Pioneer & Frontier Life

In American history, a pioneer is any of the people who migrated west to join in settling and developing new areas, especially those who settled any territory previously unsettled or undeveloped by European or American society. Though most of us think of pioneers strictly in terms of those who came to the "West", the earliest pioneers settled areas now considered the "East".

The first westward migrations occurred as representatives of the Thirteen Colonies sought to open up new lands for their respective colonies westward. Those whose original royal charters did not specify a western limit simply extended their lands directly and indefinitely westward. After the United States was formed upon the ratification of the U.S. Constitution, federal coordination and legislation began to give settlement a more unified approach.

As western settlement grew, common details emerged. Most pioneers traveled in wagon trains, groups of wagons containing settlers and their families. They banded together for common defense and to combine their efforts. Pioneers in the East often had to clear the land, owing to lush forests there. In the Midwest, the task was to bring agricultural fertility to the Great Plains.

The figure of the pioneer has played a large role in American culture and literature. While much cultural note is also given to other figures of a more transient nature, such as cowboys, trappers prospectors, miners, etc., the pioneer alone represents those who went into unexplored territory in search of a new life, looking to establish permanent settlement.

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Angel Knew Papa and the Dog
by Douglas Kaine McKelvey
from Rabbit Room Press
for 2nd-4th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$12.99
Apples to Oregon
by Deborah Hopkinson
Reprint from Aladdin Paperbacks
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
By the Shores of Silver Lake
Little House Series #5
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
1940 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.99
Captive Treasure
by Milly Howard
from Bob Jones University Press
Realistic Fiction for 2nd-5th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
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Carolina's Courage
by Elizabeth Yates
from Bob Jones University Press
Historical Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
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$10.00 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Children of the Covered Wagon
by Mary Jane Carr
2nd edition from Christian Liberty Press
Historical Fiction for 3rd-5th grade
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$16.75
Children of the Wild West
by Russell Freedman
from Clarion Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Pioneer & Frontier Life (Location: HISA-19PIO)
$5.00 (3 in stock)
Daily Life in a Covered Wagon
by Paul Erickson
from Puffin Books
Historical Reference for 3rd-5th Grade
in Pioneer & Frontier Life (Location: HISA-19PIO)
$9.99
Daniel Boone
by Daniel Boone
from Applewood Books
Biography for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$14.95 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Diary of an Early American Boy
by Eric Sloane
from Dover Publications
American History Reference for 4th-8th grade
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$14.95
Diary of an Early American Boy
by Eric Sloane
from Sonlight Curriculum, Ltd.
for 4th-8th grade
in Pioneer & Frontier Life (Location: HISA-19PIO)
$4.00 (2 in stock)
Diary of an Early American Boy
by Eric Sloane
from Sonlight Curriculum, Ltd.
for 4th-8th grade
in Pioneer & Frontier Life (Location: HISA-19PIO)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Farmer Boy
Little House Series #3
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.99
Farmer Boy
Little House Series #3
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.99
First Four Years
Little House Series #9
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-8th grade
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Going West!
Kalideoscope Kids Book
by Carol A. Johmann, Elizabeth J. Rieth
from Williamson Publishing Company
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$7.50 (1 in stock)
Gold Rush Dogs
by Claire Rudolf Murphy, Jane G. Haigh
from Alaska Northwest Books
for 4th-9th grade
in California State (Location: HISA-19CGR)
$5.50 (1 in stock)
Gold Rush Fever
by Barbara Greenwood
from Kids Can Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Western Expansion (1800-1898) (Location: HISA-19WES)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Grandfather's Dance
by Patricia MacLachlan
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$6.99
Hattie Big Sky
by Kirby Larson
from Yearling
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Heading West
by William E. Hill
for 3rd-6th grade
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$1.50 (2 in stock)
Hero Tales
by Theodore Roosevelt & Henry Cabot Lodge
from Cumberland House
Biography for 7th-10th grade
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
If You Grew Up With Abraham Lincoln
If You Were There
by Ann McGovern
from Scholastic Inc.
Historical Non-fiction for 2nd-5th grade
in Pioneer & Frontier Life (Location: HISA-19PIO)
$4.00 (2 in stock)
If You Traveled West in a Covered Wagon
If You Were There
by Ellen Levine
from Scholastic Inc.
Historical Non-fiction for 2nd-5th grade
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Jericho's Journey
by G. Clifton Wisler
from Puffin Books
