Ft. Churchill and the Corridor of Communication

Download as a Word Document

AUTHOR: Larry Seth Steinberg

HISTORICAL TOPIC/ERA: Communications 1860-1869, 1920s-Date

GRADE LEVEL(S): 7

TIME REQUIRED: 2 X 53 min

INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND In the earliest days of Nevada settlement, the influx of settlers and their treatment of the Natives led to the Paiute War of 1860. Ft. Churchill is usually attributed as a protective device to prevent attacks on the early mining settlements.

But, Ft. Churchill is more than that. The post was the locus of early transportation.. the Carson River wagon routes, the Pony Express trail, the transcontinental telegraph, and the Central Overland Stage and heavy wagon route.

The siting of the first transcontinental paved highway corridor (Lincoln Highway) literally follows in the footsteps of pioneers, Paiutes, and the Pony Express

NEVADA STANDARDS:

Nevada History Standard

7.8.5 Describing the opening of the Nevada frontier including:

Communication

XP

Telegraph

Transportation

7.12.5 Describing the role of roads/routes in the settlement of the West

STUDENT LEARNING GOALS/OBJECTIVES:

Objective: By locating points along the California Trail (Carson River route), Pony Express, transcontinental telegraph, and Lincoln Highway, I will produce a map of the historic communication routes of central Nevada.

MATERIALS/SPECIAL ARRANGEMENTS:

3 Wall size mounted maps of Nevada

Handouts

Base map (blank) of northern Nevada

NDOT Map of Highways of Nevada

Excerpts from:

BLM (nd) History of the Pony Express in Nevada

Hardesty (1978) History & Archaeology of Ft. Churchill

Hulse (19 ) The Nevada Adventure

Steinberg (1981) Sandstone border marker US50 (Lander/Eureka Co, NV)

Twain (18 ) Roughing It

Wilson (1954) “Susan’s Bluff” in Pioneer Nevada

www.onlinenevada.org

See: Exploration & Transportation

Simpson & Highway 50

Carroll Station

LeBeau Graves

http://www.onlinenevada.org/media/?id=190

ACTIVITIES/STRATEGIES:

1. Students will work in groups of four, with each student being assigned a researching task. Clues to locating points along the 1) California trail, 2) XP Trail, 3) Transcontinental telegraph, and 4) Lincoln Highway will be given to

2. The teacher will facilitate the class discussion and then monitor the interactions within each student group.

3. Each student will receive a blank base map to plot the route revealed by their research.

4. Students will exchange a verbal summary and a map plot of their route.

5. On the reverse of their map, the student will write an overall summation of the routes.

EVALUATION OF STUDENT LEARNING:

Student will submit their individual maps.

The summation on the reverse should voice some indication that the routes, through time, have overlain each other… forming an on-going transportation/communication corridor.