Introduction to the Mountain Men:

Like most of our on-grounds programs, the Introduction to the Mountain Man field trip includes an engaging educational lesson, hands-on animal biofact / artifact interaction, and time for open exploration of the museum. Read below to learn more about each of these; remember, your program can be shortened to fit your time constraints.

In-School Pre-Work (Optional): 60-120 Minutes

If you would like, you can download the "Louisianna Purchase and Lewis and Clark" activity from the list of documents, below. This is a reading, vocabulary, and reading comprehension activity that will allow students to learn a bit about these two moments in history, before they come to their field trip with the museum. This activity is labeled "Section 1" in the file box.

In addition, the document labeled "Section 3" in the document box will (very briefly) introduce your students to two topics. The first activity in this section lets your students research the adaptations that beavers have, that let them live in the ponds and rivers they call home. It's a great opportunity to mix a bit of science into your history lesson. The second activity in "Section 3" has your students try to figure out what steps the mountain men used to go from trapping beavers to selling their skins.

These activities will allow students to have some knowledge about the beavers and the mountain men, before their field trip. The second activity of "Section 3" can also be utilized as a follow-up activity, after their field trip. You do not have to do these activities, but they are available to any teacher who wants to include them. 

Museum Education Program: 60 Minutes

Once you get to the museum, we will learn all about how the mountain men fit into the story of the fur trade and the beaver hat industry! 

We will begin by discussing what the beaver hat industry was, how hatters made beaver hats, and what impact the industry had on the Eurasian beaver population. Your students will see beaver biofacts like skulls and pelts, along with human artifacts like a top hat.

Next, we’ll discuss how the collapse of the beaver populations in Europe led to wide scale trapping in the new world; this led to the collapse of the North American beaver populations across the eastern USA. We'll look at how the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark Expedition opened up the middle of the country to the fur companies, who in turn hired young men to go trap in these areas - the mountain men!

Finally, your students will learn who the mountain men were. This includes the nations they came from, the languages they spoke, how old they were, and more. We'll also discuss the method that the mountain men used to trap beavers in the Rocky Mountain rivers and streams. Your students will see beaver traps, a beaver stretcher, a castor bottle, and other trapping artifacts.

We'll end the program by discussing the activity that will allow them to make their own mountain man, before they play the "Year in the Life of a Mountain Man" game. This game can be taught as a field trip (at the museum or virtually) by our museum staff, or can be taught by you - the teacher. More information on that program can be found on it's program page.  

Open Museum Exploration: 60 Minutes

After your education program, your students will have time to explore the museum in small groups. This allows your students to explore whatever they are interested in. The Wyoming State Museum has so many topics (from dinosaurs to mining to pioneers to warfare to animals to Native American culture to national parks and more), that we find it is a great idea to give students free time at the end of the program to explore.

Mountain Man Education Trunks (Optional)

In addition to this field trip, the museum has an amazing mountain man Education Trunk. This trunk is offered as a physical trunk that you can borrow from us, for free! We have also taken 360-degree scans of every item in the trunk, and offer these as a Virtual Education Trunk to any school in the world! You can find more information about these on our Education Trunk and Virtual Education Trunk pages. 

"Year in the Life of the Mountain Men" Field Trip (Optional)

The "Introduction to the Mountain Men" field trip should be viewed as part one of our total mountain man education program offerings. After your students complete this field trip, you should check out the "Year in the Life of a Mountain Man" field trip! More information can be found on that page.  

Extra Mountain Man Classroom Activities

The museum created a world-class curriculum to go along with our mountain man Education Trunk. We've already discussed how to use some of these activities, alongside this field trip. But, all of the activities are listed below. They may be inserted into your own curriculum, within your classroom. The first document will walk you through all the activities, or you can download individual activities below that. A couple of these activities require the mountain man education trunk, but most can be used in your class with or without the trunk. Sections 4-7 will be discussed on the "Year in the Life of a Mountain Man" field trip page. 

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