UNIT 18 ___ . . . ___ Presidents and led America as it became more involved in other parts of the world. Work began on a National Cathedral and a National Mall. The National Memorial Wright brothers taught people how to fly. Brave workers carved a road through Glacier National Park. Many Alaska Native people of the Arctic America Enters a and Subarctic continued to live their traditional lifestyles in 1912 when Alaska became an official U.S. territory. New Century

AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL

647 647 President-elect Taft and President Roosevelt ride to inauguration, 1909

Lesson 86 Roosevelt and Taft, Our American Story Presidents and Friends

wo friends served as presidents in the first decade of the 1900s. They were leaders not only in America but also in the larger world. T The new century was only eight months old on September 6, 1901. Vice President Theodore Roosevelt was on a speaking tour in Vermont that day. When he learned that President McKinley had been shot, he rushed to Buffalo and stayed at the home of his friend Ansley Wilcox. When McKinley began to improve, his doctors encouraged Roosevelt to go ahead with plans for a family vacation in the Adirondack Mountains. They believed that his doing so would reassure the nation. Roosevelt gave his itinerary to Wilcox and left for his vacation. On September 14, Roosevelt climbed the highest peak in the Adirondacks. When he returned, he received news that President McKinley was in grave danger. Three hired relay drivers hurriedly drove Roosevelt overnight by wagon over rough roads to the train station at North Creek. At dawn, Roosevelt boarded a train that was waiting for him. When Roosevelt arrived in Buffalo, President McKinley had been dead for 12 hours and the country had been without a president. The vice president went first to pay his respects to Mrs. McKinley. He then went to the Wilcox home and took the oath of office before Judge John Hazel. Roosevelt was only 42 years old. He is the youngest man who has ever served as president of the United States. Railroad station in North Creek, ; Library of Wilcox home where Roosevelt took the oath

648 A month after Roosevelt became president, he invited Booker T. Washington to join him for lunch at the . This was the first time a president had invited an African American to dine Booker T. Washington speaks at Mound Bayou, Mississippi; Roosevelt speaks with him there. Later in his at the National Negro Business League in 1910. Washington is at his left. presidency, Roosevelt visited Tuskegee Institute which Washington had founded in Tuskegee, Alabama, in 1881.

Labor Unions In the late 1800s, workers in various industries joined labor unions so that they could work together for higher pay and better working conditions. Many business leaders opposed labor unions. President Roosevelt felt sympathy Labor Day parade in , 1909 for the workers. When the United Mine Workers went on strike in 1902, Americans wondered if they would have enough coal for the winter. Roosevelt called owners of coal mines and leaders of the union to the White House. He helped the two sides work out a compromise so the miners would go back to work. The miners received a small pay increase and a shorter work day. Some business leaders were hurting other businesses with unfair practices. They made legal arrangements called trusts which helped them do this. President Roosevelt worked to end unfair trusts. In addition to his nicknames “Teddy” and “TR,” some people referred to Roosevelt as the “Trust Buster.”

The Birth of the Theodore Roosevelt enjoyed hunting. In November 1902, he went on a bear hunt in Mississippi with Governor Andrew H. Longino. Most of the hunting party successfully shot a bear, but Roosevelt did not. When a hunting guide tied a bear to a tree for the president, he refused to shoot it, believing this was unsportsmanlike. The Teddy bears Washington Post newspaper put a cartoon of the incident on its made in New front page. A New York store owner created a stuffed York, 1915 bear and called it “Teddy’s bear.” The toy became so popular that the owner and his wife founded the Ideal Novelty and Toy Company. The company later became the Ideal Toy Company.

649 Protecting God’s Wonders In April 1903, President Roosevelt left on a grand tour of 25 western states. For over nine weeks, he gave speeches in large cities and small towns. He thanked Americans for their hard work and spoke to them about the values they shared. Roosevelt stopped for 16 days in Yellowstone. Before beginning the trip, Roosevelt had written to John Muir, asking Muir if he would take him on a tour of Yosemite. While the two men went camping alone for three nights, Muir encouraged the president to protect the beauties of America. Roosevelt also visited the Grand Canyon. Roosevelt had loved the outdoors since childhood. While he was president, he helped Roosevelt at Yellowstone, 1903 to set aside 150 national forests, 51 federal bird reserves, four national game preserves, five national parks, and 18 national monuments. These protected over 230 million acres of land.

The In 1823 President James Monroe had warned European nations to stay out of the affairs of North, Central, and South America. This policy was the Monroe Doctrine. In 1904 President Roosevelt announced if something happened in Central or South America that caused a European country to want to get involved, the United States would take care of it. Europe should stay out. The Spanish-American War had reminded Americans of the need for a safe way to cross the Isthmus of Panama. At the time, the only way for ships to get from the East Coast of the United States to the West Coast was to go around the southern tip of South America. In 1903 President Roosevelt signed a treaty with the nation of Panama. Panama agreed to allow the United States to build a canal across the isthmus. The United States agreed to pay Panama for permission to build the canal. Panama Canal, 1912; Circle highlights the 8-mile-long Culebra Cut through the Continental Divide.

650 A Second Term New State President Roosevelt 1907 talked directly to the Oklahoma – November 16 American people about what the government needed to do. He called this role of the president his “.” Roosevelt easily won election to a second term in 1904. He defeated Democratic candidate Judge Alton B. Parker from New York. As soon as Roosevelt won the election of 1904, he Roosevelt runs an American steam shovel announced that he would not run for another term. at the Culebra Cut of the Panama Canal. In 1904 Russia and Japan fought against each other in the Russo-Japanese War. In 1905 President Roosevelt got the two sides to meet together. He helped them to negotiate an end to the war. In November 1906, President Roosevelt traveled to Panama to visit the canal work site. He was the first president of the United States to leave the country while he was in office. In December Roosevelt received the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize because of the work he had done to end the Russo-Japanese War. Also in 1906, suffered a devastating earthquake. Oklahoma became the 46th state in November 1907. In December Roosevelt sent 14,000 sailors on 16 , plus other smaller ships, on a 14-month tour around the world. Sailors on the “” helped the island of recover after an earthquake. President Theodore Roosevelt, 1903

