Problem
Using the Handout assigned in this Unit, "a Letter from the Oregon Trail," you have what historians call a "primary source." A primary source is a document from the time and place something happened (diary, letters, documents, newspapers) where we gather factual evidence from someone experiencing or witnessing events. This is the last letter home from young Amos Littlefield. In it he tells his family where he is, where he is going, what he regrets, and what he hopes for the future. If you had to describe this young man to someone as an example of a man who went "west" in the 1800s, how would you describe him? What clues about his character do you find in the letter? And, finally, (where you can be a little creative with your ending sentence) what do you think actually happened to him as he went west?