Have you ever imagined what it must be like to be President of the United States? You’d have to govern an entire country! Just think, you would sign laws that affect over 300 million people. You would be in charge of one of the strongest militaries in the world. You would give speeches to millions of people!

Now, imagine if you had to do all of that from a wheelchair. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the thirty-second President of the United States, had to use a wheelchair because his legs were paralyzed. This meant that he couldn’t walk or even stand. How did that happen, you may be asking? And how did he still become president regardless of his challenges despite that? Let’s rewind and find out!

Roosevelt grew up on a large farm in New York State. Since he lived in the country, Roosevelt was taught at home by tutors when he was young. Because of this, he didn’t have a lot of friends his age, and he was very shy. 

But Roosevelt was close with his family. He also had a distant older cousin named Teddy who he really admired. Teddy was outgoing and popular. When Roosevelt started high school, Teddy announced that he wanted to become a politician. A politician is someone who gets elected to a government position. 

That sounded pretty cool to Roosevelt. He decided he wanted to be a politician just like his cousin. What he didn’t realize is that to be a politician, he’d have to talk to large crowds of people. He’d have to get those crowds to like and trust him. That meant A LOTa lot of socializing.

There was one big problem: Roosevelt was not particularly social. He had a hard time making friends. He preferred to spend his time reading books and studying. He studied so hard, in fact, that he got accepted into Harvard just as his cousin Teddy had done. Harvard was a top college and a good choice for people who wanted to study law. 

While Roosevelt was in his first year at Harvard, his cousin Teddy became the most important politician in the country: he was elected President of the United States. If you want to learn more about Teddy Roosevelt be sure to look up our episode about him. Roosevelt was proud of his cousin, no doubt. But how could he compete with him? Roosevelt decided to work even harder. He was determined to keep up with his superstar older cousin and forge his own path to the presidency. 

As president, Teddy made hundreds of decisions every day! People counted on him to keep the country safe. To be elected, he’d had to convince millions of people that he was the best person for the job. But Teddy had always been popular.

Being popular was not something Roosevelt had ever been very good at. 

He was not athletic. He always cared more about grades than being cool. How could he get his classmates at Harvard to like him? He hatched a plan. He started to join clubs and meet people. He even became the editor of the Harvard Crimson newspaper!

As editor of this newspaper, Roosevelt reported on events that happened not just on campus but around the world. He began to learn more about politics and the government. He started to realize which politicians he agreed with and which ones he didn’t. His cousin Teddy was a Republican, but Roosevelt decided he would prefer to be a Democrat.  

Roosevelt married a woman named Eleanor and graduated with a law degree. He was ready to give politics a try. So, when he was twenty-eight, he ran in an election to be a state senator for New York and won. As a senator, Roosevelt helped create and vote on laws for his state. Being a state senator was a good first step. But Roosevelt still had more work to do. 

After only one two-year term as a state senator, Roosevelt received a life-changing call! It was the new President of the United States, Woodrow Wilson. Wilson asked Roosevelt to move to Washington D.C. to help run the United States Navy. This was huge! Roosevelt was excited to take this job. 

His dream of being president suddenly seemed within reach. Roosevelt’s career was moving in the right direction. He was getting experience in politics and learning about different parts of government. He was meeting important politicians. He was even gaining popularity among Americans. His dream of being president was within reach. 

Then, in 1921, Roosevelt went to New York for a family vacation. One day, he was relaxing on a boat, when without warning, he fell into the ice-cold water. His legs felt numb. Soon after that, he felt lots of pain in his back and his legs. He started to lose control of his body. He couldn’t even move his face. For a short period of time, he was almost entirely paralyzed and unable to move any parts of his body.

The doctors told Roosevelt that he had a disease called polio. This disease affected his spinal cord, which is what allowed his arms, legs, and all the other parts of his body to move. It was unusual for an adult to get polio. Since there was no cure for it, Roosevelt thought that he would never be able to move again.

How was Roosevelt ever going to control a country or command a military if he couldn’t move? He couldn’t stand. He couldn’t walk. He couldn’t even wave or smile at people. It seemed like his political career was over.

However, Roosevelt did not want this disease to decide when he should retire. He wanted to stay in politics. He was determined wanted to become president. Roosevelt decided that he would fight to recover to reach his goal. Nobody knew how long it would take or if it was even possible! And he’d be away from politics for a long time. Would anybody remember him after he was away for so long?

He needed people to remember his name. He had an idea. His wife, Eleanor, was well-liked and very intelligent. Maybe his wife could help remind people of his accomplishments in political circles. Plus, he could write letters to important politicians all over the country. He would make sure he wasn’t forgotten.

It took Roosevelt years to recover. He had to work hard to regain the use of his body parts. Roosevelt had to learn how to move again by swimming. Since he weighed less in the pool, it was easier for him to try lifting his arms and legs again. At first, he needed a lot of help, but he did get stronger. He had braces fit for his legs that allowed him to stand up.

By 1928, Roosevelt had made a lot of progress. He had built back a lot of his muscles, but he was still paralyzed in his legs. He realized he would never be able to walk again. Could he be the powerful, admirable figure that past presidents like his cousin were known for if he was stuck in a wheelchair?

Roosevelt did what he’d always done: use his intelligence and determination to make progress his hard work. In 1928, seven years after he first got sick, Roosevelt made his political comeback as Governor of New York. 

This same job title had belonged to his older cousin Teddy almost 30 years earlier. Roosevelt’s path to the presidency was back on track. 

Just like Teddy, Roosevelt was well-liked by the people of New York. He ran for re-election in 1930, and he won again. He liked being governor, but still, he wanted a promotion. He wanted to be president.

In 1932, Roosevelt ran for president of the United States. He won the election by beating Herbert Hoover. He became the thirty-second President of the United States, joining the long line of famous, powerful presidents, including his older cousin Teddy.  

Roosevelt didn’t let a wheelchair stop him. He did all of the things that presidents are supposed to do. He showed his country and the world that he was a strong and capable leader. When he gave speeches, Roosevelt used leg braces, a cane, and usually the arm of a family member to walk to the podium. Instead of using the bulky, ugly wheelchairs of the time, Roosevelt built his own sleek wheelchair using a dining chair with bicycle wheels attached to it. He could even climb stairs using just the strength of his arms like a gymnast!

Roosevelt showed the country that a disability did not mean he couldn’t be just as powerful and admirable as any other president. In fact, he served nearly four terms, making him the longest-serving president in history! 

Fortunately, a few years later, a scientist named Jonas Salk discovered a cure for polio. His vaccine made it so no one had to go through what President Roosevelt did. 

Roosevelt’s path to the presidency was not an easy one. But he never gave up on his dream or his desire to match Teddy’s success. Sometimes, being the younger cousin isn’t such a bad thing, after all. 

https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/presidents/theodore-roosevelt/

https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/presidents/franklin-d-roosevelt/

https://www.fdrlibrary.org/fdr-biography

https://millercenter.org/president/fdroosevelt/life-before-the-presidency

https://www.cdc.gov/polio/what-is-polio/index.htm

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Roosevelt-D-Roosevelt/Paralysis-to-presidency

https://www.ducksters.com/history/us_government/senate.php

https://www.twinkl.co.uk/teaching-wiki/roles-and-responsibilities-of-the-president

https://millercenter.org/president/fdroosevelt/life-before-the-presidency

https://kids.kiddle.co/Politics

https://www.fdrlibrary.org/polio

The post History of Franklin D. Roosevelt for Kids appeared first on Bedtime History: Podcast and Videos For Kids.

Annie Smith Peck had a pretty normal childhood. I know that’s not an exciting way to start a podcast, but it’s true. Born right in the middle of the 19th century to an old, her Rhode Island family traced its roots to the founder of the state. She went to school, then studied to become a teacher. Her family was a little more open-minded than most–Annie’s father took her to see a women’s rights activist speak once.  But they still expected Annie to marry, start a family, and live the respectable life of a well-off 19th-century woman from an old family. 

Annie had other ideas–not quite plans, but not marriage and children. The fire-brand feminist speaker she’d seen as a child had convinced her she could do bigger things than her family expected. Her old high school teacher, who refused to give Annie a permanent job, also hinted that teaching wasn’t a big enough goal for her. But Annie wasn’t sure what those bigger goals should be. The sheltered life she led with her family in Rhode Island didn’t help her expand her vision. So she drifted around, trying things out. A friend had moved west to Illinois after high school and gotten a job teaching, and Annie decided to try her luck in the Midwest. She moved to Michigan to teach. 

Once in Michigan, it became clear to those around her that Annie was capable of more than just teaching. She became friends with a few professors at the nearby University of Michigan, who recognized her curious and adventurous spirit. Annie had tried to gain admission to Brown University in Rhode Island, the school where her father and brothers had gone, but they refused her. They didn’t take female students. The University of Michigan did though. It was one of the first in the nation to do so, and Annie’s new friends made sure she got the chance to enroll. 

Annie was in her twenties by the time she started college, much older than most of her classmates, but she immediately felt that she belonged. She studied hard, made many new friends, and expanded her mind and her possibilities. When she graduated at 27, Annie was just getting started on her adventures!

After teaching in colleges for a few years, Annie earned enough money to begin her travels, and she never really stopped. Over the next several years, Annie would go back and forth between Europe and the US. She went to a famous archeological school in Greece, took photos, hiked, and made lifelong friends. Between trips, she kept teaching, and also started giving lectures about Greek archeology and history, using photos and experiences from her travels. 

It was on one of these trips to Europe that Annie discovered the passion that would dominate the rest of her life: mountain climbing. She scaled mountains all over Europe and the United States, from one of California’s highest mountains–Mount Shasta–to the Alps in Europe. She climbed the Matterhorn, a famously steep and treacherous peak in the Swiss Alps in 1895, becoming the second woman to do so. Even though she wasn’t the first woman to climb it, her accomplishment did attract some attention, though not so much for the climbing part: people were aghast that she had climbed in PANTS! Annie just thought this was the sensible thing to wear when climbing mountains, but some people thought she should be arrested for not wearing a skirt! 