Around America

1906, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Roosevelt attends dedication 1904, St. Louis 1905, Duluth, Minnesota of the Pennsylvania State Capitol Portion of silk calendar from the Aerial lift bridge opens. and declares it the handsomest Louisiana Purchase Exposition building he had ever seen. 651651 President William Howard Taft William Howard Taft was serving as territorial governor of the Philippines when Roosevelt became president. Taft did an excellent job. He negotiated with the Roman Catholic Church for the United States to purchase church property there. He helped tens of thousands of Filipinos purchase this land with low-cost mortgages. Roosevelt offered Taft a position on the Supreme Court twice. Taft wanted to serve on the Supreme Court, but he refused to leave the Philippines. He wanted to finish his work there. When Roosevelt offered Taft the position of secretary of war, Taft agreed because he believed it would help him continue Taft speaks with President Roosevelt to help the Philippines. Taft supervised the construction of the who tells him that the Republican Panama Canal and served briefly as governor of Cuba. Party has nominated him as their presidential candidate for 1908. President Roosevelt helped Taft to win the Republican nomination for president in 1908. Roosevelt believed that Taft would continue doing what he had begun. The Democratic Party again nominated William Jennings Bryan. Roosevelt campaigned enthusiastically for Taft, who won easily over Bryan. On Inauguration Day, Mrs. Taft became the first wife of a president to ride with her husband in the inaugural parade. When they moved into the White House, their children Robert and Helen were in college. Their son Charles was 11. Taft was more conservative than Roosevelt. Taft had great respect for the U.S. Constitution and wanted to make sure that all of his actions were true to the Constitution and to the laws of the United States. He supported some of the changes Roosevelt wanted, but he did not want to make changes as quickly. One month after Taft became president, Americans Robert E. Peary and Matthew Henson and four Inuit guides completed an expedition to the North Pole. Henson later published a memoir entitled A Negro Explorer at the North Pole. President Taft’s wife Helen, called “Nellie,” suffered a stroke in May 1909. It took her a year to recover. In September 1909, Taft made a tour of the southern and southwestern regions of the United States. He gave 259 speeches. He crossed the border into Outgoing President Theodore Roosevelt and incoming Mexico to meet with its dictator, becoming the second president President William Howard Taft to travel outside the U.S. while serving as president. In 1911 Taft at Taft’s inauguration. Notice the snow on their coats. made a tour of western states.

652 In 1912 New Mexico became the 47th state and Arizona the 48th. In April the British ship, RMS Titanic, sank near Newfoundland. One of the 1,500 people who New States died in the accident was 1912 Archibald “Archie” Butt, a New Mexico – January 6 close friend and advisor of 1912 President Taft. Arizona – February 14

Toys of the Decade

Lionel Trains Crayola Crayons Teddy Bears

President and Mrs. Taft in a White House automobile

Fast Forward to 2007

Workers completed the Panama Canal in 1914. The canal cut the trip from New York to San Francisco to 6,000 miles instead of 14,000. In 1977 the U.S. signed a treaty with Panama to gradually turn control of the canal over to Panama. The first full day of Panama’s official control of the Panama Canal was January 1, 2000.

While her father was serving as president, Alice Roosevelt married Nicholas Longworth. Longworth later Ships travel on the Panama Canal became speaker of the U.S. through the Continental Divide, 1915. House of Representatives.

William Howard Taft’s son Robert became one of the most powerful U.S. senators of the 1900s. Robert’s grandson, who was also named Alice Roosevelt Longworth and Robert, served as governor of from 1999 to 2007. Mr. and Mrs. Robert Taft at a party the Tafts hosted, 1940 653653 Children often choose to continue to work for things that were important to their parents. Psalm 127 teaches: Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one’s youth. How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them; They will not be ashamed When they speak with their enemies in the gate. Psalm 127:4-5 reads to sons Archie and Quentin Activities for Lesson 86

Presidential Biography – Read the biography of Theodore Roosevelt on page 655.

We the People – Read “Letters to His Children” on pages 140-143.

Map Study – Complete the assignments for Lesson 86 on Map 12 “The Lower 48” in Maps of America the Beautiful.

Timeline – In Timeline of America the Beautiful next to 1914, write: The Panama Canal opens.

Student Workbook or Lesson Review – If you are using one of these optional books, complete the assignment for Lesson 86.

Vocabulary – In your notebook, write these words: itinerary, unsportsmanlike, isthmus, pulpit, conservative. Beside each word, write the definition below that matches that word.

a. being disrespectful to an opponent b. place where a minister stands to speak a sermon c. the proposed route of a trip d. wanting to be cautious and to continue traditions of the past e. narrow piece of land connecting two larger pieces of land Creative Writing – Write a paragraph in your notebook about why you think no presidents before Theodore Roosevelt traveled out of the country during their term in office.

Literature – Read the chapters titled “Literaries” and “The Whirl of Gaiety” in Little Town on the Prairie.

Page 655: Theodore Roosevelt in Rough Rider uniform by Fedor Encke; Edith Carow Roosevelt by Philip A. de László

654 Theodore Roosevelt America’s 26th President — September 14, 1901 - March 4, 1909

heodore Roosevelt Jr. was born in 1858 in New York City to Theodore Sr. and Martha “Mittie” Roosevelt. “Teedie” T had severe asthma as a child. He learned at home from his mother, father, aunt, and tutors. When he was 18, he entered Harvard College. Theodore married Alice Lee in 1880 and was soon elected to the New York legislature. On February 12, 1884, Alice gave birth to a baby girl. Two days later, Roosevelt’s wife and mother died a few hours apart at his parents’ home. Alice died of kidney disease at just 23 years of age. Roosevelt’s mother died of typhoid fever. Heartbroken, Roosevelt left baby Alice with his sister and went west to the Dakota Badlands. He ran two cattle ranches, rode horses, hunted grizzly bears, and chased outlaws. He came home in 1886 and married his childhood sweetheart, Edith Kermit Carow. They moved to at Oyster Bay, New York. There they raised his daughter Alice and the five children born to them: Theodore, Kermit, Ethel, Archibald, and Quentin. Roosevelt wrote several books, served in the administrations of Presidents Harrison and Cleveland, and served as the president of the New York City Police Board. Roosevelt was secretary of the Navy under President McKinley and helped prepare the Navy for the Spanish- American War. When the war began, he served with the in Cuba. His Rough Riders were cowboys, prospectors, police officers, members of native nations, and gentlemen who had gone to Ivy League universities. TR and the Rough Riders returned to America as heroes. After the war, Theodore Roosevelt was elected . In 1901 he became McKinley’s vice president. When Roosevelt became the youngest man to serve as president, he and his wife moved their rambunctious children into the White House. Edith Roosevelt told her closest friends that her husband was just an “ornery little boy at heart.” Once the children took their pony, Algonquin, into the White House elevator. When TR left the presidency, he and Kermit went on a safari to Africa. Roosevelt also toured Europe with Edith. In 1912 he ran for president again and lost. In 1914 he and his son Kermit explored for seven months in the jungles of Brazil. When the United States became involved in , all of the Roosevelts’ sons volunteered. Quentin, the youngest, was killed in action. Theodore Roosevelt died in his sleep at Sagamore Hill in 1919, at age 60. Edith continued to live at Sagamore Hill, did charity work for the poor, and was active in her church. She died in 1948.

