Perspectives from the Gulches
Michelle B. Major, Darlington School, Rome, Georgia
This learning activity was created for “The Richest Hills: Mining in the Far West, 1865–1920,” sponsored by the Montana Historical Society and funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities Landmarks of American History and Culture: Workshops for Schoolteachers.
Grade Level: 8
Subject(s): English, History, Science, Economics
Unit: Cross-curricular research/writing unit allowing students to recreate the life and times of the citizens of a particular place in America’s history
Note: This lesson has been designed for Virginia City, Montana, circa 1864 but could be easily adapted to any time and place
Duration: 2 weeks
Description
Students will use primary-source documentation, photographs, newspapers, census reports, Sanborn maps, court records and narrative histories of Virginia City, Montana, to create a historically correct journal from the multiple perspectives of a typical boom-and-bust mining town of the 1860s.
Goals: Evaluate primary source documentation, re-create a valid and representative cross section of the Virginia City population, use period photographs to assess daily life patterns, infer social mores, examine prejudices common within a community, understand immigration patterns and cultural discrimination, and assess economic development through journaling about a day in the life from one perspective.
Objectives: Create a journal from multiple perspectives, with each student researching and writing from the point of view of a person who lived in Virginia City during the summer of 1864. Understand how primary-source documents allow a glimpse into the past. Evaluate information based on multiple sources that confirm assumptions and clarify what life would have been like in that place and time. Imagine that you lived there and surmise what a day in your life might have been like. Write the details of your “life” in first person narrative.
Materials
Reference:
Smith, Phyllis. Montana’s Madison County: A History (Bozeman, MT, 2006).
Montana: The Magazine of Western History, Special Gold Rush Edition (Autumn 1999)
Purple, Edwin Ruthven. Perilous Passage: A Narrative of the Montana Gold Rush, 1862–1863, Edited by Kenneth N. Owen. (Helena, MT, 1995).
Mary Ronan. Girl from the Gulches: The Story of Mary Ronan, Edited by Ellen Baumler Helena, (Helena, MT, 2003).
Holmes, Krys. Montana: Stories of the Land. (Helena, MT, 2008).
Petrik, Paula. No Step Backward; Women and Family on the Rocky Mountain Mining Frontier, Helena, Montana. (Helena, MT, 1990).
Sketch Map of Virginia City from Boot Hill, 1868, A.E. Matthews (see below)
Photograph of Virginia City, MT, from Jackson Street, looking south, no date (see below)
Panning for gold near Virginia City, Mont. Terr., by Jackson, 1871. 57-HS-909, photographs of the American West, National Archives (http://www.archives.gov/research/american-west/images/125.jpg)
Man with a rocker cradling for gold near Virginia City, Mont. Terr., by Jackson, 1871. 57-HS-910, photographs of the American West, National Archives (http://www.archives.gov/research/american-west/images/126.jpg)
Procedure
Week 1: Students will draw names of people present in Virginia City during the summer of 1864 and form working groups of three to four based on their name choices and personal preference. Each group will discuss their name and what they can guess about their age, occupation, and nationality. Research will begin using the reference books and photos first and then moving on to internet exploration of records. Students will share their findings with only their group during the first week. All information, maps, and photos will be collected and shared among group members.
Week 2: Students will begin to corroborate and cross reference their findings and brainstorm about what a day in their “life” might entail. Each student will write a journal entry about one day in the history of the town using the first-person perspective based on their research and understanding of their age, gender, occupation, and place in society. Topics to be considered and discussed within the journal will include work, hardships, fears, family, and social life.
List of possible names of Virginia City residents: Jim Sheehan, Mollie Sheehan, Ellen Sheehan, Ellen Trent, Jack Gallagher, Henry Edgar, Bill Fairweather, Peter Ronan, Timothy L. Luce, A.J. Oliver, Jacob Simpson, S.L. Simpson, James Stuart, Reece Anderson, Nat J. Davis, Fred Root, Myrtle Butler, Pearl McGinnis, Elijah Dumphey, John Reed, Frances Gilbert, Tom Smith
Assessment
Each journal entry will be graded on the following rubric.
Alder Gulch Grading Rubric
Use evidence from people, streets, shops, jobs, events, hardships and sites specific to Virginia City, Montana Territory circa 1863 – 1865
First person point of view - I, me, my… 5/_____
Authentic voice/dialect/grammar/usage 5/_____
Two entries specific to summer/winter differences 5/_____
Research materials organized/presented to class 5/_____
Specific dates aligned with historical accuracy 5/_____
10 specific facts per entry 20/_____
Narrative fiction connecting facts presented 5/_____
Total: 50/_____
What did you find most interesting about this project?
What was most difficult?
What connections did you find to history class?
Each group will present their findings to the entire class in a brief presentation.
Extension activities
National Archives Student Photograph Analysis Sheet
http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/worksheets/photoanlysisworksheet.pdf
Sketch Map of Virginia City from Boot Hill, 1868, A.E. Matthews, Montana Historical Society Research Center collection
Jackson Street, looking south, Viriginia City, Montana Territory, [no date], Photograph by Sutterley Brothers, Salt Lake City, U.T., Montana Historical Society Research Center Photograph Archives