By the time she climbed the Matterhorn, Annie was 45 years old, but she was just getting started on her climbing career. Between mountains, she spent all her time planning and raising money for the next expedition. She lectured, wrote articles, and flat-out asked her friends and acquaintances for donations. She didn’t feel at home unless she was traveling and climbing. She turned her sites southward and traveled to Mexico, where she became the first woman to climb the two highest peaks in that country: Pico de Orizaba and Popocatepetl, both over 18 thousand feet. For a brief time, she held the world record for the highest peak climbed by a woman, though another climber, Fanny Bullock Workman soon bested her on a climb in the Himalayan mountains. 

Annie decided she wanted to climb bigger mountains, summits that no one– male or female– had ever climbed before. She researched peaks in South America, looking for one that might be the highest on the continent. After much research–and a few more climbs–she decided Huascaran, a mountain in the Peruvian Andes, would be her target. It would take all her grit and perseverance to get there.

Planning a climbing expedition is no simple matter. Climbing was, and is, dangerous: many mountains, especially the higher ones, have snow all year. Glaciers cut around them, with snow camouflaging deep crevasses. There was constant danger of avalanches and falling rocks. Freezing temperatures bite at you day and night, with only your clothes, tent, and sleeping bag–along with occasional fires–to warm you up. Frostbite could set in quickly if you weren’t careful. Sun glaring off the snow could burn your skin.

You need the right gear and clothing. You needed a rope to tie yourself to the other climbers, so if one person slipped, they wouldn’t go sliding down the side of the mountain. Of course, this could work the other way around too: one person slipping in the wrong place could pull everyone with them! Ice axes helped climbers cling to steep ascents, or even cut stairs in the ice. Many climbers, including Annie, also wanted to contribute to science, so they’d bring tools for measuring the height, or altitude that they reached.  

Shocking at the time, Annie considered pants a necessity. Many women did climb in long skirts at the time, but she considered them cumbersome and did away with them. You needed four pairs of thick wool socks under boots four sizes too big, along with several pairs of wool long underwear, which you might wear all at once! Hats, gloves, sunglasses, camp stove, blankets…the list goes on!

But the most important item to pack, according to Annie? Chocolate!

Even experienced climbers like Annie need guides or companions to help them on the mountain–it’s definitely not a solo sport. Good guides–professional mountain climbers who had the equipment and expertise to make sure you were as safe as possible–were expensive and hard to find. You would also need to pay porters to help carry your equipment and find donkeys or mules to carry larger bundles. 

Annie struggled to raise the money she would need to buy equipment and hire guides to climb Huascaran. She tried three times, crossing the ocean on steamers and trekking for days each time to reach the mountain. The guides and porters she found were often inexperienced and unreliable, and many of them insisted on turning back when the going got rough. 

But after years of failed attempts, Annie and two Swiss guides finally made it to the peak in 1908, She was 58 years old. It still wasn’t an easy expedition. The group started on their first attempt in early August of 1908, but had to return when one of the guides got sick and snowstorms lashed their campsite. The three tried again in late August, and finally made it to the summit! They took photos and measurements of the altitude. Annie’s measurements showed that she had reached a greater height than any other woman before her.

But the victory was not without its consequences: one guide developed serious frostbite and had to have several fingers and part of his foot amputated when they returned to the nearest city. 

When she got back to the US, Annie used her connections to help raise money for him, since he couldn’t work as a mountain climbing guide anymore. 

But more challenges were in store. Annie’s old rival, Fanny Bullock Workman, claimed that one of her climbs in the Himalayas was higher! She even hired engineers with better instruments to measure Huascaran. Unfortunately for Annie, this showed the summit wasn’t quite as high as she’d measured, so Workman did hold the world record for the highest altitude climb for a woman. Never willing to admit defeat so easily, Annie would remind a reporter later that she had still climbed higher than any man in America!

Even if her pride was a little wounded, Annie wasn’t deterred. She wanted to keep climbing. She’d made a specialty of climbing peaks in South America and wanted to keep exploring to see if she could find the highest mountain on the continent. Her next target: Coropuna, another peak in Peru that had never been climbed before. This time, her competition wasn’t just the brutal conditions of the mountain itself. Hiram Bingham, a young scholar from Yale, also wanted to be the first to climb Coropuna. He didn’t think too highly of Annie or any woman who didn’t want to be a wife and mother. The race was on, and Annie meant to win it. 

The two climbers planned their expeditions for the summer of 1911. Annie left a week earlier, but Bingham caught up with her, and for a while they were even on the same steamer ship. Talk about awkward! Bingham wouldn’t even talk to Annie, but described her as a “terrible bore.” A few weeks into Annie’s journey through Peru, she received surprising news: Bingham had decided not to climb until October! He had other work he had to do in Peru for his university, though he did hope Annie would fail in her attempt so he could still beat her. 

Annie didn’t fail. This time, she had a reliable, committed team. She encouraged them when they were afraid to go on, saying no one had to climb all the way to the top except her, and she would give them a bonus if they stuck with her. They reached the peak. She measured the height and realized it was almost certainly lower than Huascaran, but she was still satisfied. Annie planted the flag of a “votes for women” flag on the peak, and her companions planted a Peruvian flag. 

Annie loved Peru and South America. The people there were always willing to help with food or a place to sleep when she passed through on one of her expeditions. After Coropuna, she wrote a book describing her climbs and the people there and became known as an expert on the region. The presidents of Chile and Peru honored her with awards and medals, and the Lima Geographical Society in Peru renamed the Huascaran peak she had summited “Cumbre Aña Peck.”

Annie never wanted people to think of her as a “woman climber.” She wanted to be recognized as one of the best climbers, male or female, period. But she knew her climbs stood for something more because she was a woman. Maybe that’s why, once she found her place on the mountain, she never stopped climbing. She climbed Coropuna when she was sixty years old, and climbed her last mountain at 82 years old. She took an airplane tour of South America at 79, then wrote another book about the continent. And she fought tirelessly to get women the right to vote. Even though no one in her life expected her to do great things– and some outright discouraged her– Annie kept aiming her sights higher. She found what she was meant to do, and even when people thought she was too old or too female, she kept going. She climbed higher and higher, until she stood above the clouds, gazing out over deserts, mountain peaks, and distant oceans, and saw farther than any of them.

Sources

Kimberly, Hannah. (2017) A Woman’s Place Is at the Top. St. Martin’s Press, New York.

https://www.adventure-journal.com/2021/06/historical-badass-annie-smith-peck/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annie_Smith_Peck

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When I say “Super Hero,” who or what comes to mind?  Do you think of Superman, Iron Man, or Wonder Woman?  Maybe you think of the Black Panther, Captain America, or Thor.  Well, I know some real-life heroes and they aren’t humans – they’re animals!  Animals with four paws and wagging tails who love to pull sleds.  They’re Siberian Huskies – the great sled dogs of Alaska and other snowy countries.  They are very brave and powerful.  They can survive in freezing temperatures and blowing blizzards.  They can run for hours pulling heavy sleds and battle fierce animals like grizzly bears and wolves.  They are very smart, strong, and loyal.  

And an amazing pack of Huskies saved a town in Alaska many years ago!

The year was 1925 and it was January in Nome, Alaska.  People huddled inside their homes as the wind howled outside and Alaska froze.  Families gathered around stoves and fireplaces to keep warm.  They wrapped themselves in furs and watched as their cold breath swirled in the polar night air. Little did they know that a disease named Diphtheria was silently spreading across Alaska.

But one person did know and his name was Dr. Curtis Welch, the local doctor in Nome.  He had treated a few children for colds, which later turned out to be Diphtheria, a dangerous and contagious disease.  This was the worst time for a Diphtheria outbreak.  Alaska was isolated and frozen.  The shipping ports had closed two months prior, in November, and wouldn’t open until the following July.  Plus, the doctor’s supply of antitoxin, or medicine, to treat Diphtheria had expired.  What could he do?  

He immediately contacted the mayor of Nome and started a quarantine in hopes of stopping the spread of the disease.  But with everyone huddled together inside, the disease started to spread.  The doctor sent urgent telegrams to Public Health in Washington, D.C., pleading for an emergency delivery of medicine.  In these small Alaskan towns, the people had never been exposed to many diseases, including Diphtheria, so they had no natural immunity, or protection, against it.  Everyone in the town could be lost.

An emergency meeting was held.  A plan was discussed to deliver the medicine by plane.  However, the conditions were too brutal for most planes to fly without freezing and the few planes that could make the flight had been dismantled, or taken apart, for the winter.  They then thought about trains.  It was a good plan, but with one hitch: the train could only go so far before the tracks were covered, frozen, and unusable.  They then considered a dogsled team.  It would be a round trip of over 600 miles and take 30 days in weather of -50 F or -46 C.  Winds in Alaska were whipping at 25 mph and snowbanks were 10 ft or 3 m tall.  The problem with this plan was that the medicine would only last for 6 days in this brutal weather.

So, the doctor and his team decided on a combined approach – train and multiple dog sled teams.  By this time, 300,000 units of medicine had been found at a hospital in Anchorage, Alaska.  The medicine was packed in quilts, wrapped in padding, and stuffed into a metal cannister weighting 20 pounds. The cannister was then put on a train for a short trip before being transferred to dog sled teams for the main trek, which started on January 27, 1925, at 9:00 p.m.  The Great Race of Mercy was on!

