A Sample Unit Plan

Historical Background Leading to Taney County's Organization (16821845) Grade Level: 6-8Time: Two Weeks (extra days optional)Submitted by Michelle Waters, Forsyth Middle School Unit Overview: The unit is a brief introduction to major events leading up to Taney County's founding, with emphasis on natural resources, Native Americans already in the region, and Spanish and French exploration. Two guiding questions provide the thematic focus:

1) How did the natural resources of the area contribute to the development of Taney County? 2) To know the land is to know the people who live there. How can this be a true statement?

Relevant Taney and Beyond Historical Archives:

The Land of the Osage Hewing out a Homestead County Founding

Show-Me Standards Addressed: Performance Standards: Goal 1: Students will acquire the knowledge and skills to gather, analyze, and apply information and ideas. 1.2. conduct research to answer questions and evaluate information and ideas. Goal 2: Students will acquire the knowledge and skills to communicate effectively within and beyond the classroom. 2.1. plan and make written, oral, and visual presentations for a variety of purposes and audiences. 2.7. use technological tools to exchange information and ideas. Knowledge Standards:

SS 2. understand continuity and change in the history of Missouri, the United States, and the world. SS5. know the major elements of geographical study and analysis (such as location, place, movement, regions) and their relationships to changes in society and environment SS 7. use tools of social science inquiry (such as surveys, statistics, maps, documents) FA 5. understand visual and performing arts in historical and cultural contexts.

Unit Goals (Aligned with Missouri's Show-me Standards) Unit Objectives: 1. organize and maintain a course notebook. 2. use maps to locate the Ozarks Plateau, Missouri, Taney County, and major waterways of Taney County at the time of its formation. 3. describe the geographical characteristics of the White River region of the Ozarks Plateau. 4. explain the relevance of European exploration to settlement of the region. 5. research and present information about the Native American cultures of Taney County prior to 1845. 6.explain the significance of specific people, places, or events to the county's formation and chart the major historical events that led to the organization of Taney County. Method of Evaluation Graded Possible Raw Activities: % Points Points
Maps Notebook Timeline Native American Project Terms Packet Test Totals 5% 30% 10% 30% 5% 20% 100% 25 150 50 150 25 100 500

Materials Needed:
Aley, Tom. "Moving Water, The Rocks, The Landscape." In The Heart of Ozark Mountain County: A Popular History. Ed. Frank Reuter. Reeds Spring: White Oak Press, 1992, pp. 88-90. Hartman, Mary. "Forsyth: A Town of Many Courthouse." In The Heart of Ozark Mountain County: A Popular History. Ed. Frank Reuter. Reeds Spring: White Oak Press, 1992, pp.168-174. "The Louisiana Purchase Doubles America's Size." The 50 Greatest Events in American History published by the Postal Commemorative Society, 1998. Maps: Rand McNally's Missouri State Road Map, 1995 Outline Map of United States with State Boundaries Historical Maps on File: Missouri 1800-1845 Historical Maps On File: Mississippi Explorations 1682-1800 transparency blank maps of White River / Taney County Transparencies of Bluff Dwellers, Osage, European Explorers, Napoleon, Thomas Jefferson, Lewis and Clark as available; transparency of timeline, if desired Books about the Osage Internet access to Springfield-Greene County Library: Shepard Room: Periodicals: Key Word: Osage Indians Internet access to Taney and Beyond Art supplies and computer paper for a dot-matrix printer

Breakdown by Lessons Lesson 1 Guiding Questions:

How did the natural resources of the area contribute to the development of Taney County?

To know the land is to know the people who live there. How can this be a true statement?

Lesson Objectives: # 1. organize and maintain a course notebook. # 2. use maps to locate the Ozarks Plateau, Missouri, Taney County, and major waterways of Taney County at the time of its formation. Teaching Sources: Rand McNally's Missouri State Road Map, 1995 Outline Map of United States with State Boundaries Historical Maps of File: Missouri 1800-1845 Teacher Notes Aley, Tom. "Moving Water, The Rocks, The Landscape." In The Heart of Ozark Mountain County: A Popular History. Ed. Frank Reuter. Reeds Spring: White Oak Press, 1992, pp. 88-90. Procedure: *Prior to class, assemble blank maps and reading packets for students; set up overhead equipment; write guiding questions and lesson objectives on the board. *Pass out syllabus and Unit Objective Sheet; explain organization requirements for Unit Notebook (All work for the unit will be complied into the notebook / folder and turned in at the end of the unit.) *Direct attention to guiding question and objectives; outline note-taking techniques. *Use Lesson 1: Teacher Notes to introduce course, unit, and student assignments. *Use map transparencies and copies of Missouri road maps to identify geographic locations relevant to discussion; ask students to label their maps: Ozark Plateau, state of Missouri, Taney County boundaries, White River/Lakes, large creeks in Taney County, early townsites *Brainstorm geographical characteristics of region: karst, hilly, rocky, streams, forests, valleys, caves, etc.