655 National Mall, Washington, D.C.

Lesson 87 The National Mall and American Landmark the National Cathedral

he National Mall is a beautiful, open, green park in downtown Washington, D.C. The Mall stretches from the U.S. Capitol on the east to the Potomac River on the west. The T Washington Monument stands as its focal point. The L’Enfant Plan President appointed Pierre Charles L’Enfant to design the city of Washington, D.C. L’Enfant envisioned large open spaces, wide avenues lined with trees, and parks scattered throughout the city. He imagined a Grand Avenue with a monument to George Washington and a “great church for national purposes.” The United States capital city was still under construction when President John Adams and Congress arrived there in 1800. Though Washington city streets followed L’Enfant’s plans, it would be decades before Americans could enjoy the Grand Avenue, the Washington Monument, and the National Cathedral. Some Americans thought it shameful that the federal government took so long to fund the monument to Washington. In 1833 a private group formed the Washington National Monument Society. Congress allowed the society to choose the location for the monument. They chose a site near the one that L’Enfant had chosen. President James K. Polk laid the cornerstone on July 4, 1848. As we learned on page 471, President Taylor attended a celebration at the unfinished monument in 1850. A lack of funds caused long delays. In 1851 President Millard Fillmore hired an architect to make a landscape plan for the Grand Avenue. However, construction continued in a disorganized way. The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad laid tracks near the Capitol in 1854. In 1855 the federal government built the Smithsonian Institution Castle and an armory on the Avenue.

656 During the Civil War, troops camped and paraded there. The B&O Railroad built a train depot between the U.S. Capitol and the unfinished Washington Monument in 1872. Finally in 1876, the federal government took over the Washington Monument project. When workers completed the monument in 1884, it was the tallest building in the world. Beginning in 1888, visitors could ride to the top in a steam-powered elevator. The trip took 10 to 12 minutes. In the late 1800s, the Smithsonian began a small zoo on Grand Avenue. People raised vegetables, pastured livestock, and planted ornamental gardens there. They held fairs and public markets. In 1901 the federal government replaced the steam-powered elevator in the Washington Monument with an electric one. Read the place names on the illustration below and follow the arrows to their locations. Refer back to the illustration while reading the lesson.

McMillan Commission By the time Theodore Roosevelt became president, Washington, D.C., had served as the U.S. capital city for 100 years. The time had come for improvements. U.S. Senator James McMillan decided to take action. He appointed a commission to make plans. The commission included architect Charles McKim, plus three of the experts who had planned the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. They were landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted Jr., sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens, and architect Daniel Burnham. After the success of the exposition in Chicago, Burnham promoted a City Beautiful Movement. He hoped that American cities would make plans for their cities, rather than letting them grow up topsy-turvy. Members of the McMillan Commission hoped that Washington, D.C, would become a beautiful example of this ideal. Washington, D.C., 1901

West Corcoran Gallery President’s Park Potomac White House B & O Depot U.S. Capitol Park Washington Monument Smithsonian Castle

Tidal Basin

East Potomac River Potomac Park

N 657657 Members of the McMillan Commission cruised down the Potomac River. They looked at grand estates and visited Williamsburg. Burnham, McKim, and Olmsted traveled to Europe. They visited Budapest and Vienna, Austria-Hungary; London and Oxford, England; Paris and Versailles, France; and Rome and Venice, Italy. Onboard their ship going and coming, they worked on the McMillan Plan, basing it on L’Enfant’s original plan for the city. The McMillan Commission planned for a National Mall with a corridor of grass 300-feet wide and American elm trees planted on either side. They planned for another green corridor from the White House to the Tidal Basin crossing the National Mall at the site of the Washington Monument. The commission recommended tearing down buildings, creating a memorial to Lincoln, creating a monument beside the Tidal Basin, and building a bridge across the Potomac River. This Arlington Memorial Bridge would join the Lincoln Memorial on the north side of the Potomac with Arlington House, home of Confederate general Robert E. Lee, and Arlington National Cemetery to the south. It would be a symbol of a united nation. The Senate Committee on the District of Columbia approved the McMillan Plan. Members of the commission prepared an exhibit with plans, watercolor paintings, photographs, and models to advertise it to the public. In January 1902, President and Mrs. Roosevelt, senators, representatives, and members of Roosevelt’s cabinet visited the display in the Corcoran Gallery. The American Institute of Architects asked Roosevelt to form a fine arts commission to help the government make good decisions about the city. Congress formed the United States Commission of Fine Arts in 1910. The commission was to give advice about bridges, parks, paintings, and other artistic questions. Later that year, Taft signed an executive order giving the commission the task of also reviewing all public buildings before they were built. Beginning with the presidencies of Roosevelt and Taft, the National Mall we know today slowly began to take shape.

Cherry Trees in Spring Eliza Scidmore wrote articles for the National Geographic Society’s magazine and served on its board of directors. Building model for the McMillan Commission, After seeing cherry trees during a visit photograph by Frances Benjamin Johnston to Japan, she wanted to plant them beside the Tidal Basin. She had been trying to get the federal government to plant them since the time when was president. In 1909 Scidmore decided to raise money for the cherry trees herself and talked to First Lady Helen Taft about her idea.

658 Mrs. Taft had visited Japan while her husband served as territorial governor of the Philippines. She too had enjoyed the beauty of Japan’s cherry trees. Mrs. Taft agreed that the Tidal Basin was a good place to plant the trees. She began working on the idea herself and also planned improvements to a road in Potomac Park. President Roosevelt preferred horses and carriages, but President and Mrs. Washington Monument and cherry trees by Tidal Basin Taft were enthusiastic about automobiles. The Tafts enjoyed driving in the park. A Japanese diplomat learned about the plan and suggested that Japan give the cherry trees to the United States. Early in March 1912, a freighter brought five 600-pound boxes containing 3,020 cherry trees from Japan to , Washington. Special heated and insulated railroad cars brought them to Washington, D.C. On March 27, First Lady Helen Taft and Viscountess Iwa Chinda, wife of the Japanese ambassador, planted the first two cherry trees beside the Tidal Basin. Workers planted the rest of the trees around the Tidal Basin and in Potomac Park. The National Cathedral The original plan for Washington, D.C., proposed “a great church First Lady Helen Herron Taft for national purposes.” A century later, Congress made the first steps to create a national cathedral when it gave the Protestant Episcopal Cathedral Foundation a charter to establish a national cathedral. President Benjamin Harrison signed the charter in 1893. Three years later, the first Episcopal Bishop of Washington chose a site on top of Mount St. Albans in northwest Washington. In 1898 President McKinley attended the dedication of a Peace Cross on the site. The ceremony marked the end of the Spanish-American War. Workmen laid the cornerstone of the National Cathedral in 1907. Stonemasons had set a stone from a field in Bethlehem into a piece of American granite to make the cornerstone. President Theodore Roosevelt and the Bishop of London spoke at the ceremony with 10,000 people in attendance. These words were inscribed on the cornerstone: National Cathedral under construction, 1925

659 The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. John 1:14 The cathedral’s Bethlehem Chapel opened in 1912.

White House

The and the Construction of of the White House began in 1902. President Roosevelt began to work in a rectangular office in the West Wing that November. In 1909 construction workers doubled the size of the West Wing. This addition included the Oval Office. President Taft in the Oval Office William Howard Taft was the first president to work in the Oval Office. It was in this office that he signed the legislation that made Arizona and New Mexico the 47th and 48th states.