The first dog sled driver, or musher, was “Wild Bill” Shannon, with his lead dog Blackie, and a team of 10 Huskies.  The dogs yipped, barked, and jumped in excitement as they were hitched into their harnesses.  They could sense the urgency in the air and were anxious to get started.  The night was fiercely cold but their thick coats helped keep them warm.  “Wild Bill” snapped the reins, yelled “mush” to the dogs, and they were off!  The team raced over snowy trails and frozen rivers.  On and on they raced through the frigid night, their breath appearing like steam from a racing locomotive.  They arrived at the next stop at 3:00 the next morning, exhausted.  “Wild Bill” was suffering from hypothermia (extreme cold) and his face was black from frostbite.  The medicine was then placed by the fire to warm while “Wild Bill” and the dogs rested for four hours.  They awoke and started the next leg of the trip, leaving 3 exhausted dogs behind.

“Wild Bill,” Blackie, and the team arrived in Minto at 11:00 a.m. the following morning and passed the medicine off to the next team led by musher Edgar Kalland.  The team raced off through the forest in frigid temperatures, causing Edgar’s hands to freeze to the wooden handlebars of the sled.  At a rest stop, a man had to pour boiling water on Edgar’s hands to release them from the sled.  

And while this lifesaving race was underway, more cases of Diphtheria were spreading across Nome.  More dog sled teams were added to the race to save precious hours.  The medicine was passed from team to team as the heroic Huskies raced for hours across the frozen landscape.  The weather was so extreme that several dogs on one team passed away from frostbite and their musher took over their spots, pulling the sled alongside the dogs.

Soon an artic storm was brewing. Gale force winds, dangerous white out conditions, and wind chill temperatures reaching -70 F, -57 C battered the dogs and mushers.  But the brave Huskies of the Great Race of Mercy would not stop.  For hours they barreled through unrelenting snow drifts and unforgiving terrain, their strong paws beating the snow in a race against time and Mother Nature.  It was now January 30^th.  There were 27 cases of Diphtheria in Nome and rising.  All the medicine was gone.  Time was running out.

Meanwhile, a musher named Leonhard Seppala, his lead dog, Togo, and his team raced out from Nome into the storm to meet the incoming dog sled team.  They raced for 91 miles in a gale-force blizzard with wind chills reaching -85F, -65C.  Blinding snow pelted the dogs’ coats and slashed their eyes. They met the incoming team, transferred the medicine, then Seppala, Togo, and the team raced off into the night, only stopping to rest for a few hours, before starting again. Togo, Seppala, and the dogs then made the treacherous trip up and over Little McKinley Mountain, a total of 8 miles and 5,000 feet in elevation, in the raging storm.  On the other side, exhausted and freezing, they transferred the medicine to the next team.  It was now February 1^st.  

The next team took off into the storm and were blown off course, causing the musher to suffer severe frostbite while putting blankets on his dogs.  The team arrived at the next transfer point at 7:00 p.m. that night.  A new team of musher Gunnar Kaasen and his lead dogs, Balto and Fox, waited to see if the storm would stop.  When it worsened, they decided to start the trek before the trail became lost completely.  They raced into the storm at 10:00 p.m.  They were battered by gales and blinding snow as they crossed Topkok Mountain.  Gunnar couldn’t see the reins in front of him or the dogs through the swirling snow.  At one point the sled overturned, burying the lifesaving medicine and canister.  Gunnar dug furiously in the snow, panting with anxiety, his hands stiff with frostbite.  But luck was with him – he found the canister, righted the sled, fastened the canister to the sled, and shouted to Balto, Fox, and his dogs to run.

On they raced, now ahead of schedule and nearing the end, arriving in Nome on February 2^nd at 5:30 a.m. with the lifesaving antitoxin.  The medicine had survived the trip and was thawed and ready for patients by noon the same day!  The town was saved!  

These strong, brave sled dogs raced over 600 miles on a lifesaving mission in subzero conditions and hurricane-force winds for a total of 127.5 hours, setting a world record.  The dogs, along with their Alaskan and Norwegian mushers, were honored with gold medals, wreathes, and accolades. 

A statute of Balto, the lead dog who crossed the finished line in Nome, was erected in New York’s Central Park in 1925.  An inscription reads, “Dedicated to the indomitable spirit of the sled dogs that relayed antitoxin 600 miles over rough ice, across treacherous waters, through arctic blizzards, from Nenana to the relief of stricken Nome.”  Three additional words were added at the bottom of the inscription: “Endurance · Fidelity · Intelligence.”  

This race, while historic, also stirred some controversy.  Most of the credit and fame from this race was bestowed upon lead dog Balto.  However, many believe that lead dog Togo completed the longest, hardest part of the trek.  He raced for 261 miles compared to Balto’s 55 miles.  Some believe that Fox was the true lead dog on Gunnar’s team, not Balto.  Also, the Alaskan mushers were not recognized as fully as the Norwegian mushers, even though they completed most of the race.

But I think all of us would agree that this was a historic and amazing mission of mercy that saved many lives.  And you may wonder what happened to the dogs.  Well, a few passed away from this demanding trek, but most survived.  Balto lived until he was 14 and his body is now on display at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.  Togo lived to the age of 16 and is now on display at the Iditarod Museum in Wasilla, Alaska. 

What do you think of this amazing race?  Have you ever seen actual sled dog teams or watched the Iditarod races?  Do you have a Siberian Husky as a pet?  I think this is an amazing story of how man and animals can work together to accomplish great things.  Siberian Huskies are an important – and lifesaving – part of life in various parts of the world.

The post Togo, Balto, and the Lifesaving Sled Dog Race appeared first on Bedtime History: Podcast and Videos For Kids.

Imagine you’re starring in a high-stakes action movie. You’re a rugged, charismatic hero who must save the world from a dangerous threat.

As the cameras roll, you leap from a helicopter onto the roof of a skyscraper, gunfire ringing out all around you. You slide down a cable and land gracefully on the ground, knocking out a group of enemies with expert hand-to-hand combat.

As the action intensifies, you find yourself racing through the streets on a high-speed motorcycle, dodging bullets and explosions. You finally make it to the villain’s stronghold and engage in a final, epic battle to save the day.

With the threat eliminated and the world safe once more, you stand victorious as the credits roll. The crowd erupts in applause and you can’t help but feel a sense of pride and accomplishment. Ye this is just another day in the life of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and you wouldn’t have it any other way.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is a household name, known for his incredible career as a professional wrestler and successful acting career. But before he was known as “The People’s Champion” and one of Hollywood’s highest-paid actors, he was simply Dwayne Johnson, a young boy growing up in a humble family.

Dwayne was born in Hayward, California, the son of Ata Johnson and Rocky Johnson. His father was a professional wrestler and his mother was a homemaker. Dwayne’s parents were of Samoan and Black Nova Scotian descent, and his father was one of the first Black wrestlers to break the color barrier in the WWE. The WWE is a big show where strong and very athletic people put on a wrestling-type performance. They dress up in colorful costumes and have cool nicknames like “The Giant” and “The Superstar.” They pretend to fight each other and do cool flips, jumps and lift each other up to show their strength. These wrestlers are not only strong, but they are also great actors, telling stories and playing different characters to entertain the audience. They sometimes play the role of the hero who saves the day or the villain who tries to cause trouble. 

But even before Dwayne Johnson grew to fame in the WWE his parents instilled in him the importance of hard work, perseverance, and dedication, values that would later serve him well in his own career.

As a child, Dwayne was a natural athlete, excelling in football and track. He also loved to read and learn about history. Maybe he would have loved Bedtime History, just like you! Dwayne attended a number of schools, including President William McKinley High School in Honolulu, Hawaii, and Glencliff High School in Nashville, Tennessee.

After high school, Dwayne went to college at the University of Miami on a full football scholarship. This means he agreed to play football for them and they paid for his schooling in exchange. He earned a degree in Criminology and Physiology, and had wanted to become a professional football player. Sadly, while playing football he received many knee and shoulder injuries, but Dwayne refused to give up on his goals. He remembered the lessons his parents taught him about perseverance and determination. They taught him that success comes from hard work, and that the only way to achieve your dreams is to never give up, no matter how difficult the obstacle.

Dwayne put those lessons into practice, refusing to let his injury defeat him. He worked long hours and many days to fix his injury, and eventually, he was able to come back stronger than ever before. But this time he turned to professional wrestling, like his father. His father, Rocky Johnson, was a larger-than-life figure, known for his strength and athleticism in the ring. He was a trailblazer in the world of wrestling, breaking down barriers for black wrestlers and paving the way for future generations. Rocky Johnson not only was a wrestler but also a mentor to Dwayne. He taught him the skills and discipline necessary to succeed in the wrestling ring. He taught him a strong work ethic and a love for entertaining the audience. Dwayne learned from his father the importance of respect, humility and discipline.

Dwayne began his wrestling career in 1996, joining the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and quickly becoming one of the company’s top stars. He was a multiple-time WWF Champion, Intercontinental Champion, and Tag Team Champion, and was known for his iconic catchphrases, such as “If you smell what The Rock is cookin'” and “The People’s Champion.” He also became known for his intense rivalry with fellow wrestler Stone Cold Steve Austin.

After leaving the WWF in 2004, Dwayne transitioned into acting, starring in a number of successful films. One of his first big movies was called “The Scorpion King.” In this movie he is a very strong and brave warrior leading an army of scorpions. He is very powerful and can do many amazing things, like jumping high and fight with a sword. In the movie, The Scorpion King goes on a big adventure to save his kingdom and his people from bad guys who want to take over. He has to fight battles and overcome many challenges, but with his strength and bravery, he is able to save his kingdom.

A few years later he was in a movie called Doom about a space marine who fights enemies on a moon near the planet Mars.

Have you seen the movie Moana? It’s a story about a courageous young girl who embarks on an adventure to save her island and her people. Along the way, she meets a demigod named Maui who joins her on her journey and he sings a very memorable song when they first meet call “You’re Welcome”. Maui’s voice is actually Dwayne Johnson and he even sang the song “You’re Welcome”! 

