Scene One

James Marshall: (calling over his shoulder as he pretends to dig away, working

on the water wheel) Yes, sIr, Mr. Sutter! I think we’re almost

finished. We’ll have this water wheel ready in no time. Then

you can pay me the 95 cents you owe me for the labor. (He

stops and looks down). What’s this? (he picks up a stone)

Could it possibly be? (He bites on it. In awe he says) Gold!

(then more excitedly) Gold!!! (Then he shouts with joy) Mr.

Sutter! Iiiiiii quit!!! (He yells as he runs off stage )

GOOOOLD!!!!!!

(First from offstage and then from all around the audience, we

hear people yelling “Gold” as though it’s being passed along

from one person to the next from the West Coast all the way

back East. Finally from stage R, a young editorial newspaper

writer for the Terre Haute Express by the name of John Soule,

rushes in)

John Soule: Wow! The hills of California are covered with GOLD! I know

exactly what my editorial will be in the paper tomorrow (he

hold up his hands as though showing a marquee) Go West,

Young man! And grow up with the country! That’s it! Go

West, Young man! Go West!

ALL STUDENTS SING: Go West!

Scene Two

(The wagon master is trying to get people to move along in

order to begin the trip West.)

Wagon Master: Hurry up now, folks! We have to get this wagon train a-

moving or we’ll never get to California before the winter snows

make the mountain passes—impassable!!

Pioneer Woman: We’re ready to go, Wagon master. We’ll be with you all the

way to Oregon, where they say land is fertile and free for the

takin’!

Pioneer man: We’ll be rich as kings!

Wagon master: How about you cowboys? Are you ready to go?

Cowpoke 1: We’re ready, boss. But what’s the hurry? We can only go as

fast as the cattle, and these longhorns have a pace of their

own.

Wagon Master: (with some disgust) Longhorns! Shorthorns! Looks like I’m

saddled with a bunch of Greenhorns!

Miner 1: Don’t worry, boss! The miners are ready to go, with an itch to

get rich!

Miner 2: We’ll be with you until Idaho, boss, and then we’re heading

south to Californ-i-ay! We’ll be rich in a matter of days!

Robert Fulton: You people are crazy! Why go by wagon to the West? It will

take forever! There will be blizzards, deserts, no water, sand,

skunks and snakes!

Steamboat Captain: Why don’t you get smart and come along with us on my

sensational steamboat? We’ll go down to New Orleans,

then take a clipper ship ‘round the horn and beat you to

California by a week and a day.

Robert Fulton: We’ll be rich…

Steamboat Captain: …while you’re still ploddin’ along…

Fulton and Captain: (smiling together)…poor as dirt.

Wagon Master: We’ll see about that, Mr. Fulton! We’ll see about that.

Mr. Henry: (a railroad man holding up a golden railroad spike) It won’t be

long before we can make this trip by locomotive. I’ve got the

golden spike right here that will join the rails together from

east and west and make wagon trains a thing of the past.

Railroads! That’s the way to get rich in the West!

Wagon Master: That could be true, Mr. Henry, but in the meantime, this

wagon train is all we’ve got. How about you, Mr. Brigham

Young?

Brigham Young: We’re ready to go, boss, and I can tell you now, we’re going to

make that desert “blossom as the rose”!

Wagon Master: I’m sure you will, Mr. Young. I’m sure you will. Speaking of

roses, are you ready, Yellow Rose?

Yellow Rose: (smiling) Of course, I’m ready, mister. Come on, boys. Let’s

get a move on! I’m on my way to Texas and I haven’t got time

to waste.

Tex: I’m with you, Yellow Rose!

Yellow Rose: Listen boys, I’ve been rich and I’ve been poor! Rich is better

and I plan to be it.

Tex: I’ve heard that the new state of Texas is the place to be for real

riches and adventure.

All: (cheering) Remember the Alamo!

Wagon Master: (rolling his eyes) Everybody wants to get rich. Well, enough of

this jawin’. Load ‘em up and let’s get a goin’.

Mayor: Now, just a minute, Wagon master.

Wagon Master: (rolling his eyes again) Oh boy! Here we go… another long-

winded speech by a politician.

Mayor: As Mayor of Independence, I want to take this auspicious

occasion to say, that this new adventure on which you are

about to embark, will change your lives and our land forever

and ever. Therefore, I wish you the very best of luck, and

when you strike it rich, don’t forget about your little old friends

back here in the east. Remember all that we have done for

you. Now, bon voyage, my friends and may God speed!