Fast Forward to the Present

Construction of the Lincoln Memorial began in 1914. The formal dedication took place in 1922. By then William Howard Taft was serving as chief justice of the Supreme Court. Taft presided over the ceremony with 50,000 people in attendance, including Robert Todd Lincoln, son of Abraham Lincoln, as the guest of honor. Construction began on the Arlington Memorial Bridge in 1926. The dedication ceremony for the bridge and a new entrance to Arlington National Cemetery took place in 1932. Construction of the Jefferson Memorial began beside the Tidal Basin in 1938. The formal dedication took place in 1943 on Thomas Jefferson’s 200th birthday. Construction of the National Cathedral was completed in 1990, 83 years after it began. The Cathedral has hosted inaugural prayer services for Presidents Franklin Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump. The state funerals of Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, and Gerald Ford took place at the Cathedral. On page 661, notice several buildings and memorials built in our nation’s capital since the completion of the McMillan Plan. On page 445 are photos of Smithsonian buildings built since then. The Fine Arts Commission continues to give advice about design in Washington.

National Cathedral

660660 Memorials and Structures Built After the McMillan Plan

Jefferson Memorial Lincoln Memorial

Martin Luther Korean War Memorial King Jr. Memorial Vietnam Veterans Memorial

World War II Memorial

Eisenhower Memorial Franklin Roosevelt Memorial

Ulysses S. Grant Cavalry Memorial

Arlington Memorial Bridge 661661 James McMillan died the same year that the McMillan Commission presented their plan, but his forward thinking has blessed generations of people. The monuments in our nation’s capital help people remember and show honor to our nation and its heroes. In Romans 13, God taught us to give honor to whom honor is due. Just a short time before Jesus died for us on the cross, He spoke about remembering. He told us how to remember Him:

And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” Luke 22:19

Activities for Lesson 87 Presidential Biography – Read the biography of William Howard Taft on page 663.

We the People – Read “Miss Delia Torrey Consents to Come” on pages 144-145.

Map Study – Complete the assignments for Lesson 87 on Map 3 “American Landmarks” and Map 22 “The National Mall” in Maps of America the Beautiful.

Timeline – In Timeline of America the Beautiful next to 1922, write: Chief Justice Taft dedicates the Lincoln Memorial.

Student Workbook or Lesson Review – If you are using one of these optional books, complete the assignment for Lesson 87.

Thinking Biblically – Read Joshua 4, in which God commands the nation of Israel to set up a memorial. Write one or two paragraphs in your notebook about how monuments and memorials help people to remember important people and events and to be thankful.

Literature – Read the chapters titled “The Birthday Party” and “The Madcap Days” in Little Town on the Prairie.

Page 663: William Howard Taft by William Valentine Schevill; Helen Herron Taft by Harris & Ewing

662 William Howard Taft America’s 27th President — March 4, 1909 - March 4, 1913

illiam Howard Taft was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1857 to Alphonso and Louisa Maria Torrey Taft. He Whad two brothers, one sister, and two half-brothers from his father’s first marriage. His father served as secretary of war and attorney general under President Grant and as ambassador to Austria-Hungary and to Russia under President Arthur. Taft looked up to his kind and gentle father. Alphonso believed in women’s rights. He encouraged his wife to be active in many interests. She organized an art association, book clubs, German clubs, and French clubs. She often traveled with her husband while he was serving as ambassador. William Howard loved to play baseball. He took dancing lessons. He graduated from a private high school in Cincinnati and went to , where he graduated second in his class. He graduated from the University of Cincinnati Law School and became an attorney. In 1886 he married Helen “Nellie” Herron. Taft worked in the court system of Hamilton County, Ohio, and also as a lawyer. In 1887 he became a judge. He dreamed of one day serving on the Supreme Court. In 1890 he began working for the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. Here he became friends with Theodore Roosevelt. Taft later served as a federal judge on the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. He also became a professor at the University of Cincinnati Law School. While the Tafts lived in Cincinnati, Nellie helped to found the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Nellie Taft had dreamed of becoming first lady since she was a girl. Her father had been a law partner of Rutherford B. Hayes and had taken her to President and Mrs. Hayes’ 25th anniversary celebration. President and Mrs. Taft also celebrated their 25th anniversary at the White House. About 4,000 guests joined them for their anniversary celebration. As president, Taft continued his love of sports, becoming the first president to play golf. The Tafts’ son Robert graduated from Yale in 1910 and Harvard Law School in 1913. He became a powerful U.S. senator. Their daughter, Helen, earned her doctorate in history at Yale. Charles also graduated from Yale after serving in World War I. After the presidency, Taft taught at Yale University Law School. In 1921 President Harding appointed him chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. He is the only person to have served as both president and chief justice. The appointment fulfilled his lifelong dream. He served until his death in 1930. Taft is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Mrs. Taft lived another 13 years.

663 Wright Brothers Flyer, Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum Lesson 88 The Wright Brothers, American Biography Who Taught Us to Fly

ilton and Susan Wright grew up on the frontier in Indiana. Both came from families who encouraged their children to pursue knowledge. As a child, Mstudied many subjects and developed his mental abilities. Susan spent hours with her father working in his carriage shop, where she learned how to use tools. Their family heritage and their own commitment to hard work and the pursuit of learning helped their sons Wilbur and Orville create one of the most amazing inventions in the history of the world—a machine that could fly. As a young man, Milton Wright joined the Church of the United Brethren in Christ. Susan joined as a teenager. The two met while Susan was studying literature at Hartsville College in Indiana. When they married in 1859, they were both dedicated to a life of serving in their church. Milton was deeply committed to sharing Jesus with people. He was also committed to abolition and the temperance movement, which worked to help people avoid the problems associated with drinking alcohol. Milton became a minister with his church. The Wrights had a son, Reuchlin, in 1861 and another son, Lorin, in 1862. In 1867 Milton and Susan had their third son, Wilbur. When Milton became editor of the weekly United Brethren newspaper, the Religious Telescope, in 1869, he moved his family to Dayton, Ohio. Orville was born in Dayton in 1871. Three years later the Wrights had a daughter, Katharine. Milton’s ministerial responsibilities required that the family Wright home on Hawthorne Street move around, but they settled permanently in Dayton in 1884. in Dayton, Ohio

664 Learning from Loving Parents While Wilbur, Orville, and their siblings were growing up, their mother made toys for her children and simple appliances to use in their home. In 1878 Milton Wright brought a present home for his children: a toy Pénaud helicopter powered by a rubber band. A Frenchman who had experimented with aviation was the toy’s designer. The toy soon broke, but Wilbur and Orville made their own copies of the toy. Whenever they needed help with a project like this, they asked their mother for advice and for answers to mechanical questions.