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in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Journey West on the Oregon Trail
by Cecile Alyce Nolan
from Rain Dance Publishing
for 2nd-7th grade
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$7.50 (1 in stock)
Kirsten's Cook Book
American Girl
by Jodi Evert
from Scholastic Inc.
for 2nd-5th grade
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$2.40 (1 in stock)
Laura Ingalls Wilder Country
by William Anderson
from HarperCollins
Literature Resource for 4th-8th grade
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$24.95
Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Biography
by William Anderson
from HarperTrophy
for 4th-10th grade
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$9.99
Little House Coloring Book
Clr Csm from HarperCollins
for 4th-Adult
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$18.99
Little House in the Big Woods
Little House Series #1
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
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$8.99 $5.00 (2 in stock)
Little House on Rocky Ridge
Rocky Ridge Years Book 1
by Roger Lea MacBride
from HarperCollins
for 3rd-6th grade
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Little House on the Prairie
Little House Series #2
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
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$8.99
Little Town on the Prairie
Little House Series #7
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-8th grade
1942 Newbery Honor Book
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$8.99
Little Town on the Prairie
Little House Series #7
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-8th grade
1942 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.99
Long Winter
Little House Series #6
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-8th grade
1941 Newbery Honor Book
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$9.99
Long Winter
Little House Series #6
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-8th grade
1941 Newbery Honor Book
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$10.99
Lucretia Ann on the Oregon Trail
by Ruth Gipson Plowhead
from Caxton Press
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Martha of California
by James Otis
from A Beka Books
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$4.00 (34 in stock)
More Perfect Than the Moon
by Patricia MacLachlan
from HarperCollins
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$7.99
Mountain Men: The History of Fur Trapping - Coloring Book
by Jeff Prechtel
from Dover Publications
for 3rd-6th grade
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$3.99
Museum of Early American Tools
by Eric Sloane
from Dover Publications
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$11.95
My Book of Little House Paper Dolls
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperFestival
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$12.99
My Little House Crafts Book
by Carolyn Strom Collins & Christina Wyss Eriksson
from HarperCollins
Arts and Crafts for 3rd-6th grade
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Oregon Trail
Penguin Classics
by Francis Parkman Jr.
from Penguin Classics
Historical Non-fiction for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$16.00
Oregon Trail
by Rinker Buck
from Simon and Schuster
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$19.99
Oregon Trail #01
Choose Your Own Trail!
by Jesse Wiley
from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
for 3rd-6th grade
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$7.99
Oregon Trail #02
Choose Your Own Trail!
by Jesse Wiley
from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
for 3rd-6th grade
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$7.99
Oregon Trail #03
Choose Your Own Trail!
by Jesse Wiley
from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
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$7.99
Oregon Trail #04
Choose Your Own Trail!
by Jesse Wiley
from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
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$9.99
Oregon Trail #05
Choose Your Own Trail!
by Jesse Wiley
from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
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$7.99
Oregon Trail #06
Choose Your Own Trail!
by Jesse Wiley
from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
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$7.99
Oregon Trail #07
Choose Your Own Trail!
by Jesse Wiley
from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
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$7.99
Oregon Trail #08
Choose Your Own Trail!
by Jesse Wiley
from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
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$7.99
Oregon Trail #1-4 - Boxed Set
Choose Your Own Trail!
by Jesse Wiley
from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
for 3rd-6th grade
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$31.00
Our Only May Amelia
by Jennifer L. Holm
from HarperCollins
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$6.99 $3.50 (1 in stock)
Outrageous Women of the American Frontier
Outrageous Women
1st edition from Jossey-Bass
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$9.00 (1 in stock)
Pathways of America: The Oregon Trail
by Lynda Hatch
from Good Apple
for 4th-8th grade
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Patty Reed's Doll
by Rachel K. Laurgaard
from Tomato Enterprises