He’s also known for starring in movies like The Fast and The Furious, Jumanji: The Next Level, The Jungle Cruise, and recently Black Adam.

One story that is often shared is when he was filming the movie “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” and he had to film a scene where he had to eat a live insect. He ended up eating it and then acted like it was the most delicious thing he had ever tasted, much to the shock and amusement of his co-stars.

Dwayne has become one of the highest-paid actors in Hollywood, and has been nominated for several awards for his performances.

Even with all his success, Dwayne has always remained humble. He is a loving husband and father to his wife Lauren and two daughters, Simone and Jasmine. He is also known for his philanthropy and business ventures, and has been a board member of the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Have you heard of the “Make a Wish Foundation?” The Make-A-Wish Foundation is a special organization that helps children who are very sick. Sometimes, when a child is very sick, they might have a dream or a wish that they would like to come true. The Make-A-Wish Foundation is a group of kind and caring people who work hard to make those wishes come true.

The Make-A-Wish Foundation is made up of volunteers and donors who want to help bring joy and happiness to children who are going through a tough time. They work hard to make sure that each child’s wish is special and unique, just like they are.

It is a wonderful organization that brings happiness and hope to children who are facing difficult times. They work to make the child’s dream come true and give them and their families memories that will last a lifetime.

Throughout his career, Dwayne has always taught about hard work and perseverance. He often encourages others to “never give up” and to always strive for their dreams. He has also been known to share a good laugh, with a quick wit and a great sense of humor. 

Like “The Rock”, we can learn that with hard work, perseverance and determination, we can overcome obstacles and reach our goals. He faced many challenges and setbacks in his life, but he never gave up and he kept pushing forward, and that is what led to his success. He also showed that one should never underestimate the power of a positive attitude and the importance of having a good role model and support system in the form of family and friends. He taught that we should never give up on our dreams, no matter how hard the road may be, and that we can achieve great things if we believe in ourselves and never lose sight of our goals.

“The Rock of Hollywood”

A man of muscle, a man of might,

A wrestler turned actor, a true delight.

Dwayne Johnson, known as “The Rock”,

A star in the ring and on the clock.

From football field to wrestling ring,

He’s achieved great success, it’s quite the thing.

Championships won, fans in thrall,

He conquered the WWE, stood tall.

But Hollywood called, and he made the leap,

Starring in films, his talent to keep.

Fast cars and action, a hero to be,

The Rock’s acting career, a thing to see.

He’s not just brawn, but brains as well,

A philanthropist, a man to tell.

Motivating speeches, wisdom to share,

The Rock’s impact, truly rare.

So here’s to Dwayne Johnson, a man of no shame,

A wrestler, actor, and true claim to fame.

The Rock of Hollywood, a shining star,

A legacy built, near and far.

The post Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson Story for Kids appeared first on Bedtime History: Podcast and Videos For Kids.

Imagine standing on the center court of the biggest tennis match in the World, The US Open, facing your toughest opponent yet. The sun beats down on your skin, and the crowd’s roar fills your ears as you prepare to serve the ball.

As you toss the ball into the air, your mind flashes back to all the hours you’ve spent practicing, training, and pushing yourself to become the best tennis player in the world. You remember the countless sacrifices you’ve made, the injuries you’ve overcome, and the doubts you’ve silenced.

With a powerful swing of your racket, you send the ball flying over the net and into your opponent’s court. The crowd erupts into cheers as you begin the intense rally that will decide the fate of the match.

As the ball flies back and forth between you and your opponent, you stay focused and determined, using every ounce of your strength, speed, and skill to keep the rally going. You hear your opponent’s breaths getting heavier, see her movements slowing down, and you know you’ve got her where you want her.

In a sudden burst of energy, you make a bold move, charging forward to the net and delivering a stunning volley that catches your opponent off guard. The ball flies past her, landing squarely in the corner of the court, and you raise your arms in triumph as the crowd explodes with excitement.

You’ve done it again. You’ve proven yourself to be the best tennis player in the world, and nothing can stop you. As you bask in the glory of your victory, you can’t help but feel grateful for all the hard work, dedication, and passion that have brought you to this moment. 

You are Serena Williams in a tennis match and it’s nothing short of exhilarating.

Serena Williams is one of the most famous tennis players in the world. She has won countless championships and is known for her incredible athleticism, strength, and skill on the court. But before she became a tennis superstar, she was just a little girl with a big dream.

Serena was born in Saginaw, Michigan with 6 siblings, in 1981 to parents Orancene and Richard Williams who worked hard to keep their big family happy. 

One day while watching a tennis tournament on TV Richard Williams, had an amazing idea. The winner of the tennis tournament received a large amount of money, and Richard believed that his daughters could also become tennis champions. He decided to learn everything he could about the sport and coach his daughters to become superstars. He even wrote a book outlining what they needed to learn about tennis and how he would teach them. He was determined to make his daughters into tennis champions. 

When Serena was just three years old, her father started teaching her and her older sister, Venus, how to play tennis. He would take them to the public courts in their neighborhood and give them lessons on the basics of the game.

Serena learned to play on old and cracked tennis courts in Compton. These courts were not like the ones found in fancy tennis clubs. The nets were held up by chains and ropes, and the fence surrounding the courts was broken in some places. The area around the courts was also not very safe. There were often gang members causing trouble, and sometimes the girls even heard gunshots nearby! It was definitely not an easy place to practice and play tennis.

As the young girls kept practicing their tennis skills, something amazing started to happen. The court began to feel like a safer place to be. Some people who lived nearby even remember seeing gang members standing outside the courts, keeping an eye on the girls and their dad while they played.

Serena and Venus quickly fell in love with tennis. They would practice for hours every day, hitting balls back and forth and working on their technique. They also played other sports, like basketball and track and field, but tennis was always their favorite.

The girls continued taking tennis lessons from their dad and kept improving their skills. 

Serena’s older sister Venus was around nine years old when she started playing in tennis tournaments against other kids her age and Serena was only 8! She was so eager to compete that she surprised her dad by secretly filling out forms to enter a tournament without telling him. He only found out when he saw Serena win her first match!

During that same tournament, her dad got to see both of his daughters play against each other for the first time in the tournament final. Venus was nine and Serena was eight. It was a big moment for the family!

As the sisters began to win more and more games everyone in the tennis community began to notice them. What made Venus and Serena stand out was that they didn’t come from a fancy tennis club. They wore regular clothes without designer labels and they played differently from most young players. Instead of just trying to hit the ball where their opponents couldn’t reach it, they used power and slammed the ball so their opponents couldn’t even see it! The Williams sisters’ success didn’t just stay in California. It caught the attention of people all over the country. The sisters were interviewed and during the interview, Venus said that if she didn’t become a tennis player, she wanted to be an astronaut or an archaeologist and Serena said she wanted to be a gymnast or a veterinarian. 

Their dad had been teaching them all he knew about tennis, but soon he realized that his daughters needed more help to improve their skills. That’s when he decided to hire a professional coach named Rick Macci, a coach in Florida who had trained other young champions like Jennifer Capriati, the youngest player ever to reach the top ten in the world rankings at age fourteen in.

Macci flew to Compton, where the Williams family lived, to see the girls play. Macci was surprised by the run-down courts that the sisters were practicing on, but he was even more impressed by how well the girls played. He saw that they were not only strong, but also fast and graceful. After he watched them play he explained to Serena and Venus that they needed better coaching to take their game to the next level.

Macci saw that Venus and Serena had a burning desire to win, and he believed that they had the potential to become champions. But to do so, the family would have to leave California and move to Florida, where Macci’s tennis academy was located. 

In 1991, the Williams family packed up an RV and drove across the country to start a new life in Florida.

The move was not easy for some of the older sisters to pack up and leave their home, but their parents knew that it was the best decision for Venus and Serena’s tennis future. 

In Florida, the girls practiced six hours a day, six days a week for four years, hitting hundreds of serves every day. They also attended a private school that was part of the tennis academy, where they focused on both tennis and school every day.

Soon after turning fifteen, Serena played in her first professional tournament. And once she started playing professionally the German shoe company Puma offered her a lot of money to wear their name and logo while she played in tournaments, this is called being a sponsor. When you are really good at something like playing tennis, racing cars, or skating, businesses will give you money to wear their logo!

Making money while playing tennis was a big deal for Serena’s family because it helped them to have a better life. It allowed them to pay for travel expenses to tennis tournaments around the world. 

Serena and Venus worked very hard to become professional tennis players, and their success allowed them to support their family and live a more comfortable life.

The sisters were able to  move their family to a big house in Palm Beach, Florida. The house had two tennis courts that were in perfect condition, which was much different than the tennis courts they grew up playing on. 

Serena’s dad started coaching her and her sister again, and they hired tutors to help them with their schoolwork. On the way to the courts, Richard put up signs with encouraging messages for his daughters. One sign said that Venus needed to take control of her future, while another told Serena to use more top spin on the ball.

When Venus and Serena started playing in professional tournaments, they sometimes ended up playing against each other. Venus won against Serena in their first match at the Australian Open in 1998, but Venus said it wasn’t fun to eliminate her little sister. They both celebrated when they won tournaments, and in 1999, they made history by becoming the first sisters to each win a tournament on the same day! Venus won in Oklahoma, while Serena won in Paris.

Serena was only 14 years old when she turned pro in 1995. Over the years she has won 23 Grand Slam singles titles, which is more than any other player in recent history! That means she’s won the biggest and most important tennis tournaments in the world many times over! She’s also won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles with her sister Venus, and four Olympic gold medals too!

Serena’s powerful serve and aggressive style of play are famous around the world. She’s been ranked No. 1 in the world eight times by the Women’s Tennis Association.

Her success hasn’t come without challenges though. She’s had to overcome injuries, setbacks, and tough opponents. But through it all, she’s shown us that with hard work, dedication, and a positive attitude, anything is possible!

