Frontier Women Who Helped Shape the American West

Who were the first women to cross the Rocky Mountains? Students will read about Narcissa Whitman and Eliza Spalding’s trip to the Oregon territory in 1836. They will learn about the hard life that women on the frontier faced, and about the women who rose above the many challenges of being a pioneer. Readers will be inspired by these trailblazers, including Nellie Cashman, Doctor Susan La Flesche Picotte, Mary Fields, Esther Hobart Morris, and Alice Fletcher.