Wagon master: Ladies and gentlemen, pathfinders and prospectors, cowpokes

and gamblers –it’s time!

Pioneers: It’s time!

Miners: It’s time!

Cowpokes: It’s time!

Yellow Rose

And Tex: It’s time!

All: It’s time!

Wagon Master: Then, wagons, ho, everybody! Wagons, ho!

FIFTH GRADE SINGS: Wagon, Ho!

Scene Three

(The cowpokes are left alone on the stage. They are waving to the wagon train as

it pulls away. They are heading West but are not in such a hurry mainly because

they have cattle to herd along the way)

Cowpoke 1: (waving) So long, folks! Hope ya’ll have a safe and pleasant

trip.

Cowpoke 2: Boy, everybody sure is in a hurry, aren’t they, pardner? I guess

they think the gold is gonna run out before they get there.

Hank: Well, maybe they’re right.

Cowpokes 1&2: (looking at him shocked) WHAT?!!!

Cowpoke 1: I thought you said there was gold enough for everyone in the

West?

Cowpoke 2: Yeah, Hank, you said that if we came along with you on this

cattle drive, we’d know riches like we’ve never seen before.

Hank: I wasn’t lyin’ to ya, boys. The West is filled with riches enough

for everyone.

Cowpoke 1: What do ya mean, Hank?

Cowpoke 2: Yeah, Hank! What do ya mean?

Hank: What I mean is that some people will find gold like the kind

you find in coins and jewelry.

Cowpokes 1&2: (hopefully) Yeah?

Hank: Others will find gold in the form of fertile fields and bountiful

forests.

Cowpokes 1&2: (more hopefully) YEAH?

Hank: And others will find gold in the life of a cowboy—free from

crowds, free from fences, free to ride the range with nothin’

but open air and bright, clear skies.

Cowpokes 1&2: (Smiling and nodding with understanding) Yeah!

Hank: So, come on, boys. There’s no hurry. I’ll show you REAL gold!

Just follow my pony and me.

FIRST GRADE SINGS: My Pony and Me and Wide Open Spaces

Scene Four

Robert Fulton: (talking with gleeful sarcasm to the audience; pretending to be

perplexed, but in reality, smiling and smug) Let’s see…You

could pack up yourself and your entire family, stick them in the

back of a covered wagon and travel about two miles an hour

through deserts, blizzards, dangerous mountain passes and

quicksand.

Steamboat Captain: You could fight off mountain lions, rattlesnakes,

scorpions and a wholes slew of other unpleasantries and

maybe make it to the West more dead than alive.

Robert Fulton: OR…. You could get on board our LUXURY steamboat and

make your way to the riches of the West!

Steamboat Captain: We’ll ride on smooth waters, eat three square meals a

day and enjoy entertainment nightly. Hmmmm… I just

CAN’T decide. (After a pause, calling) ALL ABOARD!!!!

All aboard the Mississippi Queen- the newest steamboat

in the newest land-- headin’ west on the river of

dreams. ALL ABOARD!!!

FOURTH GRADE SINGS: Steamboatin’ AND M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I

Scene Five

(Train sound effect)

Peter Cooper: (inventor of the Tom Thumb, one of the first locomotives in the

U.S.) ALL ABOARD? I’ll get on board, all right, but not on some

old steamboat. I’m heading out West on iron horses.

Townsperson: Iron horses? What do you mean, Mr. Cooper?

Peter Cooper: I mean RAILROAD! I’ve got a locomotive here I call the Tom

Thumb. I guarantee he will be the fastest and best way to get

to the West this country has ever known.

Townsperson: You must be kidding! Ride that thing ALL the way out West?

Horse Owner: No train locomotive could ever be as fast or as reliable as a

good team of horses!

Peter Cooper: Now that’s where you’re wrong, mister. I’m so confident that

my Tom Thumb is the way of the future, that I’ll wager you a

week’s pay that he can outrace your horse any day.

Horse Owner: Outrace my horse with THAT contraption? You’re on, mister!

You’re ON!

(They shake hands)

(All the cast members get to the front of the stage and watch

an imaginary race between the train and the horse from stage

L to R)

Announcer 1: Is the Tom Thumb ready?

(A train whistle blows)

Announcer 2: Is the horse ready?

(There is a horse’s whinny)

Announcer 1: On your mark!

Announcer 2: Get set!

Both Announcers: GO!!

Announcer 1: And…They’re off!! The horse gets off to a quick start, as Tom

Thumb is slow on the take off.

Announcer 2: Now Tom Thumb is picking up the pace a little and making up

some distance, sure and steady, like…a…well…a train.