Serena is an inspiration to millions of people around the world. She’s not only an amazing athlete, but she’s also a businesswoman, a fashion designer, and a philanthropist who gives back to her community. Serena is proof that you can achieve anything you set your mind to, and she’s a true champion both on and off the court!

The post Serena Williams Story for Kids appeared first on Bedtime History: Podcast and Videos For Kids.

So, what have you noticed so far about these two pirates?  Long hair?  Yes.  Weapons?  Yes.  Fighting spirit?  Definitely.  But there’s one other thing they have in common:  they’re both men!  Have you ever heard of a female pirate?  Well, there really was one and her name was Grace O’Malley.  She was known as the “Irish Pirate Queen!”  She was a very brave lady who was also a chieftain – meaning a great lord who ruled over the people in her area.  She was a daring sailor, leader, and rebel – and even parleyed – or negotiated – with Queen Elizabeth I!  Want to hear more?  Me, too, so let’s get started!

Many years ago, around 1530, a girl named Grace was born in Mayo County, Ireland.  We do not know much about her mother, but her father, Owen O’Malley, was a great lord of his county, an experienced sailor – and some even say a pirate.  But it is hard to say if he was an actual pirate – meaning a sailor stealing things from other ships – or if he was just demanding payment as a land owner for ships to sail, trade, or fish in waters around his land.  For generations, the O’Malley men had been great seafarers, traders, and, yes, maybe pirates – who sailed the Irish coastline – and even as far as Spain and Scotland.

Pirate or not, Grace loved her father, her older stepbrother, and sailing.  She was raised as a boy – or at least more leniently than girls at that time.  She was allowed to join her father on his ships.  She would watch, fascinated, as sailors shouted and raced around, pulling lines and setting sails.  This thrilled Grace and she wanted to sail, too! But even though females were considered equal to men at that time in Ireland, there were still rules about how they should behave and what they should do with their lives – like staying home and raising children.  But Grace was having none of that.  She wanted to learn, sail, and rule!  She was very smart and could speak Gaelic and Latin, and possibly other languages like Spanish and French, too.

One day, when Grace was young, her father prepared to set sail for Spain.  Grace wanted to join him but her father said, no, her hair was too long and would get caught in the lines.  So, what did Grace do?  She cut off all her hair – and the sailors started calling her “Bald Grace!”  But she was allowed to sail and that was the important thing!  In the ensuing years, Grace learned all there was about sailing and became an experienced deckhand.

When Grace was 16, she married another sailor and landowner named Donal O’Flaherty.  She moved into Donal’s castle and they had three children.  Then one day, while Donal was out hunting, he was killed by members of the Joyce clan.  The Joyces then marched to Donal’s castle, thinking it would be easy to take it away from Grace, who was, in their opinion, “just a woman.”  But that was their mistake.  Grace fought back fiercely, protecting her family and land, and forced the Joyces to retreat!  She acted like a mother hen protecting her roost.  People then started calling the castle, “Hen’s Castle” and it is still called that today!

After her husband’s death, Grace returned with her children to her family’s land on Clare Island and worked to rebuild their stone tower house.  Her husband’s followers admired Grace so much that they followed her to her lands.  Grace’s father died and she then took over the family ships and land and became the new chieftain.  She and her loyal men sailed the waters like her father had done before her, boarding ships and demanding payment for safe passage, trade, or fishing around her land.  This is how she acquired the name “The Pirate Queen.”

And there is a legend that during this time, Grace saved a stranded sailor and they became very good friends.  Tragedy struck once more when this sailor was killed by another clan.  Grace was furious!  To avenge her friend, she marched to Doona Castle and killed the men who murdered her friend.  She then acquired another nickname, “The Dark Lady of Doona.”  

Between sailing trips, Grace married Richard Burke, called “Iron Richard” for his ironworks.  He was also a chieftain and had a lot of lands, which allowed Grace to sail more ships out of more ports and continue her adventures.  She birthed a son nicknamed Tobey while on one of her ships.  Legend states that Grace was below decks the day after Tobey’s birth when pirates attacked her ship.  The battle was not going well and it looked like Grace’s crew would lose the fight.  Grace grabbed her musket, climbed the stairs to the deck, and went into battle.  Grace was as brave as any man and rallied her crew, shooting two pirate captains in the battle.  Together they beat off the pirates and Grace’s reputation grew.  

Additionally, Grace divorced Richard within a year and changed the locks on their castle, but he still remained close to her for the rest of his life.

You may be wondering by this point how a fiercely independent female pirate would meet the Queen of England, especially since the Irish hated the English.  The English had taken their lands and property, causing constant battles between them for hundreds of years.  Additionally, the current queen, Queen Elizabeth I, was playing a ruthless game of pitting one Irish clan against the other.  She would give land and gifts to clan chieftains for their support and for fighting other Irish clans.  This made the Irish fight amongst themselves, as well as against the British. 

Grace was quite the powerful woman by this point, ruling the Western shores of Ireland and launching attacks against Queen Elizabeth’s ships with her pirate-honed prowess.  The Queen sent ships and men to attack Grace’s castle, but Grace beat them back.

Around 1577, Grace was captured and put into several cold, Irish prisons for a year.  However, thanks to some important British gentlemen who disliked how the English were treating the Irish, Grace was eventually set free.  She returned to her lands and started a rebellion against the British.  In retaliation, one of her sons was killed and one or two others were taken prisoner.  Her castle, lands, and fleet were confiscated – meaning taken away from her.  Grace was also arrested but later released.  At this point, she was sick and tired of fighting the English and decided to speak to the Queen herself!  No one thought this would ever happen.  You just don’t walk in and say, “I want to speak to the Queen!” – especially if you’re a pirate!

Queen Elizabeth demanded that Grace answer some questions first, called Articles of Interrogatory before she would meet with the Pirate Queen.  Grace must have answered them wisely because the Queen agreed to see her!  According to legend, when Grace arrived at Greenwich Palace, she did not bow to the Queen because she considered herself equal to the Queen!  Grace was searched and found to be wearing a dagger.  You are never supposed to wear a weapon in the presence of the king or queen, but Queen Elizabeth must have admired and trusted Grace because she let her keep her dagger! 

It is said that this meeting lasted a long time and the two women talked in Latin because the Queen did not know Gaelic and Grace did not, or would not, speak English.  Finally, they came to an agreement:  the Queen would release Grace’s family and her property – and Grace would provide 500 men and her ships to help support the English cause in Ireland. 

Some British nobles didn’t trust Grace and didn’t think she would keep her promise once released.  So, they took their time releasing her family.  And in spite of her agreement with the Queen, Grace supplied ships to Irish rebels under the command of Hugh O’Neill.  Although Grace did not fight in the ensuing battles, it is said that she convinced one – and possibly more – of her sons to fight for the British against O’Neill.  This did not make her very popular with the Irish – or future historians.

That is why for hundreds of years, no one knew the story of Grace O’Malley, the Irish Pirate Queen.  She is said to have died in 1603 – the same year as Queen Elizabeth I – of natural causes at one of her three castles.

So, what do you think of Grace O’Malley?  Do you think she was a pirate?  Do you think she was brave to be a rebel woman in such tumultuous times?  Do you think it was right for her to break her word to Queen Elizabeth I? Feel free to click the link in the show notes below and tell me your thoughts.  You might just be mentioned in a future episode.

I think this is an amazing story of a remarkable woman and warrior!  She was roughly the same age as Queen Elizabeth I and equal to her in many ways: in cunning, bravery, intelligence, and power.  They were both headstrong and independent, ruled over a large group of subjects, inspired loyalty, excelled in a man’s world, and loved winning! 

The post History of Grace O’Malley, Irish Pirate Queen for Kids appeared first on Bedtime History: Podcast and Videos For Kids.

Birth

George Washington was born on February 22, 1732, to Mary and Augustine Washington in Westmoreland County, Virginia. If you’ve noticed President’s Day is in February, this is one reason why. George’s family was not extremely wealthy or poor but was in what was called a “middling class,” which had been growing in Virginia. George’s ancestors were from England and had moved to British Colonies in America. They were called the British Colonies because they were still ruled by Britain, not their own country yet. George’s father, Augustine, had a farm along the Potomac River and worked hard to make it a success. On the farm, they grew tobacco and had a mill for grinding wheat. When George was 5 the family moved up the Potomac River to the Little Hunting Creek Plantation and then later to the Ferry Farm, where little George spent most of his days growing up.  

Childhood

We know some things about George’s childhood, but not very much — which led to some myths about his childhood. One story said that he was so strong he threw a coin all the way across the Potomac River. Another said he chopped down his father’s favorite cherry tree and told his father about it because he would never tell a lie. These stories were made up, but we do know that George grew up helping on his family farm and was home-schooled by a local teacher where he learned math, geography, and Latin and read classic books. What George learned in books was useful, but most of his practical knowledge came from his days working on the farm, learning from the other workers, and the local woodsmen. 

When George was 11 his father passed away and his brother, Lawrence, took over the farm. George learned about the higher culture and how to act properly from his brother’s wife, Anne. 

Surveyor

Like many boys his age, George started his career very early, at age 16, when he became a surveyor. A surveyor is someone who uses different instruments to measure the size and layout of the land and make maps, so it can be bought and sold. In Virginia and the rest of The New World, there was a lot of lands, so the job of a surveyor was very important. George was soon traveling on his own, studying and surveying the land all over Virginia, and making maps. The experiences of being out on his own and camping every night made him tough and prepared him for later struggles in his life. George worked as a surveyor until he was 20 — when his older brother Lawrence died of tuberculosis. This made George the owner of his family’s farms, which was a very big responsibility for a 20-year-old. 

George loved the peaceful life of a farmer, but events nearby would soon change that. People from England lived in most of the Eastern coastal towns of the colonies, but many people from France, the French, lived and worked further inland as trappers and traders. For many years the English and French did not get along. As the French started to move into the land the English claimed as their own, the King of England became nervous that the French would take it over. He began sending soldiers to America to be sure this did not happen.

