agency

 Mark Twain Detectives

Have each team elect a “Chief Detective” and distribute the

Agency Mission Card (found in the Appendix, page 14) to

each team. Have the Chief Detective from each group read

the card aloud to the class.

H£istory , Mysteries & Detectives 
National Park Service 2004 

5 

Every agency, company and organization has a mission and clues 

can often be found in their motto, logo, and advertising. 

Pinkerton’s National Detective Agency uses a “We never sleep” 

motto and “The Unblinking Eye” logo. See www.pinkertons.com

for more information on the Pinkerton’s National Detective 

Agency. Have students discuss what this tells them about their 

mission. 

When you visit the Old Courthouse, you will be in a national park. 

Clues to the mission of the National Park Service are found in its 

emblem. 

Your

Mission

Have 

students 

brainstorm 

how they can 

help preserve 

and protect 

national 

parks. 

Try out your detective skills. Give each team a copy of

the arrowhead below. Have students analyze its clues

to interpret the mission of the National Park Service.

(See Appendix, page 15 for the answer.)

(copy) 
History Mystery Game TAG 

6 

A mission of the National Park Service at the Old Courthouse is 

to preserve and tell the history of St. Louis as the Gateway to the 

West. During your visit to the Old Courthouse, your students will 

analyze objects, photos, and clothing used in daily living. These 

are clues from the past and help to tell the history of St. Louis. 

Clues can also be found on your bus ride to the Old Courthouse. 

Pass out one History Mystery Clue Card, found on the next page, to each pair of

students sitting together in a bus seat. As students observe the landscape for

these clues, mark them with an “X”. Have students play until they identify five

across, diagonally, or up and down, or until the entire card is filled. Discuss how

these clues tell the story of St. Louis, both past and present. When you arrive at

Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, have students “read” the landscape for

clues that tell the story of the park.

Critical Thinking:

 What building materials are common to St. Louis in the past/present?

 What methods of transportation are common to St. Louis in the past/

present?

 What developments in technology have made St. Louis great?

 Why was St. Louis built at this location?

Mystery on the School Bus Express 
National Park Service 2004 

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History Mystery Clue Card 

Cast Iron 

Fence 

Old 

Courthouse 

Historic 

Marker 

MetroLink Park 

Old Brick 

Building 

Bike Apartment Convenience 

Store 

Car 

Phone 

Electric 

Power 

Plant 

Waste 

Water 

Treatment 

Plant 

River 

Modern 

Office 

Building 

19th 

Century 

Mansion 

Bi-State 

Bus 

Railroad 

Tracks 

Phone 

Lines Barge 

Cobblestone 

Street 

Construction 

Site 

Historic 

Monument 

Taxi 

Cab 

Bill 

Board 

(copy) 
History Mystery Game TAG 

8 

History Mystery Game

Upon arrival, register your group with the park ranger in the 

Rotunda and review Museum Manners. 

Briefing

Your students should be organized and assigned into three 

detective agencies. 

Game

Most detective stories involve an event (usually a crime), a person 

(The butler did it!), the scene (where it happened), a vehicle 

(get-away car), and the time. 

You will be given three cases to solve: 

 The Case of the Early Years 1764-1850

 The Case of Becoming a City 1850-1900

 The Case of Entering the 20th Century 1900-1930.

To solve each case, you will receive a clue relating to a 

person, a scene, or a vehicle. Solving these clues will lead 

you to solve the Mystery Event that occurred during that 

time period. For each clue solved, you receive payment of 

$50. For each Mystery Event solved, you will receive a 

bonus payment of $100. The detective agency earning the 

most money wins the game as St. Louis Super Sleuths. 

Museum

Manners

Please read the 

instructions 

listed below to 

your students 

before entering 

the Old 

Courthouse. 

The park rangers are glad we are visiting with them today. They need our help to 

preserve this national park and protect us—their visitors. Please pay attention to 

the following: 

 Look only with your eyes and not with your hands. 

Resist touching the displays, stepping onto exhibits and 

leaning against photographs and murals. 

Old Courthouse 
National Park Service 2004 

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Vocabulary

artifact – a thing made by people from the past, such as tools, 

containers, clothing, etc. 

clues – a fact or thing that helps to solve a puzzle or mystery 

community – a group of people living together and having 

similar interests and work 

culture – the ideas, skills, arts, tools, and way of life of a certain 

people in a certain time 

detective – a person, usually on a police force, whose work is 

trying to solve crimes, or getting secret information 

frontier – the part of a settled country that lies next to a region 

that is still a wilderness 

immigrant – a person who comes into a foreign country to make 

a new home 

Industrial Revolution – the changes in home life, work, and 

society that came about as things that had been made by hand, 

often at home, were made instead by machines, usually in 

factories 

technology – study of industrial arts and applied sciences; 

engineering and mechanics 

Victorian – ideas, customs, and styles of the time of Queen 

Victoria, popular British monarch from 1837-1901 

Safety Tips

Park rangers 

are here to 

protect you 

and keep you 

safe. If you 

need help, 

please contact a 

ranger. 

Multiple and 

uneven steps, 

and stone and 

carpeted floors 

are found 

throughout the 

Old 

Courthouse. 

