Junior Ranger Activity 
Book 
Name: 
So, you want to become a Christiansted Junior Ranger? To earn your 
badge, you will need to finish 3 projects. 
1) Become an Explorer, a Soldier, or a Settler! See the next page for 
details. 
2) Attend a Ranger-led activity - a tour, a walk, a demonstration 
a. Name of program: _______________ 
_ 
b. Ranger's name: _________________ 
_ 
3) Complete a service project. When you finish your project, have your parents or another adult 
sign this form. 
a. Re-use something that you have already used in a different way, like reuse your plastic 
soda bottle as a water bottle 
b. Create your own brief ranger program to your family 
c. Pick up 5 pieces of trash (water bottles, paper) 
d. Create your own original Christiansted service project! 
1. Name of project: _______________ 
_ 
11. Adult's signature: _______________ 
_ 
le Remember - safety is the most important thing you do. Have 
respect for the people and places you visit during your 
Christiansted adventure! 
The Christiansted National Historic Site Junior Ranger 
Program has three age groups. How many of these activities 
can you finish? 
Exr1()rer 
People have been coming to the Virgin Islands for 
thousands of years. They first arrived on St. Croix over 
2,000 years ago. Ever since then, people have come to 
our island for its beautiful fertile land, its rich reefs, 
and many other amazing resources. Complete at least 4 
of the activities in this book. 
Soldiers for the Danish West India and Guinea Company, 
along with enslaved Africans and a few settlers, arrived 
on St. Croix on September 1, 1734. After 1754, when the 
Danish King took control, the lives and conditions of the 
soldiers and the navy were greatly improved. Complete at 
least 6 of the activities in this book. 
Sett1er 
People have built many kinds of homes on St. Croix, 
ranging from ancient large buildings that were home to 
many families, to small farms, large villages, and even 
towns. Complete all of the activities in this book. 
We1-e<>me 
t<> Chrlstian·sted 
Natt<>nal 
Ht-st<>rlc 
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Welcome to Christiansted National Historic Site, a unit of 
the National Park Service! This park is also the headquarters 
for the other two National Parks on St. Croix - Buck Island 
Reef National Monument, and Salt River Bay National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve. These 
three parks are unique in the entire National Park system - they reflect and preserve histories, stories, 
and environments not found anywhere else in the entire United States. These National Parks were 
created by local St. Croix citizens who were concerned about losing their history and their natural 
resources, their natural and cultural heritage. This Junior Ranger Activity Book will introduce you to this 
park, and to the history of St. Croix. 
Christiansted National Historic Site was created in 1952, and is made up of five buildings located on 7 
acres in downtown Christiansted, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands: Fort Christiansvaern, the Scale 
House, the Church of Our Lord of Sabaoth, the Customs House, and the Danish West India and 
Guinea Company Warehouse. Together with the wharf area, the town of Christiansted grew up 
around these buildings, creating the center of Danish colonial military, political, cultural, and religious 
life on St. Croix. 
During your visit to our park, please stop by each of these buildings and read the exhibits. Think of a 
good question to ask a Christiansted Park Ranger. Write your question, and record the Ranger's answer 
below. 
I! 
Your Question 
I! Park Range(s Answer 
txpf.ore 
and 
Settf.e 
the Land 
Did you know that Christiansted is not the 
first town located at this spot? Even 
though Spain controlled St. Croix after 
Christopher Columbus visited in 1493, 
they did not take any interest in 
developing the island. A few English 
colonists arrived in the 1630s. In 1642, 
the Dutch (Netherlands) arrived on St. 
Croix and soon set up a small trading 
village where Christiansted stands today; 
the map to the right shows a fort and 
several houses and other buildings 
around the harbor. 
France took over the island in 1650, and they continued to use the village 
located on the harbor. Not much is known about this period in Christiansted's 
history except for old maps; maps from the French period (1650-1696) show a 
small fort and a few buildings. France had the Knights of Malta control the 
island for a short time, from 1653 to 1665. When Denmark 
bought St. Croix in 1733, a map was made that shows the 
ruins of the French buildings at village. The Danish found the 
ruins of a fort, a church, some houses and gardens, and a 
few other buildings. 
Even though St. Croix was a Danish island, most of the people who moved here in the 1700s were 
actually English and Irish; many of them came from other Caribbean islands like Virgin Gorda, St. 
Eustatius, Saba, St. Kitts, and Tortola. These early settlers planted cotton and sugar, but soon sugar 
became the most important crop. 
The United States purchased the Virgin Islands from Denmark in 1917, for 
$25,000,000. 
Answer the following questions 
Who was the first European power to claim St. Croix? _______________ 
_ 
Which country established the first settlement where Christiansted stands today? 