Major Washington

Around this time, George had become a major in the Virginia Militia. A militia is a small army run by a colony or state, and at the time the colony of Virginia had its own militia. George was asked by the king to take his small group of soldiers and tell the French living on their land to leave. By this time the French had built a fort called Fort LaBeouf and when George arrived with his soldiers, he did ask them to leave but the French politely refused! George hurried back to let his leaders know and then was told to return to attack the French at Fort Duquesne. A battle broke out and George’s army beat the French in one of the first battles of what became known as The French and Indian War. The French sent more soldiers and drove George Washington and his troops back to their fort, called Fort Necessity. Eventually, George and his troops had to surrender and leave the Ohio Valley. 

George was embarrassed at his loss, but word began to spread that he had fought valiantly against the French and his name began to be known through the American colonies and even in England. 

When the British General, Edward Braddock arrived from England with even more soldiers, George joined him with his militia and they left Fort Necessity to attack the French again. While marching on the road to attack the French, they were surprised by a French army which attacked them. The French and their Native American allies fired from the trees and the road. Bullets flew from every direction. The British soldiers scattered. They were unprepared for the attack. General Braddock was hit by a bullet and fell from his horse. George courageously rallied the troops and urged them to continue fighting. A bullet hit George’s horse and they fell over, but he jumped up and climbed onto another horse. Bullets flew through his jacket and hit his horse again. The fighting continued as the French and natives fired at the British from the cover of the trees and then swarmed them in the road. George climbed onto his third horse and kept fighting. He saw that there was no hope of winning this battle. He would have to escape or all of his soldiers would be lost. He ordered a retreat and the soldiers followed him away from the battle and back along the road. During their long march back to Fort Necessity, they were continually attacked from the woods but eventually made it back. The Battle of the Wilderness was a major loss, but George Washington was praised for bravely taking control of the situation and leading the soldiers out of danger.

French and Indian War

In August 1755 George was made commander of all of the militia troops in Virginia. He was only 23 at the time. His job was to protect the border of Virginia. Most of his soldiers were not well trained and lacked proper fighting gear. To make things worse, the Virginia government did not support him and his soldiers. After two years of this difficult duty, Washington became sick with dysentery and had to return to his home until he got better. 

In 1758 George rejoined his troops as commander and was ordered to take Fort Duquesne, which was held by his French enemies. Washington, with 6,000 troops made up of British soldiers and Virginia militia, attacked Fort Duquesne. The fighting was intense on both sides. Cannons boomed. Smoke filled the air. Musket balls zipped through the air. But Washington and the soldiers pressed on until they took the fort and the French fled or surrendered. Fort Duquesne was finally taken! It was a major victory for the British in the French and Indian War. Because they took the fort they were now in control of the Ohio River Valley. George Washington’s fame spread, but the fighting near his home was over, so like the soldiers who fought with him, George retired — which means he was no longer a commander and returned to his big farm in Virginia to continue taking care of it. But fortunately, it was one of George’s favorite things to do!

Martha Custis Washington

Not long after returning home, George met and married Martha Dandridge Custis, who was a few months older than he and had been married before. She had two children John and Martha, who went by the nicknames Jacky and Patsy. George came to love his adopted children, gave them lots of attention, and treated them as his own. Jacky and Patsy would end up being his only children as he and Martha never had any of their own children together. 

Martha Washington came from a wealthy family, so when she and George married he inherited even more land. He was also given land as a gift for his service in the French and Indian War. This all led to George becoming one of the richest landowners in all of Virginia. 

On his farm, George spent much of his time riding about, checking in on the workers, and was even known to take off his coat and get into the dirty work with them. He enjoyed horseback riding, fox hunts, and fishing. 

Mount Vernon

George was always interested in the latest scientific advances to improve his crops and to find better ways to raise animals and tend to his vast orchards of fruit trees. If you visit Mount Vernon today it is a beautiful plantation with a museum, crops still growing, flower gardens, and well-tended orchards. In fact, I visited it a few years ago with my wife and daughter and we had a great time walking through Washington’s home overlooking the Potomac River and strolling through the beautiful gardens.

Sadly, slavery was everywhere at this time in Virginia and other places in the American colonies. The slaves had been kidnapped from their homes in Africa and forced to work for no pay. Slavery was a horrible practice that didn’t end until after the Civil War. Like most of the farms in Virginia, over 300 slaves worked at Mount Vernon. Later in life, George was more open to ending slavery than other plantation owners. Sadly, he never decided to set free slaves during his lifetime, but after his death, he had all of his own slaves set free — but not Martha’s.

An interesting fact about George Washington is he had very bad teeth. Many times he complained about them aching and other problems. He had to have many of his teeth pulled over the years. For this reason, George wore dentures most of his adult life. Dentures are fake teeth that people wear to replace the real ones that were lost. Legend says that they were made out of wood, but the truth is that his dentures were made out of his lost teeth, some animal teeth shaped to look like human teeth and other metals. 

Far from Mount Vernon, life in the American colonies began to change. At this time the colonies were still part of the British Empire, controlled by King George and his parliament. After the French and Indian War, the King saw how expensive the war was and decided the colonies should pay for part of it. He began to tax items like stamps and later tea and other goods that they bought from England. A tax is when you add a cost to an item. For example, when they would go to buy tea, instead of it being $1 for a bag of tea, it cost $1.25. This made the people very upset. The King also told them they couldn’t buy and settle land past a certain point in the New World. This made them even more upset. As you can imagine, things were not going well between England and the colonies. Tune into our next episode, to learn about George Washington and the American Revolution, and His Presidency. In the meantime, when you’re not in bed look up pictures and videos of George Washington. Check out pictures of his beautiful Mount Vernon estate, and the clothes he wore which are in a museum, and see if you can find a picture of his false teeth! 

Work Ethic

Also, take some time to think about George Washington’s work ethic. This means that he spent his time improving his farm and making it a little better each day. He wasn’t afraid to get dirty to improve it. Think about how this applies to you with things that need to get done around your house. Can you help tidy your room each day or pick weeds in the yard — something I know we always need at our home. Hard work isn’t always fun, but after you’re done it feels good that you’ve done something challenging and chances are you’ll feel good that you made a little difference in your home, and as you see that things look better. The other day my son and I mowed the lawn together. It was the end of the day and we didn’t feel like doing it, but when we were done it looked so clean and nice, we had a great time playing around in it and enjoying it and the hard work was worth the beautiful result.

Also, think about George’s bravery as he went into battle. It can be hard to keep our wits about us during tough times. Think about ways you can stay patient and focused when someone makes you upset or you have to do something that requires bravery. I remember when I was younger I never liked to take the trash out in the dark. One time I had to just take a deep breath and tell myself “be brave!” and did it anyway. I was nervous, but afterward, I felt proud of myself for doing it! 

Listen to the audio

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Listen to the tale of a truly remarkable person – someone brave and fierce and a true patriot – someone who loves their country very much.  The date is April 26, 1777, in rural New York.  It is spring.  Farmers are in their fields preparing the land for new crops.  The sun glimmers across green pastures and small wooden homes surrounded by picket fences.  In the middle of town, a gleaming white church with a heavy bell tolls the afternoon hour.  But this is no ordinary day.  This is a truly momentous day.  On this day, New York is invaded by British soldiers.  Two years earlier, the British attacked Massachusetts, setting Paul Revere on his famous midnight ride to warn citizens of the invading army by sea.  

British Invasion

Now, Danbury, New York, is being invaded by sea.  And who will warn the citizens of this invasion and help save the city?  A rugged farmer?  A battle-trained officer?  A seasoned spy?  NO!  The hero of this story is a 16-year-old girl!  Sybil Ludington is a spunky teenager living on a farm in Paterson, NY, with her parents and 12 siblings.  She is strong and lively – she has to be with that many family members to support and feed!  She works the farm with her family after school and becomes an expert horsewoman.  She loves to ride through the hills and trails around her home.  Her favorite horse is called Star and they go everywhere – into town for supplies, across the rolling green hills of neighboring farms, or through the deep woods.  She loves riding in the fall when the forests are aflame with red, gold, and orange leaves.  Now it is spring and tiny green leaves are just sprouting from trees.  The days are crisp and sunny; the nights cold and moonlit.

Colonel Henry Ludington

This day, April 26, 1777, starts out like any other with chores to be completed and a riot of noisy siblings to supervise and feed.  Sybil’s father, Colonel Henry Ludington, is a farmer.  He is also the commander of local militiamen and volunteers who guard the towns.  They are called “Citizen Soldiers” and they help the Colonial Army in times of need, such as battles with the British.  These 400 New York Citizen Soldiers are ordinary folk – farmers and shopkeepers and local workmen.  They do not own fancy military supplies or uniforms.  They carry old muskets used by their fathers and grandfathers. 

Evening arrives and the sun sinks below the trees.  A knock is heard on the Ludington door.  Sybil’s father, the Colonel, opens the door to find a panting and exhausted rider leaning against the doorframe.  He quickly tells the colonel that the British have invaded Danbury, 25 miles away, and the city is under attack.  They must stop the British from taking over the city and surrounding towns.

The rider and his horse are exhausted; they can go no further.  The Colonel knows he must send a new rider to warn his neighbors and rally them to Danbury’s aid.  But who to send?  He knows he must stay at his farm to command the troops and march to Danbury.  Sixteen-year-old Sybil, who has been listening to this discussion, quickly volunteers to make the dangerous ride.  Her mother argues, stating the woods at night are no place for a young girl.  Who would help her if she was knocked off her horse by a hanging tree branch or fell into a shadowy ditch?  Sybil argues that she knows the woods like the back of her hands and has never fallen from her trusty horse, Star.  She can do this – she knows she can.  Besides, her siblings are too young and they certainly aren’t as good on a horse!  The colonel thinks about it and convinces his wife to let Sybil ride.  