Walk carefully! 

 Museum artifacts and exhibits are fragile. 

 Remain in our group at all times. We are responsible for our behavior. 

 Soft drinks, candy, gum or any other foods, including lunches are not 

allowed. 

 Refrain from running, using loud voices or pushing. 
History Mystery Game TAG 

10 

On the Bus

Now that you’ve visited a national park and learned its story, sing 

the following song on the bus ride back to school. 

Learn More

Visit real national 

parks on the 

Internet. 

http://www.nps.gov

(copy) 

 This Park Is Your Park

 (Sing to the tune of “This Land Is Your Land”)

First Verse and Refrain: This land is your land, this land is my land, 

From the redwood forests, to the Virgin Islands, 

From the Cape Cod Seashore, to the Great Lakes waters, 

These parks are here for us today. 

As I was traveling, the nation’s highways, 

I saw before me, its parks and byways, 

With great wide meadows, and snow capped mountains, 

These parks are here for you today. 

These parks are special, make a great vacation, 

Each tells a story, of our great nation, 

If we want to keep them, we must protect them, 

These parks belong to you and me. 

Mission Accomplished 
National Park Service 2004 

11 

At School

Using the following activity, have students create mini-national 

parks. 

Working in pairs, have students create mini-national parks in a specified outdoor 

area. Give each pair a hand lens, clipboard, paper, pencil, and 6 Popsicle sticks. 

Assign each pair to a small area outside. Moving about their national park on hands 

and knees and using the hand lens, students should identify scenic or historic 

resources of their park. 

For example, a hole might be a canyon, a rock

might be a mountain, a grassy area might be a

battlefield, and a piece of bark might be a visitors

center or museum.

The Popsicle sticks can be used to mark trails or scenic spots. After students have 

designed their parks, they should make a brochure, including a map advertising their 

park. Once the parks are ready for business, one student from each pair remains in 

the park as a “ranger” to interpret it, while the other student goes to visit the other 

parks. Students may then switch, so that every student visits at least one other 

national park. (If weather prohibits work outdoors, have students work indoors 

making models or dioramas of an imaginary park.) 

Critical Thinking:

 What is your park’s mission?

 Did you have problems getting visitors to come to your park?

 Were visitors always careful with the park’s resources?

 Did you have too many visitors?

 What would you change?

 What problems occurred?

 How would you raise money to improve your park’s facilities?
History Mystery Game TAG 

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Mystery

Characters

Baker 

Blow 

Chouteau 

Clamorgan 

Cupples 

Dickson 

Joplin 

Eads 

Laclede 

Lindbergh 

Lisa 

Meachum 

Malone 

Mullanphy 

Russell 

Shaw 

Turner 

During the History Mystery game, you analyzed objects, clothing, 

and photographs that are clues to St. Louis history. Much of St. 

Louis’ past still “lives” in street names, historic sites, buildings, 

parks, and schools. Continue to play “history” detective by 

examining street maps, visiting cemeteries and interviewing 

people to piece together the mystery of St. Louis history. Look 

for the Mystery Characters listed to the left. 

It took a great deal of character for 14-year old Auguste Chouteau 

to build the city of St. Louis. Positive character traits are 

important to be a productive and responsible citizen. 

Learn More

In his stories, Mark Twain captured a variety of characters, both 

positive and negative. Have students read “Pudd’nhead Wilson” 

and analyze the positive and negative traits of its characters. 

Using the chart on the next page, review the important 

people from the History Mystery Game and analyze their 

character traits. 

Critical Thinking

 What can you learn from them?

 What character traits will you need to be a

productive and responsible citizen?

 What is your personal mission in life?

Mystery Characters 
National Park Service 2004 

(copy) 13 

Character Analysis

TRAITS

Cooperation

Honesty

Respect

Responsibility

Self Control

Service

NAME OF

CHARACTER

Auguste Chouteau

Pierre Laclede

 James Eads

Theodore Roosevelt

George Dorris

Charles Lindbergh

Edgar Allan Poe

Allan Pinkerton

Mark Twain

Park Rangers

Your Teacher

You

Perseverance
History Mystery Game TAG 

14 

 History, Mysteries, and Detectives—Agency Mission Cards

 Dupin’s Detectives

C. Auguste Dupin was the brilliant detective in “The Murders in the Rue Morgue”, 

which was written by Edgar Allan Poe in 1841. Detective Dupin used hair samples to 

solve the case. With this story, “The Mystery of Marie Roget”, and “The Purloined 

Letter”, Poe became the father of modern mystery and detective fiction. Poe was one 

of America’s greatest poets, short story writers, editors, and critics. His work is 

characterized by strange, bizarre, and tragic tales of terror that sometimes mirrored 

his own life. He was born in Boston in 1809 and died a mysterious death in 1849. His 

home in Philadelphia is a national park site. Its mission is to preserve the life and 

work of this gifted American author. As a Dupin Detective, your mission is to look 

closely and solve the clues that will reveal the Mystery of St. Louis history. 

