Last updated: December 18, 2024
Lesson Plan
William's Wheel of Fortune Lesson Plan
How did the fur trade of the 1830s and 1840s lead to the decline of the buffalo?
NPS/D. Ocheltree
- Grade Level:
- Upper Elementary: Third Grade through Fifth Grade
- Subject:
- Social Studies
- Lesson Duration:
- 60 Minutes
- Common Core Standards:
- 4.L.4, 4.L.4.a, 5.L.4, 5.L.4.a, 6.L.4, 6.L.6, 7.L.4, 7.L.4.a, 8.L.4, 8.L.4.a
- State Standards:
- 5th Geo.2.2.c. Describe and analyze how specific physical/political features influenced historical events, movements, and adaptation to the environment. 5th Geo.2.2.d. Analyze how cooperation/conflict among diverse groups of people contributed to division
- Additional Standards:
- Middle Life Science 2.5 Organisms and populations are dependent on their environmental interactions with other living things and with nonliving factors 2.7 Ecosystems are dynamic in nature. Disruptions to...ecosystem can lead to shifts in all populations
- Thinking Skills:
- Analyzing: Break down a concept or idea into parts and show the relationships among the parts.
Essential Question
1. Name three factors leading to the decline of buffalo populations in the early to mid 1800s.
2. How does the Bent, St. Vrain, and Company contribute to the decline of buffalo herds?
Objective
Trace how trading during the fur trade era contributed to westward expansion and the decline of bison on the plains.
Background
Intro:
Bent’s Fort began as a trading post in the southern plains on Cheyenne and Arapaho homelands during the 1830s. Although the fort began during the era of the fur trade, it did not center on beaver. The beaver fur trade had nearly ended by that time because the animal was overharvested and near extinction. The number one trade item at Bent’s Fort was the buffalo robe. People who visited Bent’s Fort were either from regional Native American tribes or were traders and merchants from the United States and Mexico traveling between Santa Fe (then Mexico) and Independence, MO along the Santa Fe Trail. At the time William Bent began managing the operation, buffalo was plentiful. Josiah Gregg who visited Bent’s Fort in 1846 wrote that the prairie was “everywhere alive with herds of buffalo.” For a time hunters didn’t have to go far to find them. Alexander Barclay, the post clerk stated, “‘Our chief dependence here is on the Buffalo for meat which are generally to be found within fifteen to thirty miles of the fort’” p. 86 Beyreis. The location of Bent’s trading post was ideal. Situated among the shortgrass prairie in the southern plains, Cheyenne and Arapaho members were close by to hunt and process the buffalo into large, warm robes to be exchanged for other useful goods like fabrics, cookware, tools, and food staples. Buffalo robes along with other trade goods were bundled and put on wagons for distribution to the northeastern U.S., Mexico, and beyond. However, just like beaver populations during the beaver fur trade, buffalo populations would soon begin to suffer on account of changes in the environmental, political, and economic landscape.
Preparation
Materials Needed:
- Photo of buffalo robe
- William’s Wheel of Fortune Narrative and Vocabulary
- William’s Wheel of Fortune Activity Page
- Bag of candy (optional)
Materials
Main text used for William's Wheel of Fortune lesson. Provides background on William Bent, his operation of Bent's Fort, and the human impact of trade on the environment and its natural resources, especially bison herds.
Download William's Wheel of Fortune Narrative and Vocabulary
Photo of buffalo robe to give visual context during lesson.
This page provides a series of facts that describe William Bent's choices as a means to evaluate the values and events of the fur trade era.
Download William's Wheel of Fortune Activity Page
Spanish version. This page provides a series of facts that describe William Bent's choices as a means to evaluate the values and events of the fur trade era.