Assignment: Read Tom Aley's article, noting the geographic/geological characteristics mentioned in the article; write a journal entry summarizing the characteristics and predicting their importance of these characteristics to the inhabitants of the area.
Lesson 1 Teacher Notes In 1837, the Missouri State Legislature carved out a new county from the Ozarks Plateau region of the state. The new county was situated along the White River on the southsouthwest border. They called the new county Taney (pronounced with a long a sound) in honor of the U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice, Roger B. Taney (pronounce Tawney). The land was rich in natural beauty and abundant in natural resources. Numerous streams and springs, clear and swift-flowing, sculpted the uplifted karst into a myriad of thickly wooded hills, deep hollows, and fertile, but narrow, valleys. Underground waterways created a network of caverns that served as shelter for the area's prehistoric inhabitants. The Osage made seasonal hunting trips into the area. Europeans explored the uncharted wilderness and reported finding a land suitable for settlement. Mineral deposits, rivers, and a vast timberland offered economic opportunities for trappers, miners, and early white settlers. The grasslands supported wildlife and livestock raised by the farmers living on the land after the United States acquired the territory following the Louisiana Purchase. It was a beautiful place to live, yet it was not an easy place to live. The soils were coarse and rocky, the hills steep and rough, the ridges high, and the rivers wild. The wilderness of the Ozark Mountains did not at first attract the swarms of settlers who moved west of the Mississippi River as did the prairie lands of Kansas and Nebraska, but there were enough rugged individuals who became enchanted with the Ozarks and established roots. The history of this area is a wonderful, multicultural story of brave men and women, unique in culture. It is a story of the Anglo-Americans, western expansion and the displacement of Native Americans that migration caused. It is the story of white settlers, clans from the Appalachian Mountain regions,who came to this area and toughed it out to forge an environment that today attracts millions of visitors annually, a land of enchantment now called Ozark Mountain Country. The natural beauty and resources that first brought people to this region prior to the Civil War is the key to the livelihood of thousands, beauty and resources worthy of preservation. Unit 1 of the History of Taney County deals with the land, the people, and the events that led to the county's political organization and Forsyth designated as the county seat, a time spanning roughly from 1600 -1845. To better follow that development, we must understand that the region has been referred to as the Land of Taney, a name borrowed from Elmo Ingenthron, an historian who lived in Forsyth for many years. His book, The

Land of Taney, is one of the few authoritative historical accounts available at this time. Guiding Questions: How did the natural resources of the area contribute to the development of Taney County? To know the land is to know the people who live there. How can this be a true statement? Taney County, at the heart of the Ozarks Plateau, is a land full of interesting geological features. It is an upland area that lies between the Appalachians and the Great plains regions. Geologists believe the Ozarks were created long, long before the Rocky Mountains, and that the area was once covered by a shallow sea. The article by Tom Aley is one that can give us a basic understanding of how the physical geography of the area came into being. After you read this article, ask yourself how it relates to our guiding questions?

Lesson 2 Guiding Questions: How did the natural resources of the area contribute to the development of Taney County? To know the land is to know the people who live there. How can this be a true statement? Lesson Objectives: #3. Describe the geographical characteristics of the White River region of the Ozarks Plateau. Teaching Sources: Aley, Tom. "Moving Water, The Rocks, The Landscape." In The Heart of Ozark Mountain County: A Popular History. Ed. Frank Reuter. Reeds Spring: White Oak Press, 1992. 88-90 Procedure: *Prior to class, write guiding questions and lesson objectives on the board. *Review reading assignment. ------- To know the land is to know the people who live there. Agree or disagree? Why? ------- According to Tom Aley, how was the plateau formed? ------- How was it transformed into a hilly terrain? ------- Why is the soil rocky? ------- What does the phrase "Land of Hollow Hills" mean?