Announcer 1: They’re comin’ ‘round the bend now and…could it be? Yes!

Yes! The Tom Thumb has taken the lead, out-pacing the horse,

who seems to be huffing and puffing like a…a…well, like a

horse, of course.

Announcer 2: They’re coming down the home stretch now and it looks like

the Tom Thumb is destined to be the…no, wait!...The Tom

Thumb is losing steam!

Announcer 1: Something catastrophic has happened to the locomotive train!

The horse has pulled back into the lead!

Announcer 2: The horse has crossed the finish line and wins the race!

(Crowd cheering)

Peter Cooper: (clearly disappointed) Well, here’s your money, sir. Your horse

won fair and square.

Horse Owner: Aw, keep your money, Cooper. My horse DID win the race

today. But it’s clear to me and everybody here, including my

horse ( there is a whinny), that the wave of the future is

definitely with locomotives like the Tom Thumb.

Townsperson: I’m headin’ West! And I’m takin’ my dreams on the fastest

way by far – THE LOCOMOTIVE!

Mr. Henry: (The man with the golden spike) Now hold your horses there,

friend. (Another whinny) You’re right that the locomotive will

be a great way to get to the West, but first we’ve got to lay

MILES and MILES of track.

Townsperson: I knew there’d be a catch!!!

Mr. Henry: But don’t worry. Already a team of workers is putting down

track from west to east, and another from east to west. It

won’t be long and the two will meet and give us a railroad all

the way to the West Coast. I hold right here the golden spike

that will join the two together.

Townsperson: Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s make some tracks of our

own!

Mr. Henry: You’re singin’ my song, partner. You’re singin’ my song!

SECOND GRADE SINGS: Keep Rollin’ and Get On Board

Scene Six

Pioneer Woman 1: We will build our home on a prairie

From whatever we can find.

It won’t be full of riches,

Yet, welcoming and kind.

Pioneer Man 1: It will be warm enough for winter

And though it may seem odd

We will build our home on a prairie;

We will build our home of sod.

Miner 1: I will live by myself in the side of a hill

And everything that I save,

I will bury in the ground inside my home

For my home will be a cave.

Pioneer Woman: Our journey may be lonesome

Yet anywhere we roam,

Pioneer Man: Where we work together side by side,

That will be our home.

THIRD GRADE SINGS: Where I Make my Home and Oklahoma Land Rush

Scene Seven

Miner 1: GOLD! GOLD! There’s gold in them thar hills!

(The cast is not impressed)

(Music Underscores following dialog)

Yellow Rose: Yeah, yeah! We’ve heard it all before. The only gold we’ve

found so far is “FOOLS” gold!

Mr. Henry: The trip to the West was not filled with all the treasures our

travelers had in mind.

Brigham Young: It sure took us a lot longer than we thought to make the desert

“bloom as a rose.”

Miner 2: But wait! The gold in them thar hills is as much there today as

it’s ever been.

Pioneer Woman: What do you mean?

Miner 2: Look! EVERYBODY who came to the West didn’t get rich by

finding rivers running with gold.

All: I’ll say!!

Miner 1: But the riches of the West were discovered many other places.

All: Like what?

Pioneer Man: Like in the waving fields of grain!

Pioneer Woman: The bounties of the forest!

Steamboat Captain: The wonders of the ocean!

Cowpoke 1: The wide open spaces with room enough to grow.

Miner 2: All of that and more! The West is about ideas as much as

anything else.

Robert Fulton: I get it! It’s the IDEA of the West that drew people there.

Steamboat Captain: The ideas that you could pursue your dreams

Yellow Rose: Be the best that you can be.

Mr. Henry: The idea that anything was possible!

Mayor: And that you had the right to pursue it.

Cowpoke 2: Hey! That’s the American Dream!

Miner 2: And that my friends, is the REAL gold of the American West!

James Marshall: There’s gold in them thar hills, all right!

Steamboat Captain: And the rivers!

Pioneer Man: The mountains!

Pioneer Woman: The plains!

Robert Fulton: And in people who use their ideas to pursue the American

Dream.

All: (with genuine, quiet awe look over the audience’s heads) It’s

all…gold!

(after a pause)

Wagon master: (with determination) Let’s go get some!

(Everyone cheers)

FIFTH GRADE SINGS: Go For the Gold

Speaker: Whether on foot, on horseback horse, by wagon, by

steamboat, or train, ALL of those brave people who took the

risk to seek their fortune in the West, certainly had many

adventures along the way.

ALL SING: An Adventure and Reprise: Go West!