Wagons offers a detailed description of the farm wagons that most emigrants used for the westward journey. Congestion describes the traffic jams that delayed the start of the pioneers' journeys. Power explains why emigrants chose mules or oxen to pull their wagons. Hardships describes some of the physical risks of the journey, such as fatigue, accidents, storms, disease, and dangerous river crossings. Camping documents the daily routine of trail life.
Buffalo describes the emigrants' encounters with herds of buffalo along the Trail.
Native Americans recounts both friendly and unfriendly meetings with Native Americans. Each of these sections also includes photographs that can be shared with the class. For first-hand accounts of the experiences of some of the pioneers who traveled the Oregon Trail, visit the Trail Archive section of the Oregon Trail website to access a selection of diaries, letters, and memoirs. Segments from Harriet Scott Palmer's memoir and Catherine Sager Pringle's diary are likely to be particularly fascinating to young children. As you read the excerpts together, you may ask students to note the similarities and differences in these first-hand accounts.