The students are wrapping up their Spring Break and will
return to school on Monday, March 31... only one day from
now. We'll see how many of them turn in mileage sheets to
Mrs. Staso. Each student could log walking and running
mileage during the past week to count toward the Route 66
challenge.
Since we don't have a "progress report" for you this week on
the students, we thought we'd tell you something about Route
66 that you might not know...
Camels once trekked across Route 66!
As a result of the gold rush of 1849, interest in
transportation routes into California became more intense
and widespread. In the 1850s, Congress commissioned surveys
for a proposed railroad across the United States. In 1853
four railroad surveys were authorized; one of the proposed
routes was the 35th parallel running from Fort Smith
Arkansas to Los Angeles. Lieutenant Amiel W. Whipple led the
first expedition in 1853 across the route that would one day
become Route 66. Perhaps one of the most interesting
expeditions over the 35th parallel was in 1857 and it used
camels! In 1857, Congress commissioned Lieutenant Ned Beale
to survey and identify a wagon road from Fort Defiance in
New Mexico to the Colorado River. His route would become
known as the "Beale Wagon Road" across Arizona - the state
that the 4th and 5th graders are virtually running and
walking in right now. Perhaps what makes Beale’s expedition
so noteworthy is the fact that he used camels instead of
horses! Lieutenant Beale was in charge of a most unusual
experiment. Camels were well suited to the arid southwest
and the camel experiment was a resounding success. Camels
very possibly could have become a fixture in the old west,
and may have replaced the horse in importance, if the Civil
War hadn't broken out and the camel experiment was dropped.
Believe it or not, that's a true story! The Beale Survey
trail would become the Beale Wagon Road, a route that would
be followed almost 70 years later by Route 66.
Thanks for stopping by this milepost update. Be sure to
check out the new pictures that we posted in the
March Photo Gallery!
Click Here To Read The Next
Journal Entry > >
|
5th Grade (42 students):
Their total is
1,752½
miles.
They have 525½
miles
left and are 77% done with the trek.
