St.

Louis Activity Packet

Fun Fact: St. Louis was founded in 1764 as a trading post on the banks of the
Mississippi river. Not far away, another large river, the Missouri River, joins the
Mississippi River.

1. What is a trading post?

2. What kinds of things could settlers trade at the trading post?

3. Why did St. Louis become a popular trading post?

Facts about the Louisiana Purchase:

The Louisiana Purchase occurred in 1803 when Thomas Jefferson bought
828,000,000 square miles of land from France.
This land stretched from the Mississippi River to the East of the Rocky Mountains
in the West and from the Gulf of Mexico in the South to the Canadian border in
the North.

4. What were the benefits of the Louisiana Purchase?

Your Settler Story

Instructions: Imagine that you are a settler in the early 1800s, and you have just arrived in
St. Louis, Missouri. Answer the following questions about yourself. When you are
finished, write a 5 to 10 sentence story about an experience you had on your first day in
St. Louis and draw a picture on separate pieces of paper.

Name: ____________________________
Age: _________
Where did you come to St. Louis from? _____________________________________

Did you travel to St. Louis with any family, friends, or pets? If so, who?

Why did you travel to St. Louis?

________________________________________________________________________

Will you stay in St. Louis, or will you continue travelling west? Why?
________________________________________________________________________

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