------- What is a sinkhole? ------- What is Aley's advice concerning contaminants in our area? *Have students copy this from the board: The land, with its resources, is the key to the development of Taney County in terms of population growth and distribution, economic endeavors, and social development. *Using Teacher Notes lead class into a discussion as to why the statement on the board might be true. Assignment: None
Lesson 2 Teacher Notes The study of history can be thought of as a study of cause and effect. It means looking at what happened "then and trying to understand how what happened first caused what happened next. Consider these questions and try to give examples: ----- What happened in our county's past that caused this area to become one of the nation's major vacation destinations? ----- How did past events in the nation affect events locally? ----- What local events took place that caused people to behave a certain way? ----- How did their behavior affect changes to the land? ----- How did changes in the land cause people to do things differently? ----- What is happening now in our county that affects the nation? ----- What is happening now that might have a positive effect on the future of our county? ----- What is happening now that might have a negative effect on the future of our county? As we study the past events of this county, keep in mind the relationship between the environment and the people. You will be asked to determine whether that relationship has changed or stayed the same over time. You will be asked to agree or disagree with this statement, "The land, with its resources, is the key to the development of Taney County in terms of population growth and distribution, economic endeavors, and social development, and you will need to support your opinion with examples from the past and current events.

Lesson 3 Guiding Questions: How did the natural resources of the area contribute to the development of Taney County?

To know the land is to know the people who live there. How can this be a true statement? Lesson Objectives: #4. explain the relevance of European and American exploration to settlement of the region. Teaching Sources: Teacher Notes Historical Maps On File Mississippi Explorations 1682-1800 transparency Transparencies of Bluff Dwellers, Osage, European Explorers, Napoleon, Thomas Jefferson, Lewis and Clark as available Transparency of timeline, if desired Copies of "The Louisiana Purchase Doubles America's Size." The 50 Greatest Events in American History published by the Postal Commemorative Society, 1998. Procedure: *Prior to class, assemble reading handouts for students; set up overhead equipment; write guiding questions and lesson objectives on the board. *Begin lesson using Lesson 3 Teacher Notes, showing map and timeline transparencies where appropriate. Students should note dates and major events for their chart project later on. Assignment: Read "The Louisiana Purchase Doubles America's Size." Journal entries should focus on why Americans regarded Thomas Jefferson a hero because of the Louisiana Purchase and how this reading relates to the idea that "To know the land is to know the people who live there."
Lesson 3 Teacher Notes Before there were people in the Land of Taney, there was the land. in time, the first inhabitants arrived. These prehistoric Native Americans are known as the Bluff Dwellers, and there is evidence that some of these people lived nearby. Excavations, resulting from road and housing developments, have unearthed artifacts to that effect. The Natural History Museum at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C. has been given numbers of bones and primitive weapons believed to have been made by the Bluff Dwellers from this area.

Bluff Dweller were hunters and gathers who lived in the hollowed out edges of the bluffs along the White River. No one really knows what happened to these people, but one theory is that they died from an unknown cause. Another idea is that they were frightened away by the ancestors of the Ozark Osage when those earlier tribes moved across the Mississippi River sometime before the European explorers discovered that river. The Native Americans who lived in the Ozarks when Europeans came to the area before the 1600s were the Osage. Although the permanent villages of the Osage were situated between Springfield and Kansas City, along the Osage River, we know that they lived in the Land of Taney part of the time. The White River and the forests of this area were their hunting and fishing grounds. There are legends that Spanish explorers traveling with Hernando de Soto were the first white people to encounter the Osage in the 1500s. We do not know if these legends are true, because there is no written evidence to support that idea. What historians do know is that the Osage were in the Ozarks Plateau regions sometime between 1682-84, when Robert Cavelier de La Salle claimed the land for France, calling it the Province of Louisiana after king Louis XIV.We are going to look briefly at the events that led to the United States gaining possession of the Province of Louisiana in 1804.

