In 1933 a Sioux Chief named Luther Standing Bear wrote down some of the ancient legends of his people. This one tells how the Sioux people began: “Our legends tell us that it was hundreds and perhaps thousands of years ago that the first man sprang from the soil in the great plains. The story […]

All the English colonies in America shared a tradition of representative governm nt. This means that in all of them people had a say in how they were governed. Each colony had its own government. At the head of this government was a governor, chosen in most cases by the English king. To rule efFectivclv, […]

Most of the settlers who traveled to Oregon made the journey in four-wheeled wagons. A group of these wagons traveling together was called a “wagon train.” A wagon train usually consisted of about twenty-five wagons, each with a canvas cover to protect its contents from the weather. Seen from a distance, these covers made the […]

In the year 1831 a baby boy was bom in a tepee village on the Dakota grasslands. 1 lis parents were Sioux and they named him Sitting Bull. Sitting Bull grew up to be a respected leader of his people. He did not take part in the fighting at the 1876 Battle of the Little […]

At the beginning of 1917 many Americans were still strongly against becoming involved in the First World War. To people on the Great Plains, in Texas or in California, Europe seemed very far away. European quarrels, they believed, were none of their business. Then, on March 1, 1917, newspapers all over the United States printed […]