Orville Wright Wilbur and Orville were good students. Wilbur finished four years of high school, but a family move kept him from graduating. Orville left school after three and a half years. Both brothers were highly intelligent and both studied voraciously on their own. The Wright home was a happy one. Katharine said, “No family ever had a happier childhood than ours. I was always in a hurry to get home after I had been away half a day.” Susan Wright died of tuberculosis in 1889. Katharine was 15. She became the household manager. Milton, Wilbur, Orville, and Katharine continued to live together until 1912.

From Bicycles to Airplanes In the late 1800s, bicycling became popular. In 1892 Wilbur and Wilbur Wright Orville formed the to sell bicycles. They later opened a bicycle repair shop and became bicycle manufacturers. The Wright brothers began to read about flight. Wilbur wrote a letter to the Smithsonian Institution in 1899, asking for literature about it. People in various places were experimenting with flight. They had built successful gliders. Gliders could leave a high place and glide down on the air; but no one had built a flying machine that a pilot could control and that moved by a power source such as gasoline, steam, or electricity. The brothers were discouraged to see that inventors were making such slow progress. Wilbur works in their bicycle shop.

665 Wilbur and Orville realized that they had a good chance of creating the first flying machine. They used money they earned in their bicycle business to pay for experiments. They observed birds and experimented with kites. Their work experience with bicycles improved their mechanical skills. They used these skills to build flying machines in their shop.

Kitty Hawk, A Place to Experiment Wilbur and Orville needed a place to test their ideas. Weather conditions in Dayton were not the best for long-term flying experiments. They wanted a private, open place where the winds were steady and there were few trees. They needed a hill from which they could launch a glider. Another essential was a soft place to land. The Wright brothers wrote to the National Weather Bureau in Washington, D.C., to find out where winds were constant. With this information in hand, they wrote to J. J. Dosher, who worked for the National Weather Bureau at the Kitty Hawk Weather Station in the Outer Banks of North Carolina (we learned about the Outer Banks on page 368 in the lesson on America’s islands). The Wright brothers told Dosher that they needed a place for “the purpose of making some experiments with a flying machine.” Dosher replied that the sandy beaches there were wide and free of obstructions. He said that the winds blew from the north and northeast in September and October. Dosher also told Captain William Tate about the Wright brothers. Tate was a leading citizen of Kitty Hawk. He was the postmaster and served in local government. Tate told the Wrights that near Kitty Hawk was a stretch of bare beach that was one mile wide and five miles long. The postmaster also told them that the people of Kitty Hawk would behospitable to the Wright brothers. Near Kitty Hawk was an area of sand dunes, called Kill Devil Hills. It proved to be an ideal location. Each fall from 1900 to 1903, the Wright brothers traveled there to test their gliding machines. Back in their bicycle shop in Ohio, they continued to improve the aircraft. Few people lived at Kitty Hawk. After the two experimenters from Ohio started spending time there, local residents became interested in what they were doing. Dan Tate, his son Tom Tate, and lifesavers from the nearby U.S. Life Saving Station helped Wilbur and Orville with their experiments.

U.S. Life Saving Station, Kill Devil Hills

666 On their first trip in 1900, Wilbur and Orville stayed briefly with the Tate family before setting up a tent. That year they experimented mostly at Lookout Hill, south of Kitty Hawk. For two days, they experimented in the Kill Devil Hills. When Wilbur and Orville returned in 1901, they set up a camp at Kill Devil Hills and built a rough workshop. In 1902 they improved it. In 1903 they built another shed where they kept their newest aircraft, the .

Reconstructed camp at Kill Devil Hills Learning from the Experiments The experiments at Kitty Hawk gave the Wright brothers information they needed to design a flying machine that would work. The first year they were only able to achieve a ten-second flight. Each year they learned new things and had greater success. They increased the wing length from 17 feet in 1900 to 22 feet in 1901 and to 32 feet in 1902. One of the most important lessons they learned at Kitty Hawk was how to be pilots. Their experiments taught them what to do with their machine while they were in the air. When Wilbur and Orville Wright left Kitty Hawk in 1902, they were convinced they had a powered flying machine design that would work. They were ready to prove it in 1903.

Wilbur glides over the Kill Devil Hills in a glider while William Tate’s brother Dan runs alongside, 1902.

667 December 17, 1903 The Wright brothers experimented with a gasoline-powered motor in 1903. When they couldn’t find one that worked, they built their own. They attached it to their 605-poundWright Flyer. After an unsuccessful attempt on December 14, Wilbur and Orville Wright hoped that their long-awaited day had arrived on December 17, 1903. The Wrights were avid photographers with their own photo lab. They set up a camera to take a picture if the flight was a success. They asked John Daniels, an employee at the Kill Devil Hills Life Saving Station, to squeeze the camera’s bulb to take the picture. He had never used a camera before. Dressed in coats and ties, the brothers walked to the Wright Flyer and shook hands. Orville climbed onto the Flyer. He left the ground with the power of the Flyer’s motor. For 12 seconds, he flew! Wilbur ran alongside him. Orville landed on a point that was as high as the place where he had taken off. Orville had flown for 120 feet. For the first time in the history of the world, a man had flown a heavier-than-air machine successfully! Daniels got the picture. Each brother flew twice that day. At day’s end, they sent their father a telegram, announcing their news for that day’s work. Good weather conditions for testing were over for that year. The brothers went home to Dayton. Wilbur was 36 years old, and Orville was 32.

First flight, December 17, 1903

668 Innovators in Aviation In 1904 Wilbur and Orville Wright stopped making bicycles and devoted their efforts to flying and building airplanes. They formed companies in America and in Europe. The brothers sometimes returned to Kitty Hawk to experiment with further improvements. In 1908 the U.S. Army announced that it would like to purchase an airplane to use for observation. The Army had several Demonstrating the world’s first military airplane, July 1909 requirements. The airplane must be able to: • carry two people with a combined weight of 350 pounds, • be easily assembled and taken apart so that an Army wagon could carry it, • be able to reach a speed of 40 miles per hour, • be able to stay in the air for an hour or more without landing, and • be able to land on any kind of land. The Wright Brothers worked to build such an airplane. In 1909 they demonstrated that theirs met the Army’s requirements. The Army paid them $30,000 for it. It was the first airplane in the world that was used by the military. The Army called it the Signal Corps No. 1. In 1911 the Army ordered two of the brothers’ new airplanes and asked them to rebuild the Signal Wilbur (left) and Orville Wright Corps No. 1. The Wrights told them that they had made so many improvements that they advised against rebuilding it. The Army donated the airplane to the Smithsonian Institution. Neither Wilbur nor Orville ever married. They made an excellent income from aviation and began to build a grand home to live in together. In 1912, before the house was completed, Wilbur died of typhoid fever at age 45.