Lesson 4 Guiding Questions: How did the natural resources of the area contribute to the development of Taney County? To know the land is to know the people who live there. How can this be a true statement? Lesson Objectives: #4. explain the relevance of European and American exploration to settlement of the region. #5. research and present information about the Native American cultures of Taney County prior to 1845. Teaching Sources: Lesson 4 Teacher Notes blank maps of White River / Taney County Books about the Osage Internet (Springfield-Greene County Library: Shepard Room: Periodicals: Key Word: Osage Indians)

Procedure: *Prior to class, assemble Osage leaning center (books, magazines, pictures, arrowheads, etc.); map handouts and project assignment; write guiding questions and lesson objectives on the board. *Begin lesson using Lesson 4 Teacher Notes *Assign Osage Project and allow students to look over learning center to get ideas. Assignment: Project Assignment (see next page) Project Assignment Individuals: Select two of the projects / activities from the list below to complete on your own and present to your classmates. Partners: Select three of the projects / activities from the list below to complete together and present to your classmates. 1. Create a children's storybook about the Osage myths. 2. Create a portfolio of original drawings with captions depicting some aspect of the Osage culture. 3. Design a bulletin board display showing the social status of Osage society. 4. Create a model of an Osage hunting camp. 5. Make a collage of words and pictures depicting the work of Osage women and men. 6. Create a dictionary of Osage words and terms relevant to their culture. 7. Write a research paper with a bibliography about Maria Tall Chief. 8. Design a mini-museum of Osage artifacts. 9. Make a board game about the Osage trading activities. 10. Compose a poem or song about life in the Osage society. 11. Role-play a talk show interview with an Osage leader. 12. Draw a map and label significant camps of the Osage territories in the past. 13. Design a coloring book or paper dolls showing the fashion of the Osage. 14. Write a script about the Osage Treaty of 1808.

Work must show creative thinking, an acceptable interpretation of the information reviewed in class readings, videos, and discussions. Your work must clearly demonstrate that satisfactory time and effort was given toward the completion of the project. You are to submit a written statement describing the process you used to complete the assignment and why you are or why you are not pleased with the result. All work must be presented on the due date to be eligible for full credit. Your class presentation will be evaluated by your peers as to the effectiveness in communication.
Lesson 4 Teacher Notes In the Osage Treaty of 1808, the Osage deeded their land to the U.S. government. The government agreed to pay the Osage $1200 cash and an equal or above amount each year following for as long as the Osage lived. Of course, the government failed to keep the treaty promises. In 1971, a court settlement was made and the government was made to pay $13, 250,000 back pay to the Osage. The Osage were discovered in this area by a man named Henry Rowe Schoolcraft. Schoolcraft was an English geologist and ecologist who, with a companion and a pack horse, set out on foot,from Potosi in the autumn of 1818. He traveled southwestward to the White River. From his journals, (found in part on-line at the Shepard Room) we learn that he described the Ozarks as being "clear-aired and clear-watered. Schoolcraft recorded seeing the following wildlife and fruits: wolves, bear, elk, deer, fox, wildcats, mink, raccoon, opossum, squirrels, polecats, pigeons, turkey, geese, swan, grapes, blackhaw, mulberries, crabapples, pawpaw. He discovered two trappers, cabins along the mouth of Creek in 1818. Schoolcraft's accounts are valuable resources for understanding the earliest history of white settlement in the Land of Taney. An Osage hunting camp was discovered on the banks of Swan Creek at what is now Forsyth's Shadow Rock Park. The Osage continued to make hunting trips to Swan Creek even after the Treaty of 1808. At one time, the Osage controlled all the land north to south from the Missouri River and the Arkansas river, and east to west from Mississippi River to the foothills of the Rockies. They established a trading network with the other Native American groups after the French trappers and traders moved into the Ozarks. Although the they established trading relationships with other Native American peoples, the Osage could be quite fierce

warriors, and they protected their lands vigorously. They called themselves "Children of the Middle Waters." In addition to the Osage, there were a number of other Native Americans in the area from 1820 to 1830 roughly. All together, these displaced Native Americans were known as the White River Indians. During the 1820s thousands of emigrant Indians were removed from their homelands east of the Mississippi River and given temporary land in the upper White River watershed region. Using the map of the county, label the names of the tribes at the locations they are known to have lived. James River= Osage/Delaware Bull Creek= Peoria Swan Creek= Miami Beaver Creek= Weas Cowskin Creek= Piankashaw Long Creek=Shawnee Bear Creek= Cherokee (drop-offs from the Trail of Tears during the 1830s) You will be asked to prepare a well-developed project about the Osage.The resources in the classroom cannot be taken from the room, so you will be given time to use those resources in class. Also, we will be going to the Internet Lab to research additional information. The project itself must be completed as homework and will be due in one week.