Sybil is ecstatic – and a little nervous, too.  She races around the house, gathering a coat and her father’s musket.  Next, she dashes to the stable and saddles Star.  The last thing she does is pick up a long, sturdy branch.  She can use it to whack on the doors of homes while saying on her horse, saving valuable time during the long, dark ride.  She has no lamp or torch; she will have to ride by moonlight and memory.

Sybil Sets Off

She jumps on Star, yells farewell to her family, and gallops away, racing across their fields into the woods beyond.  Her first stop is her neighbor.  She races into their yard.  Their lights are still on.  She bangs her stick against the door and yells the news:  The British are attacking Danbury; everyone needs to meet at her father’s farm.  And off she rides to the next house, and the next, and the next.  

The night gets colder and her fingers tingle on the reins.  She has to keep a firm grip or risk falling off Star and not completing the ride.  She has warned all her neighbors in Paterson.  She must now ride to the neighboring towns of Carmel, Mahopac, Kent Cliffs, Stormville, and Peckville.  She and Star race into more forests, following familiar dirt trails.  It is pitch dark and Star suddenly rears and whinnies.  A dark figure jumps out of the woods and demands money.  Sybil grabs her musket, heart pounding, and points the barrel at the man, telling him she will shoot if she has to.  The man can tell she is serious and darts away.  Sybil looks behind her.  She can see flames rising from Danbury and can smell smoke in the chilly night air.  She must hurry.

Sybil Spreads the News

On Sybil races with Star.  Door after door, and town after town, they spread the news that the British are here!  She rides all night, a total of 40 miles, twice the distance covered by Paul Revere in Massachusetts two years earlier!  

She arrives home at dawn, shaking and exhausted.  Scores of men have gathered at her father’s farm and marched to Danbury, driving the British back to the coast.  During the night, the British destroyed many of the town’s food, weapons, and supplies, including cots, boots, and tents.  They drank barrels of rum and set the town on fire. However, the brave militia from neighboring towns pushed the British back to the coast and stopped them from advancing any further or invading more towns.  New York is saved – and much of it is owed to 16-year-old Sybil Ludington and her courageous midnight ride.

Sybil Ludington may not be as famous as Paul Revere; however, she is just as heroic.  Many are amazed that such a young girl could ride 40 miles alone in total darkness without getting lost or hurt during a momentous invasion.  Due to Sybil’s bravery, horsemanship, and courage, she saved many towns and people that night.  

Later Life

After her famous ride, she returned to farm life, helped raise her siblings, then married and had one child Henry.  She worked on her husband’s farm and started an inn.  She passed away at 78 years old.

A statute now stands in the center of Paterson, NY, showing a teenage girl astride a charging horse, her arm raised and her ponytail flying.  Every year, Sybil’s ancestors hold a celebration at the statue to honor her historic ride.  

What do you think of Sybil and her midnight ride to save rural New York?  Can you imagine riding a horse alone for 40 miles through dark forests riddled with thieves and deserters? Today people can spread news in seconds thanks to cell phones, social media, and the web.  

Conclusion

I think this story tells us that anyone can be a hero, no matter how young or old, male or female.  Every person has worth, and skills, and value.  By doing what is right and acting in the service of others, people can achieve great things.  When you are feeling sad or unsure or afraid, think of Sybil and her midnight ride.  How can you tap into YOUR strengths and pursue YOUR midnight ride?

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Coronation

Imagine you are in a beautiful old church in England.  The year is 1827 and you are at the coronation, or royal crowning ceremony, of a new monarch.  All around you, rich people are dressed in beautiful clothing.  As the music starts, in enters the princess who is about to be crowned queen.  She is only 18 years old and as she enters the room, you can see that she is very short.  But she is poised and calm.  She has the confidence of someone who knew this is her path.  She is Queen Victoria.

Early Life

Queen Victoria was born in 1819 in London, England.  When she was born, her name was Alexandrina Victoria, but she was called “Victoria” as her nickname.  Victoria was the daughter of Prince Edward, the Duke of Kent and Strathearn and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, who was the sister of the King of Belgium, Leopold the First.  

Sadly, when Victoria was only eight months old her father died. After that, her mother became a domineering influence in her life. Domineering means bossy and controlling She was raised by her mother and her mother’s accountant, John Conroy.  Because her family was wealthy, Victoria had a very privileged childhood.  This means as a child, she had very nice things and lived in luxury. She had the best food, the nicest clothes, everything you’d imagine a princess to have. But Victoria was said to be kind, warm-hearted and lively. She loved dolls and had over 100 of them in her playroom!  

Despite all of her toys and nice things, Victoria was not allowed to play with other children in a normal way, so she had very few friends.  This made her sad.  But her best friend and constant companion was her nanny, Louise Lehzen. Victoria’s nanny taught her at the Royal Palace.  She learned all the subjects that a wealthy child who may one day become queen would need to learn, including languages and politics.  Victoria had a talent for drawing and painting, and Governess Louise encouraged her to pursue these hobbies.  Victoria also really enjoyed journal writing.  She started writing as a child and continued to write in her journal for the rest of her life.

While she was growing up, Victoria’s mother and John Conroy kept a very close eye on Victoria. They knew that she may one day become the queen of England, and they wanted to keep their influence over her to themselves.  Influence means to control and impact.  While she was a child, they never let Victoria be alone without one of them present.  Victoria slept in the same room as her mother until she was 18 so that she wasn’t on her own.  Her mother and John Conroy were worried that if Victoria was left alone, that other people might try to influence her and might turn her against them. 

Despite her mother’s influence, Victoria had a feisty temperament.  This means that she had high energy and was very independent in nature.  She had a big personality but physically Victoria was famously very short.  As an adult, she was only 4 feet 11 inches tall!

At the time of her birth, Victoria was fifth in line to the throne.  But over the course of her childhood and early teenage years, Victoria’s uncles, her father’s three brothers, all died without having living children.  This meant that when Victoria turned 18, in 1837, she knew she would become the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland. 

Queen of England

One of the first things that Queen Victoria did after becoming queen was to claim her own control and authority over her life and her rule.  She moved out of her mother’s bedroom into her own room.  She distanced herself from her mother and John Conroy, which means that she broke away from them and their constant advice and influence.  She had seen how much they were controlling her and trying to tell her what to do and she didn’t like it. 

Instead, the young Queen Victoria turned to her friend, the prime minister at the time, Lord Melbourne, to teach her about government and her role as a queen.  A Prime Minister is similar to a President in England.

Lord Melbourne was Queen Victoria’s first prime minister, who served for 7 years from 1834 to 1841. Lord Melbourne helped teach Queen Victoria about the details of being a queen and the role she plays in government at the time.  Lord Melbourne acted as the Queen’s advisor on politics and was the person she could speak to openly and get advice during the early years of her reign.

Marriage

In 1840, Victoria married her cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. She met Albert when she was just 16.  Since Victoria was queen, Albert couldn’t propose to her. So she proposed to him on October 15, 1839!

At first, the British public didn’t like Prince Albert because he was not from the United Kingdom, but from Germany.  At first, he was not allowed to be involved in politics at all.  But eventually, people realized that he was a good person and Queen Victoria started to rely on his advice and he helped her to rule. 

During the early part of their marriage, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert fought quite a bit.  They both had strong personalities and didn’t like to be wrong.  However, they loved each other very much and were committed to being successful together. Over time they started to get along better and Prince Albert started to give Queen Victoria advice and helped her make difficult decisions during her reign. And together they had nine children!  Their palace was a busy and noisy place with so many kids. 

Prince Albert also brought a number of German traditions to the United Kingdom that became popular for the British people.  This included the tradition of putting up a Christmas tree at the holidays.  Prince Albert had put a Christmas tree up for a celebration at their royal home and a picture was taken of Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, and their children in front of the tree.  The picture was in a popular newspaper at the time and afterward many people in the UK and other parts of the British Empire started putting up Christmas trees. 

Victorian England

Life in Britain during the 19th century was known as Victorian England because of Victoria’s long reign and the stamp it and her personality placed on the country. 

During Queen Victoria’s reign, Great Britain grew its industry more than ever before.  They built railways, bridges, underground sewers and power or energy networks throughout much of the empire. This is also known as industrialization. 

During her reign, Britain also expanded the size of its territories, doubling in size and taking over Canada, Australia, India and a number of other places in Africa and the South Pacific. The Queen loved the British Empire and felt that it was for the good of the world that Britain grew to take over so much of it. Because Britain controlled so many different parts of the world during her reign, people started saying a famous expression: “The sun never sets on the British Empire.”

During Queen Victoria’s reign, she also supported scientists to do research and learn more about the world.  There were great advances in science as a result, including Darwin’s theory of evolution, the telegraph, and the popular press, or common newspapers. The main cities in England grew very large and more and more people learned to read. The “Victorian-era” was a great time of development for the British people. 

However, not everyone always liked the decisions that Queen Victoria made.  During her life, there were seven assassination attempts made on Victoria’s life.  This means that her enemies tried to kill her so that she would no longer be in charge. But they did not succeed in their attempts.

After several years of suffering from a sore stomach, Victoria’s beloved Albert died of typhoid fever in 1861 at the age of 42. Victoria was very sad.  She had a plaster cast made of his hand and she kept it by her side for the rest of her life.  She also went into a 25-year seclusion, which means hiding on her own.  For the rest of her reign, she wore black.

Queen Victoria died on January 22, 1901.  When she died, she had been the longest-reigning woman monarch in the world.

Conclusion

While Queen Victoria was queen her country saw great cultural expansion, advances in industry, science, and communications, and the building of railways and the London Underground.  And the expansion of the British Empire during her reign continues to have a great impact on the world and the cultures of the various places that were British colonies under her rule. 