 Pinkerton’s National Detective Agency

In 1840 Allan Pinkerton established one of the first detective agencies in the United 

States. In 1861 Pinkerton guarded Abraham Lincoln as he journeyed from Springfield, IL to Washington, DC to be inaugurated as President. “The Pinks” also pursued 

several Western gangs, including the James and Younger gangs, and the Wild Bunch, 

including Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid. “The Pinks” received the reputation 

of chasing criminals from one end of America to the other. In 1856 Pinkerton’s 

National Detective Agency hired the first female detective, Kate Warne, and by 1860 

she headed the Female Detective Bureau. This was revolutionary, since women were 

not allowed to join police departments until 1891 and could not become investigators 

until 1903. Another innovation was their collection of “mug shots”. By 1870 

Pinkerton had the largest photo collection of criminals in the world. The Pinkerton’s 

National Detective Agency still exists today. As one of the “Pinks”, your mission is to 

never sleep until you’ve solved all the cases of St. Louis history. 

(copy/cut) 

Appendix 
National Park Service 2004 

15 

(copy/cut) 

David Wilson was the bumbling, yet brilliant detective in “Pudd’nhead Wilson” 

which was written in 1894 by Mark Twain. People thought Wilson was a rather 

odd character, because he took everyone’s “fingermarks”. In an exciting 

courtroom scene, Wilson used these fingerprints to identify the murderer and 

everyone thought he was a genius. In 1896, Twain was living in Europe and saw 

the long lines at the bookstores for Sherlock Holmes stories. Twain wrote “Tom 

Sawyer, Detective” following the style of Holmes and Watson. This very short 

story (78 pages) is an exciting adventure story involving diamond thieves, 

murder, a disguised villain, missing corpses, hidden treasures, and Tom Sawyer 

and Huck Finn as Holmes and Watson. As a Mark Twain Detective, your 

mission is to solve the History Mystery clues without leaving any “fingermarks” 

or disturbing any evidence. 

 Mark Twain Detectives

Arrowhead Activity

The sequoia tree and bison represent vegetation and wildlife; the 

mountains and water represent scenic and recreational values, and 

the arrowhead represents historical and archeological values. The 

mission of the National Park Service is to preserve and protect 

America’s scenic, natural, historic and cultural treasures for future 

generations. 
Listening to the Past LAG 

16 

Language Arts

Using one or more characters from St. Louis history, have students write a 

short story. Have students read one of the detective stories from Poe or Twain and 

write their own mystery. Using the trial scenes in “Pudd’nhead Wilson” and “Tom 

Sawyer, Detective” have students write and role-play a trial reenactment. 

Math

Solving math problems is a lot like solving a mystery. Have students create 

mystery math games and play them with another class. 

Science

Poe’s story, “The Murders In The Rue Morgue” involves an animal called 

an “Ourang-outang.” Have students research this animal and write a mystery 

centering on another unusual animal. Poe used hair samples to solve the mystery. 

Using newspapers, have students find articles about cases involving evidence such 

as, hair, blood, and DNA and write a mystery story based on it. Twain’s story, 

“Pudd’nhead Wilson” used “fingermarks” to solve the case. Have students take each 

other’s fingerprints using water-based paint on paper or using lip balm on glass. 

Have students analyze and try to identify their classmates using these prints. 

Art

Police artists are often used to compose a sketch from clues given by a 

witness. Have students pretend to be police artists and sketch characters learned 

from the History Mystery Game. A St. Louis born artist, Charles M. Russell 

sketched and painted daily life of the nineteenth century west. Have students 

examine his work for clues and interpret the past. Using Russell as an example, have 

students sketch a scene of daily life today. 

Music

St. Louis has a rich musical history. Have students listen to Scott Joplin, 

W.C. Handy or other musicians and write a song about an important character in 

St. Louis history. 

Extensions 
For information on the cost of the 

Jefferson National Expansion 

Memorial patch, phone 

The Museum Store at: (314) 231- 

5474 or (800) 537-7962 

Now that your students are experienced “history detectives”, use the following 

resources to learn more about the Old Courthouse, St. Louis history, Westward 

Expansion, and national parks. 

Internet

Jefferson National Expansion Memorial 

www.nps.gov/jeff

National Park Service 

www.nps.gov

Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site 

Sagamore Hill National Historic Site 

Theodore Roosevelt National Park 

White House 

Videotapes

These films are loaned at no charge by calling our reservationist at 

(314) 655-1700: 

Charles Russell—An American Artist (grades 4-12) 

Conviction of the Heart/The Challenge of Yellowstone (grades K-12) 

Gateway to the West (grades 4-12) 

A Monumental Story: The Gateway Arch & Old Courthouse (grades K-4) 

Touring the Gateway Arch (grades 5-12) 

Additional Resources 

17 
Visit the Gateway Arch, Museum of Westward Expansion and

Old Courthouse on the Internet: http://www.nps.gov/jeff

Visit the National Park Service at:

http://www.nps.gov

Help conserve our natural resources!

If you have no further need for this booklet,

please return it to the Park Ranger at the Information Desk

 so another scout group can use it.

Thank you!

Jefferson National Expansion Memorial

11 North 4th Street

St. Louis, MO 63102

National Park Service

U.S. Department of the Interior