An Outlaw Thanksgiving

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"The Chicago and Rock Island Express roared into Omaha, Nebraska, one November day in 1896. Clara Maher was the first one off, eager for a gulp of fresh air after two days in the sooty rail car. Clara and her mother had come halfway on a journey that had begun in New York State. The day after tomorrow they would meet Papa in Utah and go on to a new life in California. Her mother hurried into the station to freshen up. Clara set off to explore. “Keep your eyes peeled, coming west,” Papa said. “Out here, you never know what will happen next!”

She heard a hubbub of strange languages and accents. Emigrants and roughnecks rubbed elbows with travelers in fine clothing."

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Emily Arnold McCully

McCully has written and illustrated numerous children's books and earned the Caldecott Medal for Mirette on the High Wire. She also write novels and biographies for young adults including the YALSA Book Finalist Ida Minerva Tarbell: The Woman Who Challenged Big Business--and Won!

A Conversation with Emily Arnold McCully, Reading Rockets

Synopsis

In 1896 Clara Maher and her mother, traveling by train from New York to Utah to join Clara's father before they go on to California, are snowbound. They leave the train and travel by sleigh to Brown's Hole, Utah, where a group of friendly ranchers -- outlaws with Butch Cassidy as one of the hosts -- serve a splendid Thanksgiving dinner. Several days later, when the snow is cleared from the tracks, the ranchers take Clara and her mother back to the train.

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Relevance

Thanksgiving, as we practice this secular ritual today, brings family together around a meal -- a sacred one, if you will -- to celebrate a 19th century concept of what it means to be an American. The 19th century was a significant period of political, economic, and social change in the United States. Unfortunately, another similarity between today and a hundred years ago is a nationalistic fear of new immigrants changing American culture.

An Outlaw Thanksgiving, in addition to being a fun little read, is a good jumping off point for exploring the history of the Wild West, as well as a few of the major events of the 19th century.

Learning Connections

• Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch, Legends of America
  
• Chinese Immigrants on the Transcontinental Railroad, PBS Learning Media
• The Dakota Territory and the Wild West, Travel South Dakota - surprisingly excellent educational site given it is a tourist info page
• The Gold Rush, PBS Learning Media
• Native Americans in the West: 1838-1900, PBS Learning Media
• The Transcontinental Railroad, PBS Learning Media

Early chapter book readers, 37 pages. Traveling across the country by train in 1896, Clara and her mother unexpectedly share Thanksgiving dinner with Butch Cassidy.