Historical fiction for 5th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$7.00 (3 in stock)
Pioneer Children on the Journey West
by Emmy E. Werner
from Westview Press
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Pioneer Crafts
by Inc. Kids Can Press
from Kids Can Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Pioneer & Frontier Life (Location: HISA-19PIO)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Pioneer Days
American Kids in History
by David C. King
1st edition from John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
for 3rd-6th Grade
in Pioneer & Frontier Life (Location: HISA-19PIO)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Pioneer Days
American Kids in History
by David C. King
from Scholastic Inc.
for 3rd-6th Grade
in Pioneer & Frontier Life (Location: HISA-19PIO)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Pioneer Sampler
by Barbara Greenwood
from Houghton Mifflin
for 4th-6th grade
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$15.99 $9.00 (1 in stock)
Pioneers
Tales of the Wild West Volume 11
by Rick Steber
from Bonanza Publishing
for 4th-7th grade
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$2.50 (2 in stock)
Prairie Songs
by Pam Conrad
from Scholastic Inc.
for 5th-7th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Prairie Traveler
by Randolph Barnes Marcy
from Applewood Books
for 8th-Adult
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Prairie Visions
by Pam Conrad
from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
1992 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book
in Pioneer & Frontier Life (Location: HISA-19PIO)
$7.00 (2 in stock)
Quilt-Block History of Pioneer Days
by Mary Cobb
from Millbrook Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Pioneer & Frontier Life (Location: HISA-19PIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Ranch of the Golden Flowers
by Constance Lindsay Skinner
from Bethlehem Books
for 2nd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$15.95
Reverence for Wood
by Eric Sloane
from Dover Publications
for 4th-7th grade
in Pioneer & Frontier Life (Location: HISA-19PIO)
$12.95
Sallie Fox
by Dorothy Kupcha Leland
1st edition from Tomato Enterprises
for 4th-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.95
Sarah Whitcher's Story
by Elizabeth Yates
from Bob Jones University Press
Realistic Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$6.99
Seasons of America Past
by Eric Sloane
from Dover Publications
American History Reference for 4th-8th grade
in Pioneer & Frontier Life (Location: HISA-19PIO)
$17.95
Secret School
by Avi
from Sandpiper Books
for 4th-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99 $4.00 (2 in stock)
Stories of Young Pioneers
by Violet T. Kimball
from Mountain Press
Historical Non-fiction for 6th-11th grade
in Pioneer & Frontier Life (Location: HISA-19PIO)
$14.00
These Happy Golden Years
Little House Series #8
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-8th grade
1944 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.99
They Loved to Laugh
by Kathryn Worth
from Bethlehem Books
Realistic Fiction for 6th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$14.95 $9.00 (1 in stock)
This was Mining in the West
by David W. Pearson
Second Edition; First Printing from Schiffer
for 6th-Adult
in Western Expansion (1800-1898) (Location: HISA-19WES)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Three Names
by Patricia MacLachlan
from HarperCollins
for 2nd-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.99
Toward the Setting Sun
by Mary Barmeyer O'Brien
1st edition from Two Dot Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Trails to Poosey
by Olive R. Cook
from Misty Hill Press
Pioneer Fiction for 4th-7th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$4.00 (2 in stock)
Trouble for Lucy
by Carla Stevens
from Clarion Books
Historical Fiction for 4th-5th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$7.95 $5.50 (1 in stock)
Tucket's Travels
by Gary Paulsen
from Yearling
for 4th-6th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$9.99
Western Heroes
Tales of the Wild West Volume 16
by Rick Steber
from Bonanza Publishing
for 4th-7th grade
in Pioneer & Frontier Life (Location: HISA-19PIO)
$2.50 (2 in stock)
What Was the Gold Rush?
by Joan Holub
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-6th grade
in California State (Location: HISA-19CGR)
$5.99
What You Know First
by Patricia MacLachlan
from HarperCollins
for Nursery-2nd grade
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$6.99
Where the Broken Heart Still Beats
by Carolyn Meyer
from Graphia
for 5th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$7.99
White Seneca
by William W. Canfield
from Salem Ridge Press
for 5th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$10.50
Who Was Laura Ingalls Wilder?
by Patricia Brennan Demuth
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-6th grade
in Who Was? biographies (Location: BIO-WHO)
$6.99
With Open Hands
by Jeri Chase Ferris
from Beautiful Feet Books
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$12.95
Women of the West
Tales of the Wild West Volume 5
by Rick Steber
from Bonanza Publishing
for 4th-7th grade
in Pioneer & Frontier Life (Location: HISA-19PIO)
$2.50 (2 in stock)
Women of the West
by Bobbie Kalman, Jane Lewis
for 3rd-6th grade
in Pioneer & Frontier Life (Location: HISA-19PIO)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Young Pioneers
by Rose Wilder Lane
from HarperTrophy
for 3rd-5th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.99