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San Juan Skyway
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Lesson Plan: Follow the Road to Riches
Standards-Based Themes: Geography, History, and Reading and Writing
By Sandra Stokely, Ellis Elementary School, Denver Public Schools
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Overview
In this lesson, students will
learn the story of gold and silver mining in the San Juan region.
Through the use of interactive video, they will examine the various
events occurring at this time. They will create a timeline in order
to facilitate thinking about this region during the mining period.
They will predict, using cause and effect, and write a paragraph
stating how these events affected the history and development of
the San Juan region. |
Video
America’s Byways, San
Juan Skyway
Learning Objectives
Students will be able to:
1. Use a timeline
2. Use predicting skills
3. Identify cause-and-effect relationships
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Colorado Model Content Standards Addressed
Geography Standard 2
Students know the physical and human characteristics of places and use this knowledge to define and study regions and their patterns of change.
Geography Standard 5
Students understand the effects of interactions between human and physical systems and the changes in meaning, use, distribution and importance of resources.
History Standard 1
Students understand the chronological organization of history and know how to organize events and people into major eras to identify and explain historical relationships.
History Standard 4
Students understand how science, technology and economic activity have developed, changed, and affected societies throughout history.
Reading and Writing Standard 4
Students apply thinking skills to their reading, writing, speaking, listening and viewing. |
Materials for the Teacher
- San Juan Skyway video
- Chart paper
- Markers
- Reference books
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| Materials for Each Student
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Pre-Viewing Focus
- Ask students to brainstorm some significant events in the history of Colorado. List the responses on chart paper.
- Have students focus on the era of gold and silver mining in Colorado. Ask them to name some of the towns and cities that might have been part of this historical era.
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| Focus for Viewing
Before viewing the video segment, tell students that they are going to check their predictions and learn more about the era of gold and silver mining by watching a video. To give students a specific responsibility for viewing, have them listen for the names of three cities that were very important during this time in history. |
| Viewing Activities
Pass out paper for note taking and start the video about two minutes into the tape where the scene is of the highway in autumn and the narrator is saying, “Fantastic dreams were just a scoop of the shovel away.” PLAY the video as it shows black and white pictures from historical archives. The pictures show miners and the towns of Durango, Silverton and Ouray. PAUSE the tape and ask students to tell you the names of the three cities. Give students time to write the names of these three cities on their paper.
Ask students to draw a line across the middle of their papers.
Explain that this line will become a timeline of the changes in
this region from the 1860s to the 1880s. Have the students put
1860 an the left side of the line and 1884 on the right side of
the line. REWIND the video to the first black and white
picture of the miners where the narrator says, “By the 1870s
the word is out” and PAUSE. Have students look at
the miners and comment on the picture. Have them note that all
the miners are men. They should place 1870 on their timelines
with a caption such as “gold and silver discovered, miners
all men.” RESUME the video tape and continue to PAUSE
and discuss observations of the black and white pictures. There
are four of them: the miner and his mules; and the pictures of
Durango, Silverton and Ouray. Students should be guided to see
that the coming of the miners led to the appearance of stores,
attorney’s offices, equipment suppliers (pick axes, wheelbarrows),
and neatly planned streets with homes.
Changes have come to the region. The miners attracted a support system of bankers, lawyers, and other suppliers of goods and services. Eventually, their families arrived to live in the houses.
Have the students predict what other changes may occur now that this mountainous area is crowded with miners .
RESUME the video to check their predictions and watch the story of Otto Mears and his toll roads. As a specific reason for viewing, ask students to listen for the reasons why Mears built his toll roads. PAUSE when you see the modern-day vehicle traveling the highway and the narrator says “Today we drive on the same road.” Discuss some of the reasons why Otto Mears built this toll road. The miners needed a way to get their precious metals back to the towns. Many men were mining to get rich. Ask students how Mears made his money. Remind students that for Mears, “transportation, not mining, will be his road to riches.” Discuss how other people made money who were not miners.
Have students put 1884 on their timelines with the caption “Otto
Mears toll roads finished.” REWIND the video to near
the beginning of the Mears segment where Barbara L. Muntyan, of
the Ouray County Museum, is standing in front of the San Juans
saying, “Only a few Indian hunting trails existed up until
this time.” Ask students to guess which Native Americans
made these hunting trails. Prior knowledge of Colorado history
might yield the correct answer: the Utes. Have them put 1874 on
their timelines with the caption “Mears begins toll roads.”
To check their predictions, FAST FORWARD the video to the black and white picture of the Ute Indians where the narrator says, “The rush of the miners brings tumultuous and catastrophic change.” PAUSE and ask the students to predict what changes the discovery of gold and silver may bring to the Native Americans in this region. What do they think will happen to the Utes? RESUME the video and PAUSE where David Smith, the historian, is sitting on a rock and says, “Once there was gold and silver discovered in this area, the destiny of the Utes was decided. They were going to be moved out of this area.”
FAST FORWARD to the map showing the 1868 treaty. PAUSE
and ask the students to interpret the information shown (1/3 of
Colorado is given to the Utes for a reservation). Have students
correctly place this information on their timelines. Ask students
for their predictions. Will this Ute reservation be permanent?
FAST FORWARD to where David Smith is saying, “At the end of the 1870s, The Utes were nothing but savages to be pushed out of the way. That's what the whites thought. They were waiting for an event to occur to get the Utes out.”
FAST FORWARD to the picture of Nathan Meeker and PAUSE.
Tell students that the Utes who were being oppressed by this Indian
agent killed him in 1879. Have them document this in their timelines
as the "Meeker Massacre."
FAST FORWARD to the sunset scene and have students listen
to the narrator as he says, “In 1881 the Utes were banished
from Colorado forever.” STOP the video. Have students
put the year 1881 in their timelines with the caption, “Utes
banished to Utah.”
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Post-Viewing Activities
- Review the timelines to check
for accuracy. Answer any questions or allow time for discussion.
Students will see from their timelines that the short period
of time from 1868-1884 brought major changes to this region
of Colorado. Because of the discovery of precious metals in
the area, the mining towns of Durango, Silverton and Ouray developed.
A system of transportation was created, and the Ute Indians
were moved to Utah. They may recall that this era is also a
time of great change in the entire state because of the gold
rush.
- Have students discuss which of these events was the most important and why. Pass out the worksheet entitled “The San Juan Gold Rush.” Give students the prompt. Answer any questions. Allow time for completion.
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| Resources
Abbott, Carl. Colorado: A History of the Centennial State.
Bancroft, Caroline. Colorado's Lost Mines and Buried Treasure.
Brown, Robert L. The Great Pikes Peak Gold Rush.
Blumberg, Rhoda. The American Gold Rush.
Feitz, Leland. A Pictorial History of Cripple Creek.
Downey, Matthew T. and Metcalf, Fay D. Colorado: Crossroads of the West.
Frandsen, Maude L. Our Colorado.
Friggens, Myrium. Tales, Trails and Tommyknockers.
Jende-Hagan ed. The Colorado Chronicles, Volume 6: Businesses.
Kent, Deborah. America the Beautiful: Colorado.
Ketchum, Liza. The Gold Rush.
Levine, Brian. Cripple Creek: City of Influence.
Nicholls, Maureen. Gold Pan Mining Company.
Smith, Duane. Colorado Mining.
Southworth, Dave. Colorado Gold Dust.
Sprague, Marshall. Money Mountain.
Thompson, Kathleen. Portrait of America: Colorado.
Ubbelohde, Carl, Benson, Maxine and Smith, Duane A. A Colorado History.
Wolle, Muriel S. Stampede to Timberline. |
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