Signal Corps No. 1, the world’s first military airplane, donated to the Smithsonian in 1911

669 Orville continued to work in aviation and to invent. He served on the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics for 28 years. The committee later became the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Orville lived in the home he and Wilbur had designed together until his death in 1948 at age 76. Perhaps since the creation of man, people have looked at birds and longed to be able to do what they do. When David was longing for relief in Psalm 55, he Orville Wright (back left), Katharine Wright, Milton thought of flight: Wright (center), Horace Wright, and nephew (front right) are gathered with business associates on the front porch of Wilbur and Orville’s home.

I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest.” Psalm 55:6

Activities for Lesson 88 We the People – Read “The Subject of Flying” on page 146-147. The U.S. Navy Blue Angels fly over the Wright Brothers Timeline – In Timeline of America the Beautiful next to 1903, write: The National Memorial. Wright brothers fly the first airplane.

Student Workbook or Lesson Review – If you are using one of these optional books, complete the assignment for Lesson 88.

Vocabulary – Find each of these words in a dictionary: temperance, aviation, mechanical, hospitable, avid. Choose the definition that corresponds to the way the word is used in the lesson. Copy the words and definitions into your notebook.

Creative Writing – Write one page in your notebook about how the Wright brothers’ invention has changed the world.

Literature – Read the chapters titled “Unexpected in April” and “Schooltime Begins Again” in Little Town on the Prairie.

Family Activity – Make paper airplanes. See page 671 for ideas.

Others in the photo above: Earl N. Findley, editor of the magazine, U.S. Air Service; John R. McMahon, author of Wright Brothers: Fathers of Flight; Pliny Williamson, attorney

670 Unit 18 — Family Activity Paper Airplane Festival

Supplies • paper • instructions for making paper airplanes

Instructions If you are short on time, the instructions below will give you a good airplane that flies well. If you want to get extra creative, find instructions in a book from the library or online (with a parent’s supervision) for making several different kinds of paper airplanes. Observe how the airplanes fly and what attributes make them fly higher, longer, or straighter. Have a family paper airplane festival. You can decorate your favorites and give them names that celebrate the Wright brothers’ achievement, names such as “The Kitty Hawk” or “1903 Express.”

671 Grinnell Glacier Basin, Glacier National Park, Montana

Lesson 89 God Created the Landscapes God’s Wonder of Glacier National Park

resident William Howard Taft signed a bill on May 11, 1910, setting aside a portion of northwestern Montana as Glacier National Park. Here God carved out rugged peaks and Pdeep valleys. He decorated these with beautiful glaciers and with over 1,200 species of plants. Glacier is home to 71 species of mammals, 276 species of birds, 6 species of amphibians, 3 species of reptiles, a variety of fish, and insect species too numerous to count. Today Glacier National Park covers over one million acres. This area contains 175 mountains, 762 lakes and ponds, and 1,514 miles of perennial rivers and streams. Glacier’s largest lake is Lake McDonald. The tallest peak is Mount Cleveland at 10,448 feet. The mountains of Glacier are part of the Rocky Mountains. The Continental Divide cuts through the park.

Glaciers A glacier is a mass of ice that begins on land. God created glaciers in places with cool temperatures in the summer and large amounts of snow and freezing rain in the winter. Most glaciers are near the North Pole or South Pole or in high mountains. Some scientists define an area of ice as a glacier only if it is currently moving. Other scientists call an area of ice a glacier if it shows evidence of having moved in the past. There are two types of glaciers: continental glaciers and alpine glaciers. A continental glacier, also called an ice sheet, is a dome of ice that covers a very large area of land. Alpine glaciers are found in mountains and often flow down valleys. The glaciers in Glacier National Park are alpine glaciers.

Penstemon flowers and Grinnell Glacier

672 The Wildflowers of Glacier National Park Glacier is home to almost 1,000 species of wildflowers. The highest places in the park are the alpine regions. Here the wildflower season is very short because of cold temperatures. Glacier lily God has created the wildflowers here so that they can withstand very high winds, cold nights, and intense ultraviolet light. Some are close to the ground where they can soak up heat from the earth. Some have special shapes so that the strong winds don’t hurt them. The glacier lily shoots up out of the snow. The butterwort consumes insects which stick to its gummy leaves. See photos of both at right. Almost all of the plants in the alpine region are perennial; that is, they stay alive year after year. Butterwort Some alpine plants can live to be more than 100 years old. Because of the short growing season, God created many plants here that produce new plants through their roots instead of through seeds. Two plants that do bear seeds are the rock harlequin and Bicknell’s cranesbill. Their seeds can wait decades to sprout. The seeds sprout after wildfires. The plants Prairie smoke make many flowers and seeds for a season or two. Then these seeds wait for the next fire Alberta penstemon before they sprout.

Wild rose, hoverfly

Mariposa lily

Striped coralroot

Kinnikinnick Alpine glacier poppy

Pasque flower

Fairy bells

Water buttercup Heartleaf arnica

673 Beargrass, swallowtail

Cinquefoil Sticky geranium Shooting stars

Native Nations, Trappers, Miners, Homesteaders, and Conservationists When Europeans first discovered the area that is now Glacier Fairy lady slippers National Park, several native nations made their homes there. The Blackfoot lived east of the mountains, while the Kootenai lived in the valleys to the west. The Salish and Cree Nations and a band of the Assiniboine Nation used the area occasionally. We learned about these nations in Unit 8. Native people called the area Shining Mountains or the Backbone of the World. Trappers came to the area, followed by miners. In 1891 the Great Northern Railway extended to the area. Homesteaders began to arrive by train. Settlers began to build small towns. Lesson 60 mentions George Bird Grinnell. In the mid-1890s, he and others began working to preserve the beauty of this area. Grinnell called the Glacier region the “Crown of the Continent.” He had loved nature since he was a child. After college he became a naturalist, often exploring in the West. Grinnell always learned from native nations. The Pawnee called him White Wolf. The Blackfoot called him Fisher Hat. The Cheyenne called him Wikis, which means bird, because they observed that he came and went with the seasons. Grinnell worked for the rights of native nations all his life. Grinnell edited a natural history magazine called Forest and Stream and founded the Audubon Society. Grinnell and fellow conservationists worked for 15 years to convince Congress to establish Glacier National Park, which they did in 1910.

