October Field Trip: Cahokia Mounds

All the members in 1!

5 members, 1 prospective member, and 6 seniors visited Cahokia Mounds to learn about the Organizing Secretary, Assistant Organizing Secretary, and American Indians programs.

Organizing Secretary Program: Members looked for information about the Lewis and Clark expedition, and learned ways that the American Indians helped the expedition to be successful.

Assistant Organizing Secretary Program: Members learned about archaeology and how it changes our understanding of history as we learn more about how people lived in the past.

American Indians Program: Members learned about how the Indians lived at Cahokia when it was first built, and during our countries early years. They learned about how the Indians helped our ancestors and the Lewis and Clark expedition. They got a lot of pictures!

July Field Trip: Old Courthouse

Members and prospective member at Old Courthouse

We went to the old courthouse in St Louis which is the first federal building west of the Mississippi River. We learned about Lewis and Clark, Native Americans and how they lived, and about the Dred Scott Case.

Lewis and Clark Expedition

We learned that Lewis and Clark bought everything in Illinois and followed the Missouri River. They picked up a Native American guide by the name of Sacagawea in Sioux nations. We learned that the Native Americans hunted Bison (Buffalo) for food, clothing, and sport.

Members participated in a mock trial.

Lastly, we learned about the Dred Scott Case through a mock trial. We got to play the parts of the different people in the trial. Dred Scott was an African American slave who wanted freedom. He went to court because he went into a couple of states where slavery was illegal. He thought he should have been freed because he was in those states. At trial, Dred Scott was declared free, but it was brought further and further up to the point where it reached the Supreme Court. They declared that Dred Scott was a still slave. Finally, he was freed by his first owner, who who bought him for a dollar and then freed him.

There was 5 members, 5 seniors, and 1 perspective member present.

Written by: Marcus, Age 13