life in the utah territory
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Life in the Utah Territory. Settlement, Pony Express, the Telegraph, & the Railroad. Objective for Unit & Lesson:. Unit Objective: Students will understand the political and social development of Utah in the late 19 th century. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Life in the Utah TerritorySettlement, Pony Express, the Telegraph, & the Railroad
Objective for Unit & Lesson:
Unit Objective: Students will understand the political and social development of Utah in the late 19th century.
Lesson Objective: Students will evaluate what life was like in the Utah Territory and understand keys aspects of the Pony Express, Telegraph, and the Railroad.
Life in the Utah Territory Main occupation of Utahns: farming
& agriculture Crops grown: wheat, corn, oats,
potatoes, peas, and beans Many in St. George grew cotton so
the people could make their own clothes
Many raised animals: cows, pigs, sheep, and chickens
Homes were very basic when people first settled: log cabins. Roofs were made of tree limbs, brush, & mud
Schools in the Territory
First schools in Utah were LDS Church schools. They were taught:
Reading Writing Arithmetic Bible & Book of Mormon
People had to pay for their children to attend school so many did not get to attend because working on the farm was more important
Brigham Young Brigham Young:
First territorial Governor Organized the territorial government, selected location of capital city, worked with
federal government, started new towns all over the territory, and organized the immigration of thousands of new people
Also the main leader of the Mormon Church
Division between Church & State was not particularly strong early on in the territory (in other words: government leaders & religious leaders were the same people)
This situation created tension in Utah between those who were Mormon and non-Mormons Mormons felt that the federal government’s influence to remove their religious
leaders from political office was unfair Non-Mormons felt that they had no voice in Utah and were discriminated in the
territory
Because of all these issues, Brigham Young was removed from governor office in 1857
Other Facts Sleep Tight! Don’t let the Bed Bugs
Bite! Many slept on rope beds so “sleep
tight” meant that the ropes on your bed were tight so you would be cozy & comfortable
Pioneer Day Celebration of the arrival of the first
pioneers into the Great Basin on July 24th, 1847.
First Newspaper First newspaper published in Utah
Territory was the Deseret News in 1850
Newspaper represented that Salt Lake City was now a functioning “city” with it’s own newspaper
Printed once a week The Union Vedette and the Salt Lake
Tribune were later started and offered a different views than the Deseret News.
Other Religions Though Utah was predominantly Mormon,
other religious groups came to Utah as well. Including the Baptists, Methodists, Jews, and Catholics.
“ The most important name in Utah Catholic history was Reverend Lawrence Scanlan. He traveled on foot and horseback to the larger towns and small mining camps of the state. Along with the Sisters of the Holy Cross, Father Scanlan organized mission schools, hospitals, churches, and later the completion of the Cathedral of the Madeleine in Salt Lake City.” – Utah History Textbook
Pony Express Their Goal: carry mail from
Missouri to California in only 10 days.
Station posts along the way, about every 10 miles. At each station, the rider would mount a fresh horse. After changing horses 8 times, the mail was given to a new rider.
Cost $3.00 to send a letter
You would be a good Pony Express Rider if you…
Weighed less than 125 pounds Were honest Were an orphan (no parents) Under 18 years of age Were a good shot (shooting
guns) Were a hard worker And were brave & daring
Primary Source: Pony Express Rider
Read Buffalo Bill Cody’s account of being a Pony Express Rider and answer the questions.
If you had the chance, would you have wanted to be a Pony Express Rider?
What were some of the difficulties involved with being a Pony Express Rider?
Pretend you are a Pony Express Rider- write a letter “home” telling your family what your life is like:
Telegraph Pony Express only ran from April 1860 to October 1861 Why? Telegraph companies finished stringing telegraph wires
across the country in 1861. The telegraph could send messages across the nation in only a
few seconds. Important telegraphs that were transmitted to Utahns:
News of the Civil War (1861-1865) Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
How did it work? “ A device that uses electrical pulses to transmit coded messages through a wire to a receiver, where the message is then decoded.” Most famous code: Morse Code
Video clip
Telegraph Video
Watch the 4 minute video clip about the two men who helped create the telegraph and Morse code.
How did Alfred Vail create the telegraph? What letter was the most common in the English
language and therefore got the shortest signal? How did Samuel Morse get credit for the invention
of the telegraph?
Railroad Trains first started in: 1811 by John
Blenkinsop. He designed the first successful and practical locomotive in England
Railroad era in the United States started in 1830 when the first USA train, “Tom Thumb” went from Baltimore to Ohio
1862: President Abraham Lincoln signed the Pacific Railway Act which authorized the construction of the first transcontinental railroad.
Transcontinental Railroad Transcontinental: an item that extends across a continent Construction took 6 years: from 1863 to 1869 Two companies contracted to build the railroad: Union Pacific
Railroad & Central Pacific Railroad Union Pacific started in Omaha, Nebraska Central Pacific started in Sacramento, California http://up150.com/timeline May 10th 1869: Transcontinental Railroad joins in Utah at Promontory
Point Golden Spike Ceremony
Story of California Governor missing the spike
Movie clip
Union Pacific Railroa
d
Central Pacific Railroa
d
Promontory Point
How did the railroad impact Utah?
3 ways the Railroad impacted Utah: Pioneer Era Over- no longer have to travel months &
months across the country in covered wagons. Same distance could be done in DAYS on the train.
Change in Utah culture & dynamics: Many immigrants came & STAID in Utah after working on the railroad Chinese Irish
Utah now connected to the rest of the nation Helps lead to future statehood
Book
“Coolies” by Yin Chris Soentpiet As you listen, pay attention to what it was like
to be a railroad worker. What discrimination did Shek & Wong as
Chinese workers face?
Newspaper Headline
Pretend you are a journalist for the Deseret News in 1869. Write a headline and article (7 sentences) about the transcontinental railroad and the exciting Golden Spike Ceremony connecting the East & West here in Utah.
Mention at least one impact of the railroad on Utah in your article
Be creative and use your best penmanship