O Pioneers Lesson Plan

What do you think brought the family to Nebraska in the first place? What kept them there?

For this question, students might draw on both textual evidence and political/cultural knowledge to support their ideas.

The Bergsons came to America along with other family members, but they were the only ones who stayed in Nebraska, the others seeking opportunities in the big city. They came to make new lives on the frontier, part of a mass migration of people from inside and outside the United States to the American west. Mr. Bergson likely kept the family there; the children, other than Alexandra, would have been as happy (or even happier) living in a city with all the...