Oregon Trail Game Is More Real Life Than You May Have Thought

As a child of the 80s, I spent hours and hours..and hours...playing The Oregon Trail Game.

At the time it seemed like a highly entertaining way to spend computer class (yes there was such a thing back then). For those of you that are unfamiliar with the game, it's a virtual trip across the US along the Oregon Trail.

You're the leader of the Wagon Train and have to pick what supplies to take and name your crew. As you travel you need to hunt for food, cross rivers, and deal with attacks from people and animals, as well as the dangers of travel like broken bones and cholera, and dysentery.

I never really thought about how realistic (or not) this game was, but a recent video I came across about the Oregon Trail shows that this "game" was actually way more accurate than I ever knew.

Below are a few similarities I found between the REAL Oregon Trail and the game, and at the end, I've included the entire video in case you'd like to watch and learn even more.

The Oregon Trail Was Really A Lot Like The Famous Game

It turns out that there are lots of similarities between the REAL Oregon Trail and the Famous Oregon Trail game created in the late 1970s. This isn't a big surprise when you realize the game was originally created by an 8th-grade history teacher to be a teaching aid for his students.

Did it surprise you have accurate the Oregon Trail game was?

I knew the amount of death on the trail was real, but I had never really thought about how hard it would be to pack enough food for a family. And how would you know if you would really be able to find more food and supplies along the way?

If you'd like to learn more, the video below has more details about life on the real Oregon Trail.

Diary of a Wyoming Homesteader From Over 100 Years Ago

Taylor Barnette has a TikTok account where he shares 100-year-old diary entries from his Great Grandmother while showing what life looks like now on the very same ranch.

Wyoming At The Turn Of The Century Through The Eyes Of Lora Webb Nichols

Nichols received her first camera in 1899 at the age of 16. Her earlier photographs are of her family and friends as well as self-portraits, and landscape pictures of the land surrounding the town of Encampment.