Friday, March 27, 2009

Mountain Men Script

Characters:

Karen Chen(narrator)

Steven Lum(fur trapper)

Melissa Li(fur trader)

William Yu(beaver)

James Le(Indian)

Props for script:
paper balls
paper gun
jacket
beaver trap

Introduction: We are doing a play on the mountain men, also known as fur trappers. The mountain men moved to the west because fur was popular at the time. Their journeys were really intense and they faced many difficulties. They left behind personal journals.

Karen: One day Steven decides to become a fur trapper.
Steven: I'm heading to the west to get myself some fur.
Karen: Steven sets a trap hoping for a beaver to come.
Steven: *puts trap on the floor*
Karen: Then a beaver crawls and is stuck in the trap.
William: *puts leg in trap*
Steven: Look what i found, a beaver!!
*shoots beaver*
Steven: Is he dead?
*shoots again*
Steven: Now he's dead!
Karen: Then Steven skins the beaver.
Steven: *takes of Williams jacket*
Karen: On his way to get more fur, an Indian comes and throws stones at Steven.
James: *throws paper balls at Steven*
Karen: Steven quickly ran away and reached the trading point.
Melissa: I'll trade you beer for your fur.
*hands imaginary beer to Steven*
Steven: That sounds good.
Karen: Next, Steven wrote his entire journey in his journal.
Steven: *pretends to write*
Karen: Suddenly, he died by an unknown disease.
Steven: *drops on the floor*

Friday, March 20, 2009

The Mountain Men - Diary Entry



March 19, 1810,
A few weeks ago, my friends and I set traps in search of beaver fur. We waited for the dumb, wood-chewing animals to get trapped in them. A few days later, we hiked back to the place where we set the traps. To my surprise, I saw about fifteen beavers all trapped. My party of five each beat up three beavers with sticks that we found on the ground. After that, we skinned the beavers and left their meat to rot.



On our way back, we faced many hardships. First of all, there were the diseases. One of my friends died by a strange, unknown disease. The next hardship was the animal attacks. There was a sneak attack by a bear. It killed another one of my friends. Only three of us were left. We were hungry and tired, so we stole some food from a nearby Indian tribe. We got caught and they shot arrows at us. One of them flew right past me and pierced my friend's back. He was killed. It was just me and a friend. Robbers! Thieves! They stabbed my partner to death. At least I'm still alive. I eventually made it back to town, and I still have my fur. Yay!

As I walked into town, the first thing I thought of was my dehydration. Then I thought of beer. I traded my fur for beer. I drank and drank until I was drunk. Today, I start another fur-trapping adventure!