Getting There Before many Americans drove cars, railroad companies realized that they could earn money taking people to national parks. They not only provided transportation, but also built hotels. On Independence Day 1915, the Great Northern Railroad Grinnell and his wife on a glacier opened Many Glacier Hotel.

674 Going-to-the-Sun Road

Paternoster lakes in Grinnell Valley

Soon after the Glacier area became a national park, automobiles became popular. Tour bus service began Mount Wilbur, Swiftcurrent Lake there in 1914. Men worked for nine years on what was first called the Transmountain Highway. The result was an engineering marvel. Today the name of the 50-mile road is Going-to-the-Sun Road. A drive on this is a highlight of a trip to Glacier National Park. The road connects the east entrance of the park with the west entrance and crosses the Continental Divide at Logan Pass. The road is named for nearby Going-to-the-Sun Mountain. Building the road was difficult and dangerous. Much Aurora borealis over Lake MacDonald of the road is on the side of a cliff. Sometimes workers had to hang suspended from ropes. The work required great strength. Those who built the 408-foot tunnel near Logan Pass had to be able to carry 50 pounds of dynamite down a 100-foot trail and a ladder in just half an hour. The job was too scary for some men. They stood at the top of the ladder, looked down the cliff, and resigned. While constructing the tunnel, three crews worked 24 hours a day. Crews used rock dynamited away from roadbeds to build walls. Because of this, the road blends in beautifully Mount Oberlin, Mount Cannon, field of fireweed with the surroundings. See example above. Snow in the area meant that construction crews could Grizzly bear on Going-to-the-Sun Road work only about 200 days each year. When crews returned in the spring, they had to remove by hand the snow that had accumulated on the road and in their camp.

675 In these photos of people living in the Glacier area in the early 1900s, Eagle Aims Back carves a toy canoe; a Blackfoot man poses in native dress; women play a traditional stick game; and a woman named Helen operates the switchboard at Many Glacier Hotel. Workers stayed in camp for two or three weeks with no shower. To help keep them happy, supervisors made sure they always had a good cook. The cook’s job required bravery, too. The cook had to contend with bears who came to investigate that good food. Crews completed the road on July 7, 1933. The cost was $1,700,000. It had been the most difficult road project America had undertaken until that time. Opening ceremonies took place eight days later. One cook and his assistant cooked chili for 2,500 people, but ended up serving over 4,000. They used 125 pounds of ground beef, 500 pounds of chili beans, 100 pounds of onions, 36 gallons of tomatoes, and 15 pounds of chili powder. They cooked the chili in nine copper-bottom wash basins. The crowning touch that day was when people from the Blackfoot, Salish, and Kootenai Nations came and passed the peace pipe.

Fast Forward to the Present

Since 1932 Glacier National Park in Montana and Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta, Canada, have been part of Waterton Glacier International Peace Park, the world’s first International Peace Park. In 1985 the American Society of Civil Engineers identified the Going-to-the- Modern equipment clears snow Canadian and American flags from the Going-to-the-Sun Road. Sun Road as a National Historic Civil at the Glacier National Park Engineering Landmark. visitor center

676676 Ptarmigan Marmot Western tanager

American badger

Crews worked hard to construct a way for visitors to see Glacier National Park. Jesus gave His all to make a way for us to come to Him. He told us: Mountain goat

I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. John 14:6

Activities for Lesson 89 Map Study – Complete the assignment for Lesson 89 on Map 4 “God’s Wonders” in Maps of America the Beautiful.

Timeline – In Timeline of America the Beautiful next to 1933, write: Workers complete the Going-to-the-Sun Road.

Student Workbook or Lesson Review – If you are using one of these optional books, complete the assignment for Lesson 89.

Thinking Biblically – Read Job 38:1-30. As you read, think about the majestic region God created in Glacier National Park.

Literature – Read the chapter titled “The School Exhibition” in Little Town on the Prairie.

677 Alaska Native people in kayaks

Lesson 90 The Arctic and Subarctic Daily Life People of Alaska

ar to the north of the lower 48 states is a state twice as big as Texas. Here Alaska Native people have lived and passed down their traditions generation after generation. “Alaska” Fis a native word. It means “place the sea crashes against.” Alaska Native people have used the abundant resources God created here to take care of themselves, their children, and their neighbors. As we learned in Lesson 23, explorer Vitus Bering reached the mainland of North America in Russian battleshipNeva 1741. Russians settled on Kodiak and rowboat with Aleut kayaks Island in 1784. Russian Czar Paul in the distance I, son of Catherine the Great, claimed Alaska in 1799 (the year before President John Adams moved into the White House). In 1824 Russia and the United States agreed that the boundary between Russian Alaska and the United States would be at the southern tip of what is now the Alaska Panhandle. In 1867 Russia sold Alaska to the United States. Alaska Purchase Alaska became an official U.S. territory while Treaty between Russia and the William Howard Taft was president. In 1910 the United States, 1867 people of Fairbanks, Alaska, gave President Taft the carved walrus tusk pictured at right.

678 Five Groups of Alaska Native People

nce Island awre Yup t. L ik d S an q ia p u Iñ c a n a s a b h St. Lawrence Island t Y A up ’ik a nd C N o u r Pribilof Islands p t h ’ w ik e q s i t i C t o u a l s t A Alaska Panhandle n d a Unangax and Alutiiq x g a a n Alaska Peninsula U n

Aleutian Islands

United States Geological Survey Map of Alaska, 1909 Look at the map above. Notice that five distinct groups make up the Alaska Native people. Now look at the Native Peoples of North America map on the inside front cover of this book. Find the Northwest Coast, Subarctic, and Arctic regions. The people who live on the Alaska Panhandle have similar lifestyles with others in the Northwest Coast region. We learned about them in Lesson 23. Today’s lesson is about the people of the Arctic and Subarctic regions of Alaska. The Athabascan live in the Subarctic region. The Iñupiaq and St. Lawrence Island Yupik, the Yup’ik and Cup’ik, and the Unangax and Alutiiq live in the Arctic region.

Gift to President Taft

679 Subarctic Region: Athabascan Find the Athabascan homeland on page 679. In summer, they traveled great distances, staying mainly along rivers and streams. They traveled in canoes made of birch bark, moose hide, and cottonwood trees. The Athabascan used the moon cycle to divide their year. They Modern Athabascan gave names, such as “when the first king salmon comes” or “little crust moccasins comes on snow” or “when the moose lose their antlers,” to the various “moons.” Their language is similar to Navajo. Navajo oral history tells of their people coming from northern lands. In the dark Alaskan winter, families gathered in winter villages of two to five households. They lived in tents made of caribou skin. Winter was a time for carving, trapping, sewing, and celebrating. In cold weather, they traveled by sled. People pulled some sleds; dogs pulled others. The Athabascan also used snowshoes. Both men and women knew how to do the tasks needed in the family. However, women did most of the sewing. They gathered berries and wild plants, trapped small animals, and prepared food. Men hunted big animals such as moose and caribou and planned ceremonies. The men actively traded with Athabascan from other communities and with other Alaska Native people.

