Saturday, September 15, 2007

To caulk or ford?

Remember how it felt? Holding the reins. In control. Cruising cross country in the ol' Conestoga. Fording rivers. Repairing wagon tongues. Living off the land. Knowing everyone was depending on you.

I can only be referring to the Oregon Trail. No, not the major migration route used by pioneers traveling westward across North America over 150 years ago. Rather, I'm talking about the computer game based on that route.

I believe I was in middle school the first time I was introduced to the game. Who knew so much fun could be contained on a simple five-and-a-quarter inch floppy disk.

To me, the best part about Oregon Trail was the primitive navigation system on the Conestoga. It gave the date, weather, total distance traveled, distance remaining, distance to the next landmark, as well as how much food you had remaining. It even had that little map you could click on to see exactly where you were. The Conestoga was the Tahoe of the 19th Century.

Oregon Trail was educational as well as entertaining. It forced me to make choices, real life decisions. At least, they would have been real life decisions had I lived in 1840.

I learned that all farmers are poor, four oxen can pull a wagon faster than two, and squirrels are harder to shoot than buffalo, though buffalo provide more pure poundage of food.

On my way to the Willamette Valley, I also learned about death. Few things up to that point in my life were as heartbreaking as reading "Jimmy has died of dysentery" across the screen.

Best I could tell, dysentery and cholera were likely the two leading causes of death for Americans in the 1840's, with drowning a close third. Heck, I wouldn't even know what dysentery was if it weren't for the Oregon Trail. And I'm confident that knowledge played an integral role in my upbringing and development.

As with most things I ponder, certain questions eventually arise. And Oregon Trail is no different. For instance, what was the deal with this message: "You shot 1958 pounds of food, but were only able to carry 200 pounds back to the wagon."

If I'm in need of food, I'm bringing Annie, Mary, Little Susie, and Jimmy all off the wagon to help carry it. Well not Jimmy, bless his heart, may he rest in peace.

Either that, or I'll pull the wagon right up to the carcass. And if it won't hold all the food, we'll just camp there a few days and eat. We've got to rest anyway. Mary has a broken leg, and one of the oxen got lost.

"We lost a lot of steers that day, and four or five good mounts. But when all the boys rode into camp, we knew that's what counts..."

15 comments:

  1. Great story. It's amazing how many people still remember that game today.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Never heard of the game. But am quite familiar with the real trail.

    Funny you should write about it - the story I'm writing (behind the blog - that I haven't talked about much) is on the Oregon Trail. It consumes me.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Remember how it felt? Holding the reins. In control. Cruising cross country in the ol' Conestoga. Fording rivers. Repairing wagon tongues. Living off the land. Knowing everyone was depending on you.

    Sigh. Yes, Yes, I do actually. Where/what do I have to do to get it back???????

    Who knew so much fun could be contained on a simple five-and-a-quarter inch floppy disk.

    So glad you added “disk” to that ;-)

    The Conestoga was the Tahoe of the 19th Century.

    ROFL

    For instance, what was the deal with this message: "You shot 1958 pounds of food, but were only able to carry 200 pounds back to the wagon."

    Ugh, that always drove me nuts, too! It’s like, there are people starving on this trail, if I shoot that much food, then I’m going to tell them to load up their wagons! We don’t waste any food and no one starves! Seriously, I thought life back then was all about helping each other?? Not very smart thinking on their part if you ask me. (Which you didn’t, but I’m saying it anyway.)

    I LOVED this post, Bone :) It brought back soooo many memories. Sigh. I miss the Oregon Trail days…

    I drove on part of it a couple of years ago, and I have to say, living in a car with food and pop in the backseat just doesn’t compare to days of shooting squirrels and buffalo, while worrying about whether or not poor Jimmy was gonna make it or not.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Cromely: Thank you. I was hoping a few readers would remember it. Thanks for stopping by my blog.

    Katt: Me too. Thanks for visiting my blog.

    Shelby: Cool! I'd like to visit some of the historic sites along the real trail someday.

    TC: Well thank you. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

    Yeah, so you got what I was saying about the food. Maybe they were trying to teach us that life's not fair.

    Honestly, writing this post made me want to see if I could find a copy of Oregon Trail. I'll let you know if I find one :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. wow, I never heard of this game and I'm somewhat an expert on the American West (well, I wouldn't go that far, but I did write a dissertation about it). I really don't know much about the wagon trains, but I do know that if you got through your first few weeks without anyone getting sick, you stood a good chance of having left civilization's germs behind and of making it to your destination. Otherwise, disease would travel through the train and many would die.

    btw, I just posted about sleeping in a wagon on our vacation this summer!

    ReplyDelete
  6. *sigh* I miss that game.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh man! I loved that game. I always looked forward to being able to play it in school. The world was right when I was playing Oregon Trail!

    Speaking of games Bone...how 'bout the Tide! 41-38! And...to make it better. Awbarn lost...at home...to Mississippi State. Ah...sweet justice!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Awww, unfortunately for me, I believe I'm a tad too young to have played this game. It makes me sad. It seems like I missed something bordering on wonderful.

    The closest I've come to such greatness was the late 80's Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego craze. Instead of fording rivers and repairing wagon tongues I was apprehending international criminals from their V.I.L.E. hideouts.

    I would have much rather been slaughtering large animals and hauling carcasses to the Conestoga. I feel like I was robbed of a very important part of my childhood! Get on E-bay, find this computer game masterpiece and loan it to me when you're tired of it. Plllllleeeeaaassseee.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Oh man. I loved that game. You forgot to mention that it took about 10 minutes to load. Part of the experience was actually loading the disk, hitting LOAD, going to the kitchen, making a sandwich, eating the sandwich, getting a drink, finishing the drink, answering the phone, taking a message, going back to the kitchen to get some chips, and finally going back to the computer den when the electronic music indicated the game was ready.

    Sigh. Good times.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Sage: Pretty much, you take care of the real history of the American West while I write about the virtual side of things.

    Jen: Yeah, as I mentioned earlier, I'm going to look around online, see if I can't find a version :)

    Joe: That game was a roller coaster. But in the end, one of the best I've ever been to. We needed to win one like that.

    Avery Laine: I'm sad for you. You haven't fully lived until you've caught cholera and floated down the Columbia River.

    Charlotta-love: I don't remember that specifically, though I'm sure the ol' Apple IIe wasn't exactly lightning fast. And I do remember the music! Hmm, wonder if I could download that as a ringtone...

    ReplyDelete
  11. I havent ever heard of it!

    Fun story though! I wonder if my kids would even consider playing it... Gosh times have changed! lol Although Donkey Kong (which was a fav of mine as a kid) is still around and somewhat popular! lol

    Hope you had a good weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I wanted to be a cowgirl and ride the Oregon trail. It was my biggest ambition as a child

    ReplyDelete
  13. Oh, I want that game, as long as I could delete the dysentery, but it would have to load a bit faster, I am impatient.

    I just wonder what you would be like had you not gained all that knowledge, Bone.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Kate: Yeah, I prefer those old, simpler games, if only for the nostalgia.

    Pia: You're talking about the real trail, right? Because you couldn't be a cowgirl in the game :) Only a banker, carpenter, or farmer.

    Marcia: I just wonder what you would be like had you not gained all that knowledge, Bone.

    I shudder at the thought :)

    ReplyDelete