Yet, as the original game depicts, farmers had greater quantities of supplies and were likely more self-sufficient. Instead, shopkeepers and lawyers were likely the most wealthy workers on the trail. Kreutzer suspects they were financially comfortable enough already and wouldn't have to take the risk. Unlike the game, bankers usually didn't embark on the journey. Among them were teachers, doctors, writers, preachers and missionaries. Kreutzer noted there were also people working in many other types of trades not offered in the game that took the trip West in real life. And I don't know of anyone who did that unless they were making coffee or tea." "If a watering hole was contaminated, they would catch something if they didn't boil the water first. "People didn't have germ theory at the time – they just didn't understand how diseases were spread," Kreutzer explained. But Kreutzer said that the reality was the opposite: regardless of class level, they all had equal likelihoods of accidental death. It typically allows players to start with more money for supplies and ultimately have a better chance at survival. It's a common strategy (read: shortcut) in the game to choose to start out as a banker, rather than a farmer or carpenter. Gun accidents were commonplace, as were drownings. Some women and children would get their dresses caught in wagon wheels and fall underneath them. Some of the other deaths Kreutzer described as downright freak accidents. This resulted in another frequent cause of death: "the bloody flux," in which diarrhea was the primary indicator. The symptoms were alike, Kreutzer said, and the diseases were spread in a similar way – usually through contaminated water. Unlike the game, which has spawned a meme out of dying of dysentery because it happens so frequently, most people likely died of cholera. Most people died of dysentery in the "Oregon Trail" game, spawning a modern meme that at least one historian says was not entirely accurate. In contrast, some of the graves still stand to this day. A pile of stones or wooden crosses were also frequently used to mark graves, though they usually wouldn't last more than a couple of years. "You might ask them to help you carve some words into a stone," Kreutzer said. Oregon Trail gameīut would they have the means to produce actual gravestones, like you see in Oregon Trail, along the way? Kreutzer says it was likely, especially if you had a stone cutter or blacksmith in your party. Graves were common on the real Oregon Trail, but their etchings may not have been as funny as they were in the game. If evenly spaced along the length of the trail, there would be a grave every 50 yards from Missouri to Oregon. "That's pretty unrealistic – I think if you were losing family members at that rate, you would just turn around and go home."Īccording to most researchers, Kreutzer added, 1 in 10 settlers would die along the trail, amounting to roughly 65,000 deaths and burials total between 18. "Both times my entire party bit the dust before reaching Fort Kearney," she admitted. So, of course, I sent her a link to play the game - she played it twice, and told me one particular inaccuracy stuck out instantly. She's an expert on all things real life Oregon Trail, but interestingly, has never been asked to compare the history of the trail to the game. Lee Kreutzer has served as a cultural resources specialist and archeologist for the intermountain region of the National Park Service for over 16 years. They were able to get a feel for that sense of adulthood and making choices, while being immersed right in the middle of the game instead of observing the action."īut how historically accurate was the game, really? "It involved themes that seemed to be historically accurate, but also more mature. "Kids enjoyed it because it gave them control over a scenario, which can be really appealing for a 10-year-old," Dean said. And sure, if you weren't playing "Oregon Trail" in elementary school, you'd be improving your typing speed with games like Mavis Beacon or blowing up multiplication equations with a laser in Math Blaster.īut "Oregon Trail" had something more to offer.
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