Which country controlled St. Croix from 1650 to 1696? ______________ 
_ 
Who bought St. Croix in 1733, and gave control to a private company? _________ 
_ 
How many countries have ruled St. Croix? Unscramble each of the clue words. Take the 
letters that appear in D boxes and unscramble them for the final answer. 
A. SAINP 
I 
I 
B. NEGLADN 
I I 
I 
C. NELRAESNHTD 
(J 
I I 
D. FECNAR 
I I 0 
E. KITNHSG FO MTALA 
I I 
[I] 
F. RAEDKNM 
(J 
G. NEDTIU TASSET 
[] 
Final answer: 
Iv I 
Put the letter of each of the countries above next to its historic flag (this will take some 
research - some of these flags are old and not used today. Use what you have read to find out 
when these would have been used.) 
~ 
Even though soldiers were sent to St. Croix to help build Fort 
Christiansvaern and keep the peace, the Danish West India Company 
did not think that a strong military was important. They did not pay for 
supplies or for the soldier's health. When the Danish king took over in 
1754, the military became an important focus. Strong soldiers were 
needed to protect the important shipments of sugar and rum, and for 
protecting needed supplies from the Americas, the other Caribbean 
islands, and Denmark. Several new forts, smaller batteries, and guard 
houses were built around St. Croix. A battery is a small coastal fort 
built to protect harbors and rivers. 
All free men between the ages of 16 and 60, 
white or black, were required to serve in a militia. A militia is a military force 
made up of local citizens who provide defense and help keep the peace. By the 
1760s there were two militia of Free Blacks: one in Christiansted and one on 
St. Thomas. Other militia included a cavalry (soldiers on horses), and an 
infantry (foot soldiers). 
In 1829, the militia corps was reorganized into 15 units and two cavalry 
squadrons. A Fire Brigade was also created that was made up almost 
completely of Free Blacks. The Black Militia was disbanded in 1852, but 
reorganized in 1907; the lieutenant soldier of the Militia Corps to the left is 
from 1917, the year the Danish turned over the Virgin Islands to the United 
States. 
The professional soldiers sent from Denmark, however, did not do so well. 
Many died of yellow fever and poor diet. They also had to wear wool uniforms 
made for cold snowy winters in Denmark, not the tropics of the Virgin Islands! 
Fort Christiansvaern has many cannons - small 6-pounder and 
large 18-pounders! "Pound" does not refer to the weight of 
the cannon, but the weight of the cannon ball. 
How many 6-pound cannons do you see at Fort 
Christiansvaern? 18-pound cannons? 
Why do you think the big cannons are facing the water, and not the land? 
Agriculture has always been important on St. Croix. Farmers have tried to grow many different kinds of 
plants on the islands' rich, fertile soil, like cotton, watermelons and other fruits, even indigo. But sugar 
was by far the most important. Sugar was likely first brought to St. Croix sometime in the 1630s, by 
English settlers. From 1754 until about 1820 St. Croix was in a "Golden Age," where sugar was 
planted on many of the estates, and some people became very rich. However, the people who actually 
did the hard work of planting the sugar, harvesting the crop of cane, turning the cane into sugar, and 
building many of the houses and other buildings on the island were people who were captured and 
enslaved, and brought to St. Croix from Africa and other Caribbean islands. 
Over St. Croix's long history there have 
been three kinds of mills used on 
plantations, each using a different kind 
of power. The first was an animal 
mill, where a mule or an ox supplied 
the power to the grinding machines. 
Later in the 1700s most plantations 
had wind mills, where large sails 
captured the wind and drove the 
grinders. Finally, steam powered mills 
began to be used in the 1800s. 
On the south shore of St. Croix cotton 
was planted on many of the estates. 
Even though cotton had become less 
popular by the end of the1700s, many 
planters did not switch to sugar cane. 
Later, in the 1800s and 1900s, many of these 
plantations began to raise and breed cattle. 
Enslaved Africans also grew food and crops in 
small plots, called provision grounds. Some of 
these kinds of crops grown here were sweet 
potatoes, corn, tomatoes melons, guava, 
cassava, beans, and even tobacco. Some of these 
crops were for food, and the rest was sold at the 
Sunday Market by women. There were many 
markets all across St. Croix. The women would 
also sell eggs, chickens, bread, and firewood. The 
money they made was used to buy goods, like 
smoking pipes, jewelry, and clothes. 
From about 1750 until the 1820s, Christiansted was an 
important and thriving port town. The island was one of the 
wealthiest islands in the entire Caribbean. Christiansted was the 
capital of the Danish West Indies from 1754 until 1871. This 
success was mostly due to sugar, rum, and the work of enslaved 
people. There were five main kinds of goods that were shipped or 
exported from St. Croix: sugar, rum, molasses, cotton, and 
timber. By the end of the 1700s, St. Croix was one of the main 
sugar islands of the Caribbean. 