Arctic Region: Unangax and Alutiiq The land of the Unangax and Alutiiq (or Sugpiaq) includes the forests of Prince William Sound, the Alaskan Peninsula, the Aleutian Island chain, and the Pribilof Islands. See map on page 679. The climate is fairly mild but always windy. Unangax and Alutiiq men traveled in the dangerous waters of the Bering Sea in expertly crafted seagoing kayaks. See kayaks on page 678. From their kayaks, they caught a variety of fish and sea mammals, including whales. They wore visors to protect their eyes from glare. They made visors from bent wood and decorated them with sea lion whiskers. The number of sea lion whiskers on a man’s visor showed his hunting success. Men created tools with elaborate decorations. They hunted birds. Men and boys climbed down cliffs to gather bird eggs. Those who lived in the eastern part of their region hunted for caribou and mountain goats. Women, children, and elders fished in the streams and gathered small sea life. They collected berries, plants, and roots. Women sewed waterproof clothes. They made translucent windows. They created beautiful beach grass baskets. Women sometimes grew their fingernails long so that they could split the grass. Some baskets are as soft as cloth. Some in this region lived in a class society with honorables, commoners, and enslaved. Individuals in this area were skilled in medicine. They even performed brain surgery. Hunting in kayak with harpoon

680 Unangax and Alutiiq homes blended in with the surroundings. The Unangax home was an oblong pit with rafters of whalebone or wood. A grass and sod roof covered the rafters. An Alutiiq home was one underground room. They entered through the ceiling and climbed down a ladder. Their villages were at the mouths of streams so that they could catch migrating salmon.

Arctic Region: Yup’ik and Cup’ik The Yup’ik and Cup’ik homeland is mainly treeless tundra dotted with hills and mountains. As seen on the map on page 679, their land is in the southwestern region of Alaska’s mainland. Rivers flow through the region and empty into the Bering Sea. In spring, the Yup’ik and Cup’ik lived near the ocean to hunt sea mammals, such as seals, walruses, and whales. In summer, they set up fish camps to harvest salmon. In fall, they moved inland to catch freshwater fish and to trap fur animals. In winter, they lived in villages where they enjoyed singing, dancing, and feasts.

Arctic Region: Iñupiaq and St. Lawrence Island Yupik Find the homeland of the Iñupiaq and St. Lawrence Island Yupik people. They lived and worked in groups related to one another, either by kinship or marriage. Some groups had only a few families; others had as many as 50. Three or four generations lived in one household. An older hunter and his wife served as its leader. The whole household gathered, fished, and hunted for food and the hunter and his wife distributed it. Iñupiaq and St. Lawrence Island Yupik people hunted polar bears, caribou, and sea mammals, such as whales, walruses, and seals. They caught salmon, halibut, and herring. They used antlers and bone for tools, skins for clothing and tents, and hides for bedding. The Iñupiaq and St. Lawrence Island Yupik people traveled in large open boats called umiaks. See umiak on page 683. They sometimes made flat sleds to carry the umiaks across ice. The Iñupiaq also traveled on basket sleds. Women prepared skins, reared children, prepared food, sewed clothes and boots, and made skin covers for umiaks. A woman’s jacket often had a large hood so she could carry her baby in it. Men hunted, made tools, and built homes. They built their homes of sod. Sometimes they built a framework of driftwood, whalebone, or walrus bones before adding the sod. The entrance was usually an underground tunnel. The men in some Iñupiaq groups built a community house, called a qargi. Men gathered there in the daytime to work, dance, and plan together. Women and children joined them in the evening to have a meal together, tell stories, dance, and participate in ceremonies. When traveling, the Iñupiaq sometimes turned a umiak on its side and used it as a gathering place.

681 Photographs of Alaska Native People and Their Crafts

Mouth drill

Trading furs

682682 Traveling by dogsled c. 1900-1930

Notice the blanket toss game in the distance.

Umiak

Waterproof skin raincoat

Berry picking Kayak

Weaving a basket 683 Fast Forward to 1961

Strength and stamina were essential to the traditional Alaska Native way of life. At any moment, someone could meet with a physical challenge in their harsh environment. Since 1961 Alaska Native people have enjoyed competitive games that test strength and stamina through the World Eskimo- Indian Olympics (WEIO) held in Fairbanks each summer. Traditional sports at these games include knuckle hop or seal hop, four man carry, ear weight, ear pull, drop the bomb, one-foot high kick, two-foot high kick, Alaskan high kick, kneel jump, Indian stick pull, Eskimo stick pull, toe kick, arm pull, fish cutting, seal skinning, muktuk eating, greased pole walk, bench reach, and the blanket toss. See photo at top left on page 683. The history of the blanket toss goes back to celebrations held after a successful whaling season. The “blanket” is a walrus or bearded seal skin from an old boat. The blanket has holes around the edge. A rope woven through these holes make hand grips for the 40 to 50 people who gather around it to toss someone into the air. A good bounce can be as high as 30 feet.

In January 1925, many people in Nome, Alaska, got sick with diphtheria. The only way to get medicine there in time to prevent a deadly epidemic was by dogsled. The U.S. Post Office regularly used dogs to deliver mail in Alaska. Twenty dogsled teams waited along the route from Nenana to Nome and delivered the medicine by relay. The 674-mile trip usually took 25 days, but the needed medicine would only last six days. Brave dogs and mushers (dogsled drivers) got the medicine to Nome with half a day to spare. . . . through love serve one another. Galatians 5:13

Activities for Lesson 90 We the People – Read “Alaska Days with John Muir” on pages 148-150.

Map Study – Complete the assignment for Lesson 90 on Map 2 “Native Peoples of North America” in Maps of America the Beautiful.

Timeline – In Timeline of America the Beautiful next to 1925, write: Sled dogs deliver medicine to Nome, Alaska.

Student Workbook or Lesson Review – If you are using one of these optional books, complete the assignment for Lesson 90 and take the test for Unit 18.

Vocabulary – Write a paragraph using all of these words: panhandle, translucent, oblong, rafter, tundra. Consult a dictionary if you need help with their definitions.

Thinking Biblically – Read Psalm 147:16-18.

Literature – Read the chapter titled “Unexpected in December” in Little Town on the Prairie. If you are using the Student Workbook or the Lesson Review, answer the questions on Little Town on the Prairie.

684