Part Sixteen—Blazing the Trail to Zion 1996-1997

Our pioneer year followed the revolutionary war school year, which was perfect for timeline history. This school year we crossed the plains and learned about the things we encountered on the trail, like the weather, plants, and animals.

I don't remember writing a lot of this theme, though I do remember getting together with Karen and Cynthy to help put it together.

1997 just happened to be the sesquicentennial of the pioneers entering the Salt Lake Valley so we celebrated with the whole church. There were lots of pioneer things happening during all of 1997.

Our curriculum consisted of five components, with the first one being a shorter intro:

Truth Restored: The Restoration of the Gospel and the Establishment of Zion

Westward Ho The Wagons: Preparation for the trek west

Treasures on the Trail: animals and plants

Storm Troopers: weather

Iron Will: plains, mountains

Karen drew our year mind map and I painted this one for our family:

(I always liked watching Karen draw and/or paint the mind maps for the year,

and I painted mine a lot like hers!)

COVERED WAGON
One of my favorite things from that year was having our own covered wagon.  My parents were staying at our home at the time and my father put most of the wagon together after I designed it. We made it to fit comfortably inside our family room: 5 feet wide by 7 &1/2 feet long.

The wagon's box was four wood planks joined together to make a wagon box with no bottom. It had u-shaped hardware on the inside of the box to hold the 14 foot lengths of PVC pipe which formed the ribs. I sewed two old, king-size sheets together for the canvas covering, and encased cording at each end to close the wagon up. 

We moved our family room couch into our living room and put the wagon in the family room.  I never did get a photo of the entire thing! 

Chase--all snuggled up in the wagon in the family room.

Giselle and Autumn Heather were little that year--one, and three and half years old--and they loved being inside the wagon. We put pillows and blankets inside the wagon and they sometimes took naps in there. It was very spacious and fun to sit in.

I got a lot of use out of that wagon through the years. 

We used it at a Primary activity early in 1997:

That wagon was eventually taken apart and I think the boards were used as shelves in Hal IV's room (Is that right Hal IV?) 

In 2005 Autumn Heather put a similar wagon together during our American Girl school year, using the boards from our old water bed and the same wagon cover from 1996.   

We set that wagon up at the San Bernardino County Fair that year and a few years afterwards when Giselle and I helped at the Southern California Pioneer interactive exhibit.

May 2005.  It was windy that day so our wagon looks worse for the wear:

WRITING
We did a lot of writing this year--it's the thing I remember most vividly. Many times we would sit in the wagon to go over a creative writing assignment, then split up to write for a designated time period, after which we would meet back inside the wagon to share our writings. 


SONGS, HYMNS, SCRIPTURES
This is the year we began memorizing hymns and scriptures and poems in earnest. Karen, Cynthy and I didn't write a song for this school year, but I took the hymn We Will Sing of Zion and it became our song for the year:  

We Will Sing of Zion

We will sing of Zion,

Kingdom of our God.

Zion is the pure in heart,

Those who seek the Savior's part.

Zion soon in all the world

Will rise to meet her God.

Thru the revelations

Giv'n by God to men,

Heaven's truth is placed on earth;

Prophets teach its pow'r and worth.

Zion readies us to see

The Savior come again.

When the Saints of Zion

Keep his law in truth,

Hate and war and strife will cease;

Men will live in love and peace.

Heav'nly Zion, come once more

And cover all the earth.

Text and music: Merrill Bradshaw

We learned the American sign language for this song and sang it frequently. We also sang many other pioneer songs like, The Oxcart, and The Handcart--"for some must push and some must pull."  

OUR PIONEER TRAIL SCENE

We moved the china cabinet from the dining room to our bedroom and kept it there for many years so that we could do things like this:

We put up this scene on our dining room wall a few months after our school year started. During literature time the kids made buffalo and other things to add to the scene.

 

COSTUMES
The girls had pioneer dresses, but the boys wanted to be mountain men or Indians.

Hal and Chase wore their costumes for Halloween that year:

  

Giselle, dressed by her one of her sisters, in her dress, with a wig and bonnet:

Autumn Heather in her dress. (Chase is on his bike in one of the mouse costumes):

Amber and Jasmyn sewed their outfits before a pioneer trek (more about that below):

 

FIELD TRIPS

--San Bernardino County Museum
The museum had a large room with covered wagons and large displays about the Mormon pioneers who settled San Bernardino. 

Amber, Sadie Kindrick, Jasmyn, Liz and Deborah Allred.  

--Riley's farm

We took a pioneer tour with some other families.

Hal IV, Will Kindrick,

Amy Boyer, and possibly her brother

Amber, Amanda Kindrick

--Coloma, California

During a trip to Sacramento we visited Sutters' Mill where some members of the Mormon Battalion helped in the discovery of gold. 

PIONEER TREK

In the spring of that school year I helped plan a pioneer trek for our ward Young Women and Young Men. I got special permission for Karen's daughter, Sadie, to come on our trek and play the violin for a square dance. We followed part of a trail which was traveled by some of the Mormon Battalion who marched through Southern California.

Jasmyn, Amber, and Sadie.  

Hal was the bishop and I was the Young Women's president at the time

--he stayed home with the younger kids and I went on the trail with Amber and Jasmyn.

Hal gave a little sermon just before we set out

on our trek of pulling handcarts for three days and two nights.

My parents were here at the time and they took care of things at home, plus helped us on the trek too. They baked wheat bread and brought it and other fresh food to us on the trail.

Crossing the Mojave River. It was pretty deep that year.

PIONEER BOOKLET

I put together and printed a booklet of some of the things the three older children wrote that year.

The booklet was filled with an edition of a pioneer newsletter, short research projects of animals and plants, and pioneer stories & poems, like this:.

by Amber, 14 years:

 

 by Jasmyn, 12 years:



by Hal IV, 9-10 years:

The church membership celebrated the pioneers crossing the plains that year and so did we. My parents both descend from pioneer ancestors, and I was glad to teach my children of their noble heritage. 

In the spring we moved our covered wagon outside,

where the kids continued to Blaze the Trail to Zion!