Because most of the island was devoted to sugar, 
people had to import, or bring in, nearly 
everything else they wanted or needed to live. 
This importing and exporting of goods happened 
at the wharfs, such as at Christiansted. Items that 
were shipped from the island were weighed at 
the Scale House. Other items brought to the 
island came through the Customs House. At the 
Danish West India and Guinea Company 
Warehouse, goods were stored, like sugar, 
cotton, and timber, and slaves that were brought 
to the island were unloaded, cleaned, and sold in 
its courtyard. 
Another industry that became important on St. Croix was 
cattle. In the 1880s, farmers began to raise a kind of cow 
with long horns from Africa called N'Dama. Over many 
years they were bred with other cows with short horns, 
call Red Poll. A new kind of cattle, called Senepol, was 
created just for the hot tropical climate. Senepol are 
known for their good meat and milk. They have been 
shipped across the Caribbean, South America, Australia, 
and even to Zimbabwe! 
Did you know there used to be a dairy on St. Croix? 
Many goods or resources are changed from their original state into something that we use, 
like wool and cotton into fabric. Below, match the original resource to its final product. 
tree 
cotton 
sugarcane 
milk 
cow 
~ 
I 
candy 
cheese 
~ 
~ 
hamburger 
house 
clothes 
~10 
Solve these clues from the information you just read! 
Across 
1. A crop grown in small 
gardens 
3. A crop sold at the market 
7. A crop grown on St. Croix 
8. To bring things to a place 
10. a kind of power used for a 
mill 
11. __ 
potato 
12. 
Market 
15. A founding father of the 
U.S.A. 
Down 
2. A kind of cattle bred on St. 
Croix 
4. __ 
Age 
5. A product of making sugar 
6. Provision 
7 
11 
9. An important good exported from St. Croix 
12. The most important crop of the 1700s 
2 
3 
4 
5 
6 
8 
9 
10 
12 
13 
15 
13. Another kind of power used for a mill 
14. Who sold goods at the Sunday Market? 
14 
Did you know that Alexander Hamilton grew up in Christiansted? This 
founding father, who became the first Secretary of the Treasury of the 
United States, moved to St. Croix with his family in 1765, when he was 11 
years old. He did not get to go to school. He had to work for a business that 
imported and exported goods, sugar, cattle, and enslaved people. He visited 
the Christiansted wharf nearly every day, buying, selling, and inspecting 
cargo. He left St. Croix in 1773, but the lessons he learned about trade, 
money, and hard work shaped his entire adult life. 
~11 
L;fe of ~n E'm;f~l'ed 
PerS<>f'\ 
The majority of all enslaved people in the 
entire Virgin Islands were on St. Croix. In 1778, 
there were over 22,000 enslaved peoples on 
the island. Most worked on plantations and 
-
were called field slaves or "kamina folk." Kamina is a Creole word that means a piece of land that is 
worked by African slaves. A Creole is a blend of different languages and cultures into a new language 
and culture. Kamina folk had a hard life - their day began before sunrise and ended after sunset. They 
lived in villages in houses made of wattle-and-daub, 
mud placed on a frame of wood and twigs, with 
thatch roofs. Some houses were also made of stone. Many had to grow much of their own food, and 
they cooked their meals outside their houses, unless it was raining. 
Not all plantation slaves worked in the fields. Some worked in the house - they cooked, cleaned, and 
sewed, and raised their owner's children. Others worked as crafting slaves - they were blacksmiths, 
barrel makers (coopers), bricklayers (masons), and carpenters. Some who lived in the towns worked in 
houses, at the wharf, and even in the fort. Many were trained to work as hairdressers, tailors, 
carpenters, and even musicians. 
Runaway slaves, called maroons, were enslaved people who ran away. They would hide in the 
mountains in the northwest part of St. Croix. Today, this area is called Maroon Ridge. There they would 
wait for boats to take them to Puerto Rico, and to freedom. 
In 1847, Governor Peter von 
Scholten began to free the 
enslaved people of the Virgin 
Islands. All the children born to 
slaves from that moment were 
immediately free, and he 
wanted all people to be free by 
1859. However, on the night 
of July 2, 1848, the slaves 
would not wait for freedom 
any longer. Many near the 
town of Frederiksted revolted, and soon the revolt spread across the 
island. The next day, Governor von Scholten declared that all enslaved people were to be free. 
Enslaved people and Free Blacks created a variety of social activities. They had dances, parades, and tea 
and coffee parties. Men practiced a kind of stick fighting called Bangelar, an activity found all over the 
Caribbean. 
Did you know thatjumbie trees were brought to St. Croix by 
African slaves, who wore the seeds of the baobab tree around 
their necks during the Middle Passage? 
