Last weekend my family and I traveled to Three Island Crossing State Park in Glenns Ferry, Idaho for the Three Island Crossing re-enactment and celebration. We have had a love for all things Oregon Trail related since we traveled the trail ourselves back in 2009 (you can see our adventures here), so this re-enactment was something we were all looking forward to. The girls even created special outfits for the trip. Unfortunately, at the last minute the officials deemed the river levels too high for safe crossing and cancelled the re-enactment. We decided to still head out there for the festivities anyways.
We all enjoyed walking the trails the pioneers did and taking it all in but the weather was excruciatingly hot. Our children were having quite a hard time with it (one in particular was just having quite the rough week) which took away their enthusiasm for the history and beauty we were witnessing. It made me think of the pioneer families who suffered through it before me. I wonder how they handled the heat exhaustion and the meltdowns. We stayed only a few hours and then decided that if we really wanted to discover all the bits of history there, it would be better for all involved if we came back in the early autumn. At least now we have something more to look forward to!
On a related note, I thought I would share some of our favorite Oregon Trail/Pioneer books with all of you. We spent the week before the trip re-reading them all.
Younger children:
Apples to Oregon
Papa and the Pioneer Quilt
Prairie Day
Best Friends
Non-Fiction:
If You Traveled West In A Covered Wagon
The Oregon Trail
Lewis and Clark
Laura Ingalls Wilder An Author's Story
Chapter books:
Bound for Oregon
The American Girl Kirsten series
Oregon Trail Diary of Hattie Campbell (Dear America series)
The Little House books
I should add that these chapter books were fast reads (aka a bit too easy) for K but just right for C.
I also picked up Reading, Writing and Riding Along the Oregon-California Trails to add to our collection while at the museum gift shop. I am looking forward to using it with the girls in the coming weeks. Do any of your have Oregon Trail related children's books you love that I didn't mention? I would especially love to know of any for K's age range that might be more at her reading level.