Lesson 5 Guiding Questions: How did the natural resources of the area contribute to the development of Taney County? To know the land is to know the people who live there. How can this be a true statement? Lesson Objectives: #6. explain the significance of specific people, places, or events to the county's formation and chart the major historical events that led to the organization of Taney County. Teaching Sources: Copies of reading material Hartman, Mary. "Forsyth: A Town of Many Courthouse." In The Heart of Ozark Mountain County: A Popular History. Ed. Frank Reuter. Reeds Spring: White Oak Press, 1992, pp.168-174. Art supplies and computer paper for a dot-matrix printer

Procedure: *Prior to class, write the following terms or names on the board. Have students copy them into their notebooks, if they do not have them already. Explain that these people, places, or things are somehow important to the development of the county. Ask the students to underline any of these terms in the reading if found. (They will be asked to define these terms and make miniature flash cards to use in a memory game later .) Ozark Bluff Dwellers, Osage, Robert Cavelier de La Salle, Louis XIV, Napoleon, Thomas Jefferson, Meriwether Lewis, William Clark, Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, White River Indians, Andrew Jackson, Roger B. Taney, John W. Hancock, John Danforth, John Forsyth, Ozark Plateau, Province of Louisiana, White River, Swan Creek, Bull Creek, Osage Treaty of 1808, Treaty of Fountainbleau, Treaty of Ildefonso, Squatter's Rights *Read the Hartman article aloud, by turns, during class. **See Lesson 5:Teacher Notes for outline *Pair students and ask them to use their reading handouts and notes for reference as they make an illustrated timeline (colored) of events that occurred in the Land of Taney from 1682 - 1845. Timelines will be displayed and peerevaluated for completion as assigned and accuracy of facts.
Lesson 5 Teacher Notes Hartman, Mary. "Forsyth: A Town of Many Courthouse. In The Heart of Ozark Mountain County: A Popular History. Ed. Frank Reuter. Reeds Spring: White Oak Press, 1992, pp.168-174. Article Highlights 1. Forsyth has had nine courthouses since 1837. 2. Missouri Territory formed in 1812; became the 24th state in 1821 3. Discussion of European explorers, Osage, Schoolcraft, White River Indians 4. White settlers move into area (Squatter's Rights,1816, not mentioned, but Congress gave these earliest trappers the right to remain on the territorial lands they had improved.) 5. Taney County formed in 1837; John W. Hancock establishes post office and names it after his friend, Sen. John Forsyth of GA; Andrew Jackson's Sec. of State 6. Dispute over the location of the county seat site lasted until 1845; two sites for a time-one at Bull Creek and the other at Swan Creek.

7. Flood in 1841 destroys log courthouse at Swan Creek. 8. 1843, John Danforth purchases 50 acres at the mouth of Swan Creek, post office, and trading post; donates land to the county for the site of courthouse. 9. Dispute settled; Forsyth becomes official county seat 1845. 10. Fifteen years of growth and prosperity in the county; Civil War breaks out; skirmish at Forsyth damages new brick courthouse. 11. 1863, Federal troops occupying Forsyth burn town to keep Confederates from controlling White River. 12. During and after strong Confederate sympathies in the county; Bushwhackers control area; The Baldknobbers form to counter the corrupt government in office after the war. 13. Courthouse destroyed by arsonist in 1885. 14. 1890, Forsyth incorporated as a town. 15. 1906, railroad completed through Branson and Hollister; mail boats to Forsyth from Branson. 16. Powersite Dam completed in 1913 forming Lake Taneycomo (short for Taney County, Missouri); area begins catering to tourists at Rockaway Beach. 17. Electricity comes to Taney County's rural areas. 18. 1947, Bull Shoals Dam project begun. 19. 1950, Forsyth moves to top of bluff; lake formed flooding townsite; another new courthouse.

Concluding the Unit: Timelines will be completed and displayed and evaluated by classmates. Students will be involved in creating the scoring guide for the timelines. Students will work on terms, definitions in class following lesson 5. Using small squares of paper, place terms on one side of the paper and the definitions on the other. Students can use the small papers to play a form of trivial pursuit or TANEY Bingo as a review for an OBJECTIVE TEST (map locations, terms and definitions, chronological events).

Performance Assessment NOTEBOOK Students will be asked to explore answers to these questions and record their responses in their notebook. Assessment will be made holistically in terms of students addressing the questions and supporting their answers with ideas from the material covered in this unit: How did the natural resources of the area contribute to the development of Taney County? To know the land is to know the people who live there. How can this be a true statement? PROJECT Osage Projects will be presented on the last two days of the unit. Presentations should be video taped for use in completing the analytical teacher evaluation part of the