~12 
Slavery has existed around 
the world for many, many 
centuries. Across the 
continent of Africa, only 
wealthy and powerful people 
owned slaves. Some people 
were enslaved because they 
were prisoners from war. 
The Trans-Atlantic slave trade 
did not begin until European 
settlers in the Americas 
needed a large work force. 
From 1650 until 1860, 
between 10 and 15 million 
people were captured and 
enslaved and brought to the 
Americas (see picture to the 
right). Enslaved people were 
used to mine gold and silver, 
and to work on sugar, 
cotton, and tobacco 
plantations. 
Find these words in the puzzle below: 
DAUB 
PRISONER 
GOLD 
SUGAR 
WATTLE 
MAROON 
KAMINA 
TOBACCO 
~13 
What comes to mind when you think of pirates? A one-
legged man with an eye patch, and a parrot? Crates 
overflowing with treasure? Jack Sparrow? 
Well, there WERE pirates on St. Croix, way back in the 
1600s and the early 1700s, during a period known as 
the Golden Age of Piracy! 
First, let us learn the difference between a pirate and 
a privateer. A pirate is someone who attacks and robs 
ships at sea. A privateer does the same thing, but 
they have permission from a king or government, such 
as a Letter of Marque (pronounced "mark"). They 
attack ships that belong to the enemies of a 
government. Privateers could keep a portion of what 
they captured, as long as the king got their portion. 
Buccaneer is a French word for a privateer. 
Pirates began to use St. Croix as a base for smuggling 
goods, and to fix and repair their boats. Salt River Bay 
was a good place to hide from English ships. It 
provides harbor, or a place safe from waves and 
storms, like hurricanes. In the late 1600s, the French 
could not control the smuggling and piracy on the 
island. After they left the island in 1696, Salt River Bay 
and other places became known as pirate hiding 
holes. 
'f, !-
Pirates were always under the threat of mutiny, or 
rebellion. Think about it - you are the captain of a 
whole crew of sailors whose job is to rob and steal from others. A pirate captain had to keep his crew 
happy, or they may turn against him! 
There was even a pirate battle! In the winter of 1716, a famous pirate, Jean Martel, was in Salt River 
Bay with a fleet of ships that he had captured. One of these ships was a large 20-gun boat named John 
and Martha. A British Navy captain, Captain Hume, of the HMS Scarborough, found out about Martel's 
hiding spot. He launched a surprise attack on the pirates between November 15 and 20, 1716. Two 
ships were burned and sank, including the John and Martha. 
Other pirates also visited St. Croix, including the famous pirate Blackbeard, whose real name was 
Edward Thatch. 
~14 
Solve these clues from the information you just read! 
2 
3 
4 
5 
6 
7 
8 
Did you know that there were women pi rates? Anne Bonny and 
Mary Read were just two of the women who ruled the seas! 
Across 
1. What a pirate does 
4. A Letter of ---
6. __ 
River Bay 
8. The name of a ship burned by pirates 
was the John and __ 
_ 
Down 
2. A kind of privateer 
3. A pirate with permission 
4. Another word for rebellion 
5. A safe place for ships 
7. Edward Thatch's nickname 
8. A famous pirate in 1716 
~15 
Congratulations! 
You are almost done! Now it's time to double check and make sure you've 
completed all the steps to become a Christiansted Junior Ranger (see page 2). When you are finished, 
take this booklet to the Visitor Center so a Park Ranger can award you with your official Junior Ranger 
badge. 
Did you know that there are over 400 other National 
Parks in the United States, each with their own 
Junior Ranger program? There's even a national 
program. See how many badges you can collect! 
EXPERIENCE YOUR AMERICA 
The National Park Service cares for special places saved by the American people so that all may experience our shared heritage. 
~16 
If 
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I 
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'•"" .... 
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The Junior Ranger Pledge 
I promise, as a Junior Ranger for Christiansted National Historic Site, to: 
► learn all I can about this and other national parks 
► protect the plants, animals, and history of the parks 
~ 
~ 
► protect park artifacts, like arrowheads and pottery, by leaving them where I found them 
► share what I learn with my family and my friends 
Junior Ranger Signature 
Date 
r, 
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To learn more about the on line NPS Junior Ranger program, visit www.nps.gov/webrangers 
All clip art is derived from: 
► Christiansted National Historic Site/Buck Island Reef National Monument/Salt River Bay National Historical Park and 
Ecological Preserve 
► 
Microsoft Clip Art 
► Clip Art Gallery on DiscoverySchool.com 
► www.slaveryimages.org. 
sponsored by the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities and the University of Virginia 
Library 
► St. Croix Landmarks Society 
FINDYOUR 
PARK