The Oregon Trail: De-Romantization of the Journey West

In 1971, three student teachers in Minnesota created The Oregon Trail, an educational computer-based video game in which users try to lead a wagon party across the famed Oregon Trail and settle in Williamette Valley, Oregon. The game's popularity grew wildly among elementary school students in the mid-80s to early-90s, as the presence of computers in schoolrooms began to increase. The game was billed as an educational tool, intended to teach children about the history and geography of the trail and the hardships endured by those who took Horace Greeley's "Go west, young man," call to heart.

When they begin the game, players choose a profession, name their party, purchase supplies and a set a departure date from Independence, Missouri. Along the trail, players must determine the wagon pace and food rations, as well manage as the health of the party and the oxen. They can hunt for food (assuming they bought enough bullets) and trade with locals and fellow travelers at various outposts.

The game provided historical information to players at many of these stops. There are several geographical points of interest, such as Chimney Rock and Independence Rock, as well as burgeoning towns, all of which pride the player with information about the area. Players can also "talk" to other travelers and locals, who provide first-person accounts of life on the trail.

The Oregon Trail also opened players to the harsh realities faced by the often-romanticized pioneers. Members of the settling party often become sick or injured, either at random or as the result of the player pushing the party too hard. If the player chose to be a doctor, his or her companions recover faster; for a farmer, however, waiting out a bout of cholera or snakebite recovery can cost the group precious time and resources. Wagon parts can break and, if no spares are available, players must wait for a passerby (who hopefully has an extra for trade). In addition, players must make tough choices, such as whether to ford or float a river. Failure can result in lost supplies and/or drowning. The game can be very tough on new players, and some versions really let reality set in by forcing failed leaders to write their own epitaph.

In this sense, The Oregon Trail attempts to de-romanticize the frontier, providing the dangers of settling without the sensationalist element. The trail is difficult, and tough decisions must be made constantly. Children were forced to learn how shrewd decisions, careful planning and sometimes a little bit of luck were required of many settlers hoping to better their lives out west.

The Oregon Trail may have de-romanticized some aspects of the reality of the trail, but in many ways it reinforced the glorified elements of the frontier press. It was, after all, a game. It had to be fun or entertaining to attract the children it hoped to educate. In this regard, the freedom it allowed children provided the sensationalist aspects it hoped to eradicate. Players soon learned that they could save money on food by buying bullets at a much cheaper price and shooting a buffalo every other day. They could set a grueling pace and meager rations without having to worry about morale, as long as they rested briefly whenever a party member was in poor health. Given the time constraints of the classroom, full games were often an impossibility; thus, killing off members of the party as quickly as possible became a last minute contest. Children, unsurprisingly, seemed to consistently lean toward the gimmicky aspects rather than the realism.

The game was certainly fun, re-released countless times and spawning several Amazon and Yukon themed spinoffs. It has become a unifying factor for children of the era, relived in cell phone games and alternative T-shirts. However, as the game became a cultural icon, its educational aspect fell far short of the intended effects. Ask the average Gen-Xer about The Oregon Trail and he'll be far more likely to regale you with stories about shooting five squirrels in one hunting trip or how many times his humorously-named party members died of dysentery than to tell you what state Chimney Rock is in or how long the trip took. The Oregon Trail made the voyage seem wild, crazy and fun. In its attempts to re-envision the dangerous journey, it also updated the grand sweep of the frontier narrative.