America's Byways: Frontier Pathways


Ute family	Courtesy, Denver Public Library, Western History Department, X-30514

Frontier Pathways

Further Down the Road

Further Down the Road: Questions for the Middle School Student

What kind of relationship did the Native Americans have with the following travelers?

Each group of travelers came for a particular reason. Today we call it the “American Dream.”

How did each group define its American Dream?
How did each group redefine its American Dream when faced with the hardships and realities of living in 19th and early 20th century Colorado?

Choose a group that has more recently come to Colorado.

How do the members of that group define their American Dream?

What “artifacts” exist along the Frontier Pathways today that reflect the following cultures?

Henry David Thoreau said, “Eastward I go only by force, but Westward I go free.”

Explain how Thoreau’s words relate to those who followed the Frontier Pathways.


	HIGHLIGHTS


	Mountain men Courtesy, Sam Arnold 1842 Mountain men, trappers and traders travel to El Pueblo Trading Post to buy and sell provisions including guns, buffalo hides and food.

	Mexican immigrants Courtesy, Pueblo City-County Library District El Pueblo's adobe walls echo Spanish, English and Native American tongues—a crossroads where diverse cultures mix.

	Colfax farmers Courtesy, West Custer County Library District Collection 1870 Colfax Colony is founded in the Wet Mountain Valley by German immigrants from Chicago.

	Steel mill workers Courtesy, Rocky Mountain Steel Mills 1880 William Palmer builds first steel mill in Pueblo. Workers are recruited from Ireland, Italy and Prussia.