Discovery Trails
Program Discovery Trails 2009 Brochure
The Donner Party and the Mormon Pioneers June 6, High Noon: Gathering and orientation: eighteen teens and as many adult companions gather at Kansas State School for the Blind for orientation and gear check; supply truck is loaded with tents, gear, food, stoves, arts supplies, coolers; each teen is assigned a specific pioneer from the 1846 migration to “keep track of”. All begin their personal journals of the journey. June 7 Kansas City to Alcove Spring, KS: The physical Trail is investigated at several sites on the way to Alcove Spring. After exploring the Spring, activities focus on setting up tents and organizing camp. First campfire introduces the Donner and Reed families. June 8 Alcove Spring to Rock Creek Station, NE: Readings in the vans introduce the earliest Trail travelers, trappers and explorers, Whitmans and other missionaries, and Bidwell-Bartleson. At Rock Creek, a blacksmith will engage the teens in working some hot iron. The Campfire will continue the Donner story. June 9 Rock Creek to Kearney, NE: Introduction to the story of the Mormon Pioneers, connections with the Boggs family traveling with the Donner Party train. Evening activities with the Mormon Pioneer Wagon Train at Gibbon NE. Campsite at Ft Kearney State Park. June 11 Ash Hollow to Chimney Rock, NE: Major activity is climbing Chimney Rock. Camp at Bayard. June 12 Bayard to Ft. Laramie: Brief stop at Scotts Bluff NHS. Readings concern the gradual destruction of native American ways caused by the pioneering migration; focus on the first plains treaty at Horse Creek and visit the site. Afternoon and overnight camp at Ft. Laramie. Campfire activities include a reconciliation ceremony designed by the teens recognizing the injustices to Indians . June 14 Independence Rock to South Pass: our focus is the drama of the Donner Party’s decision to follow the Hastings short cut. Camp at the Donner camp on Little Sandy River just west of South Pass. June 15 Morning, ford a wagon through the Little Sandy River. Stop at Ft. Bridger. Camp at State Park at Evanston WY. June 16 Morning arrival at Dixon Ford’s place with oxen, sheep, many pioneering activities near the mouth of the Weber River. Evening pioneer dance with local teens. June 17 Morning making flutes and leather vests at Pioneer Crafts House, Salt Lake City. Afternoon four mile hike of Big Mountain. Return to Dixon’s for the night. June 18 Day on Great Salt Desert, marking the trail with carsonite and with GPS technologies. Last camp at Iosepha in the desert, where some may wish to sleep under the stars like the Donners did on the desert. Last campfire, commemorating the members of the Donner Party name by name. June 19 Salt Lake City to Denver via I-80: during this long drive homeward, teens and adults stay focused by holding a mock trial of Jim Bridger and Lansford Hastings for their roles in deceiving the Donner Party. Camp overnight in a school gym in Denver. June 20 Denver to Kansas City via I-70: one day’s drive, with lunch stop. Activities in the vans emphasize skills for sharing stories with family and friends. Arrival at Kansas State School for the Blind about 8 pm. The Discovery Trails Program is an award - winning adventure in history - Experienced, interpreted, and shared through the arts Designed for teens who are blind or visually impaired, the Program engages the teens in summer camping along the westering Trails, followed by a fall weekend of artistic explorations of Trail themes, which in turn the teens take into elementary school classrooms where they teach about trail times. As many as eighteen teens, ages 14-20, and a comparable number of adult companions, will set out from Kansas City on June 6, 2009. Each day is filled with the activities, challenges and social tensions that journals tell us occupied the pioneers of 1846. Each evening we will set up our tents in places known to have been wagon train camps and reenact around our campfires the tensions, dissentions, and decisions that proved so fateful for the Donner Party. Our goal is to introduce the teens to trail history through physical activity, imaginative reenactment, and accurate first-person stories. The cultural arts are valuable tools: the music, dance and songs of the era; the drama of historical characters amid high adventure; the hand-crafts and ritual artifacts of cultures—all help our wagon train of teens and adults appreciate how pioneering travelers once lived. When the teens return to their families and friends, they carry with them the stories of the Trail, enthusiasm for the geography and adventures along the way, and confidence that their experiences are valuable and intrinsically interesting, worth sharing with others. With the support and continued direction of the trail staff, the teens carry their enthusiasm for the Trail beyond family and friends to classrooms of children and to gatherings of adults, especially Lions Clubs and senior centers. One middle school and possibly one elementary school in the Greater Kansas City area will host the teaching trail teens, who will work in collaboration with the classroom teachers to devise appropriate and effective lessons for the younger children. |