Can you imagine being born into a royal family and knowing that you will one day be queen or king?  This would be a great amount of pressure for a child.  Even though she had nice things and was very wealthy, she still cared about other people. She took great pride in her country and wanted to use your power to do good things. With all of her money, she could have just had a good time, but instead she rose to the challenge to be a great queen to her people.

If you were the king or queen of a country, what are some of the things that you would focus on?  Where you live, what are some of the things you would do to make it better?

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Imagine yourself in paleolithic times, also called the stone age.  You are one of a group of early people living in the mountains.  You and your family have been traveling higher and higher each year into the mountains to try to find elk and deer to hunt.  You traveled along well-worn trails in the hills.  These trails are made by animals and now you are stalking them.  You come upon a bush with some berries and stop with your people to pick and eat some.  In a nearby stream, you scoop a drink of water with your hands.  You look around and appreciate the beautiful mountains and nature around you.  You are in the Rocky Mountains! 

The Rocky Mountains are a mountain range that runs through Colorado and north all the way to Canada. Within the mountain range, there is a national park called the Rocky Mountain National Park.  The Park is in north-central Colorado and is full of mountains, alpine lakes, and many different types of animals. 

Formation of the Rocky Mountains

Over many centuries, which are sets of 100 years, massive glaciers shaped the rocky mountain range.  A glacier is a large piece of ice that forms over time from snowfall. It builds up and then slowly moves over hundreds and thousands of years!  While glaciers covered the Rockies, nothing could grow in the area.  It wasn’t until about 11,000 years ago, that the Rocky Mountain glaciers warmed up and moved far enough that plants began to grow and animals began to visit the area.  After this, humans in the area began exploring the valleys and mountains.  We know this because researchers have found spearheads made out of rocks along the trails in the area.  Historians, people who study history, can tell how long people have lived in an area by looking at how old their tools in the area are.

The Utes

The first people who lived in the area were called the Ute tribe.  There they survived by hunting mammoths. Mammoths were gigantic, harry animals with long tusks.  The Ute people did not live in the Rocky Mountains all year long.  Instead, they lived close by near the base of the mountain range in the winter.  In the summer, when it was warm enough, the Ute people traveled into the green valleys and beautiful lakes of the mountain range.  

The Utes first started traveling along what is now known as the Trail Ridge Road in the Rocky Mountain National Park.  They were hunting and foraging for food.  Foraging means to get food by hunting, fishing, or gathering wild plants. 

The Ute people were the main group of humans in the Rocky Mountain area for thousands of years until the late 1700s.  Can you imagine how long that is?  A very, very long time. Sometimes we tend to forget how very long Native American people lived in North America before their first contact with Europeans. 

Spanish Explorers

In the 1700s, European people who had come to America started to travel farther west and explore the Rocky Mountain area. This included Spanish explorers and French fur trappers who had gone around the mountain range in their travels. Later European immigrants started to explore the mountain range. It took many years for European explorers to make their way through the Rocky Mountains since back then, people did not have the technology and winter supplies and equipment that we have today that would make exploring much easier.

Purchase by the U.S. Government

In 1803, the U.S. government bought the land now known as Rocky Mountain National Park as part of the famous deal called the Louisiana Purchase.  In 1820, an army major named Stephen H. Long decided he would explore the mountain range further and so he set out on an expedition with a group of climbers. He was able to see parts of the Rocky Mountain range that others hadn’t made it to.  And he even named a mountain after himself: Long’s Peak.  When he returned home, he wrote about his travels.  

Because of the excitement that Long’s expedition caused and the opportunities that the west offered, white settlers began arriving in the area in the mid-1800s.  As more and more white people came to the area, many Native Americans who lived there started to be displaced.  This means having to move because you don’t have anywhere to live. Most Native Americans in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado ended up leaving the area or moving to reservations.

Gold Rush

In 1859, there was a gold rush at Pikes Peak.  Many people from all over America came to the Rockies to look for gold.  Much like the California gold rush, they hoped to strike it rich.  But only a few people ended up getting wealthy.  Many more came out but never found gold.  They often stayed in the area and built houses and settled down. By the late 1860s, this meant that there were lots of new settlers now living in the area and lots of small homes built in the Rocky Mountain ranges. 

The winters in the Rockies are very harsh and cold.  This made it difficult for people to live and find food high in the mountain areas. This meant that people usually lived lower down from the peaks, where there are more bears, deer, wolves, and elk.  The area is very beautiful, so word started to spread back to the eastern states in the USA about the Rockies.  Soon more Easterners started moving out to the area to live.

Also, there were rumors and superstitions that the water that came from the mountain streams and rivers had healing qualities.  This means that people thought that if you drank the water, it could heal you if you were sick or disabled.   The mountain water became more precious than gold in that it could also be diverted, or redirected, using dams and barriers to help bring water to fields for farming cattle and crops. 

Following the growth in ranchers, hunters, and miners in the area, the next group that started to arrive in the Rocky Mountain area was tourists.  

Conservation

By 1900, a group of local people, or people who lived in the Rocky Mountain area, started to organize together to try to turn part of the Rocky Mountain range into a protected park.  This was part of a conservation effort, which means an effort to protect an area of land.  This effort was supported by president Teddy Roosevelt.

In 1909, a nature guide and lodge owner in the Rockies named Enos Mills started to work for the creation of a national Rocky Mountain park.  Enos believed that a big part of the Rocky Mountain range should be saved as parkland so that families in the future could continue to enjoy its beauty.  He was afraid that if it was not made into a protected park, then eventually people would buy the land in the Rocky Mountain area and log it as a source of wood and turn the forests there into farmland and the mountains into mines for silver. 

Enos set out on a mission to gain support for this idea.  He spent several years traveling across the United States teaching people about the Rocky Mountains and writing thousands of letters to convince other people to support the plan for a federal park in the area.  A federal park means an area of land that would be owned and protected by the US government and could not be damaged by logging and mining or other human activities. Most government leaders that Enos spoke to liked the idea, but many people that worked in mining, logging, and farming opposed it.  To oppose means to stand in the way of doing something and try to stop it.  In 1915, however, Enos was successful in his efforts when President Woodrow Wilson signed the Rocky Mountain National Park Act. The Rocky Mountain area of Colorado was now a protected area!

In 1915, there were a few private lands throughout the park.  Private lands mean that they were owned by individual people or families and not the government.  These private lands often had lodges, or basic houses, on them and the owners of these lodges would host guests for sightseeing. The lodge keepers maintained the roads, built trails, and guided visitors on which routes to take in their adventures. 

With the new park status in place, the government appointed a park “Superintendent” to oversee the park and its uses.  When the first Superintendent arrived, he started building things to support visitors.   This included buildings and roads and trails.  The earliest managers of the park were not given a lot of money to work with, so they had to be very careful about not spending too much. They just built a few buildings and improved roads and trails. 

Tourism

By the 1920s however, there was a big increase in the number of tourists who were coming to visit the park.  This was because World War I had ended and people had more time and money to travel and sightsee again. The park facilities and private lodges in Rocky Mountain park were not enough to support the increased number of tourists.  So throughout the 1920s, there was a big increase in building lodges in the park. Rangers built comfort stations, museums, and better trails.  The park also saw the construction of new roads to make it easier for tourists to visit.  The biggest road project during that time was the construction of the Trail Ridge Road to Fall River Pass, which was completed from 1929 to 1932.

During the Great Depression of the 1930s, millions of Americans did not have jobs.  Because there were a lot of men out of work and looking for jobs, Rocky Mountain park hired additional men to help build more roads, trails and buildings.  They were set up into six camps throughout the Rockies to do this work.  They also helped put out wildfires, planted trees, and managed predators, or dangerous animals. It was with the help of these additional men that the Trail Ridge Road was completed. 

Road building was a high priority for the park because, unlike other western national parks, most tourists came to Rocky Mountain National Park by car.  A railroad never was built to serve the mountain area, like it did in Yellowstone, Glacier and Grand Canyon parks.  So road building was important for the Rockies to be successful.

During World War II, tourism to all national parks dropped significantly.  People did not have time or money to travel and sightsee in the Rockies, so there was less development and care taken in the area and many of the buildings and trails stopped being maintained. However, after WWII, there were many new young families in the United States.  This time in America was called a “baby boom” because families were reunited and had a lot of wealth again and so the number and size of families grew quickly. 

The government launched a new program around this time called the “Mission 66” program.  The aim of Mission 66 was to improve the facilities in the national parks by 1966, which was the date of the 50th anniversary of the National Park Service. There were three large new buildings were a visitor center in the Rocky Mountain park.  At these new facilities, tourists could watch a movie about animals and nature in the area, they could talk to a ranger, and get oriented to the park.  Oriented means getting directed and knowing where you are and where you’re going. During Mission 66, the National Park Service bought many of the old guest lodges within the park boundaries, removed old buildings that were falling apart, and built new campgrounds and parking lots. 

By the late 1960s and early 1970s, many tourists were visiting Rocky Mountain park and other federal parks each year.  Because so many people were now visiting, there was damage done to the local plants and animals in the area.  Some campers would drive off-road into the back-country, or out-of-bounds areas.  Hikers crushed wildflowers and with the predators in the area all gone, the elk population grew too big.  There were also a lot of forest fires that caused damage to the area.  

In the 1970s, Park Superintendents started to try to manage the area better to help preserve it for future generations. To preserve means to keep something in good condition.  Park rangers started to teach tourists to be good to the parks and take better care of them.  And More signs started to be put up to help direct tourists. 

Today, many people visit Rocky Mountain National Park every year.  In fact, the park is one of the most visited parks in the National Park System, ranking as the third most visited national park in 2015.  Wouldn’t that be an amazing place to visit?  If you get a chance to go there, you will see beautiful nature, including mountains, tundra, and wildlife.  And you can learn from education rangers about the animals, plants, and landscapes in the area and how the park is maintained. We hope you get the chance to go one day!

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