What a great experience Jaime and I got to have. My friend Erika is a 4th grade teacher. When the school year started (back in Sept 2008), she asked me if Jaime and I would like to participate in a field trip with her and her class. Because 4th graders study California History, Erika found out about this field trip to Sutter’s fort. Here is how the field trip went…..
We went to Brentwood the night before to sleep at Erika’s house and see if we could help with any last minute things. Scott took Monday off so I wouldn’t have to worry about the other kids.
Monday March 2, we woke up at 5:15am. I showered and dressed. We woke up Jaime and loaded in the car. We got to Erika’s classroom at 6am. Jaime changed into her pioneer outfit and was ready to become a pioneer for the day.
All of the children showed up and were ready to leave by 6:45am. We loaded up on the bus and headed to Sacramento. There was a lot of time and preparation put into this field trip. The kids “live” at Sutter’s fort for the day. They were required to become one of the survivors of the Donner party for that whole day. The idea being that anyone who was in Sacramento could go to Sutter’s fort and witness first hand what a day at Sutter’s fort was like back in the 1840’s. Jaime spent a month reading and getting to know herself, Eliza Williams, the Reed Family’s servant.
All the kids were pretty excited to be going and were a bit rowdy on the bus, but really, very well behaved. Jaime made some friends instantly and sat with them on the bus. She enjoyed getting to know some new people and her usual shyness seemed to disappear. I was so pleased with her behavior and ability to make new friends in a class of kids who already all knew each other.
[Jaime with her group]
We got to Sacramento by 8:30am. We were dropped off at the old train station and gave the kids a wholesome, healthy breakfast of McDonald’s sandwich’s. We then went over the rules with the kids and gave them their pioneer pack. It had a name tag, a journal, a napkin and a feathered pencil. They thought that was pretty cool. We then headed around the corner where we were to meet the covered wagons that would take us to Sutter’s fort. It had started raining as soon as we got dropped off at the train station. It started out pretty light but by the time the wagons got there it had gotten heavier. We road through down town Sacramento in covered wagons. I think for most of the kids, the field trip could have ended there and they would have been as happy as ever. The girl that was sitting next to me was so sure that if she lived in Sacramento she’d get to ride one of those everyday. I didn’t have the heart to break it to her that that would not happen!
[Jaime is in the back, left hand side…..]
After arriving at the fort they took a group shot outside. Then John Sutter (one of the kids in the class) made his welcome speech and the fort officially opened.
[Jaime is next to the girl in green…..]
By this time everyone broke down into their groups and headed to a different station. There were 10 different stations; kitchen duty, trapping, basket weaving, bakery, trading post, wagon, laundry, candle making, blacksmith, and fire making. Every 25 minutes the groups rotated. I was in the basket weaving group. If you ask me soon enough (before I forget) I could show you how to weave a basket…..
It was pouring rain by now and we had to break out with the pioneer rain gear. Even though the rain could have ruined the whole day, it really just added to the authenticity of the experience. The kids had such a great time learning all the new skills and seemed enthusiastic through out the whole day. They had to cook the food and everything had to be done as it was back then. No modern conviences were allowed in the fort (except for camera’s). We had a chicken stew, mashed potatoes, bread, cut up oranges and cinnamon apples.
[the dinning hall]
The fort opened at 10am and closed at 5pm. We ate “dinner” at 3:30pm, and then got a lesson in medicine from the fort’s on call doctor. Now that was an experience! She had those kids enthralled for the whole hour as she told what doctor’s used to do back in the 1840’s. Amazing anyone survived!! At 5pm we fed the kids a light snack of granola bars and juice and then got on the bus. It was a much quieter ride home. About half the kids fell asleep, including Jaime. We made it back to the school about 7pm.
[the board that Erika made so that when people came to the fort, they would know who was there that day]
Unfortunately, I was so involved in basket weaving, that I didn’t get to take pictures during the actual day. If Erika has some pictures, I’ll post more later.
It was an amazing day. It was an experience I’m glad we both had and I told Erika she had to do it again in a few years so that Alix could go! Jaime can tell you so much about pioneer life. You should ask her sometime!
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