Download La Rueda de la Fortuna de William
Lesson Hook/Preview
Activity Choice #1
Pair students to share with each other their answer to one of these prompts: What is a good idea you’ve had, but when you acted on it, you found out it had some negative consequences? Think of a food that you like, but you can't seem to get enough of it. What do you tend to do when it is available and does that cause any problems for you or others? After paired activity, relate that sometimes a decision which seems like a good one at first can have the potential to backfire later.
Activity Choice #2
Have a bag of candy and invite students to trade one pencil for one piece of candy – limited only by how many total pieces of candy. When trading has finished due to either candy or pencil supply, invite group to discuss why some were eager to trade away their pencils even though they may need them later. Ask students who weren’t able to trade a pencil for candy if they were disappointed. After activity, briefly discuss the principles of supply and demand and how the availability of some resources is limited.
Procedure
1. Read background intro aloud to group.
2. Pre-read vocabulary words and definitions.
3. Assign reading of William's Wheel of Fortune narrative and vocabulary.
4. As a whole group discuss how William Bent's decision to trade buffalo robes probably seemed like a good one at the time; afterall, the company was successful. Ask group to consider if William could have predicted that bison herds would face extinction by the 1880s. Ask group to consider his responsibility to the environment, its natural resources, and its people, especially once he began to see changes.
5. Explain to group that William Bent as the manager of Bent's Fort had many decisions to make which carried significant consequences.
6. Assign "William's Wheel of Fortune Activity Page" to examine and evaluate many of them. (There are no right or wrong answers.)
7. After completing page, place students in small groups to compare their evaluations and discuss them providing logical or historical reasoning for each one. Circulate among groups to listen to dialogue and clarify misunderstandings.
8. Summarize lesson main points.
9. Assign Exit Ticket assessment.
Vocabulary
Westward expansion – movement of mostly Anglo settlers into the western territories of the United States in order to benefit from the land and its resources
Trains of emigrants – a line of many wagons carrying people long distances
Platte and Arkansas – rivers to the north (Platte) and south (Arkansas) of Bent’s Fort
Rapidity – moving with great speed
Undermined – to lessen or restrict
Predation – the preying of one animal on another
Exacerbated – to make worse
Disproportionately – being out of proportion or a proper relation in size
Cows – in this context, a female buffalo
Curtailed – reduce or restrict
Assessment Materials
William's Wheel of Fortune Exit TicketAssessment Exit Ticket containing the two essential questions from the William's Wheel of Fortune lesson.
- Name three factors leading to the decline of buffalo populations in the early to mid 1800s.
- How does the Bent, St. Vrain, and Company contribute to the decline of buffalo herds?
Assessment Exit Ticket containing the two essential questions from the William's Wheel of Fortune lesson.
Rubric/Answer Key
Possible answers to William's Wheel of Fortune lesson Exit Ticket.
1. Name three factors leading to the decline of buffalo populations in the early to mid 1800s.
- Increased hunting of buffalo for the trade market. In particular the female buffalo were targeted because of the softness of their hide which in turn caused less buffalo to be born.
- Increased competition with other cattle and horses for the prairie grasses buffalo depended on
- Disease which spread from the draft animals and herds traveling along the Santa Fe Trail
- Environmental factors such as fire and drought interfering with the food and water supplies
- Increase of Native American populations in the region dependent on buffalo for use as food, clothing, tools, shelter, and warmth
- Emigration and trading by Anglos into western territories via the Santa Fe and Oregon trails which drove herds further from their usual migratory areas and diminished previously stable ecosystems
- BSV & Company accelerated the hunting of buffalo for profit.
- The buffalo robe trade added to the usual high numbers required by southern plains tribes.
- BSV & Company begins to put a strain on the supply of buffalo as it markets the female buffalo robe decreasing future herd numbers.
Supports for Struggling Learners
Select small groups or pairs to read narrative aloud. Read narrative to group aloud.
For Exit Ticket assessment, assign in pairs.
Enrichment Activities
Social/Emotional Enrichment:
For each statement on the activity page, determine the potential consequences and feelings of all parties involved relative to William’s decision.